Zuko, Exiled PrinceZuko, Exiled Prince | Art by Nijihayashi

Friendly greetings and welcome to a Bracket 2 deck tech for Zuko, Exiled PrinceZuko, Exiled Prince from Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the words of Uncle Iroh, "It's time for you to look inward and start asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? And what do you want?"

I'm John Sherwood, and I want to build a combat trick deck. The new firebending mechanic is perfect for casting instants and paying activation costs in the best phase of the turn.

Firing Back From Exile

Zuko, Exiled PrinceZuko, Exiled Prince is perfect for Core (Bracket 2). For starters, at four power for four mana, Zuko is playing "fair and balanced" Magic.

Zuko's two abilities support each other, making him a self-contained engine for players who like to turn their commanders sidewise. His abilities enable each other, which frees up space in the deck for more payoffs.

In return for declaring Zuko as an attacker, he produces . Firebending 3 is enough to cast 75% of red instant spells. If there's no spells available to cast, then that mana can be used for activated abilities, including Zuko's own ability to pay for an impulse draw.

Zuko, Exiled Prince is an easy flavor win for the design team. Magic's take on firebending embraces the proactive nature of the Fire Nation. Meanwhile, Zuko's activated ability showcases his tenacity and improvisation. The play from exile effect may be overplaying the bit, but I'm here for it.

Very few characters could be more red than Zuko before his redemption arc. Hot-tempered, impulsive, and aggressive, the Zuko of Book One: Water is portrayed perfectly on this card. As much as possible, I included flavor-forward cards in the list.

Firebending Basics

Primarily, quantity and time are the two firebending constraints the deck has to work around. Netting three mana for attacking is nice, but it's easy come, easy go. That mana must be used during combat.

These factors prescribe the most important card choices for a firebending focus. Zuko needs spells and abilities without sorcery timing restrictions.

Additionally, many opponents will have blockers by the time Zuko is ready to attack. The 99 must include cards that help Zuko bypass or remove those pesky blocking creatures. The best options either buff Zuko directly, or aid Zuko indirectly by removing blockers.

In two words: combat tricks.

Again, there are over 400 red instants for three mana or less. Thirty-one made the final cut for the list, and most of these are either pump effects, evasion, or removal. Another four cards provide an instant combat trick via Adventures.

Sixteen of the instant spells are mana value two, another ten are mana value one, and can therefore be paired in different ways to multi-spell with Zuko's trigger. Also, nine of the chosen instants come with the added benefit of scrying, like Kindled HeroismKindled Heroism.

With so many existing fire references in red, it's easy to find flavorful cards for a Zuko deck. However, not all flavor picks are created equal. My favorite combat trick in the deck is Fists of FlameFists of Flame. From top to bottom, this card could simply be reskinned for Zuko. The card name calls out some of Zuko's signature moves, and the art might as well be a firebender.

Even the flavor text is nearly perfect:

"Fire has always been my most faithful companion." —Jared Carthalion

A Swordsman and a Bender

For additional fast casting, there's six permanents with flash. Five of these are Equipment that attach when they enter. To be fair, Quick-Draw DaggerQuick-Draw Dagger isn't winning any games, but it's my homage to Zuko's pearl Earth Kingdom dagger. Hopefully the Avatar set gives us Zuko's dagger on a card, but this one is fine as a substitute.

The heater in this category is EmbercleaveEmbercleave. With Embercleave's cost reduction and just two other attackers, Zuko produces enough mana to cast the sword and threaten an opponent with ten commander damage.

Next come the activated abilities. Zuko is a firebender; he can literally exhale fire. So here's four fire breathing enchantments:

• Crown of FlamesCrown of Flames
• Draconic DestinyDraconic Destiny
• Fiery MantleFiery Mantle
• Ghitu FirebreathingGhitu Firebreathing

As long as one of these is in play, there's an easy outlet to turn Zuko's mana into damage. Truthfully, there are more enchantments like these in the available card pool. However, these made the cut because they protect the investment. Red's recursion doesn't cover enchantments. Each of the chosen enchantments has a mechanism to get it back in hand.

My favorite mana sink in this deck is much more subtle than firebreathing. This enchantment can turn combat on its head. It's one part politics, one part tax, and one part evasion. It's War CadenceWar Cadence.

Politically, this card is a tool to manipulate your opponents into attacking each other. As a tax, it pressures vulnerable players to choose between holding up mana to block, or playing out their own hands. Finally, against any opponent that can't pay the tax, War Cadence guarantees creatures hit players.

Often, mono-red decks struggle to use War Cadence effectively. The card is very mana intensive, which is why it'll always perform in a Zuko deck. Zuko provides the mana to use War Cadence offensively, saving mana from other source for other uses.

"Break His Root" - Iroh

Let's talk about FogFog. I love playing Fog effects in other colors. Fogs are underplayed in Commander, unless I'm the aggro player. When I play red aggro, I enjoy anti-Fog. The words "damage can't be prevented" are music to a red mage's ears.

Not only is Call In a ProfessionalCall In a Professional an anti-Fog, it puts in extra work by disallowing lifegain and burning a target. This card is a multitool, with the potential to be a finisher.

This is also one of my flavor picks. The name of the card reminds me of a couple mercenary moments in Avatar's first season. One, when Zuko hires the bounty hunter June to track the Katara's scent with her shirshu mount. The other when Admiral Zhao hires pirates to blow up Zuko's ship.

There are two facts every combat deck must come to terms with in Commander. First is the higher, combined life totals of the opponents. Three opponents with a combined 120 life is a lot for a creature with four base power. Second is the parity of combat steps. This deck will win by breaking that parity to overcome the disproportionate distribution of life points.

One way to do this is extra combats. There are six extra combat creatures in the deck - not enough for a dedicated extra combat theme, but enough to make regular appearances.

Balduvian RageBalduvian Rage is another solid finisher. With Zuko's mana alone, it's just +2/0. That's fine in the early game. In the late game, with more resources available, this card can eliminate a player.

In general, this deck is going to win one attack step at a time. It'll be vulnerable to many of the free value engines that run rampant through the format, but that's ok. The theme still matters in Bracket 2.

While it isn't a true Voltron strategy, I feel this deck is too focused on eliminating players to honestly belong in Bracket 1.

Zuko, Exiled Prince Commander Deck List

"I rise with the sun." - Zuko

The sun is rising on a set I've been waiting for since the dawn of the Universes Beyond era. At the time of this writing, the Avatar preview stream is tomorrow, and I'm riding a wave of hype. I'm really looking forward to seeing new cards that could improve this list.

Since firebending is a main set mechanic, Zuko is sure to get more support from Magic than he got from most of the Fire Nation. More than anything, this deck needs a mono-red version of Uncle Iroh.

From a gameplay standpoint, this deck will slot neatly into the recently updated guidelines for Bracket 2. There's no Game Changers, and the incremental game plan will certainly take at least eight turns to execute.

What are you most excited for with Avatar's imminent set release? What obvious picks did I miss for this deck? Is there another direction you would take firebending? Tell me in the comments below.

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