Why Five Years Won't Work

[@mrpoparq]

In my mind, I prefer standard when it’s closer to pauper. Weaker threats, decent interaction, and weird synergies that come from the unique environment.

[@that1jamo]

This set feels like actual magic and not shenanigans.

[@codyhanson1344]

not even a single split card or double faced card, I'm impressed.

[@wedgearyxsaber]

Not a single collectively-worn hat to be spotted.

[@joeferreti9442]

The 5 year thing will very likely fail and WotC will just change everything before 5 years are over. WotC usually barely manages to last one year without making changes with severe impact to everything. :/

[@Jerhevon]

I'm curious what revamps are done along the way. You can revamp the Jumpstart product each year. And maybe only big box stores really need to carry the beginner set and starter collections. And routinely classic games hold a shelf position for years there. Still can find base level Monopoly and Catan after all.

[@AJHornet1]

The basic game of magic has always been very good. Power level doesn’t need to be high to enjoy the game.

[@warpdrivefueledbyinsomnia8165]

One of my favorite cards of all time is Ice Age Scaled Wurm. It's a terrible creature now, and was even then. But, man, did my 12 year old self love windmill slamming that thing onto the kitchen table.

[@matthewgagnon9426]

@@warpdrivefueledbyinsomnia8165 I had a similar love for Scaled Wurm as a kid. It's just a cool looking card, and I've looked at it so much that it's one of the VERY few images I can actually call to mind, normally picturing things in my head is essentially impossible.

[@qarsiseer]

I started with M13 and I never understood the core set hate. Core sets in particular have a grounding effect on the game, on power level, on complexity, and importantly on fantasy. I love fantasy and core sets are always so married to it. Then the limited environments are often a return to magic fundamentals, a breath of fresh air. I’ve been treating this as the last Magic set for now. I’m hopeful for Tarkir, but I’m keeping my doubts. We’ll see.

[@matthewgagnon9426]

Core sets prior to M13 in particular tended to be pretty bad. If you go back to 8th Edition and before they were REALLY bad, not counting Unlimited/Revised which had cards that still haven't been surpassed for what they do of course. The hate for core sets stems from that period and a fair number of years after because they were full of cards that were just not good for people who were already playing the game and they were bad entrypoints for new players because while they were all super simple, the cards just sucked so any other deck without those cards would probably kick your heinie. Core sets just never shed that reputation even if all the M# sets were overall fine.

[@chrisjones6792]

I am giving Foundations a chance, but for me, it's also an off ramp. If Universes Beyond creates a standard thats not for me, I'm sleeving up my starter collection and cube drafting it at home, and probably not coming back.

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

This.

[@Eheth1958]

Nobody cares. I’m for one excited for 2025.

[@lordflashheart3741]

​@@Eheth1958Nobody cares about your gormless opinion either...

[@DaroriDerEinzige]

@@Eheth1958 Sure. Some mindless consumers will be excited for it. At least they tell everybody about it. Then, couple of years down the line - WotC is unhappy because the mindless consumers found something else to dump their money in. It isn't like that didn't happened already to WotC. With D&D. Which primarly got somewhat saved by the actions of third parties which were dedicated D&D Fans. Because in regards of P&P - Nobody really wanna dump his money anymore into it and aaall those fancy excited consumers which pushed for certain stuff ... they aaall stuck to the third party material like PC Games and pirate the D&D Books. ... So, tell me, what do you think will happen to Magic, the Cardgame in two~three years? A bigger push towards MTG Arena? :)

[@IllSendDuckPics]

I think as someone whos not nostalgic to MTG, having played only 1.5 year, the reason why foundations was my favorite prerelease having played them since WoE is just how it didn't add a mechanic. It was just plain and simple.

[@exilenl]

As a returning player that is quite overwhelmed by the amount of cards and the wealth of information that wasn't there when I played 25 years ago, Foundations gives me something 'solid' to latch on to. I'm gonna collect it and use it as a base for starting to build my own commander decks. The way internet gives access to magic is astonishing. Click, click, click, you have a decklist, click, click, cardmarket and a week later your deck arrives. But at the same time, this has taken some of the magic out of Magic for me ;)

[@kylegonewild]

Playing RDW after M10 and M11 dropped was so gratifying with access to bolt and Chandra's Phoenix and Inferno Titan. Best time playing Standard for me until Innistrad dropped. I like the idea of a core set thing coming back but man 5 years is a long time for Standard and idk if I'm confident it will pay off in the long run. Also, Standard is now just wearing the corpse of Extended.

