Bumi, Eclectic EarthbenderBumi, Eclectic Earthbender | Art by Olena Richards

We've seen a ton of new cards from Avatar: The Last Airbender over the past few weeks, as tons of iconic characters from one of my favorite childhood shows come to life on Magic cardstock. I'm excited to do a deck tech focused on one of the coolest cards from this set so far: Bumi, Eclectic EarthbenderBumi, Eclectic Earthbender!

Bumi showcases one of the new mechanics from this set: earthbending. When he enters the battlefield we earthbend 1, meaning that we turn one of our lands into a 0/0 creature with a +1/+1 counter on it. That land also gains the ability to protect itself, coming back to the battlefield after dying once.

That's a pretty strong ability, and I'm really excited to see what other earthbending-related cards will pop up as more cards get revealed for the set! For now, though, there's just a few Avatar cards that are good enough to make the cut for this casual EDH list.

What Does Bumi, Eclectic EarthbenderBumi, Eclectic Earthbender Do?

For , Bumi is a 4/4 Human Noble Ally. When he enters the battlefield, we earthbend 1. And when he attacks, we get to put two +1/+1 counters on each land creature we control. That's a really cool combination of abilities, and one that lets us lean hard into some of 's strongest traits.

There's a few commanders whose EDHREC pages I've drawn inspiration from today. Kamahl, Heart of KrosaKamahl, Heart of Krosa also animates our lands, and provides a team-wide buff every combat. I'm also reminded of Obuun, Mul Daya AncestorObuun, Mul Daya Ancestor, who animates lands and hands out +1/+1 counters just like Bumi!

But, this deck tech isn't about those cards, so let's get back to Bumi. As I mentioned, we'll be leaning into two of 's biggest strengths: lands and +1/+1 counters. Our commander blends those two strategies together well, so we'll be sure to win with a wide board of land creatures suited up with tons of counters.

Let's see how we can build out this lean, mean, mono-green machine!

Key Cards for Bumi, Eclectic EarthbenderBumi, Eclectic Earthbender

In order to really take advantage of our commander's +1/+1 counter production, we've got to ensure that we've got a full board of land creatures. While Bumi does make one 0/0 land creature (with a +1/+1 counter on it) when he enters the battlefield, it's gonna take a lot more than that to win a Commander game.

One of my favorite land animation pieces is Emergent SequenceEmergent Sequence, a Rampant GrowthRampant Growth variant that turns the basic we fetch into a creature. I'm quite surprised that this card isn't more popular in green decks that care about +1/+1 counters, so I'm especially excited to give it a shoutout here.

I've also got to talk about Earthbending StudentEarthbending Student, a new creature that animates a land and grants a relevant keyword to all of our animated friends. Vigilance is particularly sweet on our animated lands, as it means we can attack with them and still tap them for mana afterwards. To that end, I've included another way to give our land creatures vigilance: Embodiment of InsightEmbodiment of Insight.

Lastly, Wrenn and RealmbreakerWrenn and Realmbreaker is a nice way to recur our best permanents in the late game, while turning our lands into 3/3s along the way.

There's lots of other ways to turn our lands into creatures, from the super powerful Nissa, Who Shakes the WorldNissa, Who Shakes the World to the game-ending Liege of the TangleLiege of the Tangle to the extra-land-drop granting Druid ClassDruid Class. We've got no shortage of ways to animate our mana base!

Once we've converted our Forests into combat-ready creatures, we need some ways to turn those creatures into game-ending threats. Alongside the steady stream of +1/+1 counters handed out by Bumi, a +2/+2 anthem from Sylvan AdvocateSylvan Advocate or a +1/+1 anthem from Blossoming TortoiseBlossoming Tortoise can prove extremely potent. Sylvan Advocate provides a really nice anthem for just two mana, and it's even an Ally.

I'm no finance expert, but I'd bet on this card rising in price as more earthbending and Ally kindred synergies crop up in this set.

Finally, if we can manage to maintain the monarchy through a full turn cycle, Court of GarenbrigCourt of Garenbrig can turn our animated lands into victory quite quickly. We should have a board of relatively imposing blockers at all times, so that likely won't be too tall of a task.

One of the biggest drawbacks of land creatures is that they're more susceptible to removal. It's easy for an opponent to simply get rid of one of our creatures, which would also cut off our mana supply and make their removal super effective. So, aside from the recursion built into earthbending, we've got a few more ways to bring lands back from the graveyard.

The recently printed Icetill ExplorerIcetill Explorer is one of the best Crucible of WorldsCrucible of Worlds effects in all of Magic, giving us an extra land drop and letting us dump more lands into the bin as the game goes on.

Combined with Edge of Eternities' Exploration BroodshipExploration Broodship, this deck is full of brand-new cards that let us get our lands back. Exploration Broodship even lets us sacrifice a land that we've earthbent, which will allow that land to come back to the battlefield and re-trigger our landfall effects.

That's a relatively niche interaction, but it's still cool to see the interactions between the different card packages we've got in our 99.

How Does This Bumi Deck Win?

We'll usually win by attacking our opponents with progressively bigger land creatures, beating them down in longer games with our animated mana base. Our commander, combined with some +1/+1 counter synergies like Duskshell CrawlerDuskshell Crawler, will ensure that our main game plan is effective.

We'll be putting a lot of lands onto the battlefield. So, creatures with landfall abilities will be particularly good backup win conditions if we find ourselves unable to punch through with a few big lands.

Scute SwarmScute Swarm, Rampaging BalothsRampaging Baloths, and Avenger of ZendikarAvenger of Zendikar will all give us a sufficiently wide board to ensure we're in a strong position at every combat step. I've even included a few fetch lands, like Shire TerraceShire Terrace and Prismatic VistaPrismatic Vista to beef up our Landfall strategy.

And, should we choose to go tall instead of wide, Bristly Bill, Spine SowerBristly Bill, Spine Sower will prove to be a great value play in the early game and a nice game-ender with his activated ability. Same goes for Scythecat CubScythecat Cub, a two-drop that can provide a game-ending amount of counters.

We can even pump our excess mana into Waker of the WildsWaker of the Wilds or Kamahl, Fist of KrosaKamahl, Fist of Krosa to punch through clogged board states!

Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This is a pretty classic mono-green list. All the staples are here, from extra land drops to landfall triggers to the big creatures that live in the hearts of all Timmy players. 

This deck sits pretty firmly in Bracket 2, which is where I think a five-mana commander like Bumi works best. This strategy is strong, but not necessarily strong enough to compete with what deckbuilders bring to the table for higher power games.

That's all for this week! Before you go, though, I'd love to know what your favorite mono-colored legend is from Avatar so far. There's a whole bunch of them, so I'm excited to hear all of your thoughts!

For now, though, I'll see you all next week for another deck tech.

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