After months of build-up, today finally marks the digital release of Magic’s Avatar: The Last Airbender set. In just a few hours, we’ll get to see how the new cards stack up in formats like Standard and Modern. As with most recent sets, however, Avatar is also rammed to the gills with goodies for Commander. If you’re looking to build an MTG Commander deck around one of the new legends from this set, then Fire Lord Azula is your best bet by far. Not only is this newcomer a powerhouse value card, but it’s also ripe with combo potential.
Fire Lord Azula MTG
Fire Lord Azula is all about her second ability. A 4/4 body with Firebending 2 is decent, but let’s be real: you’re running this Commander to copy spells. As copy effects go, this one is incredibly open-ended. There are no restrictions on it in terms of card type, meaning if you can cast it during combat, Azula can copy it. This lets you make duplicates of permanent spells, creatures, artifacts, etc., that aren’t normally eligible for effects like this.
The fact that Azula has to be attacking for this ability to be active is an obstacle, but not a tricky one to get around. Your Instants and cards with Flash are viable targets right away, and there are plenty of ways to grant Flash to the rest of your deck, too. High Fae Trickster and Vedalken Orrery are both ideal, and even temporary options like Borne Upon a Wind are great here too. Azula’s power scales up alongside the things you’re copying with her, and Flash granters like this greatly expand your options.
Once you’ve opened up your pool of copy options, Azula becomes an unpredictable force of nature. You might fire off a removal spell and take down two creatures. Alternatively, you might bring out a huge threat like Archon of Cruelty and rake in double the usual value. Thanks to Azula’s Firebending ability, big plays like this aren’t out of the question at all. Assuming you make all your land drops, you’ll have at least seven mana the turn after Azula comes down.
A Copy Combo Carnival
Playing Fire Lord Azula in “fair” ways like those described above is fine, but to really get the most out of this MTG card, you’ll want to dig into its combo potential. Azula opens up a lot of different infinite combos, largely involving spells that copy other spells.
If you cast a copy spell like Narset’s Reversal or Reiterate while Azula is attacking, for example, you can copy it, and have the copy target the original, then repeat this as many times as you’d like. Throw in a card with Magecraft, which triggers every time you copy a spell, and you’re cooking. Sedgemoor Witch can get you infinite 1/1s, Storm-Kiln Artist can get you infinite Treasures, and Archmage Emeritus can draw you infinite cards.
These copy chains have other uses, too. If you pair Narset’s Reversal with something that generates mana, like Turnabout or Frantic Search, you can go infinite that way, since Reversal can return both cards to your hand to cast again. Reiterate can also go infinite with Seething Song, as you’ll have enough mana to buy it back and keep the chain going. These loops are great ways to generate infinite mana, and dump your entire deck in the graveyard in the case of Frantic Search.
Azula also allows for fun variants on the classic Dualcaster Mage combo lines. Pair Dualcaster Mage with Snap, for example, and you can create infinite 2/2 tokens as well as infinite mana. This should help you dig for another piece like Goblin Bombardment to close things out. These combos are interesting in their own right. The fact that Azula gives you the key piece right in the command zone, however, makes them doubly so.
Another Grixis cEDH Option?
The combos above will absolutely clean house in bracket three and four pods. Based on early discussion from around the MTG community, however, Fire Lord Azula could be capable of pushing even higher than that. cEDH players, in particular, have been pondering Azula since it was first revealed.
There are good reasons for this. For starters, Azula is a Commander in Grixis colors, which is a big plus in cEDH. The best win cons in the format, Demonic Consultation/Thassa’s Oracle and Underworld Breach/Brain Freeze, both fit into Grixis decks. A lot of Grixis legends are run in cEDH for this fact alone.
Azula notably makes the Demonic Consultation combo much easier to execute. Rather than needing Thassa’s Oracle in hand first, you can copy Consultation with Azula and use the first copy to get Oracle, then the second to get rid of your deck. The same combo is possible with Tainted Pact. You can also double up on Gifts Ungiven with Azula, and grab a ton of pieces for the Breach combo while putting others in the graveyard.
While these interactions are powerful, Azula has some steep competition in cEDH. Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh/Silas Renn, Seeker Adept is the go-to Grixis Commander in the format right now, and Azula lacks many of its advantages. There are also plenty of big runners up to contend with, like Kefka, Court Mage and Norman Osborn//Green Goblin. The fact that Azula needs to attack to do anything at all is a concern for many at this stage compared to these other options.
All of that said, it’s still great to get a new Commander that’s even in the cEDH conversation. Fire Lord Azula is undoubtedly one of the most exciting new legends from Avatar. As a result, I expect it to see widespread use across all brackets.
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