[@Zaxophone32]

Listening to you talk made me better understand my issues with UB. Magic hasn’t felt like magic for a while, and as someone who started playing in Odyssey that feels really bad. I think the reason I hate UB so badly is because it is the zenith of magic not feeling like magic and communicates that wizards is willing to abandon old magic. I would personally be more open to Universes Beyond if the rest of the sets felt more like classical magic, not like UB without an actual IP

[@viyami]

Here's how it works: Initial optimistic wave with "to demand" small runs until the third or fourth year to let product begin evaporating. I also fully believe that Foundations sets are intended to begin serving as foundations for new 60 card eternal formats.

[@Tr3yWill]

I'd rather have this set for 5 years than have them do the exact same set with slightly different cards next year. Or in a few months. That's how most sets feel mechanically. 90% of sets feel like the exact same with slight variations on cards. Oh, here's our 2 mana white 3/1 that saves itself somehow. Here's our "thrill of possibility" from this set with a slight change. I hope that Foundations opens space in new sets for not the same ol' cards with [set mechanic] stapled to them.

[@tomleggosaurus1]

That's 100% what I'm thinking Foundations is for. They don't need to keep reprinting these cards now, we just have them for a long time.

[@finalrambobino]

donw wory they will do both

[@miguelfreitas5343]

Honestly, I'm very sad about this whole situation... Not because I dislike Foundations, I love foundations. But it's that love specifically that makes it all the worse when, next year, we have nothing but UB sets and magic sets that sure as well feel like UB. Next year will be a sad one for magic, I feel 😔

[@davwad2]

Were the three regular Magic sets cancelled?

[@AJHornet1]

@@davwad2if you don’t get it, you don’t get it.

[@Kaprak10]

@@davwad2 No, but they don't think Tarkir is Magic apparently.

[@famousstranger8468]

Such a non point 'I'm going to due one day so life is pointless' is what you are saying. You will enjoy magic next year you will keep playing with your friends next year magic is fine

[@jyrinx]

@@davwad2 When you say three regular Magic sets, are you counting Magic but it's discount Tron and Magic but it's discount Star Wars?

[@throstlewanion]

I've recently managed to get my brother into Magic (specifically with the 40K precons), and I've been meaning to show him the joys of drafting and deck building. I was fairly disillusioned with all the UB controversy, but after seeing all the spoiled cards and hearing that people liked the draft experience I bit the bullet and bought a booster box. I feel like for me specifically this product is fantastic to show new players what TRUE magic is like. I can't wait to draft it with my brother and my old playgroup once we get together for Christmas.

[@Azeria]

Worth mentioning that core sets all have ugly ass set icons and foundations doesn’t.

[@sanguinedeserter561]

THE MTG COMMENTER

[@christhompson8003]

7 didnt, 7s icon was cool. Loved the stylized 7 and would have prefered it if all core sets had followed that style.

[@kurdist_baleer]

4th didnt...

[@Azeria]

@@christhompson8003 yeah I meant the ones named after the year, not the Xth editions.

[@brendans1983]

​@@kurdist_baleer to see the 4th Edition set symbol you just have to soak the card in black coffee for 3 minutes, makes it stand right out 🍻

[@pauldyson8098]

I always loved core sets, unexciting though they were, for two reasons: since they were comprised entirely of reprints and, later, comprised mostly of reprints, it gave my damn wallet a break; even more important, though, core sets, along with the old block structure, gave a sense of cadence/rhythm and a sense of predictable change to formats, to Standard most of all. With all the UB products forthcoming, I think we need core sets now more than ever. None of this is to gainsay anything you say here, Vince; I just fucking love core sets. I also love vanilla ice cream and missionary sex, so do with that what you will. Also, 100% agree with your take that Foundations doesn't make it five years.

[@refundreplay]

I love sex and Ice cream too. If missionary and vanilla is all that's available, well... I'm in like Flynn.

[@trevordwyer5638]

Universes Beyond in standard is the end for most players.

[@PleasantKenobi]

You wish.

[@trevordwyer5638]

@@PleasantKenobi Why would I wish that? It is simple fact - a lot of players want nothing to do with UB and it is being forced on them.

[@natedavis5567]

He's a Hasbro apologist, no reasoning with him ​@@trevordwyer5638

[@minabasejderha5972]

One frustration I have with Jumpstart is that I think it was a big mistake to not have the cards, or at least most of them, be standard legal. You might open a pack where you really like the strategy, and might want to see how it handles in constructed, only to find out that none of the important cards for it are legal anywhere except commander. And I feel like that is gonna bite new players even harder than it bit me. Otherwise, my experience of the Foundations products has been pretty damn good.

