Foundations Best Commons and Uncommons

Last updated on April 26, 2025

Vampire Nighthawk | Illustration by Jason Chan

Greetings planeswalkers! This is a short companion to our larger Foundations Limited Set Review. Here I’ll touch on what I think the best commons are for each color. I’ll also give my recommendations for the top 13 uncommons in Foundations Sealed or Draft.

Onward to the rankings!

Top Commons

Tolarian Terror | Illustration by Vincent Chritiaens

Commons are the lifeblood of any Limited set, and Foundations is no exception to this rule. I’ve picked four commons for each color that seem to be the best it has to offer.

White

#4. Dazzling Angel

This is a much better card than Lifecreed Duo, which had such a poor body that only synergy decks wanted it. Dazzling Angel, on the other hand, can go in any white deck while still being premium for WB Lifegain. It’s also excellent in WU Fliers thanks to its good rate, flying, and the fact that the extra life can help swing races.

#3. Felidar Savior

Basri's Acolyte was incredible in M21, though we have power crept at least a little bit from that point. Either way, Felidar Savior is an excellent rate whenever you can target two creatures with it.

#2. Helpful Hunter

Helpful Hunter is a lovely cheap cantrip creature that goes in every single white deck. It’s a great way to hit your land drops/find stuff to do while not falling behind on board. As a bonus, this white creature is also a cat and a great target for the next-best white common.

#1. Banishing Light

Trapped in the Screen fans rejoice, as we’re getting the original back in Foundations!

While Banishing Light‘s rate isn’t broken, flexibility like this is premium when it only costs 3 mana. This white enchantment gets rid of whatever you need gone, and the set isn’t too deep on Disenchants (mostly just three mediocre commons: Broken Wings, Cathar Commando, and Make Your Move).

Blue

#4. Icewind Elemental

Of the set’s common 5s, Icewind Elemental seems like the best one on rate. It’s a well-sized flier with free card selection on it, which also happens to trigger cards like Mischievous Mystic and Erudite Wizard. I still wouldn’t prioritize this elemental early, but expect it to overperform relative to other 5s.

#3. Refute

I’m going a little out on a limb here, but I think Refute is a solid upgrade to Cancel. In all but the most aggressive matchups, this can tag all sorts of relevant plays while providing virtual card advantage. Just be sure to have 9+ Islands so you don’t choke on at a key moment.

#2. Tolarian Terror

You’ll want to build around this blue creature, though that seems easy enough in at least two blue archetypes (UR Prowess and UB Threshold). It’s just so easy to make this undercosted, to the point where Tolarian Terror plus Refute is a legitimate gameplan!

#1. Bigfin Bouncer

Excellent Man-o'-War variant with a bit of extra power to boot. It can’t bounce your own stuff, but that’s usually more of a corner case than a primary use. Bigfin Bouncer is best in aggro decks but sure to be great everywhere. Control appreciates a time waster like this.

Black

#4. Burglar Rat

Simple value cards like Burglar Rat, Unscrupulous Agent, and Nezumi Informant tend to be among black’s better commons in most sets. It’s also strong with Tinybones, Bauble Burglar and sacrifice effects.

#3. Eaten Alive

With the right supporting cast (i.e., Infestation Sage, Burglar Rat), Eaten Alive is disgustingly efficient removal. It also exiles the target, which can be relevant against Macabre Waltz and Zombify. I have this black sorcery lower than the other two as it’s the only one with any deckbuilding requirement. If you can’t readily sacrifice to this, try to play only one copy, as paying 5 for this is ideally more of a fallback.

#2. Stab

Disfigure is an excellent Limited card in most sets, and most sets don’t even have Llanowar Elves! It goes without saying that I’m hoping to Stab a lot of elves in this MTG set, though that’s far from the only use for this efficient removal spell. It falls off against bigger creatures, but it can occasionally get there anyways as a combat trick.

