Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus | Art by Fahmi Fauzi

I'm super-excited about the Avatar: The Last Airbender Magic set! When my kids were little, we all would watch the TV show and I really appreciated the kid-friendly tone mixed with smart storytelling that didn't talk down to young people and gave us some great characters to follow.

One of my favorite characters was Uncle Iroh, a font of wisdom, compassion, and strength, and so today I'm excited to share a deck tech for a sweet Temur () Commander in Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus!

What Does Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus Do?

In a flavor home-run design, Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus cares about Lessons, a subtype of instant and sorcery cards that was first introduced in Strixhaven: School of Mages. The two Avatar sets increase the number of Lessons significantly, and makes it much easier to fill out a good portion of your deck with Commander-playable Lessons.

During your turn, Iroh gives each Lesson card in your graveyard flashback , which is incredibly cheap! Also during your turn, each non-Lesson instant and sorcery card in your graveyard has flashback, which is incredibly exciting and an excellent form of card advantage.

Iroh also has firebending 2, which means he makes two read mana when he attacks that you can use during combat to play instant spells or to otherwise pay costs or activated abilities.

With this deck, I want to lean into firebending to cast big, splashy instant spells that would otherwise use up a lot of mana during other phases or other turns. So put on a pot for tea, and let's seek wisdom and harmony amongst the elements!

Key Cards for Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus

The first thing anyone will do is look for the best Lesson cards to populate the deck. Mascot ExhibitionMascot Exhibition is expensive, but since we're playing green we've got plenty of land ramp spells to be able to play this ahead of time, and it's going to feel real good flashing it back with Iroh for just one mana!

Teachings of the ArchaicsTeachings of the Archaics is a cool way to draw extra cards if an opponent has more cards than you, while Redirect LightningRedirect Lightning is an excellent way to protect Iroh or another key card from a targeted spell or ability.

True AncestryTrue Ancestry and Abandon AttachmentsAbandon Attachments are excellent and inexpensive ways to get fresh cards to your hand; so is Accumulate WisdomAccumulate Wisdom, which is incredibly powerful if you happen to have three or more Lesson cards in your graveyard.

Match the OddsMatch the Odds is a fun way to go tall if any of your opponents are going wide with small creatures. Cycle of RenewalCycle of Renewal is a nice color-fixing ramp spell, and Origin of MetalbendingOrigin of Metalbending is a flexible utility spell that I'll be running in a lot of green decks going forward.

Containment BreachContainment Breach and Price of FreedomPrice of Freedom provide even more utility, and Iroh's DemonstrationIroh's Demonstration is both good utility and fits flavorfully.

I'm not entirely sure about Seismic SenseSeismic Sense because you'd want to hold it for a few turns before casting it, but it seems like a solid card to flash back with Iroh later in the game. The Art of TeaThe Art of Tea makes any Iroh fan smile, and Shared RootsShared Roots is a slight upgrade to the already excellent Rampant GrowthRampant Growth.

Zuko's ExileZuko's Exile is a quality colorless utility spell that people running colorless commanders are going to be very excited about, and I could see black, red, and green decks running this to plug some color-pie holes. Since it's a Lesson it slots into this deck very well, especially since it's an instant and can be cast with firebending.

I also like Introduction to ProphecyIntroduction to Prophecy, especially if I can flash it back for one mana later!

The set has a lot of cards that support and synergize with Lessons, starting with appropriately Uncle IrohUncle Iroh, which combines with the commander to make flashing back Lessons free! Chakra MeditationChakra Meditation is a cool enchantment that starts out sifting through cards until you get three or more Lessons in your graveyard and it becomes a card drawing engine.

Jeong Jeong, the DeserterJeong Jeong, the Deserter has a cool exhaust ability you can activate with firebending to copy the next Lesson spell this turn.

You really want to wait until you've got three or more Lessons (and/or Dragons if you want to run more Dragons) in your graveyard so you get a nonlegendary copy of Ran and ShawRan and Shaw when it enters. Fire Nation CadetsFire Nation Cadets has a solid firebending ability so long as you have a Lesson in your graveyard.

Gran-GranGran-Gran and Hermitic HerbalistHermitic Herbalist both help with mana when you've got three or more Lesson cards in your graveyard.

I wanted to squeeze into the deck as many high-mana, splashy cards I could cast with firebending mana during combat, and the Lesson Whirlwind TechniqueWhirlwind Technique seemed like a decent choice to draw and filter cards, and either airbend blockers out of the way or, on other players' turns, you can save two of your own creatures from removal.

