Flamey-O Hotman! Avatar The Last Airbender Cards Revealed
Team Avatar comes soaring into Magic: The Gathering, and just recently we were treated to some brand new spoilers for the set. From unveiling the iconic characters from our childhoods that we know and love, to revealing the all new bending mechanics, we were treated to a host of surprises. Here’s everything you need to know that was revealed in the first look trailer for Magic The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Alex Kivitz
Unlocking The Elements: What is Bending and How Does it Work?
We can’t have an Avatar: The Last Airbender set without Firebending, Waterbending, Earthbending, and Airbending. And of course, Wizards of the Coast made sure to include them all as brand new mechanics, making them not only interesting, but also thematic as well. While we were teased with these mechanics, we now know exactly what each one does.
Let’s start off with what we feel is the most straightforward, firebending. Firebending is a new mechanic that appears on certain creatures and is followed by a number, for example you will see firebending 2 on Avatar Aang. When a character with Firebending X attacks, where X can be any number, you add that amount of red mana to your mana pool. This mana lasts until the end of combat. In the case of Avatar Aang, you will add 2 red mana to your mana pool to use during combat. This mana really helps with the Waterbending mechanic.
Waterbending is likely the most varied of the bending mechanics. Characters with the Waterbend mechanic will see Waterbend, followed by a mana-cost. Let’s look at Yue, the Moon Spirit with Waterbend followed by a cost of 5 generic mana and tapping Yue. When you Waterbend, you activate the ability, pay the cost, and do the effect. The main difference between Waterbend and a regular activated ability is that you can tap creatures and artifacts you control to help pay the cost. Each creature or artifact tapped contributes 1 generic mana. The Waterbend abilities we’ve seen so far can be activated at instant speed, synergising well with the mana gained from Firebending.
Probably one of the abilities we’re most excited about is Earthbending. Toph, the First Metalbender provides a great example of the new mechanic and how it fixes one of the biggest drawbacks of turning your lands into creatures. Earthbend like the previous bending abilities, is followed by a number. When Earthbend triggers, you turn a target land you control into a 0/0 creature with haste that’s still a land, and put a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the Earthbend value. In Toph’s case it’s two counters. The best part about this is when the land dies or is exiled, it returns to the battlefield tapped.
Airbend is the last of the bending cycle, and it looks like quite a bit of fun to utilise. When you Airbend another permanent, you exile that permanent. While it is exiled you may cast that permanent from exile paying 2 generic mana instead of its mana cost. Suddenly your decks that want to see you casting more spells, have creatures with ETBs, or even leave play effects become a lot more versatile.
The Gaang’s All Here
We are seeing the return of a lot of older effects and mechanics, reskinned and retuned around the iconic setting of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Allies are making a comeback, frontlined by Katara, the Fearless, but supported by all of the main cast. Fire Lord Zuko and Sokka, Bold Boomeranger just to name a couple.
This is the perfect setting for the Lesson subtype to make a return, as we follow Aang and his journey to master the four elements and the avatar state. Shrines also make a comeback as Aang travels the world, stopping at the several Air Temples.
Of course how can we forget the unfortunate Cabbage Merchant as Team Avatar unwittingly destroys his cabbages (Food Tokens) everywhere they go. Touching briefly on the flavour of The Cabbage Merchant and the theme of destroying his cabbages, we love the flavour win of Sokka’s Haiku being a literal Haiku.
Finally, Sagas are starting to become quite an evergreen archetype as we follow the history of the Avatar universe. All the while we also explore the world with a full suite of Appa themed basic lands.
Special Treatments and Supporting Products
For the real Avatar enthusiasts out there, players can really flush out their decks and collections with the host of special art treatments of their favourite characters. Starting off strong we have the Raised Foil headliner card with art by show co-creator Bryan Konietzko.
Appa and Momo make an appearance as scholars attempt to study these mysterious creatures in their Field Notes art treatment.
The benders alongside them showcase their talents on the all new Elemental Frame art treatment, with some of the most iconic characters needing no introductions or descriptions with their Battle Pose cards.
Whether you’re a Magic: The Gathering veteran, or are getting into the game for the first time, there are products for you! We were shown a beautiful Beginner Box product, placing the players in the shoes of Aang and Zuko as they learn the essentials of Magic. Unlike most set releases in recent years, we have not seen any news of Commander decks to go alongside this product. What we have been shown however is a wonderful Commander Bundle that aims to provide an easy on-boarding experience to one of the most played formats of Magic: The Gathering. We look forward to seeing its contents while it promises to be a great starting point for many would-be Commander players.
For those wanting quick games, we are seeing the return of the Jumpstart product line, with some unique cards to really spice up the fast paced format. And for the more avid fans and collectors out there, the brand new Scene Boxes are wonderful additions to any collection, recreating iconic moments across multiple cards. Bring the cards together and recreate epic scenes from the television series.
The announcement video was very exciting to watch, and if you want to see the full list of all the cards spoiled so far, you can find them here! It’s come alongside our announcement of the Magic: The Gathering Spotlight Series Lyon from January 9th-11th. The third European MTG Spotlight Series will also be focused around Avatar: The Last Airbender, with a multi-day celebration of Magic The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Airbender.
We hope you are all as excited for the Avatar: The Last Airbender set as we are, and we cannot wait for the full release on November 21st of this year.
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