I feel the need to come clean here. I am significantly out of touch with recent events in the world of Magic. The latest release themed around Spider-Man isn't resonating with me, and due to new personal commitments, I won't be able to attend any large events in 2025.

With being so out of touch, you can imagine my surprise when I saw a picture of a slide that flashed up during MagicCon Atlanta a couple weeks ago, showcasing Magic's upcoming set schedule. Have you seen this yet?

Out of the seven sets planned in 2026, more than half of them are Universes Beyond products! There's another Marvel set, a set themed around The Hobbit, and a set based on Star Trek. The unannounced Universes Beyond set releasing in March 2026 is almost assuredly comic book themed, because Wizards of the Coast plans to announce the new set at New York Comic Con.

Wow. It seems like Magic won't even feel like Magic for more than half of 2026. It makes me reminisce, longing for the days of classic wizards, goblins, and dragons battling it out in a fantasy-themed multiverse.

In fact, in order to relive some of this nostalgia, we don't have to go far back in history. A recent set release, still legal in Standard, did a fantastic job establishing a baseline fantasy world in which to experience all the classic flavor we've learned to associate with Magic. The set is none other than Foundations!

A Homage to Foundations

Foundationsis designed as an entry-level Magic set designed to provide a common base for newer players. In addition to reintroducing classics into Standard such as Llanowar Elves and Shivan Dragon, the set is also scheduled to remain Standard-legal through 2029.

That's fine by me, because a) there are no overpowered cards in Foundations that would merit a banning conversation (at least at this point in time) and b) the set provides a nice fantasy-world foundation on which Magic is built, pun intended. Let's face it: in a world where Spock may be attacking Spider-Man while Bilbo Baggins eats a Bagel with Schmear, it's comforting to know I can always look back to Foundations if I want a dose of classic Magic.

What makes Foundations feel like a Magic set? Allow me to highlight some classic pieces of art, color by color, and how they remind me of the "golden years" of Magic.

White

Angels, Cats, and Soldiers--these are what I think about when I think of White cards in Foundations. There are plenty of other White cards in the set, but these come most readily to mind when I recall my favorites. Coincidentally, this is consistent with White cards of yore as well.

Take the three cards above, for example: Dazzling Angel (Daneen Wilkerson), Inspiring Paladin (Valera Lutfullina) and Prideful Parent (Leonardo Santanna). The art on these cards admittedly include a bit more detail and technical depth than comparable cards from Alpha. But don't these cards remind you of some Magic classics? Compare these three cards with three classic ones printed back in the 90s.

Tormented Angel, Order of Leitbur, and Savannah Lions all look a little dated when compared with the Foundations cards, especially on power level. The way that the art on these cards evoke a fantasy world, however, feels consistent with Foundations. With a little updating with modern-day techniques, the arts could have been swapped and everything would still have fit in with Foundations' theme.

Blue

While I do appreciate the art on many of Blue's cards in Foundations, I don't experience as many flashbacks to classic cards while browsing the art catalogue. That said, there are a couple cards worth mentioning: Rune-Sealed Wall (Rockey Chen) and Strix Lookout (Josiah "Jo" Cameron).

What I appreciate in both of these cards is the fact that they are a nod to other classic cards. Rune-Sealed Wall reminds me that Magic sets used to have a ton of walls in them. Young players at the time, such as myself, flocked toward these non-attacking creatures because our casual games were so centered around combat. Rune-Sealed Wall reminds me of other Blue Walls in Magic's past, such as Illusionary Wall.

Strix Lookout is a callback to Owls in Magic, and how they used to help you manipulate the top of your library. Sage Owl and Spire Owl are two classic examples from history. Again, such card art could have been swapped and they would not have felt out of place in Foundations.

Black

The Black cards in Foundations are riddled with Skeletons, Zombies, and Demons--the kinds of creatures that go bump in the night and haunt your nightmares. Such flavorful connections date all the way back to Magic's beginnings, when Alpha introduced cards like Scathe Zombies, Drudge Skeletons, and Lord of the Pit.

