The Best Magic Foundations Cards For Standard In Magic: The Gathering Arena

Key Takeaways

• Foundations cards are becoming staples in many formats, including Standard until 2029, making them a worthwhile investment.
• Cards like High Fae Trickster and Scavenging Ooze offer strategic advantages, but strength can vary based on gameplay.
• Creatures like Alesha and Bloodthirsty Conqueror provide strong abilities and combos, influencing gameplay dynamics.

Magic: The Gathering Foundations has introduced and re-introduced many cards, already becoming staples in several formats. From Draft to Commander, no matter where a player may look, Foundations cards are bound to crop up. MTG: Arena is no exception to this rule, having been taken over by new decks utilizing several new cards.

Looking to Standard, this list covers several cards worth crafting or putting into a deck if obtained in a pack. Standard is a format with a tumultuous meta, often defined simply by what is legal at any given time. However, Wizards of the Coast have announced that Foundations cards will be in the standard rotation until 2029, making these cards the best investment for the format.

10 Ajani, Caller Of The Pride

King Of Cats

• 3 Mana Cost in White
• Planeswalker

One of the many versions of Ajani, this Planeswalker is a reprint that offers white deck players the opportunity to bulk up creatures with +1/+1 counters and additional keywords, making their boards a lot more menacing. Need a load of creatures quickly? Ajani’s -8 ability floods the board with 2/2 Cat tokens equal to the players’ health.

As a Planeswalker, Ajani can draw attention away from the player themselves, even if the player never gets to activate his ultimate ability. As far as Planeswalkers go, Ajani is a great place to start for any player, giving their creatures more power, and the option to overwhelm an opponent in an instant.

9 Hidetsugu’s Second Rite

Instant Win Spell

• 4 Mana Cost in Red
• Instant

Hidetsugu’s Second Rite has the potential to be an instant win condition. Simply get an opponent down to 10 life, and then cast this spell at instant speed and that’s a win. Despite its perceived instant win capability, this card isn’t as strong as it may first seem.

Obviously, it requires an opponent to be at exactly 10 life, if they go down to 9 or gain just 1 to 11, it can’t be played. It also requires the opponent to have no counter-spells or ways to gain life instantly. So, while it can win a game, it isn’t as guaranteed as the rules text makes it seem.

8 Llanowar Elves

Representing All The Mana Dorks

• 1 Mana Cost in Green
• Creature

Llanowar Elves is not a new card to most players, it is the poster boy for the mana dork creature, a creature that can be tapped for mana just like land or many artifacts. Able to be cast for 1 green mana, this card is an easy way to boost the early-game power of a deck.

It may be a creature, but there are very few instances where a player should use Llanowar Elves, or any mana dork creature, to attack or block. Rather, this creature is intended to be an enabler for larger creatures and more expensive spells.

7 Balmor, Battlemage Captain

Easy Buffs For The Whole Board

• 2 Mana Cost in Izzet (Blue/Red)
• Creature

Balmor, Battlemage Captain is the quintessential Izzet card, enabling a spell-slinging, evasive, creature-heavy playstyle. Simply fill a deck with lower-cost instant sorceries, and flying creatures, then cast away and watch Balmor and all other creatures on the board get huge and smash through any opponent’s defense.

There are ways to counter this playstyle, such as destruction spells and creatures with reach. However, if a player intending to utilize this deck loads up on cheap counter-spells, they should fare pretty well.

6 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Queen Of The Undead

• 6 Mana Cost in Black
• Planeswalker

Another Planeswalker, and another reprint, Liliana embodies the personality of black mana cards in one package. Just by having Liliana, Dreadhorde General on the board, a player gets the ability to draw a card whenever a creature they control dies.

Liliana offers the ability to pump up a board with 2/2 Zombies, giving a player plenty of blockers to throw under an attack, and subsequently letting them draw a card. It’s a great loop that can eventually lead to Liliana’s ultimate, which decimates an opponent’s board in an instant.

5 High Fae Trickster

Turn All Spells Into Instants

• 4 Mana Cost in Blue
• Creature

High Fae Trickster is a blue player’s best friend. Not only is it a pretty intimidating creature, sporting flash, flying, and a 4/2 base stat, but it also gives all of its controllers’ spells flash. Many players will admit to being scared whenever a blue player passes the turn with unspent mana.

This card makes that yet more terrifying, that player now has the option to play anything in response to spells, not just the infuriating counter-spells blue is notorious for.

4 Scavenging Ooze

Ooze That Just Keeps Growing

• 2 Mana Cost in Green
• Creature

Scavenging Ooze is an infuriating creature to fight, going from a simple 2/2 upon its entrance to suddenly being a massive threat as long as its controller has mana and anyone in the game has a graveyard full of creatures.

Thanks to its ability not requiring the creature being tapped, it can be activated over and over again, as long as mana is available, meaning this creature can grow to impossible sizes very quickly. Its main downside is its lack of keywords, making it easy to block or remove, provided someone has access to creatures or removal spells.

3 Alesha, Who Laughs At Fate

Attack With Confidence

• 3 Mana Cost in Rakdos (Black/Red)
• Creature

Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate is super fun to play with, offering an easy way to confidently attack thanks to first strike and its consistently growing army of +1/+1 counters. Not only is it hard to kill, growing quickly and hitting first, but its secondary ability is also very strong.

Allowing a player to consistently return creatures from their graveyard to the battlefield with little cost is an absurdly strong ability. Especially when Alesha gets larger, and the mana cost available grows in tandem, giving all creatures infinite lives as long as the player keeps attacking.

2 Bloodthirsty Conqueror

No Pain, No Gain

• 5 Mana Cost in Black
• Creature

The only real issue with Bloodthirsty Conqueror is its mana cost, being an expensive card to play in a color with fewer ways to ramp. Outside of this, however, Bloodthirsty Conqueror is a true menace to any player facing it. The fact that every bit of damage heals its controller causes games to swing wildly from one direction to another.

Not only is it a huge creature with great keywords, making it very difficult to deal with, but its ability lets it go infinite with several other cards. Even when not utilizing an infinite combo, Bloodthirsty Conqueror makes games feel completely one-sided from the moment it hits the battlefield.

1 Authority Of The Consuls

The Authority To Gain Life

• 1 Mana Cost in White
• Enchantment

Authority of the Consuls feels similar to Bloodthirsty Conqueror in its ability to skew games in a certain player’s favor. As an enchantment, it is very difficult to get rid of, and the fact that it forces opponents’ creatures to enter tapped AND gives its controller life makes it a must-include in any white decks.

Not only is it a very strong card, but it only costs 1 white mana, meaning it can easily be played at turn 1 and stay active for an entire game. This slots perfectly into many already popular white mana decks, and it is impossible to argue against the potency of a spell like this one.