Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit | Art by Yueko

Greetings, and welcome to Avatar: The Last Airbender preview (HYPE!) season! I'm very excited about this Universes Beyond set because I used to watch this TV series when my kids were young, and the whole family thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the fantasy flavor of The Last Airbender world fits pretty seamlessly into the standard Magic universe.

Today I'm doing a deck tech for a card that was previewed a couple months back, Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit!

There was also previewed a rare version of Toph, Toph, the First MetalbenderToph, the First Metalbender that is very cool as well, but putting together a solid mana base for a three-color Commander deck can be expensive, so I wanted to illustrate for fans of Toph that we can build a sweet mono-green deck around the uncommon Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit with a mana base that won't break the bank.

What Does Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit Do?

When Toph enters, earthbend 2. This means that target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that's still a land, and put two +1/+1 counters on it. Toph's power is equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on lands you control.

What's cool about earthbending is that, if that land dies or is exiled, you return it to the battlefield tapped, which is a nice way to avoid the downside of animating your lands and then having them destroyed by a battlefield sweeper.

There have been legendary creatures that permanently animate lands, such as Noyan Dar, Roil ShaperNoyan Dar, Roil Shaper, Tatyova, Steward of TidesTatyova, Steward of Tides, and Jolrael, Voice of ZhalfirJolrael, Voice of Zhalfir. Each of these is pretty cool, and would be fun to build a Commander deck around, except for the glaring issue of getting your lands destroyed by commonly played battlefield sweepers like Wrath of GodWrath of God or Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act. Not only do you lose your commander, but you'll be down lands and make it that much harder to pay the commander tax.

The rules around earthbending very elegantly "fix" that problem, and make legends from Avatar: the Last Airbender with earthbending much more enticing to build around.

Mono-green has a few ways to temporarily animate lands, such as Kamahl, Heart of KrosaKamahl, Heart of Krosa and Kamahl, Fist of KrosaKamahl, Fist of Krosa, which also have built-in ways to grow all of your creatures into an aggressive stampede. Anthousa, Setessan HeroAnthousa, Setessan Hero is a weird card that always has me puzzling over it.

There's even Jolrael, Empress of BeastsJolrael, Empress of Beasts, which can either animate all of your lands, or animate all of an opponent's lands who just cast that battlefield sweeper. Ouch!

A Commander deck built around Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit is going to want to play a lot of earthbending cards, and have ways to increase the +1/+1 counters on those lands to steadily increase Toph's power. Having ways to give Toph trample will also be vital to punch that damage through!

Key Cards for Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit

At the time of this writing - before the Avatar: The Last Airbender debut stream - there have been just a handful of earthbending cards previewed, and I'm jamming all of them in this list.

Top of mind is Bumi, Eclectic EarthbenderBumi, Eclectic Earthbender, with an incredibly powerful attack trigger that puts two +1/+1 counters on each land creature you control, which will make Toph's power incredibly potent.

Earth RumbleEarth Rumble has nice creature control attached to the earthbending effect, while Earthbending StudentEarthbending Student has an excellent static effect of giving your land creatures vigilance.

BadgermoleBadgermole gives any creature you control with +1/+1 counters trample, Earthbending LessonEarthbending Lesson has an impressive earthbend 4, while Rebellious CaptivesRebellious Captives has a nifty mana sink exhaust ability.

I have no doubt once the entire set has been previewed we'll be able to swell the ranks of earthbending cards, including much more powerful ones, on par with Bumi and Toph.

As a fan of Toph, I'm including some cards for flavor reasons: There's Pillar LaunchPillar Launch and Rocky RebukeRocky Rebuke, which have Toph quotes, and Ram ThroughRam Through which feels very Toph-like.

Toph likes fighting, so Khalni AmbushKhalni Ambush and Bridgeworks BattleBridgeworks Battle seem perfect, especially since each are also lands on the back side.

Finally, there's appropriately named The Earth CrystalThe Earth Crystal, each element of which works perfectly in this deck.

Next, I went looking for lands that make good targets for earthbending. The indestructible Darksteel CitadelDarksteel Citadel seems like an excellent choice to slowly build up into a potent, unstoppable juggernaut. And even if it gets hit with an exile effect, it'll come back to earthbend some more.

Urza's CaveUrza's Cave can be targeted with earthbend, then when you sacrifice it to search for a special land, it will come right back to use again.

Llanowar RebornLlanowar Reborn enters with a +1/+1 counter on it, so if it gets targeted with earthbend it'll have an extra counter on it, and it'll still be able to graft a +1/+1 counter on a creature as it enters.

Khalni GardenKhalni Garden brings a friend when it enters, so if it gets targeted by earthbend and then dies it'll bring along another friend. MirrorpoolMirrorpool is one of my all-time favorite lands, and if it's been targeted with earthbend you can sacrifice it and then bring it back to do cool things all over again.

Mosswort BridgeMosswort Bridge can be targeted with earthbend after you've already activated the hideaway ability, and if it dies it will come back and you can hideaway again!

