What is Foretell in MTG? Examples, interactions, and more

Foretell is one of the many very interesting mechanics in MTG. Introduced first in Kaldheim, it allows players to put a card away in exile, only to cast it later - sometimes to even greater effects. There have been some truly monstrously powerful cards to use this effect, as well. While there are currently only 53 cards that have this keyword, it could very well make a return in a later set.

Foretell was last seen in the MTG Universes Expanded content for Doctor Who, but it could make a comeback in the future. While many of these cards are not Standard legal, they can easily be used in other formats, such as Modern, Legacy, Commander, or digital formats like Historic. Here’s what it does, and some great picks for the Commander format.

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What does the Foretell keyword do in MTG?

Delayed Blast Fireball and Mystic Reflection in Magic: The Gathering. (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Foretell is a keyword in MTG that allows players to exile a card from their hand for two mana and cast it later down the line. However, cards that use this mechanic cannot be re-cast that same turn - you have to wait. The exact wording on the card is as follows:

“Foretell [cost]: 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.”

Sometimes, this cost is much higher than the regular cost (Delayed Blast Fireball), for a much greater effect. Other times, it’s cheaper (Mystic Reflection), but doesn’t offer any extra advantages other than the lower cost.

This ability at its core breaks the cost of a card into a few parts, and it’s a very interesting mechanic. While putting a card into Foretell is a special action in MTG, and thus cannot be interrupted, the secondary cast has to be done at whatever speed the initial card would be cast - Instant, Sorcery, or otherwise.

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Incredibly powerful Foretell cards in MTG for Commander

Rise of the Dread Marn, Alrund's Epiphany, and Starnheim Unleashed in Magic: The Gathering. (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

• Rise of the Dread Marn
• Alrund’s Epiphany
• Starnheim Unleashed

I also wanted to highlight some amazing MTG cards that feature the Foretell ability. First up is Rise of the Dread Marn, which is a black instant. It creates X 2/2 black Zombie Berserker creature tokens, where X is the number of nontoken creatures that died this turn. The best use is this is a response to a board wipe in a big game. Suddenly, you have a massive army, for almost no mana.

Alrund’s Epiphany is for fans to take extra turns. You create a couple of bird tokens, which are neat, but you also take an extra turn after this one. I’ve always been a fan of the card and used it in my decks during the Kaldheim Standard meta. Finally, there’s the expensive but useful Starnheim Unleashed.

Normally, you create a 4/4 white Angel Warrior token with flying and vigilance - but if you use Foretell instead, you create X of those instead. That’s what makes this card so devastating. With enough mana, you can fill up the board with a wave of Angels to devastate games. In fact, we used it in an Orzhov Angels decklist back in 2022.

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