(Hei Bai, Spirit of BalanceHei Bai, Spirit of Balance|Tyler Smith)

The new Avatar: The Last Airbender set may not be due out until November, but we've already seen plenty of spoilers for the upcoming crossover. From AangAang, himself, to TophToph, and everyone else in the Gaang.

Of course, a show is more than just its main characters. When the new Avatar set comes out, we're going to get a selection of legends that are less well-known ready to slide into the command zone. In The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, we had Erkenbrand, Lord of WestfoldErkenbrand, Lord of Westfold, in Doctor Who, we had Vrestin, Menoptra LeaderVrestin, Menoptra Leader, and in Final Fantasy, we had Giott, King of the DwarvesGiott, King of the Dwarves.

When November comes, Hei Bai, Spirit of BalanceHei Bai, Spirit of Balance will be joining this pantheon of characters memorable enough to earn a Magic card, yet forgettable enough to only be a bit character in their source material. Hei Bai is a forest spirit who initially looks like an adorable panda, but transforms into a violent bounding beast when angered. Hei Bai only appeared in a small selection of episodes of the TV show, but he still left quite an impression. Let's explore what this black and white bear has to offer.

Building Around Hei Bai, Spirit of Balance

This angry ursine specter can sacrifice another creature or an artifact whenever he enters play or attacks. If the sacrifice occurs, Hei Bai gains two +1/+1 counters, and when Hei Bai dies its counters get placed on another one of its controller's creatures.

Hei Bai is a reliable, recurring sacrifice outlet. This will let you gradually bleed down the opposition using cards like Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat, Dictate of ErebosDictate of Erebos, or Grave PactGrave Pact. The two +1/+1 counters gained by Hei Bai are also a generous reward for sacrificing a single permanent.

Unfortunately, Hei Bai doesn't have flying, trample, or any other evasive keywords. This makes it difficult to utilize the masses of counters that it generates. However big Hei Bai grows, he can just get chump blocked forever. Since Hei Bei's counters go to another creature when he dies, you can transfer them to a creature with a better suite of abilities. Good examples include Nighthawk ScavengerNighthawk Scavenger, Zetalpa, Primal DawnZetalpa, Primal Dawn, or Shrike ForceShrike Force.

Three Potential Plans

Analyzing Hei Bai, three strategies come to mind...

1. A Voltron build that capitalizes on Hei Bai's counter generation. Coat him in enchantmentsenchantments, and arm him with powerful EquipmentEquipment. Cards that grant Hei Bai ability counters like Wing ItWing It are great, since those counters will transfer to a new host if Hei Bei gets removed.
2. A flicker build that brings Hei Bei into and out of play using Conjurer's ClosetConjurer's Closet and its many counterparts. This spreads Hei Bei's counters around to where they are most needed and allows him to loop his enter the battlefield effect.
3. An aristocrats deck, where Hei Bai is one sacrifice outlet amongst many. Grinds through to victory by sacrificing your board presence to activate beneficial effects.

Today we're going to go with idea number three. Instead of going for a generic aristocrats brew, let's also include plenty of Spirits. By working in typal synergies, all of the 1/1 Spirit tokens that we generate can become more than just sacrifice fodder. Plus plenty of Spirits have flying, making them great targets to receive Hei Bai's counters if he leaves play.

The Decklist

Typal Support Cards

• Drogskol ReinforcementsDrogskol Reinforcements turns the 1/1 flyers that this deck spits out into credible threats. This card grants melee to all of your Spirits, giving them a +1/+1 bonus for every opponent that you attack. If you swing at all three of your rivals then the skies will quickly fill up with 4/4s. As a bonus, this card also keeps your Spirits safe from noncombat damage. This means they'll be safe from damage-based board wipes, like Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act,Ezuri's PredationEzuri's Predation, and Chandra's IgnitionChandra's Ignition.
• King of the OathbreakersKing of the Oathbreakers protects all of your Spirits from targeted removal effects. You'll no longer need to fear Path to ExilePath to Exile, Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares, or Deadly RollickDeadly Rollick. Instead of these cards killing your creatures, they will phase them out of play for a turn before they come right back. Not only will your Spirits return, but they'll actually bring along a new 1/1 flying friend. This cursed king can both build up your board and keep it safe.
• Folk HeroFolk Hero is one of many recent cards that give white more card draw. You'll draw a card on every turn where you're able to play a Spirit. Since 23 of the cards in this deck are Spirits that's a condition that's easy to fulfill. While Hei Bai doesn't seem like a likely folk hero, the card advantage that this effect provides means that there's no downside to being a good panda.
• Patchwork BannerPatchwork Banner is one of the best cards from Bloomburrow. It may not be as adorable as Thornvault ForagerThornvault Forager, or as problematic for Standard as Heartfire HeroHeartfire Hero, but it's a great mana rocks for a typal deck. Patchwork BannerPatchwork Banner grants your Spirits +1/+1, doubling the strength of the 1/1 flying tokens that this deck rapidly produces.
• Katilda, Dawnhart MartyrKatilda, Dawnhart Martyr scales her stats based on the number of Spirits and enchantments that you control. Katilda is pretty imposing, since this deck can fill the skies with Spirits very quickly. The real secret sauce that makes her great though is its reverse side. Katilda's Rising DawnKatilda's Rising Dawn grants the creature it enchants flying, lifelink, and the aforementioned power boost based on the number of Spirits that you control. If you can stick this onto Hei Bai, then you'll be able to soar over your opponents' blockers and bring the game to a close with commander damage.

