Fishing PoleFishing Pole | Art by Franz Vohwinkel

In the breathing room at the beginning of the year before we launch into 2025’s chaotic and exciting upcoming sets, I want to kick off a series of articles digging into set releases with a slightly different angle to many top 10s.

I approach this list with the aim of selecting cards that make for interesting and memorable games – where you leave your evening with the warm feeling of having had good and interactive games where things happened.

These cards are not necessarily going to help you win games, and they are not selected to introduce chaos or randomness, but I hope that they will help to inject some interest and interactivity, keeping players engaged with games and perhaps generating new and interesting situations.

Now that we have spent some time with Foundations, I want to start by listing my top 10 Interesting & Interactive cards from the set.

In a set where we have had the chance to play some of the most “classic” Magic in years, there are still some fascinating cards for your Commander decks. Since Foundations was part-reprints and part-new cards, this list will include some of each.

Whether or not a card is interesting is subjective, so this is an inescapably biased list, but I hope that it will make for an interesting read, perhaps make you think about a card that has passed you by in the maelstrom of new sets and products, and maybe generate a discussion or two.

Honorable Mentions

Before I get stuck into the list, an honorable mention – Fishing PoleFishing Pole. By anyone’s metric Fishing PoleFishing Pole is neither Interesting nor Interactive, and it has a slow, simple and minimally impactful effect. However, the reason it is an honorable mention here is the conversation that it has generated, dominated by ideas for new Fishing PoleFishing Pole-centric formats.

The suggestion is that everybody starts with a Fishing PoleFishing Pole, and that rather than fishing for 1/1s, players fish into a randomized deck of cards – perhaps containing a mixture of fish tokens, treasure tokens, junk tokens, krakens and boots. Whatever you’re fishing for, any card that sparks talk of Commander subformats deserves a mention.

#10 – Cathar CommandoCathar Commando

As I mentioned, Foundations brings a refreshing taste of “classic” Magic amongst the cowboys and crossovers, and Cathar CommandoCathar Commando is just such a classic card. I have selected it for this list for one thing that is written on the card – “Flash” – and one that isn’t – “Activate only as a sorcery”.

These two things combined create a reactive and often unexpected magic card. Cathar CommandoCathar Commando represents instant-speed removal for an artifact or enchantment, but in combination with an instant-speed blocker that will likely trade favorably for its two-mana investment, but that can also jump in the way of something threatening and then sacrifice itself as removal for a low-cost double effect. This card skews towards the interactive rather than interesting side of this list, but I think deserves consideration for more decks than it currently finds a home in (3%!).

#9 – Witness ProtectionWitness Protection

Witness ProtectionWitness Protection is not a new or unique effect, but has a place here simply because while other similar effects, like Amphibian DownpourAmphibian Downpour, LignifyLignify and Darksteel MutationDarksteel Mutation, re-type the enchanted creature, Witness ProtectionWitness Protection takes the additional and hilarious step of renaming it.

Turning an opposing commander into a Legitimate Businessperson is simultaneously disrespectful and funny, and will provide silly and memorable game moments.

Considering how seriously many popular commanders take themselves, a Legitimate Businessperson version of Gishath, Sun’s AvatarGishath, Sun’s Avatar, The Ur-DragonThe Ur-Dragon or Shorikai, Genesis EngineShorikai, Genesis Engine is a wonderful twist to the flavor of your games.

Aside from the amusement factor, Witness ProtectionWitness Protection is an actually good card. If we consider the value of turning off the abilities of the three examples commanders listed above, putting your opponent’s commander or key value piece into witness protection will go a long way towards stemming the flood of value you may have been drowning in, in addition to making a large creature small.

#8 – Deadly BrewDeadly Brew & Perforating ArtistPerforating Artist

Deadly BrewDeadly Brew and Perforating ArtistPerforating Artist share a spot here for a simple reason – they ask your opponents to make choices outside of their own turns. All too often people draw their cards and crank their engines during their own turns and then switch off until the next one. Yes, some amount of combat decisions can call an opponent back from the depths of their phone, but in my mind the more opportunities for table engagement the better – these two cards aren’t splashy effects, but they will ask your opponents to engage with you and keep decisions and interactions running from turn to turn.

Deadly BrewDeadly Brew is a one-time effect and has a relatively low floor – if your opponents have a board of miscellaneous tokens they most likely shrug this off with little impact. But it is much too easy to dwell on situations where a card will underperform. In many cases, opponents may well have one to a few creatures out that they actually need, and this decision will be agonizing for them.

And to top it all off, in the decks where you will run this card it will 9 times out of 10 be a regrowth effect with little downside. Cashing in a creature token to return a key permanent from your graveyard to hand is always a good trade, and you may even stand to benefit from the death of your token if the setup is right.