You can play the land side of Kazandu MammothKazandu Mammoth and Disciple of FreyaliseDisciple of Freyalise early in the game, and then later animate with earthbending and if it dies it will come back from the graveyard face-up. You can do a similar thing if Ojer Kaslem, Deepest GrowthOjer Kaslem, Deepest Growth has died and come back as Temple of Cultivation, and that land gets targeted with earthbend.

I didn't go too deep into the +1/+1 counter synergies, and many of the very best are quite expensive, but I made room for Hardened ScalesHardened Scales, Ozolith, the Shattered SpireOzolith, the Shattered Spire, and the new Strength of WillStrength of Will.

These three are quite good too, and pretty affordable if you don't already have them.

Flopsie, Bumi's BuddyFlopsie, Bumi's Buddy is a bit low power, but it's definitely on flavor, and depending on your battlefield can set up a pretty potent attack. Defiler of VigorDefiler of Vigor can really grow your creature squad if you can chain a few green permanent spells in a turn.

I'm a huge fan of Season of GatheringSeason of Gathering in just about any green deck for its flexible utility, but the +1/+1 counter boost and that card draw are going to be clutch in this deck.

Awakening of Vitu-GhaziAwakening of Vitu-Ghazi is an exciting card, putting a whopping nine +1/+1 counters on a land you control, which will also increase Toph's power by nine as well, and could be a very unpleasant surprise in the middle of combat, or even at the end of an opponent's turn.

Lair of the HydraLair of the Hydra and Treetop VillageTreetop Village have the inherent ability to become a creature land, and if targeted with earthbending could activate to get even larger with those +1/+1 counters.

MutavaultMutavault and Soulstone SanctuarySoulstone Sanctuary are two more creature lands that play well with what we have going on.

Blossoming TortoiseBlossoming Tortoise, Embodiment of InsightEmbodiment of Insight, and Sylvan AdvocateSylvan Advocate all do fun things with land creatures.

Ashaya, Soul of the WildAshaya, Soul of the Wild makes all your nontoken creatures also Forest lands and they'll take advantage of land synergies. Staff of TitaniaStaff of Titania can provide a pretty large boost as the game progresses, and creates Forest Dryad land creatures whenever equipped creature attacks.

In the late game, Sylvan AwakeningSylvan Awakening could turn all your lands into land creatures and make for a huge alpha strike on one or more opponents.

I've included a few landfall cards that work well with what we've got going on here, such as Roaring EarthRoaring Earth and Ride the ShoopufRide the Shoopuf,

The proliferate ability of Evolution SageEvolution Sage will incrementally increase the size of all those creatures with +1/+1 counters, while the landfall trigger of Mightform HarmonizerMightform Harmonizer can quickly grow your biggest threat into a player killer.

Okay, here me out: I've always wanted a Commander deck where I could animate Griffin CanyonGriffin Canyon, somehow turn it into a Griffin, and then tap it to tap itself to give it +1/+1 and untap it, growing it to a huge size and crash into someone's life totals. Toph gives us one part of that equation right in the command zone, and a card like Maskwood NexusMaskwood Nexus brings it all together. If we also get Darksteel GarrisonDarksteel Garrison to fortify it, each time we tap it you can give a +1/+1 boost to other creatures.

I've got Elvish ReclaimerElvish Reclaimer and Expedition MapExpedition Map to help find Griffin CanyonGriffin Canyon if I happen to draw Nexus. I know it's unlikely to come together in any particular game, but when it does it will be glorious!

Steward of the HarvestSteward of the Harvest is a weird card I've always wanted to work into a deck, and figure it might be fun here, especially since I have some lands that self-sacrifice and could end up in the graveyard. Sylvan SafekeeperSylvan Safekeeper can sacrifice a land targeted with earthbend to "reset" it, which makes that activated ability much less painful.

Outside of dying and casting again from the command zone, I've got a few ways to use Toph over and over again. Sanctum of EternitySanctum of Eternity can return Toph to your hand during your turn and let you cast again. Then there's the triggered ability of Sword of Hearth and HomeSword of Hearth and Home, which can blink Toph while you also go search up a basic land and put it onto the battlefield.

And since Toph is Human, the activated ability of Kogla, the Titan ApeKogla, the Titan Ape can be used on her.

How Does This Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit Commander Deck Win?

Giving Toph trample so she can push through commander damage is a big part of this deck's endgame, so RancorRancor and Garruk's UprisingGarruk's Uprising are going to be key.

I also really like Blackblade ReforgedBlackblade Reforged to make Toph very large and threatening. Then there's the aforementioned Kamahl, Heart of KrosaKamahl, Heart of Krosa here to give all your creatures +3/+3 and trample, and if you have extra mana lying around you can animate extra lands to join the fun.

Toph, the Blind BanditToph, the Blind Bandit Commander Deck List

Conclusion

This deck is very much a Core (Bracket 2) deck, with a bunch of cards chosen for theme or flavor over optimized choices. I expect once the full set is revealed, there will be a lot of choice where you can either push the flavor and themes further, or push the deck in a much stronger direction and possibly compete at the Upgraded bracket.

Which version of Toph are you most excited to build a Commander deck around?

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