Avatar: The Last Airbender

Commander / EDH RUW (Jeskai, America) Theme/Gimmick Voltron Vorthos

Poly_raptor

Avatar Aang (3)

• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Leaping Master
• 1x Serra Ascendant

Book I: Water (20)

• 1x Blood Moon
• 1x Crab Umbra
• 1x Crimson Mage
• 1x Deflecting Palm
• 1x Descendant of Soramaro
• 1x Dragon Mantle
• 1x Eel Umbra
• 1x Elite Vanguard
• 1x Halimar Tidecaller
• 1x Jeskai Student
• 1x Jhessian Thief
• 1x Kitesail
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Octopus Umbra
• 1x Part the Waterveil
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Rush of Ice
• 1x Sakashima's Student
• 1x Scatter to the Winds
• 1x Sphere of Safety

Book II: Earth (15)

• 1x Assemble the Legion
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Center Soul
• 1x Compulsive Research
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Gift of Granite
• 1x Mistfire Adept
• 1x Negate
• 1x Opt
• 1x Pearl Lake Ancient
• 1x Quiet Contemplation
• 1x Shelter
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spy Network

Book III: Fire (17)

• 1x Abbot of Keral Keep
• 1x Beguiler of Wills
• 1x Dragon Whisperer
• 1x Ghitu Firebreathing
• 1x Homura, Human Ascendant  ^Flip
• 1x Humble
• 1x Keiga, the Tide Star
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Mizzium Mortars
• 1x Narset, Parter of Veils
• 1x Prophetic Flamespeaker
• 1x Quest for Pure Flame
• 1x Red Sun's Zenith
• 1x Ryusei, the Falling Star
• 1x Taigam, Ojutai Master
• 1x Turn Aside
• 1x Waterknot

The Abandoned Air Temples (5)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Jeskai Banner
• 1x Mystic Monastery
• 1x Nimbus Maze
• 1x Sea of Clouds

The Earth Kingdom (17)

• 1x Boros Garrison
• 1x Boros Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Desert
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Heraldic Banner
• 1x Library of Leng
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plains
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rugged Prairie
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Star Compass
• 1x Sunbaked Canyon
• 1x Temple of the False God

The Fire Nation (12)

• 1x Ancient Ziggurat
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Volcanic Island

The Northern Water Tribe (5)

• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment

The Southern Water Tribe (5)

• 1x Adarkar Wastes
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Thawing Glaciers
• 1x Tundra

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Other (14)

• 1x Beguiler of Wills
• 1x Dragon Breath
• 1x Engulf the Shore
• 1x Jeskai Ascendancy
• 1x Leaping Master
• 1x Mistblade Shinobi
• 1x Power of Fire
• 1x Prophetic Flamespeaker
• 1x Quiet Contemplation
• 1x Sakashima's Student
• 1x Thing in the Ice  ^Flip
• 1x Waterknot
• 1x Whelming Wave
• 1x Whirlwind of Thought

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“The true mind can weather all lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. From beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light.” - The Lion Turtle

• PeterSiedlArt

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About This Deck

Inspiration

So, about 6 months ago, I decided to rewatch Avatar: The Last Airbender, on Netflix. Coincidentally, I hadn’t brewed any Magic decks for a while and I found myself thinking, “Hey, wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a commander deck themed around this show”?

As I rewatched the show I fell in love with it all over again and realised if I did design a deck based on Avatar, that it would it have to be perfect.

What started out as a “Ha, Eron the Relentless looks like Zuko, turned into much more. I hope you enjoy.

A brief summary

Every card in this deck was chosen for at least one of two reasons.

1. Mechanic

2. Flavour

If the card worked well with the decks plan, then I looked through every printing there has even been of that card on Scryfall, and I chose the one I thought had the best artwork.

The foil cards also represent key characters or moments in the story.

I designed the deck around the Prowess mechanic, so we want to cast a lot of noncreature spells to pump up the creatures in this deck.

I’m running lots of cheap auras that buff up our creatures and also trigger their prowess abilities, along with a lot of instants that will trigger prowess and protect our creatures.

I also added in a small theme of awaken. Turning the lands in the deck into powerful creatures acts as a beautiful bridge between flavour and mechanic in this deck, bending the elements to our will.

The Four Nations

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements , could stop them.

The Northern & Southern Water Tribes

Adarkar Wastes The Ice Age printing was an auto include, coming with its very own Southern Water Tribe character, traipsing through thick snow on the frozen Tundra.

Glacial Fortress This printing paints the picture of a frozen Ship Wreck, similar to the wreckage of the Fire Nation Ship in the early episodes of season 1.

I chose the Snow-Covered Island from Cold Snap because I just like the look of these the best, and they’ve got to be Snow Covered Islands for the South Pole.

