Foundations Set Review - Red
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Burn is BACK
Burn is back, baby, and in a big way with Foundations. In what could be our last, best core set until 2029, WotC has pulled out all most of the stops to capture what truly makes red "red." I can't help but draw comparisons to the last time we saw the "last" core set, back in Magic 2015 (I don't recognize Core Set 2019/2020 as core sets because of the change in naming convention). M15 saw the first printing of the Act on Impulse effect, a mechanic that now holds red card advantage together. It also saw a return to the iconic red creatures with Goblin Rabblemaster and a reprint of Crucible of Fire. Hell, it even had the last reprint of Frenzied Goblin in a Standard-legal set.
Red's always been a color about playing fast, shooting from the hip, and asking questions never. Red decks are my favorite to teach new players: they're straightforward, but that doesn't mean they're simple. I'm excited to get a look at a Standard environment that includes so many red keystone cards, like Burst Lightning and Abrade and Shivan Dragon and, wait, Ball Lightning??
That's right, there's never been a better time to get into playing Goblins, burn, Dragons, and combat tricks; Foundations' red cards may be the perfect basis for five years of lightning-fast aggro decks. Let's take a look at the best and rate them arbitrarily based on vibes alone!
Mythics
Chandra, Flameshaper
What would a Core Set be without a Chandra planeswalker card? This newest iteration, Chandra, Flameshaper, runs a whopping seven mana; not typically where a mono-red deck wants to operate, but not an unobtainable amount of mana to shoot for in the long run. Luckily, she can activate and add to your mana pool and Act on Impulse one of three cards from the top of your library, generating advantage immediately.
Where this Chandra's real value lies is in her second loyalty ability. A Splinter Twin-type effect that ticks her up instead of down is very powerful; you can expect to activate this every turn you have an creature to do so with. A repeatable copy effect like this is insanely valuable in any deck that's looking to swing with big creatures (like nearly any Dragon deck) or that can capitalize off of creatures entering the battlefield, like Purphoros, God of the Forge or anything running Warstorm Surge. Or, we can just use this effect to double up on any static effect we were synergizing with; I'm thinking specifically of getting another copy of Guttersnipe on the field before storming off with my Ashling, Flame Dancer deck.
In addition, Chandra, Flameshaper doesn't really have an ultimate to build towards; instead, her final ability costs a mere -4 to activate, meaning she can deal her eight damage the turn she comes down. Is this enough damage to justify such a high-cost planeswalker alongside Toralf, God of Fury or Solphim, Mayhem Dominus? Perhaps.
Rite of the Dragoncaller
This one has me drooling, to be honest. The link between Dragons and spellslinging has always been there, and now we have a direct throughline between the two of them. Imagine: your Melek, Izzet Paragon deck now has a board presence in addition to all those Fireballs and Crackle with Powers you're copying. Your Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck gets a 5/5 flier whenever you Rampant Growth for that last blue or white mana.
Since dissecting my Intet, the Dreamer Commander deck, I, personally, won't have an immediate home for any copies of Rite of the Dragoncaller that I come upon. That said, if I should see one of these in my packs at a prerelease, you can bet I'll be rushing home with it to dig up something to brew around it. Maybe Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind cantrips-Dragons-kindred? Maybe Galazeth Prismari Treasure storm? Our possibilities for this red-coded Talrand, Sky Summoner are nearly endless.
Twinflame Tyrant
I'll admit it does seem a little odd to print an entirely new damage-doubler in a set that already has Gratuitous Violence, but I'm not complaining. Twinflame Tyrant is a five-mana 3/5 flier that doubles all damage sources you control to opponents or their permanents. Unlike Gratuitous Violence, it takes all damage into consideration, not just combat. This means everything from the lowliest Fling to the hottest Jaya's Immolating Inferno will see exponential returns on damage. Slam it into your Dragon deck, your Goblin deck, your burn deck, or just about anywhere with red that can spare a five-drop and watch it draw removal from your opponents or end their whole careers.
If you're feeling particularly devious and like to force your opponents to do some obnoxious math, run Twinflame Tyrant alongside other damage-modifiers, like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, Mechanized Warfare, or Jaya, Venerated Firemage, then chuckle to yourself as they're forced to put those damage-modification triggers on the stack in the correct order to minimize the total amount of extra damage dealt. Remember, there is a right answer, but you don't have to know it!
Also, I'd be remiss to omit mentioning Heartless Hidetsugu here. Like we really needed another way to make this commander a one-hit kill.
Dragonmaster Outcast
Never before and never after will there be a more efficient way to slam 5/5 fliers onto the board than Dragonmaster Outcast. Beloved in Dragon kindred and Landfall decks alike, this one-mana mythic churns out free Dragons as soon as you hit six lands; not hard at all in Commander. Drop the Outcast in your Omnath, Locus of Rage deck for 5/5s to go along with those 5/3s, or sneak it into your Obeka, Splitter of Seconds deck for an extra 5/5 for each of those extra upkeeps.
Rares
Gornog, the Red Reaper
Say four the words every red player wants to hear: "Cowards can't block Warriors."
