Alright gang, we’re back again for another banger set release, which can only mean another set of Pauper Commander preconstructed decks. Foundations is the first core set we’ve had in a few years, and these sorts of sets are perfect for this format. The designs are clean, broad, and encourage a lot of different synergies while staying easy to process on their face. That said, I decided to go in an interesting direction this time around.
I’ve got five new decks for you all, but the twist is that each one is comprised entirely, and exclusively, of cards that have seen print in the core sets over the years. And let me tell you all — these sets didn’t disappoint. They allowed each of the five mono-color Foundations commanders I selected to head up a deck that clearly illustrates what the five colors in Magic really want to be doing. I want to keep things simple and demonstrate through these decks what makes each color fun.
Before I introduce the individual decks, let’s recap some of my goals for this project:
- First, I want these decks to provide a solid foundation (ha!) for new players or those dipping their toes into the format. I want them to communicate what matters to the format in terms of how to allocate resources and navigate the battlefield.
- Second, I want these decks to be upgradeable. I want them to have cards that encourage players to explore the available card pool to build on the things that they enjoy about the deck. A broad swath of effects with varying efficacies are important to plant those seeds.
- Third, I want these decks to play a good game against each other.
Core sets are uniquely situated to deliver on these goals, which was one of the reasons I was excited to build this set of decks using only cards from core sets. I think the lists I ended up with hit the mark, and I’m excited to share them all with you now. So let’s dive on in.
Our mono-white deck for Foundations is built around Dauntless Veteran — a new card introduced in Foundations. Astute and enfranchised players may recognize this card as a functional reprint of Pianna, Nomad Captain, but this template is really attractive for the goals and constraints of this project. When I think about mono-white, and what has made it resonate over the years, my mind immediately went to “White Weenie,” a beloved archetype going back to the early days of constructed Magic. With a lean curve, a range of keywords to play with and a bevy of buffs and tricks, it won’t be so easy for your opponents to break your formation.
What better choice for a mono-blue commander than this Clinquant Skymage card. an evasive creature that cares about drawing cards? Sign me up. Moreover, it is a card that is deceptively powerful. What really drew me in, however, was that a lot of the cards that play well with this commander reinforce the basic qualities of good blue cards. Lots of tricks, lots of card draw, and getting to play a really natural tempo-oriented game, trying to keep your opponents just off-kilter enough to cross the finish line first.
Midnight Snack is a mono-black deck that leans into the tried and true strategy of sacrificing our own creatures for fun and profit. A good variety of creatures with a good variety of death triggers keeps the value train rolling with our commander, Vampire Gourmand, and also lets us focus on commander damage as a win condition. Sacrificing our creatures to enable our commander is really only half the fun — there are a bevy of different templates that care about the graveyard, and no shortage of ways to keep our commander hungering for more.
So I think it would be deck building malpractice to NOT include Shivan Dragon in a set of introductory preconstructed decks. Appearing in Foundations for the first time at uncommon, it really was just too good to be true. For a deck built around such an iconic card, we’re going with one of the most successful mono-red themes ever put to print: damage. This deck is all about dishing out damage, whether through creatures with pinging abilities, preventing our opponents from blocking in combat, or just dumping all of our mana into activated abilities that just push more damage. No matter what resources you end up with on the battlefield, there is no shortage of ways to channel them into a raw force of destruction.
And speaking of appealing, I couldn’t help but jump at the idea of having our mono-green preconstructed deck led by the biggest vanilla creature we have access to. Lead by example, as they say, and lead they shall! What I love about this commander is that you know exactly what you’re getting — this deck ramps, this deck plays big creatures, this deck has its big creatures fight smaller creatures. It all just feels very elegant to me exactly because of its simplicity. This is a deck that is easy to underestimate, that is, until it has you underfoot.
So there you have it. Another totally sick release and another set of pauper commander precons to ring them in. I’ve totally been loving Foundations so far — the main set is packed with pauper commander playable and staples, and that’s not saying anything of the accompanying Jumpstart release that just so happens to have some of the coolest uncommon creature designs I’ve seen in a long time. All said and done, this set does truly live up to its name.
If you want to provide feedback on these decks or share your experiences with them, I’d love to hear from you! You can find my socials and all those silly little things here.
commander, dear reader 