Lastly in this section we have Thawing Glaciers as soon as I saw this printing I knew it was going in, it’s even got Katara and Sokka in the art work!

Moving on to the Northern Water Tribe, I chose to add in the Island from Return To Ravnica, because I think it looks really similar to the Ice City of the Northern Water Tribe, Temple of Enlightenment & Hallowed Fountain also really back the feel of a huge civilisation in the reaches of the North.

Mystic Sanctuary was more of a mechanical include, because it gives us access to the instants in our grave to cast again.

The Air Temples

This was a pretty easy section. Due to the fact that the Air Nomads we’re wiped out 100s of years ago, I knew there wouldn’t be much to include here, I also knew I’d be including Sea of Clouds from the off and there was only one other place to look for cards that would have suitable artwork for this section, and that was the Khans block for Mystic Monastery & Jeskai Banner.

I added in Azorius Signet & Nimbus Maze later on, as they both look like they could fit in to the Air Nomad regions.

The Earth Kingdom

This was a pretty difficult section, ideally I would have had access to {G} for parts of the Earth kingdom, and with it taking up the majority of land and story in the world of Avatar, I knew I’d need to include a lot of different art work and feel, whilst trying to keep flavour faithful to the rest of the deck.

I had a good think, and decided to first check out the Boros Legions of Ravnica, I thought they might support a theme of the great city of Ba Sing Se, I settled on adding in Boros Garrison and Sacred Foundry along with Boros Signet and Heraldic Banner for some more ramp options. Meanwhile Temple of the False God reassembles the giant outer walls of Omashu.

City of Brass and Chromatic Lantern we’re chosen to represent exterior and interior of The Library hidden underneath the Desert, whilst Library of Leng was given its place to represent the unlimited knowledge that the Library holds, it is also a very old card, which adds extra flavour for me, as the Library itself is 1000s of years old. The artwork of Chromatic Lantern also gives a subtle nod to Wan Shi Tong, the ancient Spirit that has taken the form an owl, that guards the halls of the Library.

Inside the Library we have Star Compass and Sol Ring, which I think closely mimic the giant Callander that Ang and Sokka use to see Sozin’s Comet.

The remaining lands in this section are meant to convey the vast plains and open spaces that fill the Earth kingdom, whilst also helping fix our mana with Exotic Orchard.

I also think that Sunbaked Canyon acts as the Great Divide, that is said to be extremely difficult to navigate on foot.

The Fire Nation

The final part of this section, I trawled through different prints and art of Mountain and settled on a few that I think give a good representation of The Fire Nation’s cities and villages. My personal favourite being Mountain

Temple of Epiphany was given it’s home as the Fire Temple, located on Crescent Island, or in this deck’s case Volcanic Island

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar Aang

I chose to run Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest as the general of this deck, as it gave me access to the most colours, he has a powerful activated ability that we can use to power out the board, and also offers flavourful artwork resembling Aang.

Aang is represented by several cards in this deck, the most powerful, and my favourite, is Serra Ascendant. I know, I know, this is generally considered a no no in the format, but I just couldn’t resist including it, the art work from the Masters set it saw a reprint in is so similar to Aang in his Avatar State. If it gets enchanted with Dragon Mantle & Octopus Umbra then it really would be The Avatar.

Fierce Guardianship and Leapimg master also depict our hero. I think Fierce Guardianship is pretty overpowered, just like The Avatar, and I really like the artwork in Leaping Master, I also think it really adds to the flavour with its ability to gain flying.

Book I: Water

Here we are introduced to the main characters. In the same fashion as Aang, I found several cards to show off each of the main characters.

Katara:

First off we have Halimar Tidecaller, the artwork is perfect and her ETB can return a card with Awaken to our hand, she also gives our land creatures flying, bending the Water to her will. She’s also represented with Jhessian Thief, once again chosen for the Art Work and Prowess trigger.

Sokka:

Sokka is represented in Elite Vanguard, I did spend quite a while looking for the card to depict Sokka. The flavour text is great, and really, Sokka is simply a 2/1.

Zuko:

Zuko has a lot of nods throughout this deck too, he’s one of the only Fire Benders in here. I did think about adding in others but I decided that this deck is focused around Aang and his friends.

The first card that shows Zuko is Crimson Mage, depicting his furry nature. He’s also shown in Sakashima's Student donning the mask of the Blue Spirit. You can also spot him in Pyroblast

I also chose to add in cards to this section that represent the bending displayed in Book I.

I love the Umbra enchantments, they’re pretty great flavourfully, the art suits the the theme of this deck AND they trigger prowess. They go straight in.

• Eel Umbra

• Crab Umbra

• Octopus Umbra

You make a fine Octopus, pupil Aang

I did consider the White Umbra enchantments too but the art didn’t quite feel right, so I went with Sphere of Safety instead for Aang’s ball of wind he always covers himself up in.