Finally, a legendary creature for the head-on attackers and terror-causing Minotaurs of the Magic multiverse. I foresee Gornog, the Red Reaper becoming one of the most popular red commanders. Not only does permanently change creatures into Cowards, he gets started doing so as early as turn two (if we hit that T1 Sol Ring), and will be swinging in at least as a 3/3 when that happens. "Warrior" being an immensely popular creature type doesn't hurt Gornog, either, with over 350 Warriors fitting his mono-red color identity.
Gornog's not only going to be great as his own commander, he'll also slot right into those Mardu-aligned Warrior decks running Zurgo Helmsmasher and a suite of lords, like Chief of the Edge and Chief of the Scale. Getting access to black lets us take Conspiracy, spreading Gornog's anthem across our board to any creature type we wish.
Krenko, Mob Boss
If you've ever wanted to get into playing Goblins, now is the time. Krenko, Mob Boss is the undisputed best Commander for Goblin decks, with over 21,000 decks logged on EDHrec compared to Muxus, Goblin Grandee's pitiful 1500. Rightly so, as Krenko decks are just plain sensational. The speed at which this four-drop can churn out 1/1 Goblin tokens is insane. Half the time we won't even need to attack with those Goblins when we can prepare for Krenko's arrival with Impact Tremors, or Outpost Siege and a sacrifice outlet, or In the Web of War. People play that, right?
Kellan, Planar Trailblazer
I'll be honest here, too: I have no idea who Kellan is. We've seen six cards referencing him in the past year, across nearly every color at this point, and I've still got no clue where he comes from and what his deal is. It's just as well; I hear keeping up with the story these days is a frustrating and fruitless endeavor.
Kellan, Planar Trailblazer has the pseudo level up Figure of Destiny ability we've seen many times before, where a creature changes types and gains effects as you pay more and more mana into it. Kellan's final form requires a total investment of , and his final form doesn't offer any option for doubling up on its effect like Ascendant Spirit.
While leveling up Kellan is a fun minigame for you to play by yourself, he'll most likely die before he can generate any significant advantage, and he requires a lot of set up for what will basically amount to a worse Wrenn's Resolve each turn.
Dropkick Bomber
A new Goblin lord is always exciting in my book, especially one with the ability to grant our army of foot-slogging Goblins some evasion. More often than not, you won't need more than one turn's worth of your overwhelming Goblin army's attack to defeat your opponents, and if you play your cards right, you'll synergize those Goblins' sacrificial charges with an Outpost Siege to deal some damage on the way out, as well.
Electroduplicate
Similar to Chandra, Flamecaller, Electroduplicate provides us with a consistent access to the Splinter Twin effect, if only once from our hand and a second time from the graveyard. Readily doubling up on a creature is great, especially any creature you control that could already make copies of itself. I'm thinking of myriad creatures, like Elturel Survivors or Battle Angels of Tyr. A second copy of these before combat means we'll get six extra tokens to attack with at the start of combat (assuming a full pod), turning a mildly threatening attack into a game-changing haymaker.
Redcap Gutter-Dweller
*squints* Is that Siege-Gang Commander? Redcap Gutter-Dweller is a four-mana Goblin that creates two 1/1 Rat tokens when it enters. At the beginning of your upkeep, you can sacrifice another creature to give it a +1/+1 counter and get an impulse draw. From Sling-Gang Lieutenant to Siege-Gang Commander, Goblins have always had a suite of rares that both make tokens and give you an outlet for them simultaneously. While this Redcap doesn't include a way to directly damage your opponent, it does generate quite a bit of card advantage for what's ostensibly a free effect the first two times you use it. Card advantage, specifically off the top of our library, is one of the things red struggles with, so I think we can assume this will be a staple in most Goblin decks going forward.
Ball Lightning
If you're not excited about a Ball Lightning reprint, you should be! For the cost of three Lightning Bolts, we've got six trample damage to throw around the board this turn, plus a free death trigger to boot. Its an archetypal red card, the perfect turn three follow up to two turns of burn spells. While Ball Lightning doesn't see play in a lot of decks, commanders like Mr. Orfeo, the Boulder and Brion Stoutarm make good use of it. Personally, I run a Ball Lightning and a Groundbreaker in my General Marhault Elsdragon deck, where I'll use Invasion Plans-type effects to turn them into heat-seeking missiles.
Harmless Offering
I'm not exactly sure what permanents we'll be donating in Standard in the coming years, but I can tell you that this is an essential card for the oddball group hug/slug/stax players out there. I'm not just calling out the Zedruu the Greathearted among you, I'm talking to all those players who want to win a game by donating Transcendence or Nefarious Lich to an otherwise unprepared opponent. I'm talking to you freaks targeting Grid Monitor and Steel Golem, Aggressive Mining and Rust Elemental. Harmless Offering is a simple yet important mechanic for how red plays politics.