Token-Makers

• Lingering SoulsLingering Souls is an infamously effective token-generator. This lone card provides four flying 1/1 bodies. That's four pieces of sacrifice fodder for Hei Bai to chew on, or to be buffed up with +1/+1 counters. This card is iconic, and there's a reason why it has lingered in the memories of players for so long.
• Lord Jyscal GuadoLord Jyscal Guado generates a Clue token on every turn where you're able to get Hei Bai's effect to go off. Given that the Clue tokens generated by Jyscal can be sacrificed to Hei Bai this is a self-sustaining engine. Who would have thought that Seymour's dad and this Nickolodeon Panda Spirit would make such great friends?
• Staff of the StorytellerStaff of the Storyteller provides a bit of everything. When it enters play, it brings out a 1/1 flying Spirit token, and whenever you create any creature tokens, it gains a counter that can be removed to draw a card. Removing the counters from this staff, turn by turn, allows this deck to keep drawing into new Spirits and token makers. Even in a worst case scenario, the staff is always an artifact for Hei Bai to gobble up.
• Twilight DroverTwilight Drover is like having repeated access to Lingering SoulsLingering Souls on a 1/1 body. Whenever a creature token leaves play, the Drover gains a counter. For these counters can be removed to produce two 1/1 flying Spirit tokens. If Hei Bai ever dies, Twilight Drover makes a novel target to receive his tokens, since it will be able to transform them into an endless swarm of Spirits.
• Thalisse, Reverent MediumThalisse, Reverent Medium effectively doubles your token output. The Spirits never need to stop coming, giving you plenty of evasive attackers and bodies to sacrifice to Hei Bai.

Sacrifice Synergies

• Invasion of New CapennaInvasion of New Capenna is a Battle, meaning it comes into play under an opponent's control and must be attacked in order to grant the effect on its reverse side. Invasion of New Capenna has a lot to offer. The moment it's played, it allows a creature to be sacrificed to exile an opponent's artifact or creature. This is a great rate at two mana. Once flipped, this becomes Holy Frazzle-CannonHoly Frazzle-Cannon, a celestial Tommy gun that blitzes all of your Spirits with +1/+1 counters.
• BloodghastBloodghast is an incredible piece of sacrifice fodder. Not only is it a Spirit, granting it synergy with all the typal cards in this deck, but it comes back from the grave whenever a land is played. Assuming that you can reliably hit your land drops each turn, Bloodghast will ensure that you always have a creature ready to be sacrificed.
• Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats is a brutal variant on cards like Zulaport CutthroatZulaport Cutthroat and Blood ArtistBlood Artist. Both of those cards are already great, and they're already in the deck, but they only hurt the opponent when creatures die. Mirkwood Bats ramps the pain up a level and burns opponents both when creature tokens die and when they come into play.
• Furious ForebearFurious Forebear, isn't as efficient as Bloodghast. Still, it can still make its way into and out of play repeatedly to reliably sacrifice itself to Hei Bai.
• Ichor WellspringIchor Wellspring is a staple in any artifact sacrifice deck. This oily blob draws cards when it enters and goes to the graveyard. Remember that Hei Bai can sacrifice artifacts as well as creatures. The Wellspring will be able to exchange itself for two additional cards on the turn that it enters play.

Conclusion

So that brings an end to this rather spirited deck tech. The typal synergies here aren't strictly necessary, but they are genuinely beneficial. There are plenty of Spirits that reward a sacrificial playstyle.

While Hei Bai may be from the world of Avatar, you can slot him comfortably alongside the dismal geists of Innistrad, the indebted ghasts of the Orzhov Syndicate or the valorous departed souls of Kaldheim. You don't even need to follow the gameplan outlined here. Hei Bai will be happy sacrificing just about anything, whether they're Spirits or not.