MTG Foundations may be structured like a core set, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a bunch of powerhouses seeing play in a variety of different formats. In Standard and Pioneer, burn spells such as Boltwave have allowed Boros burn to become a flourishing archetype.
Meanwhile, in Modern and Legacy, Sire of Seven Deaths is a force to be reckoned with. Even Magic’s most powerful formats are seeing a bit of a shakeup with the release of MTG Foundations.
In fact, a unique Modern Goryo’s Vengeance shell managed to make the finals of a recent Magic Online Modern Challenge with two impactful Foundations cards in the mix. This was a bit unexpected, but these inclusions add a whole new dynamic to the deck.
Koma, World Eater as an Easy Win Condition
- Mana Value: 3GGUU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 8/12
- MTG Sets: MTG Foundations
- Card Text: This spell can’t be countered. Trample, Ward 4. Whenever Koma deals combat damage to a player, create four 3/3 blue Serpent creature tokens named Koma’s Coil.
The main goal behind Goryo’s Vengeance shells in Modern has always been pretty simple: get a massive legend into your graveyard quickly and revive it ahead of schedule. That creature doesn’t stick around long-term, but if the legend has a great triggered ability when it enters or attacks, you should be in good shape.
Up to this point, most decks have utilized Atraxa, Grand Unifier as the haymaker of choice. This decklist, however, goes a different route. A full playset of Koma makes an appearance. Koma doesn’t gain you life or draw you cards, but instead puts an immense amount of pressure on the opponent that most decks simply can’t beat.
As an eight-power threat with Trample, it’s nearly impossible for your opponent to block it down in combat. At the same time, because it has Ward 4, it’s immune to removal in the early game. Both Goryo’s Vengeance and Emperor of Bones can give Koma Haste, and all you need is one attack to gain a huge advantage.
This is where Koma separates itself from other legends. After the attack, you leave behind four burly threats for the opponent to contend with. In many games, you won’t need to do anything else to win besides untap and attack again with your four tokens. This can be a huge boon against combo decks where speed is essential.
Kiora, the Rising Tide as a Discard Outlet
- Mana Value: 2U
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- MTG Sets: MTG Foundations
- Card Text: When Kiora enters, draw two cards, then discard two cards. Threshold- Whenever Kiora attacks, if there are seven or more cards in your graveyard, you may create Scion of the Deep, a legendary 8/8 blue Octopus creature token.
The other Foundations addition worth noting is Kiora, the Rising Tide. This card is less vital to your gameplan but makes an appearance as a solid discard outlet to help you get Koma in the graveyard.
What’s nice about Kiora is that, even in games where you don’t have Koma in hand, Kiora can take over if left unchecked. Between Fetchlands, Psychic Frog, and Wail of the Forgotten, it’s surprisingly easy to enable Threshold. As such, this deck has a robust backup plan of curving Frog into Kiora and simply beating down.
Kiora and Koma may be a bit unassuming at first glance, but they pack a punch. It’s cool to see so many Foundations cards make a splash even in formats with dense card pools.