[@Crushanator1]

Yeah, an absolute outrage that Jumpstart is advertised in the Beginner Box *and* has the Foundations label but is Commander only. Meanwhile Spider-Man has to be standard legal because it's allegedly too difficult to keep that contained to Commander (when it's clear they want the money and to get away with it)

[@SuperWillieee]

@Crushanator1 The beginner box isn’t actually jumpstart, it’s all standard legal jumpstart *style* packs. It’s is confusing at times but the professor just released a video yesterday about the beginner box and starter collection. You should watch it.

[@tthien93]

Hot take: Final fantasy will take a lot of mtg players and congent creators by surprise with how mtg-adjacent it feels. Many people focus on the poster children like Cloud or Sephiroth, but the worlds of most FF games are very high-fantasy. If the design team does a good job showing this, Vince and other mtg players are in for a pleasant surprise.

[@ieatvirgins]

As a FF5 enjoyer, I hope they do Bartz justice!

[@lettsplay8124]

I second this. As a life long final fantasy fan that has played 90% of the entries, I think the final fantasy set is going to mesh very well.

[@ToadimusPrime]

Yup, agreed. I've played most of the games, and when you look at the world outside some of the poster characters...the Gods of FF, the "magic", the artifacts...it all feels similar to many other high-fantasy things.

[@ArtisticTomahawk]

Agreed. I feel like it could be like a mashup of Kaladesh, New Capenna, and Kaldheim Spider-Man though =/

[@djentile7773]

Im stoked for final fantasy set. I will actually be dropping money on that.

[@Dylfunkle]

I agree with three years, almost exactly, they'll announce early rotation after two. I'd almost bet a triome on that exact unfolding. I absolutely love foundations right now and want to see more of it in the future, a baseline availability for new players is wonderful to me.

[@quartersskates]

I really like Foundations, but we have to realize that a lot of the hype is coming from the fact that we are viewing it as a last hurrah before Wizards fucks all of us with Universe Beyond. There is little value in the set and that will dwindle with 5 years of printing, it's been hard for me to sink me teeth into the set or justify spending money on it.

[@cpeterso]

Thesis: core sets once a year Antithesis: no core sets Synthesis: a core set every five years

[@scaredycat3146]

It's sort of interesting that a set with no story, no worldbuilding, just a bunch of random cards and characters with some minor lore at most, feels more like a magic set than any other recent set. If the lesson of this should be to change something about the writing process or mostly just give up on magic story I'm not certain. Maybe the "story spotlight approach" is part of the problem. Older sets had a world first and second there might've been some story happening there. And more often than not, you didn't know unless your read the books or articles. Nowadays I feel we have more "action panel cards" so to say, and everything else is somewhat glued on.

[@Idran]

I don't know; I remember when I was in middle school and Weatherlight came out, reading articles in Duelist about the storyline there just like you're describing, and feeling incredibly frustrated that all this story wasn't more forward-facing and directly presented for the players? I'm not going to say everyone felt that way, but at least personally it _really_ bothered me that there was all this lore behind everything that you had to go out of your way to understand if you wanted to, and even then you couldn't be sure that you weren't missing something.

[@chrisbenson6753]

How to say all the "UB doomsayers" were right without saying "all the UB doomsayers were right."

[@jhonea6535]

So they've watered down the product so much that a core set feels refreshing and nostalgic. For about one season.

[@ty_sylicus]

I always loved Core Sets and look forward to PreReleases with them.

[@thatepicwizardguy]

Got no actual problem with universes beyond in a vaccuum but to this point its clearly been enough of a focus that wotc have put less effort into in universe sets to the point where we had ZERO good magic feeling sets this year until foundations. MKM was just detective hats. Thunder junction was just cowboy hats. Bloomburrow was just Redwall. Duskmourne was ALMOST cool but then it was just a vehicle for 80s tropes... Modern Horizons is a fuckfest every time and has no theme besides "power creep". Its fucking embarrassing how little effort went into all of these sets. Thank the gods we're getting Tarkir soon but we're also getting fucking wacky races and magic in space. I HATE what theyve done to the in universe stuff. Meanwhile the UB stuff is actually very strong thematically and delivers basically every time and its OBVIOUS its where all their A team effort is going. Hate it.

[@PleasantKenobi]

Even if you hate the powecreep, saying MH3 has no theme is absolutely false.

[@STVMcarbondragon]

With all the focus on UB lately, Foundations feels like a breath of familiar air. No weird, trope-heavy theming, no FIRE powercreep, just mostly familiar faces wearing some new makeup in some cases. I personally was already pretty excited for it, and then I realized both Balmor, Battlemage Captain and Third Path Iconoclast are in standard for a little while and my Young Peezy-loving soul just reignited. And Balmor sticks around for 5 years so I'm just another "little guy that makes little guys" away from running the same deck for half a decade!

[@Shimatzu95]

Of coure people are positive about foundations. For the most part its the only normal set we get in the next 6(?) months till takir.

