The Ten Best Commanders From Magic: The Gathering Foundations

Foundations, the Core Set in everything but name, has been impressing MTG players since its recent debut. The set has revitalized Standard, thanks to the combination of incredible new card designs and carefully curated reprints. 

 

However, as we all know, there are other viable Magic: The Gathering formats, and the most popular one is the 100-card singleton Commander format. That said, there's still a lot in this set to like from a Commander perspective, starting with a healthy helping of new legendary creatures to serve as commander. 

 

Here, we'll look at the ten legendary creatures from Foundations that are best suited to be your next commander. From new kindred strategies to a few extra wrinkles on some well-known mechanics, these ten commanders will spruce up your next commander pod. 

 

Averna, the Chaos Bloom

10. Averna, the Chaos Bloom

 

 

    • Costs one blue, one red, and one green mana to cast
    • 4 power/2 toughness
    • As you cascade, you may put a land card from among the exiled cards onto the battlefield tapped. (Do this after the last card is exiled but before deciding whether to cast a nonland card.)
    • Previously printed in Commander Legends

 

The only reprint on this list, Averna harnesses the power of a super-powerful mechanics: Cascade. Cascade effectively gives you two spells for the price of one, but Averna here enhances the cascading by allowing you to take any land you see during a cascade and place it on the battlefield tapped once the cascade sequence ends. An extra spell and an extra land drop? Sign us up. 

 

Averna's Temur color identity gives her access to the majority of the best cascade spells: Apex Devastator, Annoyed Altisaur, Violent Outburst, Shardless Agent, Throes Of Chaos, and the list goes on. Furthermore, Averna's ability says "any land," which means you aren't limited to finding a basic land; if you hit a Triome, you can drop it on the field without a problem. 

 

Kykar, Zephyr Awakener

9. Kykar, Zephyr Awakener

 

 

    • Costs two generic, one white, and one blue mana to cast
    • 3 power/4 toughness
    • Flying
    • Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, choose one:
      • Exile another target creature you control. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step.
      • Create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.

 

Kykar is going to take some setup, but thanks to the blue in that Azorius color identity, you'll have access to plenty of counter magic to keep opponents away from your biggest threats. Not to mention, once Kykar is on the battlefield, that same counter magic can be used to load up on Spirit tokens or blink the creature with the best ETB trigger on your board for some great value. 

 

Imagine playing a Counterspell, then using Kykar's ability to blink a Githzerai Monk,on the turn of the player before me in the pod…that sounds like a dream.

 

Hurska Sweet-Tooth

8. Hurska Sweet-Tooth

 

 

    • Costs two generic and one green mana to cast
    • 3 power/3 toughness
    • Whenever Hurska Sweet-Tooth attacks, create a Food token.
    • Whenever you gain life, you may pay one mana of either green or white. When you do, target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the amount of life you gained.

 

This one shouldn't take much explaining. Every time you gain life with Hurska on the field, one of your creatures is getting buffed into a massive beater for the turn. If that creature has, say, trample or flying, the evasive damage could create a massive difference in life between you and the opponent. 

 

Pairing Hurska with an Aetherflux Reservoir or Authority Of The Consuls seems unfair, as it guarantees someone's getting buffed. Alhammarret's Archive also goes hamm with Hurska, as the buffs are doubled each time. Throw in a lot of life-gaining creatures and spells, and you'll have a massive board state from the minute Hurska lumbers onto the battlefield. 

 

Kellan, Planar Trailblazer

7. Kellan, Planar Trailblazer

 

 

    • Costs one red mana to cast
    • 2 power/1 toughness
    • Pay one generic and one red mana: If Kellan is a Scout, it becomes a Human Faerie Detective and gains “Whenever Kellan deals combat damage to a player, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.”
    • Pay two generic and one red mana: If Kellan is a Detective, it becomes a 3/2 Human Faerie Rogue and gains double strike.

Kellan is somehow his own mana curve! Cast him on turn one, and then activate his ability on each of the next two turns, and you're looking at a 3/2 double-striker that gains you an extra card each turn. 

 

What's more, if he should be sent back to the command zone, you can cast him again on the cheap and, if you have the mana, turn him back into that 3/2 double-striker in no time. Kellan is dangerous at any point of the game, and he's a commander worth keeping an eye on.

 

Loot, Exuberant Explorer

6. Loot, Exuberant Explorer

 

 

    • Costs two generic and one green mana to cast
    • 1 power/4 toughness
    • You may play an additional land on each of your turns.
    • Pay four generic and two green mana, then tap Loot: Look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal a creature card with mana value less than or equal to the number of lands you control from among them and put it onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.

 

The grand prize of the Fomori Vault finds himself in mono-green in Foundations, but he's a deadly little dude in ramp decks. Not only does Loot ramp you with an extra land each turn, but his activated ability could, in the late game, give you access to the scariest creature in your deck without breaking a sweat. 

 

With a few mana dorks, Loot could feasibly enter the battlefield on turn three, then on turn four put two lands into play, activate his ability, and add a Crested Herdcaller for two creatures in one, or a Gigantosaurus and its 10/10 stat line. Add in extra synergy with landfall strategies and you have one intriguing lil' Loot.

 

Dionus, Elvish Archdruid

5. Dionus, Elvish Archdruid

 

 

    • Costs three generic and one green mana to cast
    • 3 power/3 toughness
    • Elves you control have “Whenever this creature becomes tapped during your turn, untap it and put a +1/+1 counter on it. This ability triggers only once each turn.”

