Despite only starting yesterday, the spoiler season for Avatar: The Last Airbender has been absolutely insane so far. In a stark contrast to MTG Spider Man, this set is loaded with insanely powerful cards. There’s already been no shortage of soon-to-be competitive staples, Commander powerhouses, and combo engines.
As if the main set and Jumpstart packs didn’t give us enough excitement, the Avatar: The Last Airbender set also has Scene Boxes. So far, only two cards from these boxes have been revealed, but they definitely don’t disappoint. Between a weird four spell counterspell and a new Equipment Typal Commander, there’s a lot to be excited about.
Katara’s Reversal
For four mana, this unique counterspell can counter four spells or abilities. Technically, you can even do this for free, since you can untap four artifacts or creatures. With enough mana dorks or mana rocks, this makes Katara’s Reversal an incredibly powerful spell. Despite this, many MTG players have been left scratching their heads by this spoiler.
As dorjj succinctly put on Reddit, “… I’m not sure I ever had a situation where I wanted to counter that many spells.” Realistically, this is a major problem with the card, as it feels like you’ll never get maximum value from it. That said, while it does look like a bad Flusterstorm, you can use it to just counter the Storm trigger outright, nullifying something like Grapeshot.
Despite this rather damning drawback, Katara’s Reversal is far from useless. Being able to counter abilities opens up a lot of niche utility. You could really ruin a green player’s day by completely hosing an Apex Devastator, for example. More realistically, and flavorfully, this card can be used to counter four Firebending triggers.
Outside of the potential countering shenanigans, the untapping angle of Katara’s Reversal is equally important. Not only can this allow you to cast this spell for free, but it can also open up tons of utility. In an artifact-themed deck, getting to untap four key cards could easily be a game-changer.
If you throw in a card like Mycosynth Lattice, getting value out of Katara’s Reversal becomes completely trivial. In fact, you don’t even need to counter something with this card for it to be good. You can just untap a bunch of your artifacts and creatures, and it’s still a good trade. Whether you’re leaning into it or not, Katara’s Reversal has a lot of potential.
Sokka and Suki
Thanks to mashing two existing archetypes together, Sokka and Suki looks like a very compelling Commander option. If you specifically love both Allies and Equipment, then this is definitely the new legend for you. Admittedly, while extra Allies support is always nice, the unique equipment-focused ability is the main draw here.
Essentially, Sokka and Suki gives each equipment you play Job Select. By playing an equipment, you’ll get a 1/1 Ally token, which can then have one equipment attached to it for free. Getting a measly 1/1 token might not sound like much, but having this attached from the get-go is huge.
With Sokka and Suki in play, Colossus Hammer becomes an 11/11 for just one mana. Alternatively, you can do some really wacky shenanigans with Sword of the Meek and a sacrifice engine. Atog is a surprisingly good option for this, which also opens up a potential wincon.
To utilize this combo, you’ll need Sokka and Suki in play alongside an artifact sacrifice engine like Atog. Simply play Sword of the Meek and wait for the Ally token generating trigger to hit the stack. From here, you can sacrifice Sword of the Meek to Atog, after which the 1/1 token will be created, bringing Sword of the Meek back.
This three-card infinite combo will net you infinite enters and leaves the battlefield triggers, alongside infinite 1/1 Ally tokens. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also get an infinitely large Atog doing this. While Atog alone threatens to one-shot an opponent, throwing in an Impact Tremors will also do the trick.
More Scene Cards Soon
For now, we’ve only seen two of the twelve Scene Box cards that Avatar: The Last Airbender has to offer. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait for long for more information, since the set’s spoiler season concludes on November 6th. Until that date comes, MTG players can still enjoy looking at the gorgeous scene artwork, which has already become a fan favorite.
Technically, most of the other cards from the Avatar: The Last Airbender Scene Boxes have been revealed already. A few months ago, both boxes were leaked by Wizards thanks to early product listings. For better or worse, it’s almost impossible to actually read these cards, but we can discern a few details.
For starters, it looks like the Tea Time at the Jasmine Dragon Scene Box will contain four legendary creatures. The other two cards, meanwhile, appear to be instants, but it is incredibly difficult ot tell. Over on The Black Sun Invasion Scene Box, none of the four visible cards look like creatures. Instead, it seems we’re getting a couple of artifacts alongside a red and a blue spell.
Ultimately, these incredibly blurry photos are so illegible that any guesses beyond card type and color are impossible. Thankfully, as mentioned, we don’t have long to wait for more, so this mystery shouldn’t plague us forever.
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