Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy set was the game’s fastest selling expansion ever and Wizards of the Coast is hoping to continue that success by tapping into Avatar: The Last Airbender fandom with a set releasing on Nov. 21. The company showed a first look at the set’s mechanics in the WeeklyMTG podcast on Aug. 12, introducing the four types of bending and the heroes who wield them. Let’s take a look. Yip yip!
Appa, Steadfast Guardian, a 3/4 flying bison with flash, allows the player to use airbending on any number of other nonland permanents they control when he comes into play. Those cards are exiled and can then be recast for 2 rather than their original mana cost. Whenever you cast a spell from exile, Appa creates a 1/1 white Ally token creature.
While Appa is the only card with airbending in the preview, Wizards has hinted that the ability might also be used to target an opponent’s permanents. The card also demonstrates the return of the Ally creature class from Zendikar. Appa and the rest of Team Avatar are all Allies, representing how well they work together as a team. The power of the type can be seen in Avatar Enthusiasts, depicting the foaming-at-the-mouth Aang fan cheering on Kyoshi Island. The 2/2 Human Peasant Ally puts a +1/+1 counter on any other Ally that enters play.
Katara, Water Tribe’s Hope is a Blue/White Human Warrior Ally with vigilance who creates a 1/1 white Ally creature when she comes into play. She also has a sorcery speed ability that allows her to waterbend X to give creatures you control a base power and toughness of X/X. Waterbending combines the convoke and improvise mechanics, allowing players to tap artifacts or creatures to discount the cost of a spell.
Fire Lord Zuko is a Red/White/Black Human Noble Ally with firebending equal to his power, meaning that whenever he attacks, he generates that amount of red mana that can be used to cast spells or activate abilities until the end of combat. He also plays well with airbending, putting a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control whenever you cast a spell from exile or a permanent you control returns from exile.
Earthbending allows players to turn any land they control into a creature with haste and a number of +1/+1 counters on it. It’s not as risky as it seems since a land that dies or is exiled while under the effects of earthbending just returns to the battlefield tapped. Toph, the First Metalbender, a Red/White/Green Human Warrior Ally, earthbends for 2 at the beginning of your end step and also turns all nontoken artifacts you control into lands (though they don’t tap for mana) to give you more earthbending targets.
Along with bringing back Allies, the Avatar: The Last Airbender set marks the return of the Shrine enchantment type originally from Champions of Kamigawa. The Southern Air Temple is a White legendary Shrine that places a number of +1/+1 counters on each creature you control equal to the number of Shrines you control when it enters play and adds another +1/+1 counter to every creature any time another Shrine enters play under your control. It costs 3W to play, but then it is a strong target for airbending.
In the Avatar franchise, characters find masters to learn new fighting techniques. This manifests in the Magic set with the return of the Lesson spell subtype from Strixhaven: School of Mages. With flavor text from Uncle Iroh explaining that he learned from Waterbenders how to turn an opponent’s energy against them, the Instant Lesson Redirect Lightning costs R plus either 2 colorless mana or 5 life to change the target or a spell or ability with a single target. Lesson cards can be fetched from “outside the game” (i.e., your sideboard) whenever a player casts a spell with the Learn keyword, though no Learn cards were revealed as part of this preview.
Sokka, Bold Boomeranger might not be a Bender, but he benefits a lot from instruction, gaining a +1/+1 counter whenever you cast an artifact or Lesson. The Human Warrior Ally costs UR and when he enters play, you can discard up to two cards and then draw that many cards. You should definitely play him with Sokka’s Haiku, a Lesson whose text is itself a haiku and serves as a powerful albeit expensive counterspell
The Magic: The Gathering Avatar: The Last Airbender set offers lots of cute art based on the show, and collectors will also find plenty of special treatments. Borderless field notes cards imagine how an explorer might sketch Avatar’s many strange creatures while full-art Appa basic lands provide views from the sky bison’s back. Other special art cards include borderless double-faced sagas, borderless raised foil, and elemental frame cards emphasizing the elements depicted.
Preorders for Magic: The Gathering Avatar: The Last Airbender are open now ahead of the set’s Nov. 21 physical release. Play and Jumpstart boosters cost $6.99, beginner boxes are $34.99, collector boosters are $37.99, and scene boxes are $41.99. Bundles containing nine play boosters, 15 foil basic lands, the Appa lands and a foil promo card cost $69.99, while a $109.99 Commander’s Bundle has five non-foil promo cards instead of the foil one, plus a collector booster. The set will be released on Magic: The Gathering Arena on Nov. 18. Keep checking back for more coverage, news, and card reveals.
