The latest MTG Foundations spoiler expands one of Magic’s most unique creature types. Previously limited to just 25 Homunculi, the game now welcomes a 26th member with an interesting board-multiplying ability.
The new MTG Foundations preview card comes from Josh Strife Hayes on X (formerly Twitter). Let’s take a look:
Homunculus Horde has two main synergies:
- Decks that draw two cards a turn
- Token-based strategies
First, to compare power levels here, let’s evaluate some other cards that trigger off drawing two cards a turn:
The first card that comes to mind is Alandra, Sky Dreamer from Jumpstart 2022 and Karlov Manor Commander precons.
It has a lot in common with Homunculus Horde. It is blue, costs 4 mana, and on your second draw, you get a 2/2 token with flying. Arguably, you will be running the Homunculus in every Alandra, Sky Dreamer Commander deck. The synergies are clear. The big advantage of the Homunculus is that for every trigger, you DOUBLE the amount of Homunculi in play. Whereas Alandra only makes one token per turn.
Let’s say you get to draw a card on every turn cycle, including your own. That’s 4 triggers. With Homunculus Horde that means you will:
- 1st Trigger – Results in 2 total Homunculi in play
- 2nd Trigger – Results in 4 total Homunculi in play
- 3rd Trigger – Results in 8 total Homunculi in play
- 4th Trigger – Results in 16 total Homunculi in play
Compared to Alandra, you would only have 3 tokens, vs. 15 tokens with Homunculus Horde. Other similar cards such as Ethereal Investigator only create a 1/1 token per 2nd draw trigger. Gavi, Nest Warden will net you a 2/2.
Homunculus Horde appears to be the strongest win-condition finisher of the “whenever you draw your second card” ability.
What makes Horde so strong is that once you have made your first duplicate, it’s almost impossible to stop from going off. You only need one copy alive to keep the doubling going; killing the original does little to stop it.
Making Homonculus Horde Stronger
Homunculus Horde is pretty great in any draw-based deck for Commander, but because all the copies are also Homunculi, there are typal strategies that can take it to some ridiculous levels.
The first card that sticks out here is Roaming Throne.
With Roaming Throne, you can name the Homunculus creature type. Homunculus Horde’s ability is a triggered ability. That means every time it triggers, it triggers twice. So, every time a Homunculus Horde would make one token, it makes two tokens instead!
Another card that will really push this deck in some nutty directions is Kindred Discovery.
Every time one of those Homunculi enters or attacks, you’ll be able to draw a card! Be careful, this is a forced trigger. So you better win the game with whatever you draw.
Homunculus Horde might be the strongest Homunculus ever printed. It has some pretty powerful synergies and is sure to see play in Commander. At the very least, it’s a fun creature type to bring to a Commander table.
We’ll be bringing you more Foundations spoilers throughout the week, so stay tuned to MTG Insider!
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