Spoiler season is in full swing now and we’ve only got a few more days until the full card gallery for Avatar: The Last Airbender is revealed. While Spider-Man may have left a lot to be desired for many players, Wizards seems to be making things right with Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Each of the four elements is represented in Magic: The Gathering through their own individual bending mechanics. The bending mechanics are a flavorful way to show an iconic part of the tv show that inspired this Universes Beyond Set. Two of these mechanics, firebending and earthbending stand out as especially great additions to Magic. 

Firebending

Avatar: The Last Airbender does a great job inferring the gravity of the Fire Nation attacking at the onset of the show.  One of the reasons that the Fire Nation’s attack was so successful in its early stages was because bending fire was powerful and destructive. Also, the Fire Nation had amassed a large amount of resources during the 100 years that the Avatar was missing. 

Firebending taps into that flavor by allowing players to amass resources while attacking.  The firebending keyword has a number attached - eg: Firebending 2.  Firebending adds that much mana to the mana pool whenever that creature attacks.  It stays in the mana pool until the end of combat.  This adds resources to allow you to strengthen your attack before damage is assessed. 

Personally, I’m excited for the possibilities for Fire Lord Zuko in Commander.  His ability to firebend resources based on his power level with a triggered ability to gain +1/+ counters make for a Legendary Creature that gets ugly real quick.

Earthbending

The bending mechanic that has me the most excited is Earthbending.  In Avatar: The Last Airbender, we first see earthbending used as a quality of life enhancer but in the same episode, Aang battles King Bumi and Bumi uses the ability to conjure the earth beneath him to strengthen himself in battle.  

In Magic: The Gathering, earthbending will function much the same way in battle.  Like firebending, earthbending has a number attached to it.  Unlike firebending which only happens at the combat step, each individual card with earthbending will prescribe the timing and the specific rules for it.  Toph, Greatest Earthbender bends when it enters while Toph, the First Metalbender bends every turn at the beginning of the end step. 

Earthbending turns a target land under your control into a 0/0 creature with haste that’s still a land. Specific rules about how that creature gains power and toughness vary card to card but is always tied to the number on the earthbending keyword. Should the creature be destroyed or exiled, it returns to the battlefield as a land tapped.

I’m excited for Toph, Earthbending Master.  This version of Toph has Landfall granting its controller an experience counter every time a land enters under their control.  Then, at the attack step, Toph earthbends X where X is the number of experience counters.  Then, that creature gets +1/+1 counters equal to X.  

Wan Shi Tong

Wan Shi Tong was the owl-like ancient spirit collecting and guarding information for his own library.  Nestled underground in the Earth Kingdom, the library is topped by a dome protruding from the sand. That dome is the planetarium.  Aang and his friends, to the ire of Wan Shi Tong, used the planetarium to chart the date of the next eclipse when the Fire Nation would be vulnerable to attack.  

My most anticipated card in the set so far is the Legendary Artifact, Planetarium of Wan Shi Tong. The scry 2 ability speaks to the planetarium’s ability to forecast or chart the future as Team Aang did.  Its ability to play cards without paying their mana cost speak to the fact that the Avatar and his friends intended to misuse the knowledge they had obtained. It’s going to be a powerful artifact useful in both 60-card and Commander decks.

Whether you prefer earthbending, firebending, or something else entirely, Avatar: The Last Airbender is shaping up to be a powerful set in Magic: The Gathering.  It’s hard to imagine a world where this set wouldn’t impact the shape and quality of Magic for a long time to come because of the high quality of cards we’ve already seen ahead of its release.  Avatar: The Last Airbender is honoring its source material while also making for a great Universes Beyond set.