[@Soshikix]

Call me crazy, but every set should feel like MTG.

[@grindcardoso1]

Crazy talk bro.

[@ewanhiddleston6642]

I think the idea of Foundations is to be a scaffold to hang the churn of sets every 5 minutes on and I think it's an idea worth trying. The people who want novelty and the people who want consistency are different audiences. I was listening to the 300th episode of the Dive Down podcast where they had Richard Garfield on recently and when talking about the longevity of Magic he'd talked about how if they just focused on designing new cards they'd run out of steam, but if they focused on designing environments it could go on forever. I think Foundations is a great way to test this. Lanowar Elves and Burn spells always help define the environment, 3 and 4 drops become a lot stronger with elves, burn sets a clock to how fast decks should expect to be, so you are setting the expectations of the format and allowing people who don't want churn the frames of decks to hang onto. And for the people who want change and novelty they have the everchanging Hat sets, the cowboy hat format, the space opera hat format and they have a basic structure to attack. It might not pay off, but it's an experiment worth trying. And I'd be picking up Standard again because of Foundations if it weren't for the UB sets, so who knows what the analytics are going to say to Wizards? 🫠

[@phinnos]

Started playing with M15, and Foundations reminded me of what made me fall in love with Magic.

[@happyguy333]

Could not agree more. Also Starter set 1999 with the CR-ROM was what *really* got me hooked on magic. I played that thing to death.

[@Chilipotamus]

As someone who enjoys wasting their money on collector packs, I haven't seen a rush on collector packs like this ever, the print run was so small and it's unlikely WotC will "accidentally" find a few more palates of them in a warehouse. My LGS is limiting people to 4 collector boosters per day because they've already churned through a bunch of their stock. People seem to be really getting after the cards with this release, more than I saw in Duskmourn or Bloomburrow, though as you said it might just be because of the new shiny aspect of it. Time will tell, but as someone who has zero interest in Final Fantasy, I don't mind having Foundations to fall back on when the current set isn't to my tastes.

[@mandatoryburnout]

M10 bolt flavor text chefs kiss

[@TreyVaswal]

Five years is a long, long time in MTG.

[@stonepatberg]

Vince, I am very hopeful that the longer time frame( and larger card pool) of standard will help make multiple archetypes viable, I wasn't around whenever extended was a thing but I'm just hoping wizards manages it well.

[@AMSOfficial79]

I'm an OG - been playing since 93/94. Quit playing for 20 years cuz life, came back to it a few moths ago - and the game is unrecognizable. Foundations helps bring it back to its core.

[@megapussi]

I heavily agree with the "they arent gonna make it to 5 years" bet. My bet is 2-3 years in theyre going to announce some sort of revision or supplement or w/e they wanna call it, and be like "okay foundations is staying for 5 years, we're just, like, adjusting it! that totally counts!"

[@korsvisscher4898]

I have noticed the positive vibe, which is kinda a nice chance of pace from magic discourse, I don't think they will rotate it after three years, unless they change the whole rotation thing again. The point is to make standard more of a sound investment, and if you lie about that, idk, I don't see it happening

[@HappyGoldfis]

As a new player, I loved mh3 for the story stuff it brought to the table, it was so fun seeing things I vaguely sorta know are story being parodied or seeing cards for story things I DIDN'T know. It was really fun seeing the Ajani nerd in my group hear me say smth like what's that? And the ensuing RANT, ensuing LECTURE. it was good hearing STORY.

[@Jessalakasam]

Honestly the fact that Foundations so far hasn't been great in standard weirdly gives me hope the 5 year thing will work out. Sure it starts out weak, but as sets are designed with it in mind, the power of these cards may go up as new cards push these older ones. Which could almost give the feeling of a rotating card pool to foundations itself as new strategies building on that foundation come and go. Which will leave it desirable enough to not have it rot on shelves and just generally keep standard interesting. Obviously I could be wrong and FDN just never makes a splash but that seems unlikely

[@fabnasio]

Foundations just has really cool cards without feeling overwhelming, really likable set. For what its worth, the natural meta shift should kind of "soft rotate" some staples out of standard every time a new set comes out. Like in your chainwhirler example, most X/1s will be much worse for a period of time, but become more relevant when chainwhirler rotates back out. With some clever set design, it could keep Foundations feeling fresh by pushing some overperformers back and sleepers to the forefront with each set. Maybe that's a little optimistic though.

[@hushpuppyprod]

I love Foundations because I've never experienced a Core Set (got into the hobby in 2021), and I think it is fun to draft.

[@SkeletonsYouControlHaveHaste]

They made non rotating formats into rotating formats with power creep. That is the ultimate sin imo. My modern burn deck isn't even playable anymore. And then they put helix and boros charm in standard with swift Spear. I'm still pissed because I have this super swagged out burn deck that I can't even play anymore.

