Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn | Art by Tomoyo Asatani

Welcome back to Plot Twist, the series where we build a Commander deck that looks like it's going to tell one kind of story only to throw out a twist for our opponents mid-game.

Last time, we built a creatureless deck with Joel, Resolute SurvivorJoel, Resolute Survivor and Abby, Merciless SoldierAbby, Merciless Soldier that assembled a board full of tokens while also minimizing the effectiveness of our opponents' spot removal spells, similar to what we did in Plot Twist #2. It might not be the most optimized Joel // Abby deck out there, but the creatureless restriction always leads to some interesting cards making the final decklist.

This week, we're taking a look at another commander from Avatar: The Last Airbender in Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn.

How Does Aang, A Lot to Learn Work?

Aang has two abilities, both of which should matter to the deck we're building this week. The first gives Aang vigilance as long as there is a Lesson card in our graveyard. Avatar brought back the Lesson subtype from Strixhaven in a big way, allowing for instants to be Lessons in addition to sorceries. A handful of Lessons did make the final decklist this week, providing removal and ramp in addition to occasionally giving our commander vigilance.

Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn's second ability, which gives him a +1/+1 counter whenever another creature we control dies, is powerful and the key to our deck this week. It grows our commander into a huge Voltron-style threat (kind of like what we did with Anti-Venom, Horrifying HealerAnti-Venom, Horrifying Healer) when our other creatures die provided we can give Aang evasion of some sort and protect him from removal as well.

In looking at Aang's EDHREC page, we can see that the six whopping brewers who've built an Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn deck at the time of writing are leaning into the fact that Aang is an Ally, supported by creatures like Earth King's LieutenantEarth King's Lieutenant and White Lotus ReinforcementsWhite Lotus Reinforcements appearing amongst Aang's most played creatures. There's also some support and synergy for +1/+1 counters as well with effects like Inspiring CallInspiring Call.

But this is Plot Twist, where we look to do something a little unusual with our commanders, so we're going to build Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn as a Selesnya Aristocrats deck with a few Spellslinger tricks up its sleeve to sneak in for lethal damage.

Doing the Twist

By controlling when and how our creatures die with Aristocrats effects, like Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar and Greater GoodGreater Good, we're able to buff Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn at will. We can draw extra cards with Life's LegacyLife's Legacy and Momentous FallMomentous Fall, ramp with Ashnod's AltarAshnod's Altar or Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar, and even interact with Fanatical DevotionFanatical Devotion or Martyr's CauseMartyr's Cause.

Each time we do, we'll gain a little extra value in the form of a +1/+1 counter on our commander or similar creatures, like Algae GharialAlgae Gharial and LumberknotLumberknot, all of which will quickly become huge, difficult-to-interact-with threats that our opponents will need to block, which is where combat tricks, like BerserkBerserk and Ram ThroughRam Through, can help us finish off an opponent when the opportunity presents itself.

We'll make sure that our board is always full of creatures with token-makers, like God-Eternal OketraGod-Eternal Oketra and Lena, Selfless ChampionLena, Selfless Champion, that we can sacrifice for whatever effect we need, while also casting threats like Suki, Kyoshi WarriorSuki, Kyoshi Warrior and Wayfaring TempleWayfaring Temple that will get taller as our board gets wider too.

This looks to be a deck that can pivot quickly between going wide and chipping away for damage or pivoting to a go-tall strategy that sneaks a crucial threat through for damage when we need it to. Let's dive in!

Going Wide

We'll need to start by building a density of creatures, mostly tokens, if we want to have fodder to sacrifice for extra value and to buff our commander. Lena, Selfless ChampionLena, Selfless Champion will essentially double our board by adding a 1/1 Soldier for each nontoken creature we control when it enters. God-Eternal OketraGod-Eternal Oketra provides slower value over time since it only makes a token when we cast a creature spell, but the 4/4 Zombie Warriors are serious threats by themselves.