Whichever way you spin it, this card is a two mana 3-for-1 if my maths checks out. Unless an opponent doesn’t have any creatures, in which case you’re probably winning anyway.

In contrast, Perforating ArtistPerforating Artist is a repeatable effect. At the end of each of your turns, if you have attacked – and you will have attacked – your opponents will have to choose whether to sacrifice something or lose 3 life. I respect the rhetoric of giving your opponents choices being a bad thing, but unless they again have a board of expendable tokens you’re asking them whether they would like to lose a piece of their lovingly assembled board state or take a Lightning BoltLightning Bolt to the face.

It may seem trivial to take the damage, but I don’t think anybody would argue that a 3 mana deal 9 is a bad deal, and on subsequent turns where you are looking at additional sets of 3 damage it will feel like an increasingly fantastic return on your investment.

To bring it back to the reason these cards are included – interaction doesn’t have to mean removal and counterspells. These cards generate meaningful interactions with your opponents, and will keep everybody engaged and feeling like they are playing the game, keeping us from descending into four-player battlecruiser solitaire.

#7 – High Fae TricksterHigh Fae Trickster

You have likely seen High Fae TricksterHigh Fae Trickster on many lists of powerful and worth-buying cards from Foundations. As a Vedalken OrreryVedalken Orrery-like with flash it does indeed facilitate some powerful gameplay, but this is a list of interesting and interactive cards, and while I agree that giving everything pseudo-haste by flashing it in on an end step is powerful, and having the option to flash in blockers or hold up card draw is a good thing, this card is on this list because of the way it breaks the “normal” rules of the game.

Cards are balanced around their timing restrictions, and if you’re looking for memorable gameplay moments, there are a host of wild opportunities that this card opens up by giving everything flash. Respond to an attack with Genesis WaveGenesis Wave, flash in a ColossificationColossification after an opponent has declared blocks or a Valkyrie’s CallValkyrie’s Call in response to a board wipe.

This is not to say that you shouldn’t also give everything pseudo-haste and flash in blockers, removal and card draw, but just bear in mind how much further this card can go in making every single card in your hand reactive.

#6 – Faebloom TrickFaebloom Trick

Faebloom TrickFaebloom Trick is another simple but effective card. For 3 mana it provides the ability to throw out two flying blockers as well as disrupting attacks or blocks, depending on what you need most in the moment.

In Commander, this can work to your advantage in a literal way, but also in a political one. Being able to knock a troublesome blocker over to pave the way for another player to pummel the archenemy can be a surprisingly big swing, and the two faeries that come along for the ride go even further in disincentivizing the pummeling player from making you the pummellee.

It's easy to overlook commons and uncommons in the hunt for impactful commander cards, but Faebloom TrickFaebloom Trick I think provides an efficient and effective package of interactions for a very reasonable cost.

#5 – Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm

Etali has been bringing players a frenzied sort of joy since his first appearance in Rivals of Ixalan. A colossal dinosaur with some of the coolest art ever (I will die on this hill) that rips the top card off everyone’s deck and lets you play them for free is just so cool. I have never played in a game where Etali hitting the table didn’t cause a massive shift in everyone’s priorities.

If you do have haste or stick Etali long enough to get the attacks rolling there’s just no telling what can happen – will you hit four lands, or some Eldrazi titans?

As with all theft effects, you are suddenly finding yourself mixing up cards from your own deck with those that other people have chosen to run, which can lead to some unexpected interactions that you will be talking about and trying to recreate for a long time.

If we’re being honest, without a way to protect him Etali will eat some removal before attacking more often than not, but there’s no denying that this card is both interesting and interactive, and I am never sad to see him at my table.

#4 – Curator of DestiniesCurator of Destinies

Fact or FictionFact or Fiction is one of the finest examples of an interactive card. The mind-games that it generates are simple but brilliant, and where often there appears to be an optimal split for cards, what does their understanding of your hand and boardstate contribute to the choice? And then there is the option for your chosen opponent to make a pile of five and pile of zero if you are allied in the face of a more powerful enemy.

Then we have Fortune’s FavorFortune’s Favor, which iterates on the Fact or FictionFact or Fiction formula by adding in the stipulation that one of the piles must now be face-down and invisible to you. This takes the mind-games to new heights. If the face-up pile is presented to you is three cards that are just fine, what could that face-down card be? Is it a situationally powerful card that they really do not want you to have, or is it a swamp, and they just want you to think that?

These cards generate fun decisions for both you and your opponent (or opponents, the piling process is often crowd sourced), and now with Foundations with have Fortune’s FavorFortune’s Favor on a stick! Curator of DestiniesCurator of Destinies does the Fortune’s FavorFortune’s Favor thing when it enters. This is every bit as good as Fortune’s FavorFortune’s Favor, but adds another card into the mix and costs two more.

