Eidolon of Astral Winds – Foundations
Date Reviewed: November 22, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 1.88
Casual: 4
Limited: 3
Multiplayer: 3.37
Commander [EDH]: 3.63
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
A little while ago, I was saying that Foundations is oddly like a Time Spiral or Modern Horizons set in certain ways – mechanically, but also in terms of art convention crossovers, like an eidolon from Theros with stained-glass motifs in its art like you might see in Dominaria. Well, it probably fits with how we often use cards from any and every plane together in decks, and if you look at it from that perspective, this card is pretty likely to find friends in other settings. In its native set, it’s pretty much just to close out the game with flying creatures, but that may not be the end of it, given the popularity of enchantress decks in casual play. It’s reasonably threatening even if you only trigger it once or twice, and once per turn, but there’s also some opportunity to get some weird interactions going with cards like Replenish. I’d say it’s one of the Foundations Jumpstart cards that benefits most from being picked out of its deck and put into bigger card pools, and I’ll be interested to see what comes of it.
Constructed: 2
Casual: 4
Limited: 3
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5 (I’m not sure how well it scales to four opponents at 40 life each, but I’d love to be taught a lesson!)
This card is part of the Jumpstart subset, and it’s not legal in Standard, Modern, or Pioneer.
Eidolon of Astral Winds is an interesting creature, able to let other creatures swoop gratuitously (or itself, with a bit of help). Three mana to grant a creature temporary evasion and a potential stat boost is nice, particularly since it compounds with anything the creature naturally has. That said, this feels like a creature meant to win a war of attrition by steadily sending creatures skyward. It is a decently durable body with acceptable combat (especially with its own buff), and while I do think it’s not a bad creature, it’s not apt to be the star of any deck.
Constructed: 1.75 (enchantress decks in Legacy probably won’t want this)
Casual: 4
Limited: 3 (would rely heavily on more enchantments to shine, and enchantments tend to be among the least-represented permanent types)
Multiplayer: 3.25
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
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