#1. Bake into a Pie

The top three black commons are all removal spells, and the order to put them in is tricky as they’re all pretty great black removal. I have Bake into a Pie as my number 1, as it’s flexible, instant, and fairly costed, and it comes with a relevant bonus. Depending on how fast the format is, I could see Stab being better though.

Red

#4. Sower of Chaos

Sower of Chaos is a solid curve topper for an aggressive red deck. The threat of activation here is massive, as your opponent either has to remove this red creature or plan out their blockers with their best one or two creatures missing.

#3. Goblin Surprise

Mishra's Onslaught wasn’t that good, but I have high hopes for this Trumpet Blast / Krenko's Command hybrid. It’s great to be able to play Trumpet Blast without having to always draw Trumpet Blast, if you know what I mean.

This flexibility makes for a card that actually stacks quite well with itself, since extra copies of Goblin Surprise can pump the tokens made by the first ones!

#2. Fanatical Firebrand

Fanatical Firebrand is a good 1-drop that gets in for early damage and then chumps and pings on its way out. It also answers a variety of powerful x/1s, including Llanowar Elves.

#1. Burst Lightning

Burst Lightning is just an incredible card, let alone at common! This red instant is a wonderful Shock / Lava Axe split card that can also kill medium sized creatures if needed. It’s flexible and efficient, and it’s in high demand for any deck that can cast it.

Green

#4. Beast-Kin Ranger

This green creature hits hard for its cost, has trample, and is even an elf for a couple of payoffs like Dwynen's Elite and Elvish Archdruid. Beast-Kin Ranger is a great follow-up to a turn 1 Llanowar Elves, and it seems to outclass most of the format's 3s on rate.

#3. Bite Down

Instant speed Rabid Bite is still great, and another easy pick for one of green’s best commons. My only gripe with this bite spell is that green doesn’t have too many deathtouch creatures (just Treetop Snarespinner), so you’re mostly relying on native sizing for Bite Down.

#2. Bushwhack

Bushwhack is an incredible green card to see at common, and it does great work facilitating splashes, lowering land counts, and being a fight spell when necessary.

#1. Llanowar Elves

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Llanowar Elves is green’s best common! This classic mana dork is just peak efficiency, and this elf grants you an incredible head start over your opponent. Turn 1 Forest, tap it, Llanowar Elves is an opener you should aspire to have in this set.

Top Uncommons

Now for Foundations‘ uncommons! Rather than ranking these 4 per color, I’m instead just going to focus on the top 13 uncommons in FDN Limited. Think of this as a day-0 pick order for FDN’s best uncommons. This list excludes multicolor uncommons, which I’ll cover briefly later on.

#13. Mischievous Mystic

Mischievous Mystic is a strong creature that snowballs with a bit of card draw and starts with an aggressive flying rate to begin with. Ideally, you’ll have cantrips like Fleeting Distraction to maximize this. Its only real weakness is a vulnerability to cards like Fanatical Firebrand due to 1 toughness.

#12. Strongbox Raider

I’m always a sucker for a good two-for-one, but this applies even more so to aggressive, red two-for-ones. Strongbox Raider is an uncommon (in both senses of the word) way to pick up some lasting advantage while keeping the pressure on. I’d have it higher if not for 2 toughness, but I still happily recommend it.

#11. Battlesong Berserker

Most Valuable Slayer but better, more or less. Battlesong Berserker even attacks as a 4/4 menace on its own, which is still above rate for Limited. Quite the curve topper for any aggressive red deck.

#10. Hero’s Downfall

Hero's Downfall isn’t that much better than Bake into a Pie, but it’s still great removal that gets whatever you need dead, dead. Tagging planeswalkers is a relevant bonus, as the set has five strong ones at mythic.

#9. Fiery Annihilation

Fiery Annihilation is very efficient red removal that kills everything short of a handful of huge rares and three beefy uncommons (Grappling Kraken, Rune-Sealed Wall, and Quakestrider Ceratops). You’ll occasionally get a brutal 2-for-1 with this red instant, as there are several playable common equipment cards in this set.

