With MagicCon Vegas upon us, this is the time of year for Wizards of the Coast to make some of their most anticipated announcements. With collaborations in the works for IPs such as Final Fantasy, Spiderman, and even SpongeBob SquarePants, Wizards is truly living by their mantra that “Magic is for everyone.” To that end, Wizards of the Coast is debuting a new set for players that takes the most important aspects of Magic: The Gathering and compiles them together for players of every skill level. This unique approach to building a set is yet another example of Magic being for everyone.
During the panel that first introduced us to the Foundations Era of Magic, lead designer, Mark Rosewater, said (to paraphrase) that the goal was not to oversimplify or dumb down the fantastic gameplay of Magic: The Gathering. Rather, the goal of Foundations is to introduce new players to Magic and show them why players are in love with Magic. He made the point that it’s ok if new players don’t understand everything right away. Magic at its best will bring them back, and Foundations is a nice on-ramp to make that transition just a little smoother.
Because Foundations will be legal in Standard until at least 2029, it was important for it to also be relevant and appealing to players who have been playing for a long time. Reprints of popular cards like Shivan Dragon, Progenitus, and Herald of Eternal Dawn will keep longtime players engaged in Foundations as it helps shape the Standard-legal meta in Magic: The Gathering. New cards are also being introduced, like Niv Mizzet, Visionary, which if played in tandem with Niv Mizzet, Parun, can create a game-winning infinite loop.
Although there are treasures to be had by all players in Magic: The Gathering Foundations, the set was created with new players in mind. One of the hardest things about teaching someone how to play Magic is that there is so much going on that it can be a tad overwhelming at first. Foundations addresses this issue by introducing the new Beginner's Box. The Beginner's Box includes 8 Jumpstart packs and two teaching decks. Each Jumpstart pack contains 20 cards and can be shuffled with another Jumpstart pack to make a playable 40-card deck. The Beginner's Box will also include 2 gameboard playmats useful for showing new players where things should sit ideally on their side of the battlefield. 2 spin-down dice are also included.
While learning how to play will be much easier with the Beginner's Box, Wizards wanted to give new players the opportunity to start their card collection with cards they would really benefit from having access to. Set designer and panel presenter Carmen Klomparens gave a totally relatable anecdote about starting a card collection with a hand-me-down shoe box full of cards. My own “shoe box” was a large box of cards I bought on eBay in 2014, but I related to the frustration of having a giant box of mostly useless cards to sort through on top of having to learn this incredibly complex game.
Starting a new card collection or adding to an existing collection will become much easier with the Starter Collection. The Starter Collection will include everything you need to get started in Magic, including over 400 cards. A life counter, a storage box, and a deck-building guide are also included to help new players get all the building blocks they need. Currently, Amazon is allowing people to pre-order the Starter Collection for approximately $56 USD, so it’s sure to be a decent value for anyone who wants to expand their existing collection as well. Of course, as with any set, Magic: The Gathering Foundations will also have play boosters, collector boosters, and booster bundles available.
Foundations is sure to rock the landscape of Magic: The Gathering for the foreseeable future. With classic favorites coming back to Standard until at least 2029, broader accessibility for new players, and a treasure trove of new cards coming, there is sure to be something for everyone. While it remains to be seen how this new venture will affect competitive play or the overall cost of playing, we can be sure that all eyes are on Magic: The Gathering Foundations.