There are a few noncreature spells that can help us here as well. Thousand Moons SmithyThousand Moons Smithy is fantastic if we can flip it, creating a huge Gnome every time we cast a creature spell using mana from the land side. One with the KamiOne with the Kami can generate us a ton of 1/1 Spirits every time the enchanted creature or another modified creature (reminder that creatures with counters on them are modified) we control dies. Last but not least, both Gutter GrimeGutter Grime and The Skullspore NexusThe Skullspore Nexus build more and more value as our creatures die.

Multiple creatures in the deck can help us go wide by making tokens while also "going tall" themselves: Adeline, Resplendent CatharAdeline, Resplendent Cathar, Geist-Honored MonkGeist-Honored Monk, Queen Allenal of RuadachQueen Allenal of Ruadach, and Silverwing SquadronSilverwing Squadron. These are the creatures that'll hold our strategy together, so we'll want to prioritize opening hands that have one or more of them.

Overall, we have a lot of ways to make multiple creature tokens from a single creature, quickly assembling an army on our side of the board at the start of the game.

...While Also Going Tall?

While Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn will be the creature we often want to go tall, we have quite a few other creatures that will grow large as we either sacrifice creatures or build out a wide board of tokens. Algae GharialAlgae Gharial and LumberknotLumberknot function similarly to our commander, growing every time a creature dies, but also have built-in protection, making them difficult to remove.

Sumala RumblersSumala Rumblers has myriad, so it'll make a copy of itself for each opponent whenever it attacks. Unfortunately, the copies get exiled at the end of combat so they don't technically die unlike tokens created by the encore keyword from something like Phyrexian TriniformPhyrexian Triniform.

Veteran WarleaderVeteran Warleader notably goes tall, and we can tap another Ally (Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn is an Ally, so we'll always have access to one) to give itself first strike, vigilance, or trample. We'll most often want to give Veteran Warleader trample to chip away at an opponent's life total. Wayfaring TempleWayfaring Temple can also help copy our best token, say, one created by Sumala RumblersSumala Rumblers, whenever it deals combat damage.

These 'tall' creatures all benefit from trample or another form of evasion, so we'll want to prioritize giving it to them or our commander when we can to put a ton of pressure on our opponents life totals.

Sacrificing Our Creatures for Aang's Benefit

Between our commander, Algae GharialAlgae Gharial, and LumberknotLumberknot, we have a lot of creatures that will incidentally gain extra value off of our creatures dying. While similar effects, like Meltstrider EulogistMeltstrider Eulogist and Rot ShamblerRot Shambler, didn't make the final list, there are actually a lot of creatures with this effect that could make a slightly different Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn deck.

Greater GoodGreater Good, Life's LegacyLife's Legacy, and Momentous FallMomentous Fall are some of our best sacrifice outlets since they can turn our commander or another "tall" creature into a lot of extra value. They're also a great way to fizzle an opponent's Path to ExilePath to Exile or other form of spot removal since we'll normally net extra cards.

Ashnod's AltarAshnod's Altar, Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar, and The Golden ThroneThe Golden Throne turn superfluous creatures we have lying about into extra mana when we need it. This is a great way to turn the tokens from something like Lena, Selfless ChampionLena, Selfless Champion or One with the KamiOne with the Kami into mana to keep casting more and more creatures that we can later sacrifice for more value.

Finally, we have two repeatable forms of interaction in Fanatical DevotionFanatical Devotion and Martyr's CauseMartyr's Cause that we can use to mess with combat or sacrifice a bunch of our creatures at will. Plus, we have plenty of creatures, like Boromir, Warden of the TowerBoromir, Warden of the Tower and Remorseful ClericRemorseful Cleric, that can sacrifice themselves for whatever effect we happen to need in the moment.

Getting Creatures Back to Sacrifice Them Again

Two sneakily powerful effects in this week's decklist are going to be Luminous BroodmothLuminous Broodmoth and Valkyrie's CallValkyrie's Call. Each of these will allow us to get almost any creature in our deck back for free when it dies. While we have a handful of creatures with flying that won't trigger Luminous Broodmoth, the majority of our deck will.

These two are particularly potent with cards like Lena, Selfless ChampionLena, Selfless Champion and Silverwing SquadronSilverwing Squadron that can rebuild our army of tokens when they enter the battlefield. Notably, these creatures don't get exiled when they die a second time, so if we can find a way to recur them yet again, we can start the value loop all over.

