Cheap Commander Staples in Foundations

Core Values

Welcome back for another History, Restapled, a Commander-focused column that attempts to validate a newer card’s status as a staple by looking at how cards that are similar, synergistic, or competing have fared in the past financially.

Foundations isn’t as outwardly flashy as some of the other recent sets (Cowboys! Dragons! Nightmares!), but it presents players with a plethora of solid cards that can slot into multiple Commander archetypes. It’s likely many of these cards will be cheap for a while, as you can expect Foundations to appear in every new player-focused product for at least the next year. Here are a few worth checking out before too many players catch on.

Loot, Exuberant Explorer

This furry little fella joins the ranks of other land-drop accelerators, like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove and Wayward Swordtooth, at the tippy top of the heap. It’s aggressively costed, with stats built to be safety first and an easy way to use all those extra lands he enables to close out a game. It more closely resembles Oracle of Mul Daya because the enabler and payoff are both printed on the same card, but at one less mana and far more utility later in the game.

Financially speaking, its inclusion in Foundations also means Loot is aggressively underpriced at the moment, having comfortably nuzzled its way into the $1 range. Meanwhile, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove sells for $6 and Oracle of Mul Daya is priced at $7 - minted staples in Modern and Commander, respectively - and, confoundingly, Wayward Swordtooth, which is by far the worst one, comfortably sits at $5 practically begging to be outclassed. Loot seems like the boy for the job, and has plenty of utility outside dedicated Landfall decks.

STATUS: new green staple

Loot, Exuberant Explorer	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $2.00
Loot, Exuberant Explorer (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $2.79	TCGPlayer $2.00
Loot, Exuberant Explorer (Borderless)	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $4.86

Spinner of Souls

I’ve always wanted to make Evolutionary Leap work, but it sits in an awkward position as an enchantment that needs to live in a creature-heavy deck (or, failing that, a deck with a single creature in it) and as a sac outlet requiring you to hold up mana. Thankfully, the essence of the card took its own evolutionary leap forward into its new 4/3 body with reach. Spinner of Souls doesn’t contain its own built-in sac outlet, but slots into any green deck looking for a Grim Haruspex-type effect - a bit niche, sure, but the card can always act as a deterrent against removal. This is $0.75 well spent.

STATUS: green archetype staple

Spinner of Souls	CardKingdom $0.79	TCGPlayer $0.80
Spinner of Souls (Borderless)	CardKingdom $2.29	TCGPlayer $1.44
Spinner of Souls (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $0.99	TCGPlayer $1.00

Scrawling Crawler

Psychosis Crawler has recently occupied a strange corner in Commander: a colorless source of damage in forced card draw decks that can easily be outperformed due to its clunkiness. Still, that didn’t stop the card from becoming a staple. Scrawling Crawler steps in as an objectively better substitute that throws a less symmetrical Howling Mine into the fold as well, making for an instant classic in the right deck that’s easy to grab at only $2. This is the real deal, to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised if the card found its way into more generic artifact lists - it makes for a great target for copy effects.

STATUS: card draw staple, possibly more

Scrawling Crawler	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $2.75
Scrawling Crawler (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $2.94
Scrawling Crawler (Borderless)	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.80

Lay a Foundation

Are there new Foundations cards you’re excited to slot into decks? Any you find so powerful that they change the game in a meaningful way? I’d love to know!

Further Reading:

Power Creep and The One Ring