We’re almost in the middle of MTG Avatar: The Last Airbender spoiler season, and it’s clear that set has something for everyone. There are extremely flavorful nods to the source material, incredible ramp creatures, and some staples that look primed to take over competitive Magic. Despite players’ excitement for the set, we’re not even close to done yet.
One new MTG Avatar spoiler has the potential to draw tons of cards in Commander. It’s reactionary, a lot like MTG Game Changer Consecrated Sphinx, but unlike the infamous flier, Unagi of Kiyoshi Island is a legendary creature, allowing you to play it in the Command Zone.
Unagi of Kiyoshi Island
- Mana Value: 3UU
- Creature Type: Legendary Creature Serpent
- Rarity: Rare
- Power and Toughness: 5/5
- Card Text: Flash. Ward — Waterbend 4. Whenever an opponent draws their second card each turn, draw 2 cards.
For five mana, Unagi of Kiyoshi Island is a new blue staple for any Commander deck that wants to punish opponents for drawing cards. So long as your opponent draws a second card, you get to draw two alongside them. Unlike some other draw hate effects, Unagi of Kiyoshi Island cares about when any opponent draws their second card at any time. This means that, with three opponents, you can draw six cards per turn. That said, as long as you trigger this card once, Unagi of Kiyoshi Island has already done its job.
While all of this is powerful, Unagi at Kiyoshi Island can still be undone by targeted removal. If your opponents want to do this, however, they’ll have to fight through this creature’s unique Ward cost. Sadly, Waterbend 4 is significantly easier to pay for than a plain old-fashioned Ward 4, since your opponents can also tap creatures and artifacts to help pay for it. Regardless, in a focused strategy, it ensures that Unagi of Kiyoshi Island can come down in awkward spots and draw some cards before perishing to an opponent’s removal spell. If you’re building around the Legendary Serpent, chances are you can draw into some additional counterspell protection to fight removal when it does come up, too.
This creature is strong enough to be a reasonable inclusion in all kinds of blue Commander decks, but if you want to push Unagi at Kiyoshi Island to perform at its absolute best, there are a few tricks you can take advantage of.
Everyone Draws Cards
Unagi at Kiyoshi Island will work best in decks that already want your opponent to draw cards. The Council of Four, for example, already benefits from making your opponents draw two cards, and Unagi at Kiyoshi Island just sweetens your payoff. This card similarly works well in Nekusar, the Mindrazer decks.
Both of these Commanders like to utilize card advantage spells that make the entire table draw extra cards. Cards like Howling Mine, Kami of the Crescent Moon, and Dictate of Kruphix will force your opponents to trigger Unagi at Kiyoshi Island, allowing you to draw six extra cards per rotation. Vision Skeins is particularly nasty with Unagi at Kiyoshi Island, drawing you eight cards for just two mana. Pair these with card draw punishes like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Scrawling Crawler, and you can whittle your opponent’s life down without even attacking.
That said, Ms. Bumbleflower players may be the ones eating the best with Unagi. By forcing opponents to draw cards when you cast spells, you’ll be able to trigger Unagi at Kiyoshi Island extremely easily. Ms. Bumbleflower also rewards you for card draw, making it extremely easy to bury your opponents in card advantage.
Even without you forcing your opponents to draw extra cards, it’s not uncommon for players to draw extra cards on their own, especially in Commander. If this is particularly common at your table, copying Unagi at Kiyoshi Island might work better in more generic strategies. So long as each of your Unagis trigger once, you’ll be ahead on cards, meaning that profiting off this strategy is pretty easy. Spark Double sees tons of play in a variety of different Commander decks, and it just makes Unagi that much easier to add to yours.
Consecrated Sphinx At Home
At the end of the day, Unagi at Kiyoshi Island almost functions as a second copy of Consecrated Sphinx, which will be more than enough to make it a worthwhile addition all over the place. Unlike the Sphinx, you do need your opponents to reliably draw two or more cards semi-consistently, but Flash helps catch your opponents off guard.
Unfortunately, while Unagi at Kiyoshi Island looks exciting for Commander, we can’t say the same about its potential in constructed formats. Five mana is too expensive outside of some niche applications in Standard or Pioneer, and both of those formats don’t have a lot of card advantage that actually draws cards. Stock Up and Consult the Star Charts, for example, don’t actually draw cards, and won’t trigger Unagi as a result.
All of that said, Unagi at Kiyoshi Island looks like an exciting new tool for blue Commander decks. Chances are it won’t be nearly as expensive as Consecrated Sphinx, either, allowing a more accessible, and almost as powerful card draw hate piece to see widespread play.
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