Magic: The Gathering is already 50% its own universe and 50% other licenses. It’s something we already know and that won’t change, at least, until 2030. After Spider-Man and Final Fantasy, this year we still had another collection that takes us to another universe. This time, one with more magic than the first, although perhaps a little less than the second. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not filled with elementals, exotic animals, and all kinds of fantasy entities. Because it is about Avatar: The Last Airbender.
This is not about the blue aliens
If you are not familiar with this Nickelodeon series, it was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and is an American action and fantasy series inspired by Southeast Asian culture. In it, some people are able to telekinetically manipulate the four elements (water, earth, fire, and air) to blend them with their martial arts. Each nation in the world is represented by one of these elements and people who master it, but only one person in the world can master all four at the same time: this person is called the Avatar.
Avatar: The Last Airbender had three seasons and a sequel, The Legend of Korra, telling us not only about the evolution of the Avatar, Aang, but also how he shapes the world and the conflicts that occur within it. Placing great importance on the characters and their internal conflicts, the series stands out for both its dynamic and vibrant battles and the evolution of the characters, who gain depth with each episode.
All of this materializes in this new collection of Magic cards with a special emphasis on two things: the characters and the elements. The first is something we already expected. All the most beloved characters from both series appear in card form, often in different versions. The second is represented in a new, very peculiar mechanic called bending, with four variants based on each of the four elements.
Airbending allows you to exile any number of nonland permanents and return them to the battlefield for two colorless mana. Earthbending turns a land into a creature with haste with as many +1/+1 counters as the number of earthbending and returns to being a land when it dies or is exiled. Firebending adds red mana until the end of the combat phase if the creature attacked this turn. And waterbending allows you to use different abilities by paying with tapped artifacts or creatures instead of paying the colorless mana cost of the ability. All abilities are closely related to both the series and the logic of Magic: The Gathering.
Also, due to the nature of the series itself, the collection will have numerous sagas. Furthermore, those that return to the battlefield transformed into creatures. And considering that, historically, these have been especially powerful and played, it is to be expected that they will find a place in competitive tables.
In other respects, it’s your classic collection of Magic: The Gathering. Except now there is even more product to choose from. With commander bundles, for those who play Commander, beginner boxes, for those who want to start playing Magic with this collection, and scene boxes, for those who are collectors and want beautiful art, in addition to all the usual products, there is an Avatar product for everyone.
Even so, we will have to wait for that. Avatar: The Last Airbender will not hit stores until next November 21. But we are left with the curiosity of how the collection will be when we finally have it in our hands.
