Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko | Illustrated by Jo Cordisco

Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko is a character who, in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, we have to learn to love. His story is tragic on multiple levels, but ends fairly well. No doubt this deck tech, centered around the character's final developments, will contain a few story spoilers.

As a commander, Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko is a formidable and fun build-around. In fact, this deck tech seeks to utilize all parts of Zuko's card.

Zuko is a firebender, meaning he can control and harness fire. Note that he can also redirect lightning, but this is effectively a firebending skill.

In the context of ATLA, Zuko also begins the show as an ornery exile. The scorned prince of the Fire Nation vows to find and defeat the Avatar, a being who can wield all four cardinal elements. All of this to say, the Magic depiction of Zuko as the Fire Lord is apt and quite accurate.

So, through this deck tech, I hope you can learn to love him just as much as most fans do.

What Does Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko Do?

Fire Lord Zuko is a 2/4 with firebending X, where X is his power. In addition, whenever you either cast a spell from exile or a permanent enters the battlefield from exile under your control, you put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control. This includes Zuko himself, meaning you can make a ton of red mana before long, if the deck is built correctly.

Fortunately, my deck tech is built as a delicate balance between these abilities. Both abilities are payoffs that, in an ideal scenario, pay off from utilizing each other. The casts, most often conducted from exile, will add power to Zuko, and in turn, Zuko makes more mana to cast spells from exile.

Commanders Similar to Fire Lord Zuko

Immediately, when considering the commanders most similar to the Fire Lord, a few different ones spring to mind. For starters, some commanders work best with cards in exile. To this end, Prosper, Tome-BoundProsper, Tome-Bound and Ketramose, the New DawnKetramose, the New Dawn are great examples. Making exile matter is still a relatively new ground for Magic where legendary creatures are concerned, but Fire Lord Zuko takes the best of this and applies it well.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Neheb, the EternalNeheb, the Eternal. Neheb cares a ton about generating a glut of red mana when opponents lose life. Zuko does all of the above fairly easily, albeit with a smidge more caution.

So, why choose Fire Lord Zuko over Prosper, Ketramose, or Neheb? For starters, fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender are probably interested in making Zuko work. Furthermore, this commander takes the colors of the aforementioned three commanders and uses them all. In that way, an experienced deck builder can synthesize these kinds of decks together to make something greater than their sum.

Fire Lord Zuko's Strategem

Put simply, this deck is an aggro deck disguising itself as a combo deck. As mentioned above, I want to take aspects of exile and mesh them with mana production to achieve victory. I can easily do that with cards that have built-in ways of being cast from exile, such as those with warp and foretell.

Beyond this line, I also want additional payoffs for casting spells from exile. To this end, I want cards that synergize well with effects like warp or similar, so cards with void, or a void-esque payoff, make sense here too.

With enough of these effects synergizing off of each other, I'll be able to catch my opponents off guard with a critical mass.

Key Cards for Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko

As I normally do for the majority of my deck techs, I'll be boiling down three key aspects of the deck and showcasing cards that work best within these aspects:

• Mana Utility: This aspect includes cards that either get mileage from Zuko's firebending or can store red mana for later.
• Exile-Matters: These cards care about the same things Zuko does: either entering from exile, being cast from exile, or paying off for doing the same with other cards.
• Protecting the Fire Lord: These cards ensure that even when going into the red zone of combat, Fire Lord Zuko is protected.

With that, let's get right to what makes a formidable 99 for Fire Lord Zuko!

Mana Utility

This deck is absolutely going to hunger for mana at pretty much every turn. If I can't temper that need in some way, either I'll be starving for mana at crucial points, or I'll be flooded with mana for no good reason. To this end, there are a few cards I've added to ensure I can either cast something whenever I'd want, or store mana for later.

Tannuk, Steadfast SecondTannuk, Steadfast Second is a great example of cast facilitation. Warping a card to use later on is a fantastic use of Zuko's mana. Later on, I can cast the permanent spell from exile and get a buff from Zuko. Furthermore, Vedalken OrreryVedalken Orrery makes all of my spells castable at instant speed, allowing for some really strong shenanigans to occur.

