Since the ban to Badgermole Cub back in August, Bant Airbending had completely fallen by the wayside. Losing its explosiveness proved hard to overcome, especially as other archetypes improved with new sets. Yet, surprisingly, the strategy made the top eight of the Magic Spotlight event in Hartford this past weekend. Perhaps the deck has been slept on for too long.
A Similar Structure
Like pre-ban Airbending decklists, this Bant shell aims to assemble a game-breaking combo kill around
Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius
Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius
Spells you cast from your graveyard or from exile cost {2} less to cast.
Plotting cards from your hand costs {2} less.
,
Aang, Swift Savior
Aang, Swift Savior
Flash
Flying
When Aang enters, airbend up to one other target creature or spell. (Exile it. While it's exiled, its owner may cast it for {2} rather than its mana cost.)
Waterbend {8}: Transform Aang.
, and
Appa, Steadfast Guardian
Appa, Steadfast Guardian
Flash
Flying
When Appa enters, airbend any number of other target nonland permanents you control. (Exile them. While each one is exiled, its owner may cast it for {2} rather than its mana cost.)
Whenever you cast a spell from exile, create a 1/1 white Ally creature token.
. The goal is to repeatedly Airbend Appa with Aang and vice versa, using Doc Aurlock’s discount to cast your Airbent fliers for free. This loop nets you infinite Ally tokens via Appa’s triggered ability.
Given how much this deck relies on assembling its combo, you need to find the pieces in a relatively timely manner. Fortunately,
Interdimensional Web Watch
Interdimensional Web Watch
When this artifact enters, exile the top two cards of your library. Until the end of your next turn, you may play those cards.
{T}: Add two mana in any combination of colors. Spend this mana only to cast spells from exile.
provides a solid stream of card advantage and a burst of mana to cast the exiled cards as needed. Digging Deeper, you can also cast
Bramble Familiar
Bramble Familiar
{T}: Add {G}.
{1}{G}, {T}, Discard a card: Return this creature to its owner's hand.
, Airbend it, then cast the Adventure half at a big discount to churn through your library.
Of course, having four copies each of Interdimensional Web Watch and Appa makes the deck a bit clunky, forcing Bant Airbending to use some mana acceleration to get going early. While
Llanowar Elves
Llanowar Elves
{T}: Add {G}.
and Bramble Familiar help,
Way of the Paradox
Way of the Paradox
When Way of the Paradox enters, empower Jace 5. (Put five loyalty counters on a Jace token you control. If you don't control one, first create a blue Jace planeswalker token with "[−1]: Surveil 1" and "[−3]: Draw a card.")
Whenever you activate a loyalty ability, you gain 1 life. You may play an additional land this turn.
appears to be the secret sauce from Reality Fracture that has brought this archetype back.
Offering lifegain, card draw, and extra land drops, Way of the Paradox can help you set up your combo turns while digging for more cards. Notably, the enchantment is Airbendable with Appa, letting you replay Way of the Paradox multiple times for more draws. The enchantment also gives you infinite life and infinite card draw when you combo off, giving you another potential avenue to victory.
Past Way of the Paradox,
Jennifer Walters
Jennifer Walters
Your opponents can't cast spells during your turn.
{3}{G}{W}{W}: Transform Jennifer Walters. Activate only as a sorcery.
is another new card for Bant Airbending, preventing your opponent from interacting with combo turns. If you have a ton of extra mana, Jennifer Walters can flip to become a threat, too, giving it some utility against creature matchups.
A Slept-On Archetype
While Bant Airbending had been largely nonexistent in Standard until this tournament, the deck’s pilot, Andrew Maine, exploited the metagame at hand. Notably, they went undefeated against Orzhov Lifegain, one of the most popular decks in the room.
Because Orzhov Lifegain revolves around grindy synergies and runs little removal, executing the Airbending combo is a great way to punish the opponent. After all, it doesn’t matter how much life the opponent gains, since infinite tokens will easily overpower them.
At the same time, though, Andrew also went 3-0 against Dimir Midrange, showcasing this deck’s potential to grind. Having access to eight beefy, Flying Flash blockers against a deck that relies on sneaking in
Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
Ninjutsu {1}{U}{B} ({1}{U}{B}, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
During your turn, as long as Kaito has one or more loyalty counters on him, he's a 3/4 Ninja creature and has hexproof.
+1: You get an emblem with "Ninjas you control get +1/+1."
0: Surveil 2. Then draw a card for each opponent who lost life this turn.
−2: Tap target creature. Put two stun counters on it.
is a huge boon. At the same time, Jennifer Walters negates the opponent’s ability to react to your plays with
Floodpits Drowner
Floodpits Drowner
Flash
Vigilance
When this creature enters, tap target creature an opponent controls and put a stun counter on it.
{1}{U}, {T}: Shuffle this creature and target creature with a stun counter on it into their owners' libraries.
and
We Say Thee Nay!
We Say Thee Nay!
Teamwork 2 (As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or more.)
Counter target spell unless its controller pays {2}. Counter that spell unless its controller pays {4} instead if this spell was cast using teamwork.
On top of all of this upside, Bant Airbending also is well-suited for the Mono-Green Landfall matchup, since that deck has minimal ways to break up your combo. So long as you can halt fast
Mightform Harmonizer
Mightform Harmonizer
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, double the power of target creature you control until end of turn.
Warp {2}{G} (You may cast this card from your hand for its warp cost. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step, then you may cast it from exile on a later turn.)
kills with Aang, you’re in decent shape.
Unfortunately, this deck still is far from foolproof, as fighting through a slew of disruption from control decks isn’t easy. This deck is also very vulnerable to
Torpor Orb
Torpor Orb
Creatures entering don't cause abilities to trigger.
, which is picking up in numbers due to the dominance of Orzhov Lifegain.
Nonetheless, a top eight finish is still quite noteworthy and impressive in a field where no one saw it coming. The deck could pick up steam again, so if you’re looking to play Standard soon, it’s worth keeping on your radar.
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