You’ve got to feel a little sorry for Edge of Eternities right about now. Its Prerelease starts tomorrow, and what should be an exciting moment for the set is being totally overshadowed by an absolute deluge of new Universes Beyond spoilers. Last night, we got our first tastes of what Spider-Man has to offer. This morning, we got to see 65 more cards from the set. As if that wasn’t enough, we’ve also been treated to an early look at Katara, the Fearless, a new legendary creature from the upcoming MTG x Avatar: The Last Airbender set.
As one of the main protagonists from the show, getting to see Katara here is a big deal. Her card is really interesting, too. Some players suspected the set would have an Ally theme after seeing Aang back in June. Katara’s Ally-centric ability pretty much confirms that. Players who have been longing for more Ally support since Zendikar Rising: your time has come.
Katara, The Fearless MTG
- Mana Value: GWU
- Type: Legendary Creature – Human Warrior Ally
- Rarity: Promo
- Card Text: If a triggered ability of an Ally you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.
- Stats: 3/3
Someone at Wizards of the Coast clearly really likes Panharmonicon effects. We’re getting more and more every set now, with Edge of Eternities having two. Katara, the Fearless is yet another entry in this ongoing MTG tradition, but this time specifically centered around Allies.
With Katara out, any triggered ability of any Ally you control will trigger twice. This includes enters, leaves, dies, attacks, and any other kind of trigger you can think of. This gives Katara surprisingly wide scope for shenanigans within the limited pool of Ally creatures. She’s particularly good with Aang, the only other card we’ve seen from the set so far. Every time you bend, Katara will get you an extra card, and if you can get to Aang’s ‘ultimate’ ability on the back side, things will really spin out of control.
Katara’s ability is a total flavor win, since she serves as the heart of the group in the show, helping everyone else constantly. Gameplay-wise, however, this looks like a bit of a miss. The mana cost is incredibly specific, and Katara does nothing herself on entry. She’s also extremely vulnerable to removal, thanks to that pesky three toughness. Outside of dedicated Ally decks in Commander, I doubt this one is going to see much play.
An Old Alliance Reforged
As things stand right now, Katara, the Fearless doesn’t have a huge amount to offer, even in a dedicated Ally deck in MTG Commander. If you run her at the helm, most of the triggers you’ll have access to are fairly underwhelming. You can get some extra +1/+1 counters from the likes of Hada Freeblade, or some extra mill from Halimar Excavator, but that’s not super-exciting. Even the more impactful Ally triggers, like those on Tajuru Warcaller and Turntimber Ranger, are held back by clunky mana costs.
Branching out into five-colors and running Katara in the 99 is more interesting. Doubling Drana’s damage trigger can easily buff your board out of hand for a fairly low cost. You can also use Kalastria Healer and Hagra Diabolist as potent burn tools. Red gives you access to Murasa Pyromancer for scaling creature removal, Tuktuk Scrapper to deal with artifacts, and Reckless Bushwhacker for surprise lethal swings. You’re definitely better off running Katara this way, though, just being a good card in the 99 isn’t too exciting for a shiny new promo.
While Katara, the Fearless is a little disappointing for now, it does confirm that the Ally creature type is coming back for Avatar: The Last Airbender. With both Katara and Aang being Allies, and Katara specifically boosting Allies, it’s looking like a fresh batch of Ally support is incoming. It’s pretty likely that some kind of new five-color Ally deck will be viable as a result, even if it’s just in the lower Commander brackets. This promo could have hidden depths that don’t reveal themselves until later on.
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