In playing the Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender prerelease on Magic: the Gathering Arena, getting my hands on a Beginner Box, and jamming the holy hell out of Brawl, I have some thoughts about the newest set. The set is flavorful, has already made an impact in multiple formats, and really represents the Avatar universe well. While it is an odd criticism to make, it actually may be too powerful, which I’ll discuss in talking about the results of the recent World Championship 31.
Book One: Vivid Imagery and Fun Design
Avatar: the Last Airbender is a storied franchise, and despite some live action gaffes which either completely miss the point of Aang’s original adventure or are completely out of their depth, this Universes Beyond set gets it. You may be worried considering the reception of the recent Spider-Man set and the proliferation of Universes Beyond Magic the Gathering has and will be experiencing for the foreseeable future. After playing the prerelease event on Magic the Gathering: Arena, and opening some Collector Booster Packs, I found myself in disbelief at how Wizards of the Coast was in tune with both the community’s memes and the breadth of references I recognized.
Book Two: Gifts Ideas for the Most Important Bender in the World
Is your gift-ee already knee deep in Magic the Gathering? An Avatar: The Last Airbender – Bundle may be just the perfect gift to leave under the tree. With nine Play Boosters, a storage box, an alternate-art foil card, and 10 full art lands, the joy of opening booster packs with the guarantee of an alternate-art foil card and some beautiful borderless lands makes a lot of sense.
Some players seek the rarest and most valuable cards, and the Commander’s Bundles will get them off to a good start with a Collector Booster Pack, five popular Commander staple cards with Avatar art, a storage box, 10 full art lands, and nine Play Booster Packs.
Art Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender has quite a few cards that have caught the attention of players and fans alike, though it is important to remember a majority of these are attainable just by purchasing Play Booster Packs and Collector Booster Packs. It is worth mentioning a series of Gold-Stamped Signature and Gold-Stamped Planeswalker Symbol cards are up for grabs at a higher ticket price if the person you have in mind only wants the finest in their collection.
Book Three: Practical Bending
Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender is Wizards of the Coast’s latest foray into the realm of Universes Beyond, and seemingly, one of its most powerful. While this does skew the Limited environment, it also makes for decks that almost comprise entirely of Avatar cards, which thus far with Magic the Gathering’s new release strategy is unheard of. Additionally, unlike the Spider-Man set which many felt was more akin to a Bag-Man set, you’ll find plenty to tweak your existing decks and maybe even make your own Avatar-centric deck.
While you may have thought that the eponymous Avatar, Aang, would be on quite a few cards in addition to being powerful in this set (Also, where’s Korra? She’s in Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game!), I think you’ll be surprised by just how powerful and desired many of the Avatar cards are. As the newest set, there’s definitely some speculative inflation, but there’s no doubt that cards like Wan Shi Tong, who is just as fearsome as he was in the animated series are going to play a part in Magic the Gathering’s various formats. A bit of a mix between Hydroid Krasis and some anti-search cards like Opposition Agent, if you’re a Brawl addict like me, this may be just the card to put in your deck or have as your Commander. At a whopping $84.99, even if you don’t value knowledge that much, I’m sure someone will!
Avatar Aang (Raised Foil) has a “bounty” of $3699.50, no wonder Prince Zuko was determined to capture him. This flip card is already seeing play in Commander formats as who among us can resist the opening crawl’s monologue about the elements? Badgermole Cub (Borderless and Regular) cards will net you $62 at least, as the must-have staple card is being adopted in both competitive Standard and more casual formats. Seeing as Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy is still a popular choice to produce more mana than you could possibly need, Badgermole Cub is a wise purchase as a mana dork is always going to have value. Plus, in a more casual format or one with larger card bases, abusing the fact that Earthbend lets lands come back from the brink or double-up, more or less risk free is “busto-busto” as a certain podcast would say.
Ozai, the Phoenix King (Borderless) is almost as fearsome as he is in the show (being voiced by Mark Hamill definitely helps!), with an ability to fly and become indestructible, adding him to the list of scary haste finishers Red has access to for a price tag of $42.33. Appa, Steadfast Guardian (Borderless) will run you $33.61, joins the dozens of Flash creatures that can save your other nonland permanents from a kill spell or board wipe, and provided your rescue mission is successful, you’ll get a 1/1 White Ally creature token when you Airbend them back to the play field. The Walls of Ba Sing Se (Borderless) shows just how impenetrable the fabled city is with it’s whopping 30 toughness and making all your other permanents indestructible. Decks who look to utilize mass defenders, or like high toughness like Arcades, the Strategist, The Pride of the Hull Clade, or High Alert have found another target card for $28.01. Run from her, dread her, it was inevitable for Fire Lord Azula (Borderless) to make an appearance as one of the most dangerous cards from this set. Ruthless, young, beautiful, conniving and talented, Azula’s assault once she attacks is almost always fatal, giving off the same desperation our heroes (and even enemies) had when squaring off against the Princess. Already a popular Commander option, Azula can essentially go infinite when attacking (I’m not going to commit to her actually going infinite, I tended to surrender by time they cast their fifth Unexpected Windfall) and with the cunning royal being in Grixis colors, there’s very little reason why she shouldn’t.
Sozin’s Comet (Borderless) can be yours for $23.80, and just like in the show, the “Foretold” event will make for a pivotal play with creatures supplying you enough red to cast a fatal Electrodominance. Fated Firepower (Showcase) rounds out the cards that people really are looking to jam into decks in Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender, providing an often-fatal damage boost to sources you control. It’s important to note that this isn’t limited to Red sources (though in many cases the triple Red casting requirement will necessitate you staying mostly red) as many similar effects like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell. I also appreciate the fact that if I squint, it’s almost like I’m playing with Embercleave again.
