Avatar: The Last Airbender MTG Draft & Sealed Guide

The archetypes

Azorius

castable spells 85average mana 2.99two-drops 12removal 22

Azorius flies. Glider Kids and Iguana Parrot are the common bodies, Teo, Spirited Glider loots on every air attack, and Glider Staff airbends a blocker and then puts wings on anything. Aang, the Last Airbender is the uncommon to take first. Sokka, Lateral Strategist draws for attacking with a friend.

Dimir

castable spells 84average mana 3.07two-drops 12removal 19

Dimir draws two. Invasion Submersible bounces on entry and becomes a 3/3 later, Forecasting Fortune Teller and Callous Inspector make Clues, and Sold Out is a Clue with a kill attached. The slow deck, and the one with the most card advantage at common.

Izzet

castable spells 84average mana 2.93two-drops 16removal 15

Izzet is Lessons and prowess. The lowest curve of the ten pairs. Firebending Lesson and Lightning Strike are removal that also feed Combustion Technique, Boar-q-pine grows on every noncreature spell, and Yuyan Archers loots. Cunning Maneuver is a trick that leaves a Clue behind.

Orzhov

castable spells 84average mana 2.99two-drops 12removal 27

Orzhov has the most removal of any pair and a sacrifice engine to go with it: Deadly Precision kills for one mana off a body, Callous Inspector leaves a Clue when it dies, Beetle-Headed Merchants draws off a sacrifice on attack, and Path to Redemption makes an Ally when it finishes the job.

Boros

castable spells 84average mana 3.00two-drops 12removal 25

Boros goes wide and burns. Fire Nation Cadets attacks for free mana once a Lesson is in the graveyard, Razor Rings is the cheap answer in combat, and Jet, Freedom Fighter deals damage equal to your board. Yip Yip! gives an Ally flying for one mana.

Selesnya

castable spells 82average mana 3.11two-drops 13removal 19

Selesnya is Allies. South Pole Voyager gains and then draws on every second Ally, Compassionate Healer scries whenever it taps, and the tokens from Path to Redemption count. It wants a dense creature curve, and it has the fewest instant answers of the white pairs.

Gruul

castable spells 83average mana 3.13two-drops 14removal 13

Gruul earthbends. Toph, the Blind Bandit and Earthbending Lesson turn lands into bodies, Bitter Work draws for attacking with power four and earthbends again, and Raucous Audience makes double mana behind a big creature. Earthbender Ascension is the rare to move in on.

Golgari

castable spells 82average mana 3.18two-drops 12removal 16

Golgari grows counters. Foggy Swamp Vinebender cannot be blocked by small creatures and grows off waterbend, Ostrich-Horse enters with a counter or a land, and Azula Always Lies shrinks theirs while growing yours. Heartless Act kills what has no counters, which is everything of theirs.

Rakdos

castable spells 85average mana 3.07two-drops 13removal 21

Rakdos is firebending aggro. Boiling Rock Rioter attacks with extra mana and exiles from graveyards off an Ally, Fire Nation Cadets is the one-drop, Deadly Precision is the removal, and Beetle-Headed Merchants turns a chump into a card. Fast, and thin at the top.

Simic

castable spells 82average mana 3.09two-drops 16removal 10

Simic ramps. Seismic Sense digs as deep as your lands, Cycle of Renewal turns one land into two, Ostrich-Horse finds one, and Waterbending Lesson draws three off tapped creatures. The plan is real and the removal is not: take this pair only when the rares are already in hand.

Where the removal is

Avatar: The Last Airbender has 52 removal spells, and 33% of its creatures have toughness 4 or more.

The colors at common

The most common mechanics

Earthbend

cards 27at common 6mostly green and multicolor

Waterbend

cards 24at common 6mostly blue and multicolor

Firebending

cards 21at common 2mostly multicolor and red

How to draft it

A bomb format with a tempo floor. The curve sits at the recent average and so does the removal rate, but 19 of the 52 removal spells are common, more than most sets carry, and the rares decide more games than usual. So the format has two honest plans: curve out and fly over with the cheap commons, or hold the removal for the rares and win with your own. The Lessons are the third resource in every deck, a spell that draws or kills and then sits in the graveyard as fuel for Combustion Technique and Fire Nation Cadets.

Azorius is the pick and Simic is the trap. Azorius has the fliers, the airbend tempo and the second-most removal of any pair, and the drafters who have played the format most say the three decks that win are Azorius, Izzet and Dimir. Simic has the least removal of any pair, and green's Lessons are the weakest, so its ramp arrives into a board it cannot clear. Splash freely: every pair has a common dual and the bombs are worth a third colour.

The picks at common

Removal first, cheapest first: the one-mana burn that kicks to five, the three damage, the one-mana kill off a sacrifice, the four damage in combat, the aura that exiles later, and the green fight.

Then the commons that carry a plan: the Clue maker, the land finder, the flier, the looter, the one-drop, and the airbend that draws.

Interactions worth knowing

Lessons in the graveyard. Every Lesson cast is fuel: Combustion Technique deals two plus the count, and Fire Nation Cadets attacks for two mana as long as one is there.

Airbend your own creature. Glider Staff and Aang, the Last Airbender exile a creature that its owner recasts for two, so airbending your own Earth Kingdom Jailer exiles a second threat, and airbending Forecasting Fortune Teller is a second Clue.

What to play around

One open mana is Firebending Lesson in red, Yip Yip! in white, and Pillar Launch in green, which untaps as well. Two is Lightning Strike and Combustion Technique in red, Razor Rings in white against an attacker or blocker, Azula Always Lies and Heartless Act in black, and Rocky Rebuke in green. Blue holds Lost Days at five and not much before it, so blue open mana is the one to attack into.

Splashing

Every pair has a common dual land that cycles itself later for a card, Cycle of Renewal turns one land into two basics, and Ostrich-Horse finds one on the way in. A splash of one or two rares on three sources is routine, and the rares here are worth it more than in most sets. Green gets a third colour almost for free; a white aggro deck should stay in two.

Questions about Avatar: The Last Airbender