[@_z3i]

Those of us that are now really old remember back when there were "Editions" they were a lot like what Foundations is now. They were only legal for ~2 years though but had heavy overlap in what was reprinted from the previous edition so you had some core spells for a lot of years. I’m surprised they didn’t choose to go that path instead because then you get the chance to make minor tweaks every couple of years.

[@michaelmuckinhaupt584]

I think you're spot on with the 5 years dropping to 3. Seems crazy. Personally, I don't like the extra year they've added to Standard. They have too many cards with Standard that seem to do the same exact thing, allowing for 12, 16, or even many more cards in a deck that are just destroy or similar.

[@xholic999]

Well concerning tribal if they keep their 'normal' design patern, there will be no goblin elf or zombie printed in the next 5 year...

[@williamalexhayden]

Drunk hottake without listening to the video, let hasbro/wizards figure out how to save the franchise, and not fight the first option that comes our way in a reasonable mannor

[@SCVM45]

Bars

[@Beckola44]

The biggest problem is the price point for sealed boxes. There will be a few more price increases in 2025. Wizards goal is to eventually have a Play Booster box double the price of a Daft Booster Box ($89.99). Thank you for the video Pleasant Kenobi.

[@asgarzigel]

I believe they will keep priting Foundations as long as people are buying it, so availability shouldn't be a problem. The prices for sealed product (collector boxes in particular) seems really high right now which does indicate that it sells really well right now. (or they have undeprinted it) Still, with how next year looks and can't help but think of Foundations as a last hurrah or some kind of eulogy of Magic as an IP. It's hard to not feel cynical. I also don't think it will stay 5 years, mostly because WotC just makes sweeping changes all the time anyway. Hell, Foundations itself was announced unusually late and awkwardly shoved into the relase schedule, which does make it seem like it wasn't planned long term.

[@Jakerunio]

8:35 I remember, and I also remember Thalia coming back which was also hype. At least it was for me. Kinda miss her a lot in the current format.

[@sirearlgrey2036]

I think some powering down is necessary from time to time. It doesn't have to be as much of a pull-back as the early sets that sold poorly. You don't need to go from a 10 to a 1, but going from 10 to 9 to 8 I think would be healthy for the game. I don't think coming up with new Ragavans and Ocelot Prides (1 mana creatures designed with a philosophy of "and then, and then, and then...") all the time is healthy for the game long-term.

[@Rococorico]

12:10 I guess around late 2026, early 2027, with a couple sets rotating out "early" due to the latest change, Wizards will have some new announcements including a Foundations reassessment. Perhaps a new product expanding on it, a second Starter Collection with the same set symbol, but with more (base set) duplicates and getting different reprints into Standard tackling future gameplay issues their FFL is currently reporting on.

[@TheRawketLawnchair]

About the printing. They said they will make seasonal reprints of the set. Nothing changes just to keep up with demand yo keep the boxes cheap.

[@lostmarble540]

my concern for foundations is it getting immediately powercrept out by the newer sets, cuz if you can build a good deck that's mostly foundations cards then you've got no reason to buy New Product

[@Chilipotamus]

Also, Jumpstart boxes are selling out instantly, I have a few buddies who run a LGS and they said the packs were flying off the shelves when they listed Jumpstart available. They did something weird with the print runs and stocking with Foundations

[@WCD_Media]

I always loved Core Sets. I wish they had never stopped making Core Sets. I just wish I could afford to buy as much Foundations product as possible. However, the best I'll be able to do is buy a few singles online.

[@UnrealCheetah]

As someone who could never get into standard because of the rotation happening so much and can’t afford it, I actually feel like it’s possible to play standard with these cards in standard for 5 years as a base for current and future standard metas

[@Dylfunkle]

I'm one of the seven players who actually really liked the core sets I was here for. M19, m20, and m21 had some lovely lore hits for a new player, and that's where I started looking into the characters and history of the game before things got... "marvel extended cinematic universy." Universes beyond might have been the psychological warfare to turn players back onto the in universe sets. XD

[@GamerFlair]

The problem is honestly just that, 5 year foundations doesn't fix any of the actual issues with standard. The main issues with standards is too many stand alone sets every year, whilst having to have each stand alone set balanced for limited. This results in there being way, way too many options when it comes to "staple" cards. If they are insistant on 6 sets a year and having UB sets, I would prefer to see them doing 2UB sets and then either 2 2 set blocks, or a 3 set block and a standalone. This is because you don't need to print 6 different black premium removal options a year, because we don't want to print a card into 2 sets in a year, but at the same time we need a premium black removal card in every set cos limited. Same applies to counterspells, unsummon style effects etc. For years now, the best standard decks have just straight up been "good stuff" decks. You don't get decks based on the mechanics of any set really, because they are too inconsistant since your pulling cards from 10% (or less now) of the the legal cards. That never used to be the way. Back when I played heavily in the early to mid 00's, you did get good stuff decks, but you got huge amount of decks that actually pulled from the themes of the sets. UG Madness, centered around Madness. Goblins, centre around the tribe theme. Various versions of Slide, centred around Cycling. Affinity around affinity.