There are also a few mana outlets available for this deck. Mardu DevoteeMardu Devotee is one of the easier ones to look at here. Even at a rate of one mana per turn, producing my colors from any other mana is very helpful. Zuko, Exiled PrinceZuko, Exiled Prince and Fire Lord OzaiFire Lord Ozai are also stellar mana sinks in this deck. They allow me to cast other spells from exile as I see fit, and Ozai in particular takes cards from the top of my opponents' libraries for this purpose!

Finally, if there's too much mana to use at one time, I can retain or convert it with Horizon StoneHorizon Stone and Leyline TyrantLeyline Tyrant. These two cards are extremely useful in making sure not even a drop of value is squandered here. Leyline Tyrant keeps my red mana stable, while Horizon Stone converts all of my otherwise lost unspent mana to colorless mana for future use.

Importantly, both can coexist, since you're not losing the red mana you don't spend.

Exile-Matters

These cards care about cards returning from, or entering, the throes of exile. While I mentioned that cards like Ketramose, the New Dawn would be great in the deck, I'm not including Ketramose. However, Prosper, Tome-Bound is included here. Ketramose is still a great addition, don't get me wrong, but he requires a bit more build-around. Ultimately, that rather dilutes the themes in Zuko's deck. Put simply, this isn't Ketramose's place.

Beyond Prosper, I'm also running a few cards that really jive well in a similar fashion. I run Passionate ArchaeologistPassionate Archaeologist, for example, to generate more damage output off of the exiled cards I cast. I could also run Keeper of SecretsKeeper of Secrets, but the card costs a little more mana than I necessarily have to spend for an effect like this. Passionate Archaeologist is a great card to use in its place. That said, Keeper of Secrets is a good case for redundancy's sake, because the ability it provides is quite valuable overall.

Notably, this section also includes a few generally useful cards that care about entry to the battlefield. After all, that's where many of these exiled cards are going if the plan is to work.

Creatures like Appa, Steadfast GuardianAppa, Steadfast Guardian and Aang, Airbending MasterAang, Airbending Master are thematic inclusions that mesh extremely well with Fire Lord Zuko's abilities. Furthermore, creatures such as Cait Sith, Fortune TellerCait Sith, Fortune Teller and Dream DevourerDream Devourer facilitate many of Zuko's payoffs while also providing payoffs of their own.

Protecting Fire Lord Zuko

I've also added a few key noncreature spells that will protect Zuko as he enters the line of fire (if you'll pardon the expression). One of my very favorite combat tricks, ReconnaissanceReconnaissance, will easily allow me to make informed attacks at my opponents, while Dolmen GateDolmen Gate keeps Zuko from suffering combat damage.

These cards allow me to swing in fairly freely with Zuko and other creatures while keeping them very safe from most harm.

As an afterthought, I could add Iroas, God of VictoryIroas, God of Victory. However, I'm fortunate enough to have a copy of Dolmen Gate handy at my disposal. However, for those players who can't afford a $28 combat insurance policy like that, Iroas should do the trick quite nicely as well.

Winning the Game With Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko

One of the perks of having so much impulse draw in a deck like Fire Lord Zuko's is that I get to reach into my deck far enough and easily enough to get my win-cons together in a pinch.

To this end, I really appreciate my inclusion of Hellkite ChargerHellkite Charger. With a high enough power on Zuko, Hellkite Charger creates a steady stream of combat steps. In fact, with a power of seven or more, Zuko makes enough mana to sustain Hellkite Charger's damage output nigh-infinitely!

However, this is far from the only way to win with Fire Lord Zuko. The usual plan for this deck is generally to beat face until the average morale improves. That is to say, until all of your opponents are defeated. There are more than enough creatures, combat tricks, and means of dealing direct damage to make this aggressive strategy a reality.

Try it and see for yourself!

Fire Lord Zuko Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Zuko remains one of my favorite characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm so happy to see the representation that Wizards of the Coast made for the character. Honestly, a worse iteration of Zuko as the Fire Lord would not have fazed me much. I'd still probably play with the commander, even if he wasn't as good. To see Fire Lord Zuko, as is, makes my heart swell with joy and nostalgia.

And now, I'd like to open the floor to you, dear readers. How would you make a deck based on Fire Lord Zuko? Did I hit the mark regarding the methodology here? And finally, are there any inclusions I've missed at the time of writing that you'd add? Sound off in the comments below!

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