Winning the Game with Aang, a Lot to Learn

Like most Plot Twist decks, our deck is mostly going to win with combat damage. This Aang, A Lot to LearnAang, A Lot to Learn deck can pivot between going wide and going tall with ease though, allowing us to adapt our gameplan based on what our opponents are playing. Most of the time, giving one of our tall creatures trample with Garruk's UprisingGarruk's Uprising, BerserkBerserk, or a similar effect will be the best way for us to get the job done.

Altar of DementiaAltar of Dementia does give this deck a completely different angle of attack to employ when we need it. We can sacrifice Aang, Sumala RumblersSumala Rumblers tokens, Wayfaring TempleWayfaring Temple, or any creature that's about to die to mill an opponent at instant speed. We can even do some nifty combat tricks by allowing the Sumala Rumblers copies to deal damage and then sacrificing them at the end of combat with their exile triggers on the stack.

Both Ozolith, the Shattered SpireOzolith, the Shattered Spire and The OzolithThe Ozolith put in extra work with our commander since we can magnify the +1/+1 counters that Aang puts on himself and then redistribute them to one of our other creatures with evasion. We have enough incidental +1/+1 counter synergies with cards like Match the OddsMatch the Odds to make them worthwhile. Put those counters on something like Silverwing SquadronSilverwing Squadron and we'll be living the dream!

Finally, my favorite way to win the game has got to be Ram ThroughRam Through. This weird little combat trick allows one of our "tall" creatures to fight an opposing creature and, if it has trample, deal excess damage to our opponent in the process. Since our creatures will frequently be the biggest on the battlefield, Ram Through can be a fantastic way to burn out an opponent when we need to.

A Few Additional Twists for Good Measure

It's that time of the week where we take a look at a few interesting cards that I uncovered on Scryfall in building this deck. Warhammer 40,000 provided two interesting ramp spells in HaruspexHaruspex and The Golden ThroneThe Golden Throne, both tie in really well with our Aristocrats gameplan (kind of like what we did in Plot Twist #35) and can provide a ton of mana when we need it.

I haven't personally thought about Selesnya CharmSelesnya Charm since 2015, but it seems like the type of flexible effect that would scale well enough for use in Commander. It's an exile effect, token-maker, and combat trick all rolled into one. While I'm not immediately sure what kind of commander would want all three, there has to be one out there.

Windswift SliceWindswift Slice reminds me a lot of ArachnogenesisArachnogenesis, Galadhrim AmbushGaladhrim Ambush, or InkshieldInkshield since it can make a ton of tokens at instant speed and also mess with combat on an opponent's turn. While it's not a Fog like those are, it could certainly save us from a lethal attack and build out a board of tokens to attack back with if we time it right.

Last but not least, I was really glad to see Majestic MyriarchMajestic Myriarch make this week's deck. It's been a card I've added and cut from a lot of decks over the years, so I was glad to see it find a home. I play Odric, Lunarch MarshalOdric, Lunarch Marshal in my Secret Commander: Wild Pair list for a similar "keyword soup" effect, and it's always way more powerful than it looks. I'd love to see your lists where Majestic Myriarch shines in the comments below.

Aang, a Lot to Learn Commander Decklist

Here's the full deck list for you to peruse:

Roll the Credits

I hope you enjoyed reading the latest edition of Plot Twist featuring Aang, a Lot to Learn. Next time you sit down for a game of Commander, see what sort of plot twists you can add to take the game's narrative in a new direction.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's deck and what cards could find a home in it in the comments below or on Archidekt. The Maybeboards of my deck lists are always filled with cards I thought could work but didn't make the final list.

You can check out my other articles here or see what decks I'm currently playing here. I just spent a long day jamming games with some friends and got to put in some reps with my Marchesa Wizards Kindred and Kalamax Spellslinger-Voltron decks that I've been itching to play. I'm always tinkering with my Karador Cycling and Secret Commander: Wild Pair lists too.

Stay tuned to see what other twists and turns are headed your way in the next edition of Plot Twist.