Earlier this week, Wizards of the Coast revealed the Avatar: The Last Airbender set in earnest. While we had seen a few spoilers and promos before, now we actually know what to expect from the set. Not only has the product lineup been revealed, for better or worse, but tons of spoilers and mechanics were shown off, too.
Given that the Avatar: The Last Airbender MTG set doesn’t launch for another three months, it seemed these reveals would be it for a while. This couldn’t be further from the case, as IGN has just revealed 100 Avatar MTG cards. All found within the set’s new Beginner Box, this product contains 47 brand-new cards and tons of reprints.
While this all sounds very exciting, most of the new Avatar: The Last Airbender cards in the Beginner Box aren’t exactly good. Thankfully, there are a few gems among the rough, with six cards in particular catching our attention.
Allied Teamwork
Found as the rare in the Allies Jumpstart packet, Allied Teamwork is by no means revolutionary, but it’s still capable. Offering what will be a board-wide buff in an Ally Typal deck, and an extra Ally too, this card is just useful. While useful, Allied Teamwork definitely sets the tone for Jumpstart-exclusive cards, as they’re more playable than broken.
Given Allies are a strong theme within the Avatar: The Last Airbender set, Allied Teamwork should see a fair amount of Commander play. Over time, however, this card is unlikely to be remembered as much of a powerhouse. Still, more lord effects for typal decks are definitely always welcome.
Aang, the Last Airbender
Speaking of interesting cards that aren’t amazing, Aang, the Last Airbender is also decidedly notable. Also found within the Allies Jumpstart packet, this variant of Aang is Standard legal. On stats and abilities alone, Aang might not see play in this format, however, there is one trick worth watching out for.
Notably, Aang, the Last Airbender is the second Standard-legal card that Airbends on entry that we’ve seen. This allows you to set up an infinite loop using Appa, Steadfast Guardian and Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius. Thanks to Appa’s token-creating ability, this is a potentially deadly wincon, provided you can untap.
Heartless Act
Appearing in the Attacking pack, Heartless Act is an MTG card that we’ve seen before. This card was first printed in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, and it was especially useful at the time. Both options on this card are typically relevant, especially in a format with a lot of counters.
Notably, Heartless Act is being reprinted back into Standard, which is huge for the format. Right now, Shoot the Sheriff is the go-to removal spell, but this puts up some tough competition. In theory, Heartless Act is great for removing counters and preventing synergy with Agatha’s Soul Cauldron. There’s also the counter-based Mono Green Landfall deck running around as well.
The amount of counters running amok may actually make Heartless Act much less viable than Shoot the Sheriff, since pure removal does the job much better for both of these examples. That said, if you’re looking for more than four two-mana removal spells, or an Outlaw gets popular in Standard, then Heartless Act could become a notable alternative.
Seismic Tutelage
For four mana, Seismic Tutelage does surprisingly little, in all honesty. While it does have a doubling effect, it’s nothing like Doubling Season, or even Mossborn Hydra. Unlike these cards, you’ll have to attack with the creature enchanted with Seismic Tutelage to double up on counters.
While this will put your attacking creature at risk somewhat, Seismic Tutelage is still a powerful card. Specifically, within +1/+1 counter-focused decks, this card can provide tons of value. Even if it only gets to double once or twice, that can easily be enough to secure the win. If you do have other counter doublers in play, then things will get out of hand very, very quickly.
Serpent of the Pass
Despite only being an uncommon, Serpent of the Pass is still a very powerful MTG card. While seven mana for a basically vanilla 6/5 isn’t good at all, you shouldn’t ever pay that much. Instead, Serpent of the Pass is basically a two mana 6/5, with Flash, if you’re lucky.
Much like Tolarian Terror, Serpent of the Pass will likely see play within Control-focused decks. This archetype has no trouble putting instants and sorceries into the graveyard while keeping up card advantage. This allows Serpent of the Pass to be a low-cost threat, which leaves mana up for interaction.
Notably, Serpent of the Pass doesn’t just care about instants and sorceries. Instead, it gets cheaper for any noncreature and nonland card in your graveyard. This is bound to give the card more utility since Mill and graveyard-filling strategies get results faster. Notably, however, Serpent of the Pass does lack any form of protection, so it’s by no means perfect.
Zuko, Avatar Hunter
Last, but by no means least, Zuko, Avatar Hunter also seems like a rather compelling card. Found in the structure Zuko Tutorial deck, this card can generate a good amount of 2/2 tokens if left unattended. Over the course of a Commander game, this could turn into quite an army that a few buffs could make lethal.
The only struggle is that you’ll need to untap with these tokens to use them. That said, effects like Mass Hysteria can let you get the job done sooner. Casting this spell would even get you another 2/2 token, adding to the value that you’d get naturally. This is really the main draw of Zuko, providing extra value on top of each spell cast.
As much as they can be a wincon, if you’re reaching critical mass with Zuko, Avatar Hunter, you’re probably winning already. Blitzing through your deck and potentially even Storm-ing out would create tons of tokens, but at that point, the game is over. As a result, Zuko might not be the best outright Commander option, but they’re still a good Commander card.
94 More Cards to See
While these six cards are the ones that caught our eyes, they’re far from the only ones that have been revealed. Even though the other new spoilers and reprints might not be too powerful, they do have one very strong quality. Each of the new Avatar: The Last Airbender Beginner Box spoilers has fantastic flavor.
Across all the new cards and Jumpstart packets, it’s clear that this is going to be an incredibly flavorful set. There are tons of references to classic moments in the show, which are fantastic to see, even if expected. On top of this, it’s also worth mentioning that this set also looks a lot like Magic, so far.
Ultimately, while 100 new spoilers have just been revealed, this is just scratching the surface of what Avatar: The Last Airbender has to offer. Thankfully, it should now be a little while until we see this set again. According to Wizards of the Coast, spoilers for the set won’t start officially until October 28th.
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