#8. Needletooth Pack

Large dinosaur that offers another compelling morbid payoff. Even if you don’t catch your opponent the turn you play Needletooth Pack, this triggers on each of your end steps, so trading in combat and using removal spells carries extra value for you.

#7. Arcane Epiphany

Raw card draw can sometimes be too slow in Limited, but it tends to be quite gross when it’s this efficient. There are plenty of wizards in this set, so you’ll be able to live the dream of “4-mana Jace's Ingenuity” surprisingly often with Arcane Epiphany!

#6. Arbiter of Woe

If you can setup fodder for Arbiter of Woe (i.e. Burglar Rat, Infestation Sage, etc.), it’s a guaranteed 3-for-1 with a 4-point life swing attached, and on a huge flier to boot!

#5. Tragic Banshee

Tragic Banshee is the strongest morbid card in FDN Limited, more or less. If your opponent blocks when they shouldn’t have, this is a giant Nekrataal (or Tragic Slip on a body). Even if they play around it, it still picks off good x/1s like Mischievous Mystic. You can also set it up yourself with Stab or Bushwhack if you’re patient.

#4. Overrun

Cast Overrun with a couple of creatures out and it’s shockingly close to “you win the game.” Llanowar Elves is great here as an extra body that can also get you to GGG if needed. This is definitely a green sorcery to be feared, though GGG and requiring lots of creatures keeps it from going in every deck.

#3. Affectionate Indrik

Green Nekrataal that cleanly answers a variety of threatening creatures, from Dazzling Angel to Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen. Affectionate Indrik won’t outsize everything, but there are just so many good targets for this ETB removal in this format.

#2. Vampire Nighthawk

Vampire Nighthawk attacks for a 4-point life swing with evasion each turn, and it trades up with large green fatties when needed. It’s still a tremendous Limited card despite over a decade of power creep!

#1. Elvish Regrower

Another 2-for-1, this time in the form of an Eternal Witness rather than a Nekrataal. Elvish Regrower‘s sizing here is quite large for a value creature like this, so I’ll be taking this card very highly!

Honorable Mentions: Top Four Signposts

For this last bonus section, I want to touch on the four best signpost uncommons in FDN Limited.

In Magic lingo, signpost uncommons are multicolor cards that show off what each color pair is expected/encouraged to do in a given set. This is less of an archetype ranking and more just about the individual cards.

#4. Ruby, Daring Tracker

Nice hybrid Gruul card () that’s one part mana dork, one part beater. Ruby, Daring Tracker was a strong signpost in Wilds of Eldraine and benefits from being in a set with Llanowar Elves and a lot of decent red and green creatures to ramp into.

#3. Empyrean Eagle

There are several good fliers in this set (Dazzling Angel, Healer's Hawk, etc.), so Empyrean Eagle looks like a strong and easy build around. If your opponent can’t answer this Azorius card (), they’ll quickly find themselves in an unwinnable race.

#2. Heroic Reinforcements

You can also just ignore value and play Boros cards () like Heroic Reinforcements, which can kill the Tatyova, Benthic Druid player before they've set up their cute little engine. Heroic Reinforcements was incredible in M19 and will likely be incredible once again in Foundations.

#1. Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Value is the name of the game I want to be playing, and it may as well be the name of this Simic card () as well (which is also one of the most popular commanders reprinted in Foundations).

Tatyova, Benthic Druid just really piles on the cards with minimal effort. The dream is to use Evolving Wilds or Grow from the Ashes with this, but it’s quite good either way. It’s also by far the signpost that other players are most likely to splash!

Wrap Up

Ruby, Daring Tracker | Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

And with that, this brief article has come to a close! I hope this was informative and gives you a good idea of what to look for at Prerelease this weekend (or in your first Foundations drafts).

Have some thoughts on Foundations’ commons and uncommons? Are there any cards I left off my lists that deserve another look? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, may you always trigger morbid for your Tragic Banshees!