November 2025 is going to be a big month for Magic: The Gathering, as it will see the release of a Banned and Restricted post on November 10, and then the launch of the Avatar: The Last Airbender set on November 21. Wizards of the Coast is officially revealing new cards for the Avatar set today, kickstarting the spoiler season before launch. The Best War Games attended a digital preview of what's coming to Magic: The Gathering's next set, as well as how everything was tied together to make it the ultimate TCG representation of Avatar's world and characters.

Magic: the Gathering Shows First Avatar the Last Airbender Card
Magic the Gathering Reveals First Avatar the Last Airbender Crossover Card

Wizards of the Coast shows off the first new card coming as part of Magic: the Gathering's upcoming crossover with Avatar the Last Airbender.

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Every New Avatar: the Last Airbender Card Revealed for Magic: The Gathering

Not counting a new, Avatar-specific version of the clue token, a cycle of "Appa basic lands," and the flip-side of double-faced cards, there are 13 new cards from the main Avatar set debuting today.

  • Aang, at the Crossroads
  • Azula, Cunning Usurper
  • Azula, On the Hunt
  • Badgermole Cub
  • Dragonfly Swarm
  • Fire Lord Azula
  • Invasion Tactics
  • Iroh, Grand Lotus
  • Leaves from the Vine
  • North Pole Patrol
  • Sokka, Tenacious Tactician
  • The Legend of Kuruk
  • Zhao, Ruthless Admiral

Additionally, there are 11 new cards from the Jumpstart portion of the set.

  • Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender
  • Avatar Roku, Firebender
  • Azula, Ruthless Firebender
  • Descendants' Path
  • Fang, Roku's Companion
  • Fiery Confluence
  • Hei Bai, Forest Guardian
  • Sokka, Swordmaster
  • Toph, Earthbending Master
  • Wan Shi Tong, All-Knowing
  • Zuko, Firebending Master

What to Expect From Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Set in November 2025

Avatar Legends The Fighting Game - trailer screenshot

How Magic: The Gathering Handles Heroes and Villains from Avatar

One of the most interesting features of the Avatar set in Magic: The Gathering is that its heroes and villains were designed to reflect some sort of growth, following their story arc from the original TV show. For example, characters like Aang, Katara, and Sokka all have a card dedicated to them in one or two colors, gradually progressing to three or more colors. Perhaps the best example is Aang himself, who has a mono-White card in Aang the Last Airbender, a tricolor version in Aang at the Crossroads, and a four-color version that turns into a WUBRG creature in Avatar Aang/Aang, Master of Elements.

MTG's Avatar Aang was the first card to be revealed from the set, and it single-handedly raised the price of older cards for potential Commander combos.

Another good example comes from two Avatar characters: Zuko and Azula. Zuko has a mono-Red version called Zuko, Exiled Prince that depicts him at the start of his journey when he believes that capturing Aang and becoming Fire Lord is his destiny. Then, he transforms throughout the story, realizing that he can embrace other nations, form friendships and alliances, and live in peace alongside Aang and his group. This is depicted in a Red, White, and Black card called Fire Lord Zuko, which retains its firebending mechanic, but now has possible combos in MTG tied to ally creatures and casting from exile, which airbending does a lot of.

Magic: the Gathering Shows First Avatar the Last Airbender Card

Likewise, Azula has at least three new cards dedicated to her and her story arc, starting with Azula, On the Hunt, as a mono-Black card with firebending. This card also creates clue tokens, which the Avatar set will have, especially for villains, as they thematically want to locate Aang and his crew and thus need clues to find them. Her story then continues through Azula, Cunning Usurper, and Fire Lord Azula, first as a Blue/Black card and then as a Red/Blue/Black creature. Azula also has a dedicated lesson card, returning from MTG's Strixhaven without the Learn mechanic.

Learn is a mechanic tied to lesson cards that allows the owner to reveal a lesson card from outside the game and put it into their hand, or discard a card to draw a card.

Animals from the world of Avatar also make an appearance in the set, such as the badgermoles, and the ally creature type makes a comeback with several synergistic cards. Sokka is among them, with his Sokka, Tenacious Tactician version empowering ally creatures and creating ally tokens in Jeskai colors.

MTG's New Avatar Mechanics Explained

tla-11-avatar-enthusiasts-magic

Wizards of the Coast also tried to make Avatar's elemental bending abilities have effective and interesting counterparts in the game, which is mostly seen through characters like Aang, Katara, and Toph. These are:

  • Waterbend: the most flexible mechanic, much like water itself, and it appears on cards as a generic mana cost to pay for certain abilities to trigger.
  • Earthbend: a way to fight using the actual land itself, the element of substance. Turning lands into creatures to attack, block, act as a wall, etc., this is more permanent compared to the other elements.
  • Firebend: a way to give players options to spend a lot of mana during combat, such as instant spells or triggered abilities. Fire in Avatar is also about mending and creating.
  • Airbend: allows players to exile permanents, which can all be played from exile for a fixed mana cost of 2 generic. This can be used to delay opponents, prevent permanents from being destroyed, or even blink them for additional ETB effects. For example, Appa, Steadfast Guardian, and Aribending Lesson are instant-speed spells to take care of opposing permanents or the user's.

Last but not least, sagas return as a way of telling stories and legends of characters from the past, such as The Legend of Kuruk/Avatar Kuruk. This gimmick is returning from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.

Every Product Confirmed for Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Set

Much like every main set, Avatar will include several new products for players to collect. However, MTG Commander decks are not coming out for the Avatar set, but there is a Commander-specific product.

  • Commander's Bundle (including a special version of Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, and Swiftfoot Boots)
  • Beginner Box
  • Jumpstart Boosters
  • Scene Boxes

MTG's Final Fantasy Scene Boxes are coming out on December 5, so fans can collect those from Avatar and FF almost simultaneously.

Interestingly, there will be an accompanying Secret Lair Superdrop dedicated to Avatar. Not all cards have been revealed so far, and the only set of cards confirmed at this time is dedicated to Avatar's cabbage merchant.

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Magic: The Gathering Arena
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Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 81%
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September 27, 2018
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T for Teen // Blood and Gore, Mild Fantasy Violence
Developer(s)
Wizards of the Coast, Wizards Digital Games Studios
Publisher(s)
Wizards of the Coast
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