[@olipod5470]

How much limited do you play? I’m asking because you don’t seem to know that most of the premium removal printed for limited does not end up seeing play in standard. Same for counterspells. You say that because the sets are balanced for limited they feed too many staples into standard? If you throw limited balance out of the window those sets would feed even more staples into standard. 3 set blocks have failed and will never work, 3rd set of a block is almost always a disaster. I want to believe in 2 set blocks but they completely fumbled the last one they did (ONE was amazing [worst limited set in the last 5 years tho] MOM was a story disaster, and let’s not even talk about Aftermath) so I doubt they repeat the experiment anytime soon. Did you forget that Affinity was a completely broken, meta-warping deck that caused players to quit Magic and Kamigawa block to be completely underpowered? The worst? Affinity stopped playing cards with Affinity at some point, so even that does not support your point. But the message behind is valid, new mechanics are balanced for limited, not pushed enough, and the good cards are few and far between to make a good standard deck out of them most often. But hey there are exceptions! Boros Mice and Mono Red Valiant exist, there is a poison deck and you could say domain decks are in standard since 3 years already (even tho they are almost like Affinity not playing Affinity cards)

[@GamerFlair]

@@olipod5470 Because there are so many different options. Feed the Cycle would see play in standard if it wasn't for the existance of Cut Down, Go for the Throat, Anoint with Afflicition, Sheoldreds Verdict, Shoot the Sheriff and Bitter Triumph, without covering the sacrifice removal spells, of which there are currently 4 different versions, 2 of which exile and one of which also hits planeswalkers. Theres currently 4 Shocks in the format, at least 7 board wipes in white alone (not including Temp Lockdown/Split up etc that are only situational wipes). Affinity was busted, but that was only because it was an outlier. Affinity wouldn't be hated today, because theres a dozen aggro decks that consistantly win on turn 3-4 if they draw the nuts and you don't have the right interaction. It also abused damage on the stack in a way that wouldn't be possible today either. And it was just everywhere, it was relatively easy to play half way decently (its actually got an exceptionally high ceiling to play really well, but its hard to play it "badly") and it bled into Extended too so you couldn't even shift formats to escape it. It was a horrible format for casual players, but its was actually pretty damn fun for competitive ones. Whilst it was very strong, it was also fairly easy to hate out, which is why it didn't actually win nearly as much as you would have expected a so called "one of the strongest decks ever" to win. Boros Mice and Poison aren't anywhere near actually competitive. Domain isn't domain, its just 3 colour good stuff with an extra land or two to cast Leyline for cheaper. I can maybe give valiant, since it does warp from the typical, haste prowess burn of RDW to haste prowess and pump due to valiant. But even that is started to fade out because now theres enough burn again that RDW is going back to the default or playing all the best haste/prowess creatures + burn (and whilst challanger remains because its really good, alot of them are starting to cut manifold/heartfire hero). Affinity was always a Mirrodin block themed artifact deck. Quite how many cards were affinity varied over time, but thoughcast and Frogmite were basically always run, you always had Ravager/Worker with modular. Kamigawa was underpowered due to the backlash against the outlier of Affinity, but really, the reason the format was hated was because it was fucking boring. The decks had no character, they were all just grindy midrange/control shells. Jitte Meloku and Gifts were the best cards in the format, but they were very, very difficult to play with and play against, which made it unpleasent for casuals because every single viable deck had an exceptionally high skill floor that meant the better player would win far, far more often then normal.

[@TripppAU]

Think a lot of the success is also driven from the fact we want to show WotC that core magic and quintessential magic product is still greatly in demand, and they shouldn't just ditch it to the way side.

[@Unknown-qj9sm]

Personally I love seeing these disconnected bits of magic lore from all over the universe, and I’m down with a core set. I loved pulling core sets as a kid and pulling cards that depict truly magical places on them. We aren’t confined by the rules of a single world. We can travel the multiverse in a single pack. It’s kind of given me a strong love for Shandelar. I don’t expect my opinion is super common or anything, but it does make me really happy to see a core set again.

[@Hakaze]

The cards in the set let Wotc not reprints "boring" cards that is needed in constructed, therby letting those slots in newer sets be open for more creative ideas. All in all, this is a farwell to magic. A good end to 30 years of fun. Future will be something else anyway.

