Ranking Every Special Guest In Foundations

Key Takeaways

• Foundations includes ten Special Guest cards with reprints fitting the set’s theme.
• Special Guest cards in Foundations have powerful reprints but do not alter legality.
• Cards like Grim Tutor and Temporal Manipulation are among the best cards in Magic.

As with every set release, Magic: The Gathering’s Foundations includes ten Special Guest cards. These are a set of ten cards that have a low chance of appearing in Play boosters, and are all reprints of older cards with new art fitting the theme of the set (though in Foundations’ case, this theme is the showcase frames of various Magic settings)..

The Special Guests do not change legality in their respective formats, so none of the cards included will be legal in Standard play (only in formats where they are already legal and in the Limited formats). The Special Guest list in Foundations has a lot of powerful cards that are worth adding to your decks.

10

Condemn

Weaker Swords To Plowshares

Condemn isn’t necessarily a bad card, but it’s the weakest of Foundations’ Special Guest cards by a fairly significant margin. It’s a one mana removal spell, but requires your opponent to be attacking with a creature, and only puts the creature on the bottom of the library rather than getting rid of it a more permanent way.

In formats where Condemn is legal, Path to Exile is almost always going to be better, and it’s especially weaker compared to Swords To Plowshares with both costing the same mana and not needing a condition to remove it.

9

Paradise Druid

Untouchable Mana Dork

Normally, mana dorks (creatures that can tap for mana) that cost more than one mana aren’t worth playing. However, by paying one extra, you’ll get a hexproof creature to play with. The downside is it only has hexproof when it’s untapped, so when you use its ability, Paradise Druid becomes vulnerable.

Paradise Druid is especially useful for cards with mutate or rely on having a creature on the battlefield. You do cut yourself off from using it for mana, but having a hexproof creature is never a bad thing to keep a board presence around.

8

Sphinx’s Tutelage

Mill, Mill, Mill

Sphinx’s Tutelage turns all cards you draw into milling for an opponent. This includes your draw for turn, guaranteeing that you will get someone to mill at least two cards. There is potential to make your opponent mill multiple cards, especially if they’re in a deck that’s playing a lot of the same color.

There are a plethora of cards that draw cards in Magic, making it incredibly easy to trigger Sphinx’s Tutelage. Even if you don’t have any of the card draw spells, Sphinx’s Tutelage has its own effect that’ll let you draw a card you can activate at instant speed.

7

Fiend Artisan

Tutor Any Creature

Fiend Artisan is a creature that can grow rapidly in stats in graveyard decks, and can sacrifice any creature into a different creature from the library. You still need to pay mana equal to the mana cost of whatever you tutor out from your library, but having that as a static ability is what makes Fiend Artisan so good.

Fiend Artisan doesn’t see play in too many formats, but does have a niche in certain Legacy and Commander decks. The card is easy to cast with a solid effect, with a lot of decks that love to have it around.

6

Goblin Bushwhacker

The Classic Haste Enabler

Goblin Bushwhacker is one of the best ways to give all your creatures haste, as it only requires two red mana to do so. It even comes with a small stat boost, and while it is small, Goblin Bushwacker is most often played in decks that want to go wide with a ton of small creatures and the haste gets in a ton of damage early.

The weaker version of the card Reckless Bushwhacker sees play in decks like Boros Convoke, while Goblin Bushwhacker sees a ton of Pauper play and will be sure to see a ton of play in Pioneer for the aforementioned Boros Convoke and other aggro decks.

5

Akroma’s Memorial

Give All Your Creatures Keywords

Akroma’s Memorial may cost a bit of mana to cast, but it’s more than worth the investment with how many abilities it gives to all of your creatures. They all become much stronger in combat, and if your opponent(s) has red or black spells, they can’t do anything to your creatures since they’ll have protection from them.

There are various ways to cheat Akroma’s Memorial out rather than pay its mana cost, making it even better. In slower formats like Commander, paying seven mana for a spell is nothing out of the ordinary, making it great in that format.

4

Embercleave

Surprise Trampling Double Strike

Embercleave was the bane of many players when it was in Standard, and the card still sees some play in Pioneer and Commander decks. It’s very easy to cast Embercleave for just two mana, which can turn around any combat when your opponent is least expecting it.

Once it’s on the battlefield, equip three is a bit of a higher cost, but it’s more than worth it for the stat boost and abilities it grants. With the right creatures, Embercleave can be a game-ending Equipment by dealing massive outbursts of damage.

3

Bloom Tender

Five Mana For One

Bloom Tender is one of the best mana dorks in Magic. It does require you to be in a multi-color deck to make the most of its effect, and it’s most useful in decks that utilize all five colors. It will tap at minimum for one green mana since it counts itself, but can tap to add one mana of every color if you have every color of permanent on the battlefield.

If one permanent has multiple colors, Bloom Tender will see all of those colors. So if you only have one permanent that is all five colors, Bloom Tender can tap to add five mana.

2

Grim Tutor

Anything To The Hand

Grim Tutor is one of the best unconditional tutors in all of Magic. For three mana, you get to put whatever card you want into your hand. While slightly weaker than the likes of Demonic and Vampiric Tutor, it is still a phenomenal card.

Three mana is on the higher side for a tutor, but it’s a price worth paying for being able to get anything you need into your hand. In slower formats like Commander it’s especially great, as the high mana is hardly a downside thanks to the slowness of the format.

1

Temporal Manipulation

There are two other cards that are practically identical (Time Walk and Capture of Jingzhou), and Temporal Manipulation is just as good as those. It’s just a five mana unconditional extra turn spell. Notably, it goes to the graveyard, which makes it easier to loop with cards that let you cast spells from the graveyard for infinite extra turns.

There is almost never a reason you wouldn’t want to take an extra turn. It is especially good in the late game when you have a large board, as the extra turn will be more impactful compared to using it early.