Searslicer Goblin
As if we didn't have enough spells in this set that create Goblin tokens, we've been gifted yet another Goblin that creates a 1/1 Goblin more or less each turn. What I like best about Searslicer Goblin is Raid doesn't require that creature specifically to attack, making this Goblin's greatest strength the consistency it'll provide with token generation. Even if you lost your other measly little 1/1 Goblin, you'll have another ready to go at the top of the next turn, maintaining at least a net-zero Goblin total!
Stromkirk Noble
If you played back in Innistrad, you remember what a menace Stromkirk Noble was. If you've played against anyone's Edgar Markov deck, you know what a strong start it continues to be in Commander Vampire kindred decks. Stromkirk Noble is a consistent source of damage in most pods, minus the off-chance you're playing against another deck themed around a single creature type. Human is, by far, the most popular creature type, though, making Stromkirk Noble effectively unblockable in the early game. Left unchecked, your opponents will have to deal with a 5/5 or 6/6 by the time they deem to waste removal on it.
Uncommons & Commons
General Kreat, the Boltbringer
Putting Impact Tremors on a body, and a Goblin body no less, felt inevitable. It's one of the cornerstone effects in red doubling up the potential damage from the army of 1/1 creatures you create in any self-respecting red deck wins.
General Kreat, the Boltbringer is great since it comes with that Impact Tremors effect and a built-in way to trigger it. You don't even have to risk losing your legendary creature in combat, as you can attack with any other lanky Goblin to get another 1/1 onto the battlefield and ping the board. I predict General Kreat, the Boltbringer may even unseat Krenko, Mob Boss as the #1 Goblins commander since it removes the need to dig for a win condition to finish out games.
Cleon, Merry Champion
This effect seems like a slam-dunk for Heroic mechanic, and I honestly can't believe we haven't seen it yet. (I guess we've never "returned" the Heroic mechanic in a set post-M15, technically.) Cleon, Merry Champion comes in as a 2/2 with double strike and an insatiable hunger to be targeted with Brute Force and Madcap Skills and Bulk Up. Cleon might actually be my favorite from this cycle of uncommon commanders from Foundations Jumpstart; she looks to be one of the best ways to force a combat tricks-style strategy into Commander, a format where that gameplan isn't usually very effective. Throw in a few force block cards to guarantee combat happens and drop trample on Cleon with any number of instants, sorceries, or enchantments, and we're off to the races.
Ivora, Insatiable Heir
It's always a fun test of skill when we get a 1/1 card with trample. Ivora, Insatiable Heir starts off weak but has the potential to grow very quickly, adding a +1/+1 counter whenever we discard a card. Red makes it easy to discard cards with a plethora of wheels and looting effects,
Anep, Vizier of Hazoret
The name of the game for red for the next five years seems to be impulse draw, which I can get behind. I love the concept behind Anep, Vizier of Hazoret, but I just don't see the execution working as well as it ought. As a commander, Anep won't have access to many ways to untap itself after its been exerted. Outside Act of Treasoning our own creature, I'm unsure what exactly fits with this Jackal. I guess we can invest in every Aggravated Assault-esque effect in the game, but that seems like overkill for amounts to a Wrenn's Resolve for each trigger. While Anep does get twice as many cards as Cleon, Merry Champion and lets us cast them for twice as long, activating that effect only every other turn will result in a much slower game than most red decks care to play.
Shivan Dragon
Shivan Dragon has finally made the downshift to uncommon from rare, where it joins Serra Angel amongst the demoted Alpha rare creatures. Shivan Dragon isn't particularly exciting by today's standards, but it is a classic tool in the red deck's toolbox, being an evasive flier with an outlet for all that late-game mana red decks so often find ourselves sitting on.
Boltwave
What the only thing better than Lightning Bolt to the face? Lightning Bolt in three faces! Perfect for triggering some extra life loss for Rakdos, Lord of Riots!
Guttersnipe
Burn's best boy Guttersnipe is back with a new Ixalan-inspired art and that same old two damage per instant or sorcery. Guttersnipe is the bread and butter of storm decks and spellslinger decks, stretching the effectiveness of each burn spell and acting as a win condition in its own right while you storm off with 100 copies of Ground Rift. If you've somehow managed to make it this long without a copy or two of Guttersnipe in your collection, now's the time to rectify that!
Foundations and Foundations Jumpstart are shaping up to be very promising sets. Their collective power level isn't format-warping for either Commander or Standard, but they feature the return of some classic staples and some reworkings of old effects for the modern age. I'm excited for broad range of iconic legendary creatures to choose from in some of red's most loved creature types, including Krenko, Mob Boss, Lathliss, Dragon Queen, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames, and, of course, Etali, Primal Storm, who WotC is legally obligated to print three times a year so he doesn't escape the fictional world of Ixalan and run rampant over our real-life homes and cities.
What are you most excited for in Foundations' red cards? Will you be joining #TeamGoblin or #TeamDragon? What will you donate with Harmless Offering (Form of the Dragon maybe)? Is Dragon Trainer just a color-shifted Urbis Protector? And why has it been so long since we've seen a Frenzied Goblin reprint?!?! Let me know what you think in the comments!
Thanks for reading! Watch out for me at your LGS picking all the red cards before passing the pack to you!