[@madcowmoo666]

So two things. 1: They have said Foundations is print to demand for the time it is legal. So if sales slow they will print less but it will still be printed to keep it cheap. 2: My LGS sold out of Foundations to the point we didn't have enough for the release night draft and they bought 50%(or more) than they usually buy of a set they think will sell well.

[@tinyguy8326]

It's kind of wild that two of the most loved sets I can remember in years come in the middle of one of the most hated series of sets I think I've ever seen. People were less mad about the Urza block than they have been about creatures in hats and the ghost busters. Obviously some people love some of these sets, but the hate they have gotten is genuinely novel in how virulent it has been. I really hope we see more attention to traditional magic I.P. because it's good and I'm tired of seeing my friends leave the game because it's not for them anymore.

[@Keksoe666]

Honestly: I love Foundations But that 5 year plan is just stupid We need good Core-Set , at least once a year (if you ask me) First of all: we need a place for functional, more or less high-demand reprints at an affordable price Second: I think we need Core-sets to give new players a place where they can find good, yet easy to understand cards. Another thing would the obvious decrease of prices in the secondary market: if we get some good cards more often it makes them more accessible, it droves down the prices and that's good. Also, last but not least, as you said: Sets lile Foundations felt like Magic, the version of Magic that got me into the game: High Fantasy, Dragons, Elves, slinging Spells, without pitting everyone in Cowboy-suits or cramming a non-magic IP in there

[@najoheuer]

I can only speak to my own LGS, but there's a lot of excitement around Foundations at the moment, much more than for any other recent set. It feels like classic magic, even the new designs mostly just do one thing, instead of everything, and have room for flavor text. I've lamented in recent years that there's hardly any flavor text on any cards, which hurts the storytelling and makes the worlds feel flat, more like an art gallery than a world.

[@EdensukoV]

Loved the set, sealed is awesome. It has a good power level, complexity goes from the very simple to some interesting “high end” ish strategies. I didn’t like that the jumpstart product is not standard legal, that’s the only con I have, as it will confuse new players.

[@SCVM45]

As a dude with no nostalgia, the goblin car set looks lit.

[@bendertusepaki8995]

Fundation is the way to make core set financialy viable by having it available for 10x the usual shelf time of such a product.

[@Moesbi689]

I think I'm the target audience, didnt play for ~10 years and now I'm fully back😁 and considering how sold out everything is it seemed to work quite well

[@boringmonkey6958]

The thing that sort of confuses me about Foundations is, how exactly will these cards remain the "foundations" of Standard, or even remain relevant for five entire years? I don't see power creep allowing for that. Which sort of ties into your point about foundations packs ending up rotting on shelves. People won't want to purchase Foundations packs if in 2/3 years time, the power level of Standard renders the set irrelevant.

[@Vex-MTG]

Notably, while they've said that Foundations will be in Standard for at least five years, they HAVEN'T said that they won't have a new Foundations set until five years. I'm predicting that we'll have multiple Foundations in standard at any given time, just as we had multiple Core sets legal at any point in time previously. 2 or 3 years would be my guess. With a 5 year legality, 3 seems most likely, but we'll see.

[@briankuczynski6884]

I remember some comment that wotc isn't rushing to make a 4th horizon set for modern because balancing around that power level is so much harder. Pioneer horizons is definitely coming though!

[@iancoffey882]

I would say that hearthstone having a classic set hasn’t affected the game negatively. Having something to build with for 5 years fixes a chunk of the standard issue.

[@rocktop-games]

The thing is that there are going to be so many sets in standard now that foundations will be so watered down in there that I doubt you will be bored of being the same cards. Also, mechanically we get a ton of "repeated" cards every few sets. A version of "wrath of god", a version of "o ring" a version of "bolt/shock", etc just side graded or tweaked with the set mechanics. We can save on those now.

[@Kleshumara]

Worth noting for mtg arena players: in Alchemy, Foundations is treated as a regular set and rotation time is 2 years.

[@MCXL1140]

I'm hopeful that the first set we see in 2026 is a foundations type supplement. Foundations is this big long-term standard legal set, but I'm hoping that what they do is they have some sort of sub core sets that add to that easy onboarding pathway.

[@nielsmandemakers720]

Im having so much fun in standard now that foundations is out

[@RadstacheAbides]

It won't become hard to find, they can just print more. Rosewater has said they can keep printing it as much as they need to.

[@Chainsawyou]

They should do multiple foundations, maybe a yearly cycle, like foundations 25,26

[@HasBruce]

If they wanted to sell Foundations it should have had reserved list numbered chase cards. Do like 9 of the power 9 and 500 of each dual. I'm sure they could come up with some reason why Numbered cards gets around the reserved list.

