Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless | Art by Yueko

Among the deluge of Spider-Man cards spoiled at the San Diego Comic Con was an early preview for the Avatar: the Last Airbender set coming out this fall, in the form of a promo card, Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless (though it's unconfirmed, it's expected that Katara will be in the upcoming Avatar set, though probably with different art, to retain the exclusiveness of the promo).

Yes, you read that right: there was a card spoiled right before the prerelease of the set before the set the card is from. Cue the Xzibit “Yo Dawg” meme. Jokes aside, the card is powerful, flavorful, and represents the best support an underwhelming creature type has received in quite some time.

Allies are one of the few creature types to be exciting and fun in 60-card formats, but flounder and fail in Commander. In 60-card formats, Allies succeeded because players could focus on the few forward-moving pieces and had a decent curve, both of which were assisted by the four-of rule.

In a highlander format, however, Ally decks often had to play bad cards just because they were Allies and had to run filler cards to get to 100. As a result, Allies were largely watered-down midrange decks with mediocre commanders and terrible mana.

All of that will change when the Avatar set releases.

What Does Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless Do?

Put simply, Katara gives her Allies hope. Even if there aren’t any new Allies in the Avatar set (which seems unlikely; we've already seen Yue, the Moon SpiritYue, the Moon Spirit), or the Allies don’t function synergistically (like the unfortunate cohort mechanic), Katara rallies the troops with inspirational speeches, sometimes literally with the rally mechanic.

Katara is like a Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne for just Allies, and, given other similar effects being printed recently, she gives the creature type a critical mass of similar effects. Since she can be in the command zone, she can finally give Allies a commander that celebrates what Allies do: enter the field of battle side by side.

Prior to Katara, Allies were in a rough spot in terms of determining a commander. They either had to go five-color with General TazriGeneral Tazri or Boros with Munda, Ambush LeaderMunda, Ambush Leader. Two colors for Munda would be too few to make a full deck without using a large amount of changelings; there just aren’t enough Allies to fill the deck out.

Even if there were enough, Munda’s ability is underwhelming: it stacks the top of the library like a Goblin RecruiterGoblin Recruiter but with less control. Like Munda, General TazriGeneral Tazri is a 3/4. Unlike Munda, Tazri costs an extra mana but gives us the ability to use all five colors.

The increase in options, along with the ability to tutor for an Ally on entering, made Tazri the best available option for Allies. But the inconsistency of a five-color manabase alongside a five-mana commander means that we’re on the slow end of midrange, which is really bad when we need numbers to be effective.

Seventeen Ally decks were even desperate enough to turn to Yarok, the DesecratedYarok, the Desecrated at the helm, which shows how hard-up Ally decks were for PanharmoniconPanharmonicon effects.

Getting a commander in-type with just enough colors to support a deck and a relevant ability is a huge boon. That Katara is a three-mana 3/3 is perfect for a creature type looking to be aggressive. Cutting red and black affects the deck minimally, as the primary colors of Allies were Bant ()to begin with.

Key Cards for Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless

Katara is a powerful commander because most Allies have abilities that trigger when an Ally enters the battlefield. Katara doubles these abilities, although some are more powerful than others. Many put counters on themselves when an Ally enters, like the low-to-the-ground Hada FreebladeHada Freeblade.

The real power, however, comes in the form of Halimar ExcavatorHalimar Excavator, an unassuming common that is the key to winning through board stalls. When it or another Ally enters, the Excavator mills X, where X is the number of Allies we control. While mill can be a divisive strategy, it is a reasonable pivot here, putting large chunks of libraries into the grave at once.

Back in the day, it was the card that made the archetype tick, acting like a combo deck.

Katara being a significant step up in power for Allies is a double-edged sword: while she adds a significant amount of power to the deck, she’s also clearly the best Ally in the deck. Without Katara, the Allies are lost, flailing around like Sokka on cactus juice.

As a result, we want a few more copies of Katara’s effect, which also happens to stack. PanharmoniconPanharmonicon is the originator of the ETB effect doubling and still the hardest to remove, while Starfield VocalistStarfield Vocalist, Elesh Norn, Mother of MachinesElesh Norn, Mother of Machines, and Virtue of KnowledgeVirtue of Knowledge have all contributed to the preponderance of similar effects, making it so that a deck like this has enough functional reprints to work without the commander. Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne, like Katara, doubles any triggered abilities, not just enters effects.

Since Allies care about entering the battlefield, they can develop a board and still need more of a push to win.

Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery is a powerful card draw engine in any blue typal deck, drawing cards on ETB and attacking. It's worth noting that generic ETB doublers like Starfield VocalistStarfield Vocalist and PanharmoniconPanharmonicon will double the discovery triggers, but creature type-dependent doublers, like Katara and Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne, will not.

Distant MelodyDistant Melody is a Pauper all-star and draws a ton of cards, giving the deck a massive mid- to late-game push. It draws cards for each Ally we control, which can fill our hand, dig to a win-con, or just provide a bit of a lift when we need it.

Since we need to build up counters and do so gradually, we do need to make sure we don’t get outclassed by larger creatures - especially those with evasion. We also need to be able to counter-answer answers like OublietteOubliette, which is one of the more permanent ways of answering problem commanders. In order to remove it, we need ways to get rid of nonland permanents, so it makes sense to lean into the many Oblivion RingOblivion Ring effects.

Why Oblivion RingOblivion Ring effects and not Path to ExilePath to Exile, or other more cost-effective or flexibly-timed effects? Well, for the same reason Kindred DiscoveryKindred Discovery is so potent here: the PanharmoniconPanharmonicon effects double our ETBs, making our Oblivion RingOblivion Rings into Grasp of FateGrasp of Fates, and our Grasp of FateGrasp of Fates into incredibly powerful mass removal.

Just watch out for enchantment removal!

Our nonbasic lands are mostly based on mana fixing, making sure that we have a mana of each of our colors on turn three to get Katara out early and often. Path of AncestryPath of Ancestry and Ally EncampmentAlly Encampment are otherwise mediocre lands that provide a bit of hidden advantage.

The repeated scrying from Path of AncestryPath of Ancestry and subtle reanimation from Ally EncampmentAlly Encampment give us benefits from our mana beyond just casting spells.

How Does This Katara, the FearlessKatara, the Fearless Commander Deck Win?

The goal of the deck is to cast Allies early and often, using PanharmoniconPanharmonicon effects to double the ETBs, either growing the weaker Allies or spreading keyword abilities to all Allies.

The keyword abilities or alternate win-cons, like Halimar ExcavatorHalimar Excavator, help to break board stalls and enable strong combo-like starts.

Katara, the Fearless Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Allies are small creatures with lots of ETB effects, relying on numbers and teamwork to gradually accrue advantage. Katara gives them a three-color commander with a relevant ability, breathing new life into a fun and exciting creature type!