We’ve also got some awaken cards in here, Scatter to the Winds & Rush of Ice show off some water bending, trigger prowess and they have awaken, which can turn our lands into creatures that we can use to defend ourselves. Part the Waterveil doesn’t have the best art, but it’s the best extra turn spell I can run flavourfully due to the awaken mechanic.

Yip Yip

Luminous Broodmoth was the best suited as Appa for me. There’s not much in the way of art work for Appa, but flavourfully, just when our heroes are in trouble, Appa appears, plucking them out of danger and whisking them away in to the air, so the flying counters seem quite nice here. It’s also white and has a good toughness, very fitting for a Sky Byson.

Also, Kitesail, just Kitesail.

At the end of season one we find the gang in the Northern Water Tribe; Aang and Katara are trying persuade Master Pakku to teach them the art of water bending. Descendant of Soramaro plays this roll, but whilst the gang are in the capital city it is attacked by a fleet of Fire Nation ships lead by Admiral Zhao, who kills the Moon Spirit and stops the Water Benders from using the water. To represent this I added in Blood Moon, it works flavourfully and the art work suits this scene too.

Book II: Earth

I need to be clear about a certain character introduced in season 2, and that’s Toph, I could not find anything in this colour wedge that I thought represented her as well as the cards for the other characters, ideally it would have been Nissa, Vital Force but we don’t have access to that. So I’ve gone for Gift of Granite to capture Toph and her Earth bending.

Assemble the Legion acts is the armies of Ba Sing Se, whilst Frantic Search, Faithless Looting, Compulsive Research & Opt show Sokka & Katara & Aang searching through the Library to try and find answer to the impending doom of Sozin’s comet.

Whilst the gang are in the depths of the library, Appa is stolen by sandbenders, forcing Aang and his friends to travel on foot to Ba Sing Se. On this journey they cross the deadly Serpent's Pass. This is why you'll find Pearl Lake Ancient in this section. Aesthetically they are very similar and it also has prowess, so it slots nicely into this build.

We also see a few more cards in this category that show Aang, slightly more powerful than in Book I, Master of Pearls & Mistfire Adept help buff our creatures, Center Soul shows him protecting others. Counterspell depicts him opening the Chakras to tap in and out the Avatar State.

Finally, we see him at the end of Book II, shot down by Azula whilst in the Avatar State, which is shown in the art work of Negate

Book III: Fire

Finally we have the end game, Book III. Throughout Book II you witness Zuko’s character transform from an angry child, willing to do anything for his father’s approval; to somebody who understands that his actions have consequences, someone who understands right from wrong.

Zuko is shown again here, with more powerful cards; Abbot of Keral Keep & Dragon Whisperer, these complete his transition from dark to light.

Katara also shows up again in this section as Narset, Parter of Veils and we see Aang again as Taigam, Ojutai Master and Homura, Human Ascendant  , now that he has mastered the art of Fire bending.

Before Aang faces Firelord Ozai, he travels to the kingdom of the Ancient Sun people, with Zuko, in hopes of mastering Firebending.

I’ve added in the promo of Ancient Ziggurat to act as the Temple of the Sun People, with Keiga, the Tide Star & Ryusei, the Falling Star portraying the last two Dragons on earth.

There are a few more enchantments to cover off here, that I think do a good job of showing off more Fire bending. Dual Casting & Ghitu Firebreathing are pretty awesome, and Mizzium Mortars, Aria of Flame, Red Sun's Zenith & Quest for Pure Flame were added to demonstrate the raw power that the firebenders draw from Sozin’s Comet.

I also included beguiller of wills as a subtle nod to Hamma, the old Southern Water Tribe native living in the Fire Nation, who uses to art of blood bending to control her enemies.

Lastly, we have Humble, I included this because it is a perfect end to the deck, doing exactly what Aang does to Firelord Ozai, taking away his ability to Firebend, leaving him ultimately powerless and thus, ending the 100 year war.

Thank you for reading this, I’ve been building this deck, selecting art and writing this description for around 6 months. If you want to add any suggestions feel free but each card in this list was purposefully chosen, I know there would be better cards to add in to make the deck more powerful, but it does work quite well.

To help add to the feel and flavour of my deck I have designed my own playmat for the deck, which can be seen below.

If you love Avatar, then feel free to share the love on this deck and leave a +1

+1 Upvote

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position overall 4 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 25 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.67
Tokens	Dragon 4/4 R, Soldier 1/1 RW
Folders	Theme EDH, Decks I Like, Fun Ideas, Cool decks, Commanders, Meme, REEEEEE!!!!!!, Fun Ideas, That good shit, Commander