[@KeenanPayne]

I would be very hesitant to describe the positivity surrounding Foundations as "toxic", especially given how much toxic negativity exists in this fandom. I'm happy people are excited and are enjoying the set-regardless of how long it lasts as a foundation for standard. Happiness is good!

[@PleasantKenobi]

Happiness is good. Ignoring problems is not. Toxic positivity is a thing, and it annoys me.

[@alistairetheblu]

One thing not touched on, with everyone hating the idea of 6 standard sets a year, this continuing to be legal will pile on top of that. Say 3 years down the line when all the current standard sets are out, you'll have the current sets to go for, but also still this set.

[@Aigis31]

Heartbreaking: Foundations is so good that it makes Magic fans depressed that there wont be another Foundations any time soon

[@zanehaythorn4140]

I hope that foundations does manage to remain somewhat relevant through its tenure, even if its not particularly likely. I think it can have a meaningful effect re-invigorating standard, which I can only see as being good for the game. My whole playgroup entered into magic pretty recently, and rapidly got enchanted with and then burned out from commander as it was nigh on impossible to convince any of us to get into any 60 card competitive format. Standard just seemed a waste of money, Modern seemed to have too high a barrier to entry and too expensive to keep up with, and pauper has no play base at my LGS. For the first time since I started playing, my friends actually are excited to enter into a 60 card format and play anything other than commander and limited. Foundations having so many classic reprints is helping get a lot of these cards into our hands and build up a good collection for the first time since core sets stopped. Im worried the next few years of standard legal UB cards, likely power crept, might kill that enthusiasm, but its good seeing my friends actually happy about magic again

[@zikegladion6848]

Worth mentioning, the cards shouldn’t be printed anywhere near the whole legality run, so that may affect meta share

[@ryanbarrett5355]

You hit precisely on my feelings about why I favor Foundations and am looking forward to the new Tarkir set. Unlike you, I do not like Universes Beyond. I think it will be longer than a year before we see another love letter set like Foundations featuring classic MtG tribes and card archetypes. So I am gonna hold on to this feeling that Magic feels like Magic for as long as possible. B/c I am not looking forward to sets featuring cars, Spider-Man, and Magic in space.

[@certaingloom3797]

A new format of only legal cards that were printed in Core Sets would be interesting.

[@misomiso8228]

Great vid dude. Just wanted to add!

[@melind82]

Yeah I don't think it'll last either. There is just nothing about foundations that stops it from being a problem in the same way that core sets were.

[@V1C10US]

108 of the Jumpstart cards are standard legal: Scryfall: (game:paper) legal:standard set:j25

[@crss29]

TLDR: the "issue" is completely perspective based. I'm a very nostalgic person. Yet I don't get the nostalgia for "the Magic of old". It's still there. It hasn't gone anywhere. If you want to play "the Magic of old", do it. Other than fully reprint sets, Magic has always grown to be more than it was before. Nothing has been removed from Magic. You can play with Ante, if you so choose. Standard has always been "the new Magic". Foundations has a particular niche in the body of Magic in that it doesn't have the burden of furthering the lore meta plot. And yet it does so by rounding out corners that were found to be unfinished; but that is not the point. It can not go where Magic hasn't gone before. Somewhere it was said the average Magic player plays for 5 years. I'm sure WotC is glad to have us players that feel Mirrodin feels "weirdly different" and not like the "good ol' Magic" still around, buying stuff. But we are definitely not the target market. "The Magic of old" for most current players is less than 5 years old. It may be that Standard is no longer for you. That's not a bad thing. Our game is SO GREAT that if you want to play Urza's block Limited, you can. There is no limit.

[@corinelliott3596]

I'm only planning on engaging in products that feel like magic which is what I've done for years now. It's easy on my wallet and has forced me to delve into older sets. No cowboys, racecars, gangsters, space opera, or UB for me. I'll be one of those @#€%s in the comments section and tell you to stop smoking crack. Love you anyway though.

[@IdlestHands]

Most of the buzz around Foundations is about the mechanics of it, very few people are gushing over it because of the IP or lore elements, which is fair enough as they are thin on the ground.

[@KebbieG]

After getting these themes that feel like magic. Foundations is by far the best set this year. I loved LCI a lot but Foundations might even be better than that.

[@Wabajck]

Given all sorts of other format changes havent lasted 5 years, faster standard, 2 set blocks, and etc, I do not think this will last 5 years unchanged unless people massively give up on it

[@anthonydelfino6171]

4:00 and they both have Ajani on the box! 😂

[@PleasantKenobi]

Nailed it.

[@Kallistosprom]

Bring back Revised!

[@Kallistosprom]

Or am I just being old.