In Foundations, we instead have Hungry Ghoul (Paolo Parnete), Gutless Plunderer (Loïc Canavaggia), and Arbiter of Woe (Jim Pavellec).

If I told you that the first piece of art was called Scathe Zombies, the second Drudge Skeletons, and the third Lord of the Pit, you may not blink an eye. They all fit in so well with classic Magic concepts, bringing us back to the well...foundations...of the game!

Red

When I think of Red in Magic, two things immediately come to mind: goblins and burn. Unsurprisingly, Red cards in Foundations have plenty of both! Consider, for examples, Boltwave (Caio Monteiro) and Courageous Goblin (Ben Wootten).

Not every Red card in Foundations adheres to these tropes, but I singled out these two cards for their classic and iconic nature. Boltwave reminds me of any number of burn spells from Magic's past: Flare, Shock, Fireball, Torrent of Lava, Scorching Spear, etc. The colors and depiction of a giant fireball means that Boltwave could fit in with the virtually endless history of burn cards in Red.

Courageous Goblin's art is more detailed and technical than some classic Goblin cards, but the Goblin itself looks just like the Goblins of yesteryear. The card's art reminds me of Mons's Goblin Raiders, Goblin Hero, Goblin Piker, or any of the other classic Goblin creature cards. Cards like Boltwave and Courageous Goblin are what I think of when I consider Red's color identity in Magic's earliest sets.

Green

Green Foundations cards--especially the creature cards--are all throwbacks to classic cards from Magic's early history. For example, a quick scan of Scryfall shows that Green creature types in this set include Giants, Elves, Dinosaurs, Hyenas, Wolves, Boars, Elephants, Beasts, Wurms, and Spiders. It turns out nearly every one of these creature types show up (via errata in some cases) on Green cards from Magic's earliest years.

Let's look at a couple examples: Treetop Snarespinner (Steve Ellis) and Quilled Greatwurm (Michal Ivan).

Both Spiders and Wurms are absolute classics when it comes to Magic! The first Spider ever printed appeared in Alpha, Giant Spider. Similarly, the first Wurm ever printed in Magic was also in Alpha, Craw Wurm. But Wizards didn't stop there. They continued to print numerous Spiders and Wurms throughout the game's first few sets.

Spiders: Canopy Spider, Root Spider, Plated Spider, Wooly Spider, Giant Trap Door Spider

Wurms: Johtull Wurm, Scaled Wurm, Jungle Wurm, Spined Wurm, Thundering Wurm, Fallow Wurm, Harvest Wurm, Dirtcowl Wurm

These lists both go on and on, but even by the late 90s there were numerous Spiders and Wurms with which to play. I love that Foundations remained true to classic Magic by continuing this trend and propagating each of these creature types further.

By the way, before anyone can try and debate that Dinosaurs didn't exist in early Magic, allow me to remind you of Magic's earliest Dinosaur, Fungusaur (errata'd to be a Fungus Dinosar). If this giant reptilian creature isn't a Dinosaur, then I don't know what is.

It's because of Daniel Gelon's Fungusaur that I have no issue with a card like Quakestrider Ceratops existing in Foundations.

Wrapping It Up

There are plenty of additional honorable mentions across multi-colored and colorless cards. Anthem of Champions is a revamped Honor of the Pure, Leyline Axe reminds me of all the general weapon cards we see across Magic, and Soulstone Sanctuary is a bigger, harder hitting Mishra's Factory.

Each of these cards, along with many others, remind me of what captured my imagination when I first got into Magic almost 30 years ago. And it's these same cards that remind me why I still love the way this game makes me feel as I leaf through my collection.

Granted, if I want to hop on Arena and fire up a draft or a Standard match, I need to accept the fact that I'll be encountering bizarre spider-like cards with generic-sounding names from Through the Omenpaths. In my local game store, I have to anticipate battling against Dr. Who, Spider-man, and Sponge Bob all in the same game. This new direction of Magic isn't where I'd take it if I were piloting the ship. That being said, as long as I can get my regular dose of the classics, I think I'll manage. Thanks to Foundations, I don't have to look too far back in history to sense the nostalgia for which I long.