While I’ve just went over some cards that are highly desired in Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender, there are actually even more cards that have a chance to show up, usually in Collector Booster Packs, that have art treatments directly from the TV series and more. Avatar: The Last Airbender: Eternal-Legal takes some staple cards, particularly in Commander and affixes well known scenes from Avatar: The Last Airbender on them. Though beware: some cards can only be obtained through various promotions, sometimes tied to Commander’s Bundles. As always, purchasing single cards may be the route to go, but I understand the appeal of cracking a pack.
Toph, Earthbending Master (Extended Art and non-Extended Art) is making quite the impact at $46.33, I imagine for Commander reasons but also the fact that Landfall is a mechanic you can never underestimate. The Banyan Tree (Borderless) is a reskinned The Great Henge making it just as powerful – gaining life, drawing cards, and pumping creatures generally means you’ve capped out the game. This Throne of Eldraine card never went anywhere, and the $48.41 price tag definitely respects that. Force of Negation (Borderless) is one of the most Blue cards in existence, and its $36.43 billing reflects that. Being able to toss a card you can’t use and exile the offending noncreature spell makes sure whatever threat you were facing is definitively gone. Aang’s Shelter (Borderless) is an art treatment of Teferi’s Protection, for when you can’t leave anything to chance. $36.01 is all it takes to make sure you and all your permanents are locked away safely in an iceberg until it’s your turn again. Katara, Waterbending Master (Extended Art and non-Extended Art) costs at least $20.24 and does what Blue cards are wont to do, though you may need to find a way to keep her safe on attacks. Avatar Roku, Firebender (Extended Art) doesn’t do anything fancy for its $28.41 pricing, but I imagine where the fun comes in is multiplayer Commander games. As his triggered ability is per player, the wise Avatar could seek to play politics by giving a creature that’s not his own up to +6 power among other shenanigans.
Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender (Extended Art) is quite expensive, but if she survives, she can fairly easily allow you to swing for 8 damage. While this Avatar isn’t the best bang for your buck at $23.27, I think her pricing will calm down when supply meets demand for casual formats like Commander. Zuko, Firebending Master (Extended Art) shows his mastery and growth as a person and bender by giving Red free mana during combat. This $21.38 card is fairly solid, and slots in nicely with decks that were playing cards like Monstrous Rage. The Cabbage Merchant (Extended Art) is quite the unlucky guy, and you just might be just as unlucky by playing this card in your deck. While it’s a fun, flavorful card, for $21.25 you could do much better, though I will say there are some strategies that require a lot of cabbage – er, Food Tokens. Hei Bai, Forest Guardian (Extended Art) is seeing a massive amount of play, so it’s no wonder about the $20.94 price tag. With Avatar making shrines more relevant again, this card will definitely be a staple of Shrine and Enchantment decks with its ability to play Shrines for free, especially if you have some form of flicker like Ephemerate in your deck.
That was a lot cards to cover, but in truth, whether you’re casual or competitive, you may want to dig deeper into the Avatar set for cards like Shared Roots which we haven’t seen a two Mana equivalent in quite some time. While opening up your wallet may not be the most exciting part of Magic the Gathering, there are cheaper versions for most of these cards, and it is important to know what cards are desired so if necessary you can grab them before prices skyrocket.
Book Four: Why Did they put Ancestral Recall In Standard!?
While I’m too far removed from hitting my LGS and just-quite-not placing at FNM to get into competitive details, I did think it would be worth mentioning how Avatar is performing on a competitive level. The Magic the Gathering World Championships recently happened, and I’d argue Avatar didn’t just perform, it overperformed.
It seems unlike much of Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy and Marvel’s Spider-Man,
Avatar has actually penetrated the competitive scene. Seth Manfield piloted his Izzet Lessons deck to winning World Championship 31. This deck is an Izzet (Blue/Red) deck that essentially uses Gran-Gran to turn Accumulate Wisdom into Ancestral Recall. If you’re unfamiliar with Magic the Gathering, that’s the equivalent of entering the Avatar State and taking away your opponent’s bending while dropping a Lion-Turtle on their head. While it’s hard to say if this was a particular set of decks playing 4D chess with other decks, an ability this strong hasn’t been seen since Alpha, the actual beginning of the game. Of course, Wizards of the Coast just banned Vivi Ornitier from Standard who was in the Red/Blue color pairing, so it’s hard to say exactly how this will pan out.
Book Five: What else could there be to say? Oh right, Secret Lairs
Secret Lairs – they’re more frequent, and of course there are some themed around Avatar. I know we’re five books into this gift guide, so I’ll try to keep it short. Secret Lair x Avatar: The Last Airbender comes in five flavors: My Cabbages!, Everything Changed, One with the Elements, The Ember Island Players, and A Lot to Learn. Each of these Secret Lairs has an MSRP of $29.99, though with the initial drop being in the past, you may have to seek them out as individual cards or through your local card shop.
Universes Beyond: Avatar: The Last Airbender Packs come in various forms, this is not an exhaustive list or pricing: Play Booster Packs (MSRP $6.99), Collector Booster Packs (MSRP $37.99), Jumpstart Booster Packs (MSRP $6.99). Prerelease Packs can be found for as low as $47.95, and can also be purchased as a set of five. Beginner Boxes have an MSRP of $34.99 but can be found as low as $25.50. Scene Boxes have a MSRP of $41.99, but are also sold in Bundles (one of each) and Cases (two of each). Bundles have an MSRP of $69.99, and can be bought in a Case of six as well. Commander’s Bundles have an MSRP of $109.99. The five Secret Lair(s) x Avatar: The Last Airbender have an MSRP of $29.99.