Fated FirepowerFated Firepower is a fun surprise you can run out when there are not many blockers to amplify the combat damage you end up doing. And of course there's Expansion // ExplosionExpansion // Explosion, mainly for drawing those extra cards, but I can also see copying a powerful instant or sorcery.

Lifestream's BlessingLifestream's Blessing is a potent card draw spell, and if you foretell it first you can gain life too. Elminster's SimulacrumElminster's Simulacrum is exactly the sort of big splashy spell I wanted to dump firebending mana into it to copy some of the best creatures on the battlefield. Magma OpusMagma Opus is another one of those, and even if you have to pitch it to the graveyard early to make a Treasure token, Iroh can let you flash it back later.

Complete the CircuitComplete the Circuit is awesome because it lets you cast a sorcery spell as though it has flash, setting up a big turn by copying the next instant or sorcery spell twice! Wan Shi Tong, LibrarianWan Shi Tong, Librarian can turn all that firebending mana into a large flying creature with vigilance that also draws you cards when you cast it, and potentially draws you a card whenever an opponent searches their library.

The Treasures from Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist can help run Iroh out and potentially have mana leftover to cast spells or flashback Lessons. Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer and Stormcatch MentorStormcatch Mentor help cast those more expensive instant or sorcery spells, and can combine with Iroh to flashback Lessons for free.

Bria, Riptide RogueBria, Riptide Rogue and Balmor, Battlemage CaptainBalmor, Battlemage Captain are excellent ways to turn a flurry of spells into a powerful offensive attack. Young PyromancerYoung Pyromancer is a nice way to generate creatures in a Spellslinger deck, and is also great flavor.

Lastly there's Increasing VengeanceIncreasing Vengeance and Primal AmuletPrimal Amulet which do powerful things in a Spellslinger deck.

To join Iroh in the firebending game plan I snagged some of the best new cards for the task. Firebender AscensionFirebender Ascension really turns up the heat once you've got four or more quest counters on it. Firebending StudentFirebending Student offers interesting choices, with the firebending ability that triggers when the creature attacks getting better the more spells you cast to increase the prowess.

Fire Nation PalaceFire Nation Palace provides an awesome firebending 4 to target creature, which more than pays you back for the thee mana investment.

Fire SagesFire Sages and Zuko, Exiled PrinceZuko, Exiled Prince provide nifty mana sinks for their firebending abilities. Fire Nation TurretFire Nation Turret bestows a power boost and firebending 2 at the beginning of combat on your turn, and any extra red mana you have can sink into a charge counter on the artifact. And if you somehow get to 50 charge counters, you can unload a whopping 50 damage to any target.

If you want to lean into this possibility, you should consider Mana GeyserMana Geyser and ReiterateReiterate for your deck!

Sozin's CometSozin's Comet is red hot, getting better the more creatures you have that can attack this turn and can lead to an inferno of red mana during combat. Fire Nation AttacksFire Nation Attacks is an excellent way to stock up your creatures.

Iroh, Dragon of the WestIroh, Dragon of the West's mentor ability can add +1/+1 counters, but I've got a fair number of other ways to add +1/+1 counters to your creatures, and one of the first targets I'd want to add to would be Iroh himself so he can gain firebending. If you can keep The Legend of RokuThe Legend of Roku on the battlefield long enough to trigger chapter 3 and transform into Avatar Roku, he's a powerful firebender with a potent mana sink ability.

How Does This Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus Commander Deck Win?

I built this to be a solid Bracket 2 (Core) deck, where games have time to breathe before big, splashy things begin to happen, and creature combat is the primary win condition.

Overwhelming VictoryOverwhelming Victory and Rite of the DragoncallerRite of the Dragoncaller are excellent ways to support the win-through-combat plan, while Thousand-Year StormThousand-Year Storm is here to leverage an avalanche of powerful spells in true spellslinger style!

Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus Commander Deck List

Conclusion

If you're an Iroh fan, you'll really enjoy playing this deck, especially if you can channel the character and speak words of wisdom each time you cast a Lesson.

If you want to push this into a higher bracket, you can cut some of the lesser Lessons and lean harder into more typical Spellslinger engines and build in some storm endgames that win outside of combat. But the deck as built is very much the style of chill game play I enjoy so much!

What other cards would you add to a deck built around Iroh, Grand LotusIroh, Grand Lotus?