However, the opportunities presented by having this effect on a creature are many – reanimating, blinking or copying the creature will keep the Fortune’s FavorFortune’s Favor train rolling.

There are certainly more powerful ways to draw cards, but that is not why we are here. Curator of DestiniesCurator of Destinies is a lot of fun, gets everyone involved and will certainly draw you something.

#3 – Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication

Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication has been around for a long time. At base, it is a clone. For four mana, you can make a copy of a creature. The creature notably does not have to be one that you control which is a nice upside – capitalizing on your opponents’ success is always satisfying. However, Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication also has a kicker cost, which for the very reasonable additional price of five more mana will get you a total of five copies of a creature of your choice.

Resolving a kicked Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication can range from spectacular to game-ending. Oh, that’s a nice Worldspine WurmWorldspine Wurm, I have five.

But these days five large things is more or less the floor. Consider popular commander cards like Avenger of ZendikarAvenger of Zendikar, Terror of the PeaksTerror of the Peaks or Massacre WurmMassacre Wurm. Triggered abilities are a staple of the format, where games go long and value is king.

If you perhaps ramped to your Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication and have a modest six lands, five copies of Avenger of ZendikarAvenger of Zendikar will see you passing the turn with 30 plants, 5/6s if you managed to hold your land drop to afterwards.

Your five Terror of the PeaksTerror of the Peakses will see each other enter and fire an initial salvo of 125 damage wherever you like, and five Massacre WurmMassacre Wurms will give every creature your opponents control -10/-10 and deal 10 for every creature that dies.

All the same, you don’t have to limit yourself to splashy effects. Simple card draw creatures like Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel or Beast WhispererBeast Whisperer, or creatures with incremental effects like GuttersnipeGuttersnipe, are still excellent to have five of.

#2 – Bulk UpBulk Up

Because of the way that Magic is balanced, I wouldn’t normally expect uncommons to break into the heights of the interesting and interactive list, but Bulk UpBulk Up is a very happy exception. Doubling a creature’s power at instant speed provides opportunities far beyond simply trading in combat more favorably than expected.

In Commander, cards like HatredHatred, Tainted StrikeTainted Strike and BerserkBerserk have long been popular for the ability to eliminate a player out of seemingly nowhere if they make the mistake of not blocking something, and critically in all cases – including Bulk UpBulk Up – the creature doesn’t have to be one that you control.

These cards threaten elimination whenever anyone attacks, especially in a format where four specific creatures (usually) only have to do 21 damage. It may be that you’re the one with the large commander, so bulking it up in response to blocks will get the job done, but perhaps somebody else is sending their Voja, Jaws of the ConclaveVoja, Jaws of the Conclave in a not-you direction.

Or there may be a situation where somebody confidently blocks a smaller creature with an important one that you would like see the back of. Bulking Up an opponent’s creature at an opportune moment can be hugely impactful.

The reason that Bulk UpBulk Up is so high up this list is because in addition to the above, it also has flashback. Now, you would need to sit with six mana open, but whenever you do combat is going to have to revolve around it. Attacks and blocks will be made in the understanding that you might bulk something up, which is a disruptive and powerful position to be in.

I think that this card has the potential to change games quite dramatically.

#1 – Abyssal HarvesterAbyssal Harvester

My choice for the number one most interesting and/or interactive card from Foundations is Abyssal HarvesterAbyssal Harvester. This card does a good Faerie ArtisansFaerie Artisans impression, but goes about it in a different way. If a creature goes to the graveyard, however it gets there, Abyssal HarvesterAbyssal Harvester can kick it into exile and make its own nightmare version, getting whatever enters or static effects it might bring with it.

You do therefore have some amount of control over this effect, whether by milling your opponents, forcing them to discard or simply destroying whatever creature you’d like a copy of, all the while with Abyssal HarvesterAbyssal Harvester waiting to create its copy.

The act of exiling a card from a graveyard can be hugely impactful – I certainly have decks that would take issue with all their juiciest reanimation targets being exiled, and the very fact that they are juicy targets means that I won’t welcome the nightmare copy on my opponent’s side of the board.

In the same vein as Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm, this card gives you access to powerful cards that are perhaps outside of your colors, and the right target for it can shake up your board state or gameplan dramatically.

And in the same vein as Bulk UpBulk Up, combat must be carried out respectful of the fact that you have this card – if anybody lets anything die, you will be getting a copy of your favorite, while simultaneously denying them future access to it.

Let me know if any of these cards have already made their way into your decks, or if any of them might now!

I hope that you are all enjoying Foundations and looking forward to the upcoming sets for the year. Look out for future articles on Interesting & Interactive cards, I’ll be digging into new sets as they release, and looking backwards to dive into sets already happened.

Read more:

MTG Foundations: Choosing Your Color

Top 10 Burn Spells

James Cullum