Today we got our first look at Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set, and it did not disappoint. We saw a ton of iconic characters, featuring some very interesting mechanics indeed. Turns out all the Avatar goodness won’t fit in one set, either. We’ll also be getting an MTG x Avatar Jumpstart product, which will include some powerful exclusive cards.
This is a similar situation to that of Foundations Jumpstart last year, but without the divisive anime art. We got to see a few of these on stream today, and so far they’re looking excellent. While these cards won’t be Standard legal, as is often the case with new Jumpstart cards, they will add some extra spice to your eternal format decks, Commander in particular.
Aang, Airbending Master
- Mana Value: 4W
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Avatar Ally
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: When Aang enters, Airbend another target creature. (Exile it. While it’s exiled, its owner may cast it for 2 rather than its mana cost.)
Whenever one or more creatures you control leave the battlefield without dying, you get an experience counter.
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 1/1 white Ally creature token for each experience counter you have.- Stats: 4/4
Kicking things off we have Aang, the series’ main protagonist, in one of what will undoubtedly be one of many appearances. This version is an interesting support piece for a blink deck, building up experience as your creatures enter exile. This also works for self-bounce effects like Nurturing Pixie, so there’s a good bit of flexibility here.
Getting to Airbend any creature on entry is quite nice too. You can use this offensively, to temporarily deal with a stax piece or annoying utility creature. Alternatively you can use it to abuse enters/leaves triggers from your own creatures. You get to cast your Airbended creatures again later, so it even works with Eldrazi.
Interestingly the payoff for accumulating experience with Aang is a bit of a nonbo with the above. It creates a scaling board of Ally tokens, which can be nice for Ally synergy but doesn’t play well with blink. Since the tokens won’t come back from a blink effect, they won’t feel great to blink for more counters.
Overall this Aang feels a little too expensive to be a staple. It really feels like that Airbend ability could’ve been on enters or attacks, too. That said, it’s still a very solid card, and one that casual blink decks in Commander will definitely want to consider.
Katara, Waterbending Master
- Mana Value: 1U
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Warrior Ally
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Whenever you cast a spell during an opponent’s turn, you get an experience counter.
Whenever Katara attacks, you may draw a card for each experience counter you have. If you do, discard a card.- Stats: 1/3
Our next MTG Avatar Jumpstart exclusive is much more exciting. This version of Katara cares about experience counters too, but it can accumulate them far easier than Aang. All you have to do is cast spells on your opponents’ turns, which is what high-level Commander decks want to be doing anyway.
Typical cEDH games involve long, drawn out counter wars, and Katara can capitalize on that by giving you a ton of experience for getting involved. She then lets you draw a ton on attack, to balance out the resources you put in to do so. Even with just a couple of counters she becomes a passable looter, but she quickly scales into a terrifying draw engine in the right shell. Her ability isn’t limited to noncreature spells, either, so Flashing in an Orcish Bowmasters or Opposition Agent will get you experience too. Katara is also a cheap legendary for Mox Amber, and pitches to the free counterspells like Force of Will.
The big downside here is that Katara lacks Haste, so you will need to keep her alive for a full turn cycle to see any benefit. In a deck with lots of cheap interaction that shouldn’t be a problem, mind you. Thanks to her low cost, solid stats, and powerful ability, I could even see players testing Katara in the likes of Legacy and Vintage. Decks like Dimir Reanimator may well enjoy a solid looter with massive potential upside.
Fire Lord Ozai
- Mana Value: 3B
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Noble
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Card Text: Whenever Fire Lord Ozai attacks, you may sacrifice another creature. If you do, add an amount of R equal to the sacrificed creature’s power. Until end of combat, you don’t lose this mana as steps end.
6: Exile the top card of each opponent’s library. Until end of turn, you may play one of those cards without paying its mana cost.- Stats: 4/4
Avatar’s big bad gets an intentionally tiny appearance here, in artwork terms anyway. As for the card itself, it’s a very interesting design. Ozai’s attack trigger is very similar to the Firebending mechanic shown on the main set cards today, but it scales with the power of the sacrificed creature. It’s worth noting that the wording here is a little weird. Since it only lets you keep the mana as steps end, not phases, you can’t carry it into your main phase two. You need to spend it in combat, just like with Firebending.
Fortunately, that activated ability gives you a built-in way to do so. For six mana at instant speed you get a much worse Etali enters trigger, but one that can also hit lands. The most interesting thing here is that the ability is repeatable. In a deck where you can generate infinite mana, you can just mill the table out on the spot with this. Alternatively you can use it for value when you’re out of gas. Ironically, using this ability in combat may be the weakest application of it, since it doesn’t let you cast powerful sorcery speed threats.
This ability alone will likely make Ozai playable in some lists, particularly those that lean heavily on infinite mana combos. Outside of that it’s a fine value piece, especially for decks that enjoy sacrificing creatures, but nothing really special. The ‘sacrificing your own troops for power’ flavor is fantastic here, mind you.
The Cabbage Merchant
- Mana Value: 2G
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Citizen
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Text: Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, create a Food token. (It’s an artifact with “2, Tap, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.)
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to you, sacrifice a Food token.
Tap two untapped Foods you control: Add one mana of any color.- Stats: 2/2
The last of the MTG Avatar Jumpstart exclusives we saw today may well be the most exciting. Players have been clamoring for a Cabbage Merchant card since the set was announced, and Wizards did not disappoint. Not only is this a great portrayal of a beloved character, but it actually seems pretty powerful to boot.
Getting a Food for every noncreature spell your opponents cast can get out of hand very quickly, especially at high-power tables. If you’re up against the kind of deck that would enjoy the Katara above, The Cabbage Merchant will do some serious work for you. Getting to tap your Foods for mana is also incredible, since it really opens up your options for interacting. It’s easy to generate Food outside of this, then hold up a ton of mana after exhausting all of your lands.
Even outside of this, just generating a bunch of artifacts alone is quite scary. You can deal a ton of damage with Reckless Fireweaver, and drop your Affinity creatures for their minimum prices. This also has huge synergy with tokens-matter Commanders, Baylen in particular.
The combat damage downside here is significant, but manageable. You can tap your Foods to pay for removal before your opponent swings in, or even just to cast some blockers. The fact that it exists will probably goad your opponents into attacking you, but the potential upside is well worth it. I can see The Cabbage Merchant becoming a staple in a surprisingly wide array of Commander decks.
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