Sokka, Lateral StrategistSokka, Lateral Strategist | Art by Axel Sauerwald

Hello and welcome to another Avatar deck tech! I grew up watching The Last Airbender, so I've been following this set's spoilers quite closely. Of course, the Gaang's cards have been of particular interest to me, so I'm super excited to write this deck tech about Sokka, Lateral StrategistSokka, Lateral Strategist!

This is actually one of four Sokka cards that's been previewed so far, and the strongest option for the command zone too.

What Does Sokka, Lateral Strategist Do?

This version of Sokka is actually a pretty simple card. For , we get a 2/4 Human Warrior Ally with vigilance. That's far from an impressive statline, but Sokka's bigger toughness will help with his main ability: When he and at least one other creature attack, we get to draw a card.

All together, these abilities give us a solid, if basic, game plan. We want to ensure that we've got at least one attacker on the battlefield by the time Sokka's arrived, so that they can attack together to provide us with card advantage right away.

Funnily enough, I'm reminded of two Equipment commanders when I look at Sokka. He's extremely similar to Merry, Esquire of RohanMerry, Esquire of Rohan, a two-drop that lets draw cards if he attacks with a buddy. I'm also reminded of Akiri, Fearless VoyagerAkiri, Fearless Voyager, a three-drop that lets us draw cards when we attack with equipped creatures.

All three of these legends serve similar roles at the helm of a Commander deck. If we meet some simple conditions, we get a little bit of card advantage as a reward. Plus, their commanders' open-endedness lets us fill out the 99 as we see fit.

Speaking of, let's talk about the rest of this deck. There's evasive creatures to trigger our commander's ability, hate-bears to ensure that our opponents don't get too far ahead, and even some cool finishers to close out the game in style.

Let's see what this Sokka deck's got in store!

Key Cards for Sokka, Lateral StrategistSokka, Lateral Strategist

I've filled the deck with a ton of two-drops - a full 30 of them to be exact. It's extremely important to get an attacker on the board on turn two, so we can cast our commander on turn three and start generating extra card advantage on turn four. This high two-drop count also lets us potentially cast two two-drops on turn four, meaning that we'll almost always have an efficient early-game curve-out.

There's far too many of these creatures for me to talk about all of them, so I'll talk about a few of the best ones from each of the three broad categories that many of these card find themselves in: light stax, card advantage, and protection.

Light Stax

This deck's strategy is, inherently, slower. We've got a lot of small creatures, and our opponents could outpace us relatively easily. So, hate-bears like Lavinia, Azorius RenegadeLavinia, Azorius Renegade will hopefully bring everyone down to our level so we've got a fighting chance.

Control pieces like Scheming FenceScheming Fence and Dennick, Pious ApprenticeDennick, Pious Apprentice can be effective early-game plays too, limiting our opponents from going off too early. There's also creatures that make us tokens when an opponent takes specific game actions (like Wizened MentorWizened Mentor), and even creatures that can slow our opponents' game plans down by a full turn (like Imposing SovereignImposing Sovereign).

I also wanted to shout out Azure BeastbinderAzure Beastbinder. It may not be the flashiest card in our deck, but it's an incredibly effective way to lock down a high-impact threat.

There's maybe half a dozen more hate-bears in the 99 of this deck, but I think it's high time we talk about some more exciting cards.

Card Advantage

Silent HallcreeperSilent Hallcreeper does a little bit of everything that this deck wants. It's unblockable - which makes it an ideal attacking partner for Sokka - it gives us an extra card, and it can even become a copy of a more effective creature should we have one on the battlefield.

I'm also a big fan of Pollywog ProdigyPollywog Prodigy, who will evolve into a 2/4 if our commander enters the battlefield after it. It will, admittedly, likely not evolve beyond that considering the average size of creatures in this list. But, it's still an effective card advantage engine at nonetheless!

Then, one of our hate-bears from earlier makes a disturbing reappearance. The flip side of Dennick, Dennick, Pious ApprenticeDennick, Pious Apprentice, is actually an effective card draw piece too. This creature serves as an effective Clue maker, generating them during combat, and whenever mill and/or aristocrats decks do their thing. I love cards that fill multiple roles in a deck, so I'm thrilled that I get to mention Dennick twice.

As a bonus, with all the cards we'll be drawing, Mischievous MysticMischievous Mystic is an all-star. We'll certainly be making a 1/1 on each of our turns, and there's a good chance we can make additional Faeries on our opponents' turns too!

Protection

We've got a few creatures that can protect our gameplan. Selfless SpiritSelfless Spirit is a great way to keep our board safe, and it's a cheap, evasive attacker to pair with Sokka. Same goes for Gold-Forged ThopteryxGold-Forged Thopteryx, which lends ward to the 16 legendary permanents in our deck. And, with our go-wide plan, Unsettled MarinerUnsettled Mariner provides a lot of protection for just . There's 46 creatures in this deck, and even more ways to make creature tokens, so we'll certainly appreciate the tax on all targeted interaction that comes our way.

How Does This Sokka Commander Deck Win?

We'll be putting a lot of small creatures onto the board. But in most EDH games, that won't be enough to win. Luckily, we've got some ways to punch through for victory.

Moonshaker CavalryMoonshaker Cavalryis 's version of Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth, and easily one of the most effective game-enders we've got access to.

There's also anthems like Flowering of the White TreeFlowering of the White Tree and Angel of InventionAngel of Invention for smaller, persistent buffs. And, as either an early-game advantage piece or late-game finisher, Dollmaker's Shop // Porcelain GalleryDollmaker's Shop // Porcelain Gallery works fantastically.

We've even got a few one-sided board wipes to push for the win. Elspeth, Sun's ChampionElspeth, Sun's Champion is an EDH staple, letting us make tokens, sweep bigger creatures off the board, and even get a sweet emblem if we manage to activate her ultimate ability.

The Battle of BywaterThe Battle of Bywater and Dusk // DawnDusk // Dawn are both effective wipes too, clearing (most of) our opponents key pieces while providing us with a bonus for our deck full of small creatures.

Sokka, Lateral Strategist Commander Deck List

Conclusion

That's all for this week, folks! I think this is a pretty interesting Bracket 2 deck. I like the way that it's got some stax pieces to slow the game down, without putting a hard lock on it. It can be fun to play a game with hate-bears on the field, as it creates a sort of puzzle for the table to deal with.

That's not to say that harder control pieces like Hokori, Dust DrinkerHokori, Dust Drinker are my jam, but that I think stax doesn't need to be as scary as many EDH players think it is.

What do you think? Does stax have a place in casual EDH at all? Let me know your take in the comments below! I'll see you all next week for another deck tech!

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