MAGIC: THE GATHERING’s new FOUNDATIONS set is Cats vs. Vampires

Since time immemorial, mankind has looked to the stars and wondered, “Who would win in a fight: cats or vampires?” Well, wonder no more, because Magic: The Gathering brings this age-old conflict to the forefront of their new Foundations together.

Scheduled for release on November 15, 2024, Magic: The Gathering Basics is not only meant to attract the most excited internet users, but rather designed for beginners. As the name suggests, Foundations is intended to serve as a core for casual and competitive games Magic: The Gathering play for the next 5 years, at least as far as Standard goes. The set is split roughly 50-50 between new cards and old cards that will give players, you guessed it, the foundation they need to move their collection forward.

While in Indianapolis at Gen Con, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Magic: The Gathering Executive Producer Max McCall, who gave us an in-depth look at the thought process behind Foundations, the biggest challenges in bringing it to life, and why it’s the perfect way to introduce beginners to the game.

I also tried the Foundations Starter Box, a pack that includes essentially everything you and a friend need to start playing Magic. The box contains 10 themed Jumpstarts packs that are predetermined to make it easier for beginners to play. The game contains a guided learning experience with two 20-card decks (Cats and Vampires) that guide you through the first 6 rounds or so and introduce key concepts in an easily digestible manner.

Even though I have been playing for Ice ageI was impressed with how well the Beginner Box allows players to get used to the pace of the game. Given that this is a game where you can have infinite combos or literally turn your cards into a computer, ease of entry is key to attracting new players.

While the set is certainly aimed at newcomers with products like the Starter Box, McCall is keenly aware that it also needs to provide value to seasoned players. “The teaching aids become less useful over time,” McCall said. After completing the Starter Box, players can move on to the Starter Collection, which contains 350 cards that will help them continue to build on the foundation of a never-ending war between cats and vampires that they’ve been taught.

Another way they hope to ensure the longevity of this set is to make it Foundations legal in Standard play until 2029, which is about double the usual time. When designing a new set like FoundationsMcCall said the key question they ask is, “How should we think about how the cards in this experience can be relevant for a long time?” The idea of ​​building for longevity makes sense, especially since McCall said sets like Foundations They typically spend three to four years in development, from concept to completion.

While Foundations was clearly intended to be a set with broad appeal across a wide range of skill levels, the design process is most often driven by the setting rather than a desire to explore specific mechanics. In the case of InnistradMcCall noted, it’s a world inspired by gothic fiction, which leads them to vampires and biting mechanisms.

As for McCall’s favorite card in Foundations? A cat lover, he immediately pointed to Helpful Hunter, a 1/1 cat that lets you draw a card when it enters the playfield. Xabi Gaztelua’s artwork features an adorable kitten with a feather in its mouth.

McCall said he liked it not only because of its adorable artwork, but also because it’s an efficient, inexpensive card that makes it easier to draw from your deck, giving it a wide range of uses for players.

Foundations will be available at your local game store on November 15th as well as Magic Arena: The Gatheringthe digital version of the game. Does knowing that these cards will be used for both tabletop and virtual play influence how McCall and company approach their designs?

Yes, but perhaps in more subtle ways than you might think. “The power of tabletop gaming is that you’re playing with someone (face-to-face),” McCall said. That’s because it’s easier to speed things up in person than when you’re playing with a stranger online. So, McCall noted, the team tends to “avoid things that slow down the pace of the game.”

Of course, part of the joy of Magic: The Gathering These are the truly crazy combos that players manage to put together. Despite the rotation of cards allowed in the standard game, it’s impossible for designers to know exactly what crazy combinations players will concoct. “We have to design systems where we don’t know all the possible outcomes,” McCall says.

As for what Magic players will cook in the cardboard lab with FoundationsOnly time will tell. We’ll find out together when it hits stores on November 15th.