When it comes to a hobby as potentially life-consuming as Magic: The Gathering, everyone's got to start somewhere. I first discovered MtG in the late 90s, spending my lunch money on packs of Urza's Saga and Mercadian Masks; for my partner, it was only when she encountered last year's brilliantly themed Bloomburrow that she wanted to hop in. And I suspect that for many, many people, it will be the upcoming MTG Avatar: The Last Airbender set that persuades them to take the plunge.
Reaching new audiences is one of the key reasons that Wizards of the Coast has started making so many 'Universes Beyond' MtG sets, foregoing the original Magic universe in favor of other intellectual properties like Final Fantasy or Spiderman. But converting someone into a fan of Magic: the Gathering is a much bigger task than just selling them some booster packs - and I think that the Avatar is particularly well placed to do it.
The choice of IP matters. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a beloved franchise among younger millennials and older Gen Z; and as a kids' show, it's the kind of media that gets shared between generations. Its fans are passionate, thanks no doubt to its short run, high quality, and the fact its media owners haven't run it into the ground through over exposure yet.
Avatar is sincere rather than cynical, hopeful rather than edgy, fun without being ironic. In a word, it feels welcoming, particularly to people who might take one look at the "high nerd" coding of regular Magic: The Gathering and count themselves out. It's still fantasy though, and there should be a smooth on-ramp for people going from Avatar to mainline Magic sets, particularly as the next set on the MtG release schedule is the similarly whimsical Lorwyn Eclipsed.
The product line-up for Avatar has been designed with newcomers in mind. Instead of Commander Precons - which would have been popular, but which are not an introductory product - the set is accompanied by a supplemental Jumpstart set, just like last year's Foundations.
The simple format of Jumpstart - you buy two 20 card half-deck boosters, shuffle them together, and play - is easy to get into and loads of fun. The card pool is based closely on the main Avatar set, so these won't be quite as inventive as full-fat Jumpstart packs, but there will still be 46 half-deck themes, with plenty of unique card designs.
And for total beginners there's a Beginner Box, another product type that was deployed alongside Foundations. This comes with ten preselected Jumpstart boosters, two of which are designed to form a tutorial game.
Avatar's tone really reminds me of Bloomburrow, and that tone was definitely a massive contributing factor in Bloomburrow being so successful with new audiences - good worldbuilding of a kind that we had never seen from Magic the Gathering before. But unlike Bloomburrow, Avatar promises a very rich roster of supporting products that are designed specifically around onboarding new players in the most fun way possible.
Would you believe that I am only marginally interested in the Avatar set? I didn't watch the show until my daughter did, so it doesn't really feel like 'my' fandom. But I am excited by the prospect of a set that might genuinely interest her - and thousands of other newcomers - in one of my favorite games.
What do you think of the upcoming Avatar set? Have you seen any preview cards that look like they could make a splash in Standard? Let me know in the Wargamer Discord community.
In stark contrast to my praise for the thought that's been given to onboarding new people with Avatar, the cards on the bonus sheet look like an absolute dog's dinner. You can find my thoughts on them in this article.