Core Sets are back, baby! Well, not quite. Wizards of the Coast has just announced a new type of Magic: The Gathering set, MTG Foundations. It’s coming out on November 15, 2024, and will contain new cards legal for Standard.
The company’s latest attempt to devise an MTG set that teaches new fans how to play Magic: The Gathering and also sells, Foundations will have plenty of iconic reprints, like Llanowar Elves, Day of Judgement, and Omniscience.
It’ll also have new cards, such as this very simple anthem, Anthem of Champions, and this almost unkillable cat, Nine-Lives Familiar.
Polygon has revealed that, along with the regular Play and Collector boosters, Foundations will also be sold in Beginner boxes and Starter collections. The Beginner Box is 200 cards in ten packs that can be jammed together to make instant decks, Jumpstart-style. The Starter Collection, meanwhile is described as the next step, and is a larger, pricier product containing 350 cards.
We were just wondering about the gaping hole left in the MTG release schedule now that Duskmourn is revealed to be releasing in September, and it looks like this is what’s coming to fill it.
Honestly, it’s a breath of fresh air to see cards with only a line or two of rules text, but we imagine the fans who already complain of product fatigue aren’t going to be thrilled at having a fifth Standard set to try and keep up with.
It’s not yet clear exactly how Foundations will differ from Core Sets, which were previously aimed at new players. This product line returned in 2017 after a cancellation two years earlier, but only made it a further three years before they were canned once more in 2021. Personally, I had a soft spot for Core Sets, so hopefully Foundations will fare better than they did.
For more articles, check out our guide to the best MTG precon decks, and our picks for the very best MTG commanders.