 

When Dionus is on the battlefield, and whenever you tap an Elf for mana, you can immediately untap it, buff it with a +1/+1 counter, and tap it again for another mana. Granted, you can only do this once per turn for each elf, but if Dionus can come into the battlefield with Llanowar Elves, Fyndhorn Elves, and/or an Elvish Mystic also on the board, that's double the mana for one creature. 

 

Furthermore, this also allows you to tap Elves for their normal mana output and allows them to block on your opponent's turns. Elf kindred decks are about to see a huge boost with Dionus, so if you're currently running an Elf deck of any kind, consider investing in Jumpstart and seeking out this elf druid.

 

General Kreat, the Boltbringer

4. General Kreat, the Boltbringer

 

 

    • Costs two generic and one red mana to cast
    • 2 power/2 toughness
    • Whenever one or more Goblins you control attack, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token that’s tapped and attacking.
    • Whenever another creature you control enters, General Kreat, the Boltbringer deals 1 damage to each opponent.

 

Aggro in Commander is a tough ask – needing to deal 20 damage as fast as possible is much different than needing to deal 120, after all – but General Kreat here makes a compelling case. He creates Goblins, and then deals damage whenever a creature enters the battlefield. That's quite the one-two punch. 

 

Impact Tremors and Warstorm Surge sing with General Kreat, but any spells that create tokens will also be welcome here. Burn Down The House will ping each opponent three times, while Empty The Warrens can be a game-ender if you're planning a Storm sub-theme. Could General Kreat be the aggro commander of our dreams? Time will tell, but we like his odds. 

 

Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder

3. Evereth, Viceroy Of Plunder

 

 

    • Costs two generic and one black mana to cast
    • 2 power/2 toughness
    • Sacrifice another creature or artifact: Put a +1/+1 counter on Evereth, Viceroy of Plunder. If the sacrificed permanent was a Treasure, Evereth gains lifelink until end of turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
    • When Evereth dies, you may pay one generic mana and one hybrid mana that's either black or red. When you do, Evereth deals damage equal to its power to each opponent.

 

Rakdos has no shortage of Treasure-creating cards, and should Evereth be on the field for a big bounty, she can instantly buff herself to the point where even taking her out of the game can be a problem. Of course, if you have another way to sacrifice a creature, you can do that yourself as well, ending the game in one fell swoop. 

 

Some would argue that Evereth belongs at the top of the list, and we see the argument too. Her placement at #3 comes down to one simple argument: She's going to be "remove on sight" for a lot of pods based on reputation alone, and not hitting the field will obviously limit her ability to be impactful.

 

Gornog, the Red Reaper

2. Gornog, The Red Reaper

 

 

    • Costs two generic and one red mana to cast
    • 2 power/3 toughness
    • Haste
    • Cowards can’t block Warriors.
    • Whenever one or more Warriors you control attack a player, target creature that player controls becomes a Coward.
    • Attacking Warriors you control get +X/+0, where X is the number of Cowards your opponents control.

 

Gornog is nuts. First, he makes it so any Cowards on the field can't block Warriors. Then, he adds to the Coward count whenever you attack with a Warrior. If that wasn't enough, he also increases all attacking Warriors' power by the number of Cowards all opponents control. 

 

Say you have three other Warriors and Gornog on the field, and each of your opponents only has a single creature. You can send each of your opponents one of your Warriors, which then allows you to turn all three of those creatures into Cowards, which then gives all of your attackers +3/+0 for extra damage. Red has plenty of Warrior creatures to choose from too, so there's many different ways you can go with ol' Gornog. 

 

Shroofus Sproutsire

1. Shroofus Sproutshire

 

 

    • Costs two generic and one green mana to cast
    • 1 power/1 toughness
    • Trample
    • Whenever a Saproling you control deals combat damage to a player, create that many 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens.

 

Imagine that: A cheap legendary creature from the Jumpstart set is the best commander from all of Foundations. First off, this list proves Foundations Jumpstart is teeming with amazing legendary creatures, with seven of the 10 names on this list coming from Jumpstart. More importantly, though, Shroofus here has the most potential of any other legendary in the set. 

 

Let's paint a scenario:

  • Turn one, drop a Forest and play a one-mana creature. Green has plenty of them, but if you want to stay on the Fungus/Saproling theme, Tukatongue Thalid is a great option – even if another player kills it, you'll get a Saproling in its wake. 
  • Turn two, another Forest, then cast Fists Of Ironwood and enchant your one creature. Not only does the existing creature gain trample – which might not come in handy as a 1/1, but it will later with a few board buffs – but two more Saprolings enter the fray as well. 
  • Turn three, a third Forest, and here comes Shroofus. From there, attack with the Saprolings from your previous turns, and if they all get through, your Saproling count instantly doubles. 

 

There are two key parts of Shroofus's ability that make it so potent:

  • First, it reads "Whenever a Saproling you control," which is missing a very important "one or more" clause. Each attacking Saproling is its own separate instance. 
  • Second, this effect begins as soon as Shroofus hits the battlefield, and he doesn't have to be among the attackers. There's no "When this creature attacks" clause either!

 

Those two omissions turn Shroofus into a potent Saproling commander into the best commander in the whole dang set, simply for how quickly a board of his can get out of hand. Throw in an Overrun or the typical go-wide enders like Craterhoof Behemoth or Finale of Devastation – or perhaps even another new card from Foundations in Banner Of Kinship – and no one will be able to stop your Saproling steamroll. 

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