We’ve had a lot of great new mechanics over the years in Magic: The Gathering. Foretell is a mechanic that allows you to exile a card from your hands for two mana, and then cast that card on a different turn, often for a lower cost.
It’s fun because it allows you to avoid hand disruption, and it also feels a bit like morph, which is one of the best mechanics in Commander too. How good is it actually though? Well, let’s look at the cards.
The best foretell cards for Commander
First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room. The two best cards that have the word foretell on them, but don’t themselves have foretell, are
Ranar the Ever-Watchful
Ranar the Ever-Watchful
Flying, vigilance
The first card you foretell each turn costs {0} to foretell.
Whenever one or more cards are put into exile from your hand or a spell or ability you control exiles one or more permanents from the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.
, and
Dream Devourer
Dream Devourer
Each nonland card in your hand without foretell has foretell. Its foretell cost is equal to its mana cost reduced by {2}. (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile it from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
Whenever you foretell a card, this creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
. Ranar is the most popular foretell commander, and they’re a blue and white 2/3 with flying and vigilance that allows you to foretell your first card each turn for free. They also make 1/1 Spirit tokens when you exile stuff from your hands, so that’s great.
Dream Devourer
Dream Devourer
Each nonland card in your hand without foretell has foretell. Its foretell cost is equal to its mana cost reduced by {2}. (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile it from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
Whenever you foretell a card, this creature gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
, on the other hand, is a mono-black card that reads, “Each nonland card in your hand without foretell has foretell. Its foretell cost is equal to its mana cost reduced by two mana.” Plus, whenever you foretell a card, Dream Devourer gets +2/+0 until the end of turn. The issue here is that these two require a different commander, which is annoying.
There are two more cards that are also basically essential. Cosmo Charger allows you to foretell cards for one less mana, and also allows you to do it in other players turns. That’s great stuff. Then you’ve got
Sage of the Beyond
Sage of the Beyond
Flying
Spells you cast from anywhere other than your hand cost {2} less to cast.
Foretell {4}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
, which makes any spell you cast from somewhere other than your hand cost two less to cast. These two cards combine to make your deck far more mana-efficient.
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The best cards with foretell for Commander
There are loads of good cards with foretell, but we’re just going to focus on the three we think are essential. First up is
Alrund’s Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany
Create two 1/1 blue Bird creature tokens with flying. Take an extra turn after this one. Exile Alrund's Epiphany.
Foretell {4}{U}{U} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
, which is a seven-mana sorcery that gives you an extra turn, and also creates two 1/1 Bird tokens too. It’s stupidly powerful, so make sure you’ve got a copy.
Doomskar
Doomskar
Destroy all creatures.
Foretell {1}{W}{W} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
is also incredible. It’s a five-mana sorcery that destroys all creatures, but if you foretell it, it only costs three mana instead. There’s literally no downside in having a three-mana board wipe, and thus, it should be in your deck, even if you are going to be heavy on creatures.
One good reason to make sure you do have a board wipe is because of
Cosmic Intervention
Cosmic Intervention
If a permanent you control would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield this turn, exile it instead. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
Foretell {1}{W} (During your turn, you may pay {2} and exile this card from your hand face down. Cast it on a later turn for its foretell cost.)
. This is a four-mana instant that only costs two if it’s foretold. It reads, “If a permanent you control would be put into a graveyard from the battlefield this turn, exile it instead. Return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step.” Oh look, now there’s no reason not to kill all of your stuff off, that’s fun, isn’t it.
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