I was truly worried that we'd get something half-baked, but it's official: Avatar The Last Airbender is a fantastic MTG set. Admittedly, the signs were good throughout the last Magic: The Gathering preview season, and now I've been able to not only analyze the cards in depth but actually play with them, I'm happy to announce that this set is even better than I thought it would be.
First up, it must be acknowledged that Avatar was already better suited to a Magic set than the previous release, Marvel Spider-Man. I don't just mean that it takes place in a fantasy setting instead of modern day Earth - that talking point is true but rather played - it's also a better fit thematically, because Avatar simply has more of the things that a Magic set needs.
Instead of a bunch of multiverse-dwelling Spidermen who all have slight variations on the exact same superpowers, Avatar has strong, simple character concepts that can be communicated through flavorful card designs. Instead of a roster of interesting but unrelated villains and one main hero character, Avatar has a world of many factions that can fill out the different colors of Magic and provide inspiration for varied mechanics.
Think back a few years to Phyrexia: All Will Be One. At the time this was a weird concept for a Magic set. It took place on a world entirely occupied by bio-mechanical villains, and many were intrigued about how Wizards would pull this off. And if the set had been about Old Phyrexia, I think it would have felt every bit as jarring as Spider-Man. But because it's their own IP, WotC was able to imagine a New Phyrexia with different regions that allowed it to fit the color pie. It was still a bit weird having everything be a villain, but basically it worked.
Where Spider-Man had cards with mismatched or confusing flavor on legendary creatures at uncommon (and even on many Mythics you have to squint a bit), Avatar has strong flavor, and I think it comes across so clearly that even players who've never seen an episode will understand what's being communicated.
Take the card Toph the First Metalbender. She earthbends, she turns artifacts into lands that you can earthbend, and she is called the First Metalbender. It doesn't take a genius to understand what's going on here. Non-fans might not immediately grok why Fire Lord Zuko works with cards cast from exile, or understand why Cabbage Merchant keeps getting his cabbages blown up, but still - there's nothing unclear about it. I think the relationship a player unfamiliar with the property would have is the same as one coming to a Magic set without first reading the web fiction or Planeswalker's guide.
Onto the card design. Some of the best Avatar: The Last Airbender commanders are really cool, but I'm blown away by the strong limited format. It's still early days, but from what I've seen so far the majority of color pairs seem viable, and there are more archetypes to explore outside of the basic 10. For instance, there's a three-color Temur lessons deck that seems interesting, combining the themes found in Izzet and Simic. And then of course there's the multicolor shrine deck that one day I'll live the dream and put together.
Fundamentally, what really makes this set shine are the bending mechanics. I wasn't exactly sold on these when I first learned what they were, but in fact, this is top tier top-down design work we're looking at. First up, each mechanic evocatively portrays the type of bending it depicts and the culture associated with it.
Firebending creates red mana and requires attacking, fitting the aggressive Fire Nation (which has been known to attack, I think). Waterbending is a little harder to pin down, but the fact it involves tapping your stuff suggests a more passive, going with the flow playstyle that fits how waterbending is portrayed. Earthbending's flavor hardly needs explaining, so instead I'll use this space to cheer about Wizards finding a way to make land-animation feel less risky, and airbending removes permanents, but only temporarily, depicting a creature away with a burst of air and reflecting the pacifist teachings of the Air Temple monks.
Each mechanic creates a host of interesting choices. What do you risk attacking with to get some free mana and what will you spend it on? What can you safely tap down to pay for waterbending, and is it better just to attack? Do you temporarily remove a creature with airbending or use it on your own stuff to refire triggers? And do you stack all your earthbending onto one gigantic land creature or spread it out to create an army out of the ground?
For limited, the mechanics have some really nice interplay between them, and with the draft themes. One makes mana, one spends mana. One removes creatures from the board, one adds creatures to the board.
Firebending can pay waterbending costs, or crack clues for the draw-two or sacrifice decks; airbending initially appears weak outside of higher power formats, but actually works perfectly against the tokens, counters, and earthbent lands that are common in this set; and depending on how you use earthbending, it works great with a go-wide, or 4+ power theme.
Wizards has even managed to make mechanics that are interesting in limited and a gift to EDH. They're relevant to popular Commander themes like Storm (firebending), Blink (airbending), and Landfall (earthbending).
So yes, the rumors were true, Avatar The Last Airbender is a great set, and it's not just the fantasy setting or that players are more enamored with this kids cartoon than with Marvel, it's also that the mechanics are better made.
I believe the Avatar can save Universes Beyond, and here's how. Wizards needs to focus its time and energy on properties that both fit Magic's style and that its staff really want to design for. Final Fantasy and Avatar feel like they were passion projects, like the designers were excited to bring these worlds to life. Spider-Man and Monster Hunter feel like they were obligations.
Are you enjoying this set as much as I am? Let us know over at the Wargamer Discord. And don't miss anything coming next year - use our guide to the MTG release schedule.