Say what you want about Magic’s Universes Beyond sets, but they’ve been absolutely nailing the deep cuts so far. Given how massive some of the properties they’ve covered are, it’s impressive that Wizards always manages to fit in some hits for the die-hard fans. Avatar is no exception, as it features, among other things, an unexpected appearance from Aang’s past life, Avatar Kuruk.
This is a character only briefly mentioned in the show, so you’d be forgiven for not recognizing him. It would’ve been easy to give such a niche character a middling uncommon, but Wizards instead opted to make it a powerful mythic, with a ton of cross-format potential. In MTG Commander, The Legend of Kuruk is capable of generating infinite extra turns for you. Throw in some legitimate uses in constructed, and Kuruk is a name that may not be niche for much longer.
The Wheel Keeps Turning…
The first thing most MTG players noticed about The Legend of Kuruk was the activated ability on the back side. 20 is an awful lot of mana, to be sure, but an activated ability that lets you take an extra turn sets off immediate combo alarm bells. If you can find a way to get around that pesky Exhaust restriction in Commander, you can take infinite turns and cruise to a win.
Blinking Kuruk seems like the obvious solution here, but that doesn’t work since Kuruk will return on his front side as a Saga. Instead, what you’ll need to do is clone Kuruk with something that gets around the legend rule first, like Spark Double or Chameleon, Master of Disguise. Then, you can use the ability on the clone and blink it to reset it. There are all sorts of ways to achieve this, but Thassa, Deep-Dwelling is probably the best on-color option. Conjurer’s Closet and Y’shtola Ruul both provide a similar effect and serve as great backups here.
If all that blinking and cloning sounds like too much faff, then there’s an easier Kuruk combo line available. Assuming you’re in Simic, you can use Elvish Refueler to get a fresh activation of his Exhaust ability each turn.
While these combos are certainly powerful, it’s important to remember that you’ll also need 20 mana in lands, creatures, and artifacts to make them happen. For this reason, Kuruk is best-suited to decks that can create a lot of disposable artifacts, like Clues and Treasures. If you run something like Lonis, Cryptozoologist or The Mechanist, Aerial Artisan in the command zone, The Legend of Kuruk should make an excellent addition to your 99.
The Legend Of Kuruk In MTG Standard
While it very much looks like a classic ‘designed for Commander’ card, The Legend of Kuruk has actually been putting in work in other MTG formats too. Most notably, it’s become a bit of a staple in the emerging Dimir Bounce deck in Standard.
This is the latest attempt to resurrect the Self-Bounce archetype in the format, using a couple of new Avatar additions. Boomerang Basics is the big one, giving the deck another way to re-use its value cards, like Tinybones Joins Up. The Legend of Kuruk is the other newcomer, and it’s a surprising one in a number of ways.
Considering Dimir Bounce is mainly about casting multiple spells a turn, a clunky four-drop hardly seems like a good fit. When you look at how the card plays in the deck, however, it makes total sense. The front side provides solid card advantage and selection, which you can bounce after chapter two if you need to grind out value. Alternatively, if you’re sitting on a full grip, you can let the card flip and create a huge board of Spirits via cast triggers to close things out.
You’re pretty much never going to take an extra turn with Kuruk in Dimir Bounce, but that doesn’t really matter. The card offers the deck a plan for the late game, and a way to reach said late game, in one handy package. It can also just be a fine on-curve play in slower matchups like Jeskai Control. Curving an Entity Tracker on three into this on four is a banger play, after all.
Higher And Higher
Seeing regular use in MTG Standard is impressive in itself, but it turns out The Legend of Kuruk has potential beyond that, too. Some enterprising players, like Bless_von, have been testing the card out in Legacy Grixis Tempo lists as well.
A four mana card advantage piece doesn’t exactly scream ‘tempo,’ especially in Legacy. That said, the card is a surprisingly good fit in the strategy. At its heart, this is a deck all about controlling the board and eking out an advantage over your opponent. A card like The Legend of Kuruk, which lets you do so while also applying pressure later on, is ideal. It follows in the footsteps of some of the other powerhouse cards in the deck, like Barrowgoyf and Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student.
Even if you can’t find a window to cast it, The Legend of Kuruk pulls its weight in the deck just by being a blue card. Having something to pitch to Force of Will or Force of Negation is hugely relevant in Legacy, after all.
All of that said, The Legend of Kuruk is still very much at the testing stage in Legacy for now. Players aren’t adopting the card en masse, and when they do, it’s not in big numbers. Whether it earns a solid spot or not will be decided in the weeks to come. Even if it doesn’t make the cut, it’s a testament to the card’s overall quality that it was even considered at all.
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