MTG Foundations is releasing in just a few weeks, and spoilers for the unique set are now upon us. This large collection features a mix of new cards and reprints that will remain Standard legal until, at least, 2029.
Beyond just the main set, MTG Foundations will also feature other unique products, including the Starter Kit. The goal of the Starter Kit, as the name implies, is to help newer players become immersed in the world of MTG and introduce them to a plethora of cool mechanics and designs. The Starter Kit contains a total of 350 cards.
Today, we’re going to go over a bunch of reprints that have been revealed thus far, all of which will be Standard legal moving forward. Of note, there may be some overlap between cards in the Starter Kit and cards in the main set, but we felt it’s worth discussing these cards that are guaranteed to appear in the Starter Kit.
A Harmless Combo
Kicking things off, we have perhaps the most exciting portion of the Starter Kit reprints. That’s right, Demonic Pact and Harmless Offering make a triumphant return. For those unfamiliar, these two cards appeared in the same Standard format over eight years ago, providing a unique combo for players to build around.
The goal is to use the three beneficial modes from Demonic Pact over the course of three turns. Then, before you would be forced to choose the “you lose the game” option, you use Harmless offering to donate Demonic Pact to the opponent. On their upkeep, they will lose the game as a result.
Given the nature of power creep, it’s possible this combo doesn’t make too much noise in most Standard formats from now on. After all, a four-mana enchantment that provides no value until your upkeep is a tough play to make against assertive strategies.
Nonetheless, this combo feels like a fantastic inclusion in the Starter Kit. Introducing newer players to exciting, nostalgic combos that aren’t outright broken seems like a good balance.
Additionally, for those following the Foundations teaser released by MTG head designer Mark Rosewater, it looks like this is the two-card game-winning combo that was mentioned. Mark Rosewater had mentioned that the combo would appear in the Start collection and not in the main set, so this pretty much confirms it.
Powerful Options and Throwbacks
Beyond just the two-card combo described above, there are plenty of reprints in the Starter Kit that used to see a decent amount of Standard play years ago. Pyromancer’s Goggles gave rise to value-based ramp decks in Magic Origins. By utilizing Magmatic Insight as a cheap card draw spell and Fall of the Titans as a burn spell to finish the game, the deck took full advantage of Pyromancer’s Goggles’ spell-copying ability.
Meanwhile, Lyra Dawnbringer proved to be a great roadblock in a Standard format dominated by red aggro. Similar to Baneslayer Angel, Lyra could completely dominate any board, so long as it stuck around. This made it a perfect sideboard card for control decks, as players would tend to take out their removal spells in games two and three after seeing very few targets.
Interestingly, this Starter Kit features a decent number of older designs that have seen play outside of Standard. For instance, Maelstrom Pulse used to be a nice catch-all card for Jund midrange in Modern, cleaning up Lingering Souls tokens in one go.
Mystical Teachings has popped up in various Pauper decks over the years as a grindy value engine. Decks like Flicker Tron that generate a lot of mana, for example, typically play a couple copies.
Even Ball Lightning has a place in red aggro decks in Pre-Modern. These cards might not be overly powerful, but it’s nice to show off cards from various points in MTG’s timeline.
A Sweet Cycle
One cycle of cards that has been spoiled that may have an impact on future Standard formats is the group of Temples from Theros block. These cards were quite popular in Standard as dual lands that smoothed out your draws in the early turns.
Unfortunately, these are likely to be heavily outshined by the Surveil lands from Murders at Karlov Manor for the time being. Surveilling is typically better than Scrying, and having access to the basic land types for cards like Leyline Binding is a big deal. Still, there’s always room for more dual lands in Standard. Make sure to keep these in mind when crafting your decks moving forward.
An Array of Sideboard and Hate Cards
One of the cooler aspects of the Starter Kit is that, because these cards will be legal in Standard presumably for quite a while, there’s plenty of room for common sideboard cards to make an appearance. Cards like Duress and Negate are perfect examples.
These types of cards often show up in Standard sideboards when they are legal. The awkward part is that, in order to help keep them legal long-term, Wizards of the Coast had to put them in a lot of different premier sets over time. Having cards like Duress take up a card slot repeatedly isn’t ideal, especially for Limited gameplay where the card is quite weak.
The Starter Kit solves this issue. Now, Duress, Negate, Soul-Guide Lantern, Sorcerous Spyglass, and Disenchant will all be available for use for the foreseeable future.
On top of that, we’re also getting some intriguing hate cards from MTG’s history. Cards like Deathmark and Flashfreeze are definitely narrow and presumably left for the sideboard. However, they can be extremely efficient answers to problematic cards from the opponent, assuming the colors of their deck match the hate piece in question.
Mindsparker and Mold Adder fill a similar space. These creatures are mediocre naturally. In the right matchup, though, they shine bright.
Pricy Reprints Here and There
While most of the reprints we’ve shown so far aren’t too expensive, some may hold heftier price tags here and there. Take Darksteel Colossus, for example. Debuting in Darksteel, Darksteel Colossus hasn’t made an appearance in a non-Secret Lair set since way back in Core Set 2010.
With this in mind, the card is a bit pricy. Darksteel versions currently go for roughly $7 according to TCGPlayer market price.
Even outside of more expensive cards, there should be plenty of $1-$2 reprints. Cards like Gilded Lotus, which serves as a Commander staple, are neat additions.
The More, the Merrier
Overall, seeing the Starter Kit equipped with so much variety is nice. There are a bunch of different cards that could easily make noise in Standard in the future. Cloudblazer, despite being a bit inefficient, works quite well with blink effects.
At the same time, Halana and Alena, Partners puts a lot of pressure on the opponent. If a Gruul beatdown deck emerges in a future Standard format, this card could do some work.
As a bonus, you can even get your hands on a Gigantosaurus promo when buying the Starter Kit. This is a great card to make textless, as it’s just a vanilla 10/10!
MTG Foundations looks like a great set overall, and the Starter Kit should serve as a solid supplemental product. For newer players looking to jam some games and get more involved in Standard, the Starter Kit delivers.
