Avatar: The Last Airbender has a lot of exciting cards that look primed to impact multiple MTG formats. That said, thanks to just how good some of the frontrunners are, like Wan Shi Tong, Librarian and Badgermole Cub, a lot of other strong cards are getting lost in the noise. From anti-combo queens to incredible commander copy machines, there’s so much more to Avatar: The Last Airbender than its chase Mythics. Sokka, Bold Boomeranger is yet another card that has all the tools it needs to succeed.
Sokka, Bold Boomeranger
For two mana, Sokka, Bold Boomeranger offers a Legendary creature with two very strong abilities. Not only can this creature fix your hand on entry, fueling graveyard strategies, Lesson synergies and fighting flood in the interim, but Sokka also grows rather easily. This allows Sokka to have some powerful synergies across formats, including in Standard.
While Vivi Cauldron is gone, Sokka, Bold Boomeranger still fits into a few different Standard strategies. Izzet has proven resilient postban, and Sokka makes sense as an addition there. This new strategy has a much larger focus on Quantum Riddler than past ones, which will often draw an extra card off of Sokka’s entry trigger. The Splash Portal variants can even recycle Sokka, drawing more cards when necessary. Better yet, Sokka, pairs extremely well with a promising Avatar Lesson that looks very good alongside multiple Izzet standouts. Boomerang Basics looks primed to see Standard play, and the spell will grow Sokka on cast. The same goes for Astrologian’s Planisphere, which is seeing a massive resurgence in Standard. Sokka and Planisphere ironically trigger oneanother, which helps sequencing quite significantly.
While Sokka has potential in Standard, the card looks primed to perform in Modern, in particular. Both of Sokka’s effects are way more useful there, allowing the card to become a real threat while pairing well with some of the format’s strongest cards.
Sokka, Bold Boomeranger in Modern
Both of Sokka’s abilities are interesting in Modern, but there are other cards in the format that do either thing better. Seasoned Pyromancer‘s enters effect is far superior since it will always draw two cards, and Patchwork Automaton functions better as a growing Affinity threat thanks to its Ward 2. That means, in order to make Sokka perform at his best, we need to find a deck that uses both of his abilities to strong effect.
That places Sokka as a support piece in the various Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student decks utilizing a lot of zero-mana artifacts. Outside of the card’s occasional apperance in Affinity lists, Tamiyo Inquisitive Student is also showing up in a new 8-Mox midrange deck utilizing Cori-Steel Cutter and Quantum Riddler. This deck plays enough zero-mana artifacts to turn Sokka into a relevant threat, and can Transform Tamiyo with his enters ability. Sokka also acts as another way to turn Mox Amber on, allowing it to tap for Izzet colors.
Getting Sokka to four or five power should be easy enough in the 8-Mox deck. You can even equip Cori-Steel Cutter to Sokka, granting it Haste and Trample later in the game. While it isn’t difficult to remove a creature like this, but as long as Sokka is getting relevant value when it enters play, it should be doing its job just fine.
In Affinity, you need to be playing Tamiyo for Sokka to be worth its inclusion. Because Affinity exchanges a lot of resources for a quick burst of power, Sokka isn’t strong enough of a payoff on its own. If Sokka manages to Transform Tamiyo on entry, your opponent now has two threats that they need to deal with urgently, which makes Sokka’s effectiveness as a body better.
Sokka, Bold Boomeranger in Commander
Thanks to his Lesson synergies, Sokka, Bold Boomeranger will largely see play in Commander decks with Avatar Commanders. Of all of these, Iroh, Grand Lotus seems to be the most likely play Sokka thanks to him being able to turn on all the graveyard synergies for Lessons. Iroh can Flash anything back Sokka discards, turning him into straight card advantage. Making things better, Sokka will become a big threat extremely quickly. Couple Iroh’s Flashback effect with a mana reducer, like Artist’s Talent, and you can cast all of your Lessons for free. Not only will this create a ton of value, but you’ll grow Sokka in the process.
Outside of Avatar, Sokka plays well with a variety of Commanders that synergize with either of his abilities. Captain Howler, Sea Scourge, for example, hands out massive buffs when Sokka enters play, while Mm’menon, Uthros Exile can grow Sokka extremely quickly when combined with artifacts. Jodah, the Unifier can also use Sokka to great effect, fixing your hand while growing him with his general anthem effect.
Sadly, Sokka’s value is definitely much better in constructed formats. Big bodies don’t do a ton of work in Commander thanks to massive life totals, meaning that cards like Sokka will perform better against one opponent rather than four.
Whether Sokka, Bold Boomeranger breaks out or not has yet to be seen, but the card certainly has potential. Between flipping Tamiyo, drawing extra cards with Quantum Riddler, and doubling as an efficient threat, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Sokka at the top of some league charts shortly.
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