If you’re a new player looking to jump intoMagic: The Gathering, there’s no better place to start than Magic’s Foundations set. This set is designed to be tons of fun for new and experienced players alike, with plenty of fun new and classic cards to collect and build decks around.
Along with Foundations is coming Foundations Jumpstart, a supplemental set that has you taking two large packs, shuffling them up together, and then battling your friends with them. While Jumpstart packs are mostly filled with reprints, they do have a plethora of new cards to hunt down. If you’re looking for the best from the set, we gathered them all in one place so you know what to look for.
10Dionus, Elvish Archdruid
Put Those Elves To Work
Elvish Archdruids are the bread and butter of practically any Elf deck in Magic, and now we have a named one to work with. Dionus, Elvish Archdruid is an uncommon legendary creature from Foundations Jumpstart, one that has a rather unique ability for your next Elf Kindred deck.
Anytime you tap an Elf during your turn for whatever reason, you get to untap it and put a +1/+1 counter on it. Of course, this effect only triggers once a turn, but you can put it to good use. Any of your mana-producing Elves can double up now, while your attacking Elves get stronger and gain a functional type of vigilance.
9Pol Jamaar, Illusionist
Looks Can Be Deceiving
Another Legendary creature, Pol Jamaar, Illusionist doesn’t do much on their own. When they enter, you get to pick a creature type. Then, Pol Jamaar has you drawing a card for each creature you control of that type.
While Pol is best in a Kindred deck, if you’re playing a deck with any type of repeatable blink effects, you’ll get the most value out of them. With a way to have Pol repeatably enter the battlefield over and over again, you’ll be drawing tons of cards very quickly.
8Brigone, Soldier Of Meletis
Counters And Cards All In One
For a two-man creature, Brigone, Soldier of Meletis, does a lot of work. It is a 2/2 with vigilance, so it’ll come down quickly and can attack and block without skipping a beat.
Casting a spell that targets Brigone gives her a +1/+1 counter on top of whatever bonuses your spell would also give, helping her survive later into a match. What makes Brigone good is that once it no longer becomes advantageous to attack, you can tap her to start removing those +1/+1 counters to draw cards. Alternatively, you can attack with her and then tap her to draw that card post-combat or right before your next turn to keep the momentum up.
7Frontline Heroism
There’s Plenty To Be Found
A deceptively strong card that can quickly snowball out of control, Frontline Heroism is a three-mana enchantment that gives you a 1/1 red Soldier creature token with haste when it comes into play.
Once you start targeting your creatures with single-target spells, that is when Frontline Heroism ramps up. Anytime you do,you make another 1/1 Soldier creature tokenand then copy that spell. The new copy of the spell now targets the new token you made. This can take your spells and turn them into 2-for-1s, letting you quickly overwhelm your opponents in no time.
6Fumulus, The Infestation
Blood Sucking Bugs
Fumulus, the Infestation, is a card that can just sit there and be a threat. Anytime any player sacrifices a nontoken creature, you get a 1/1 Insect creature token with flying. Then, anytime you attack with either an Insect, Leech, Slug, or Worm creature, the defending player loses one life, and you gain one life.
This type of deck almost builds itself, letting you lean into tons of sacrifice effects to get an army of Insects. Then you may triple up on the draining triggers with Fumulu’s attack trigger and throw in a sacrifice effect like Blood Artist, and you’ll whittle your opponents down in no time.
5Generous Pup
Good Boy
A superefficient creature in a +1/+1 counter deck, Generous Pup lets you share your counters with all your other creatures once a turn. When you put a +1/+1 counter on Generous Pup, you get to put a +1/+1 counter on all your other creatures too.
Even though it only triggers once per turn, you can make the most of it with an instant speed counter on your opponent’s turn too. Generous Pup also has vigilance, which seems unnecessary since it already has a powerful ability, but now you can safely attack with it and keep up blocks as needed.
4Rev, Tithe Extractor
Free Cards Are Always Good
A fantastic card for players who don’t like playing their own deck, Rev, Tithe Extractor has two abilities that work in tandem together to give you some free cards. Anytime you attack, Rev gives a creature deathtouch for the turn.
Then, if one or more creatures deal combat damage to a player, you make a Treasure token and exile the top of that opponent’s deck. You can then cast that card for as long as it’s exiled, though you have to pay the mana cost, colors, and all, which is why the Treasure tokens are so important with Rev.
3Scythecat Cub
Kitty With A Blade
Landfall is one of the best keywords that Magic has ever introduced, so seeing it in Foundations is a joy for tons of players. Scythecat Cub is a 2/2 for two mana that gives a creature a +1/+1 counter anytime a land enters the battlefield under your control.
If you’ve had two lands enter the battlefield, giving you two triggers of this ability, you instead double the number of counters on that creature. It doesn’t stop there though, since additional landfall triggers just put more +1/+1 counters on your creatures.
2General Kreat, The Boltbringer
Goblins Everywhere
One of the better cards released in Foundations Jumpstart is an uncommonLegendary Goblin creature that spams out a legion of Goblinsall on her own. Anytime you attack with one or more Goblin creatures, you get an extra 1/1 Goblin creature token tapped and attacking.
The real power of General Kreat comes when you have any creature enter the battlefield, she deals one damage to each opponent. Goblin decks are able to spam out tons of creatures, giving you tons of opportunities to dish out a huge amount of damage very quickly.
1Shroofus Sproutsire
Sapling Supremacy
Kindred decks got a huge boost in power with the release of Foundations Jumpstart, and none so much as Saprolings did. Shroofus Sproutsire is a bit of a weak creature, just a 1/1 for three mana, that curiously has trample, giving you room to buff Shroofus up a bit.
Shroofus then has the ability to cover your battlefield with all sorts of sprouts. When a Saproling deals combat damage to a player, you make that many 1/1 Saprolings creature tokens. If you deal five damage with a Saproling, you make five more tokens, making it an exceptionally strong card to build around.
