Master PiandaoMaster Piandao | Art by Brian Yuen

Friendly greetings and welcome to a Bracket 2 deck tech for Master PiandaoMaster Piandao. I'm John Sherwood, and Avatar: The Last Airbender is my Universes Beyond dream come true.

Master Piandao is more than my favorite supporting character from the show; he's one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. This deck started as an Exhibition (Bracket 1) tribute to Sokka's Master, and grew into a more cohesive and intentional Bracket 2 concept.

Let's Find Out Together

In Master Piandao's first scene, he evaluates Sokka's potential as a student. After a brief exchange, he declares, "Let's find out together how worthy you are." Now we're going to find out together how worthy Master PiandaoMaster Piandao is to lead a Commander deck.

Master Piandao's triggered ability is an absolute flavor win. Attacking with Piandao triggers a four-card dig into the library for one of three card subtypes: Ally, Equipment, or Lesson.

First, Ally makes perfect sense for Piandao's focal creature type. Master Piandao belongs to The Order of the White Lotus. In his own words, "...a group that transcends the divisions of the four nations."

Second, Equipment is on point because Piandao is a master swordsman and sword maker. Third, Lessons are a great mechanical representation for Piandao's role as a teacher.

So the flavor checks out, but where does that leave the card mechanically? The combination of those three particular subtypes into one triggered ability makes Master Piandao totally unique as a Magic card. Meanwhile, he changes the math on first strike. First strike creatures make better blockers, and yet, Piandao offers a card advantage payoff for attacking.

Very few white commanders net card advantage, and even fewer do so during the combat phase. All together, this is a novel design with straightforward lines of play.

A Variety of Cards

Master Piandao says, "The warrior practices a variety of arts to keep his mind sharp and fluid." Applying this methodology to the deck, I included a mix of Allies, Equipment, and Lessons. The commander's ability is prescriptive in that regard, and it complements Piandao's multidisciplinary philosophy.

Diversifying the 99 into multiple card types runs a risk of the deck trying to do too many things. The trick to avoiding that pitfall is balancing the number of each card type for the deck to function reliably.

Ideally, this gets easier with Piandao digging five cards deep for options every time he attacks.

Allies

Piandao, as a member of the White Lotus, is one of the good guys. Three different versions of Aang are great Ally creatures for Master Piandao as a commander. Aang, the Last AirbenderAang, the Last Airbender and Aang, Airbending MasterAang, Airbending Master can use the airbending keyword ability to recur enter the battlefield effects, which are plentiful among Allies.

Also, Aang, Air Nomad grants vigilance, which pairs nicely with Piandao's first strike.

Equipment

While white provides an abundance of Equipment support, I opted against optimum Equipment choices. "The sword is a simple tool..." according to Piandao. With that in mind, I selected simple swords.

It would be easy enough to upgrade this list with the Swords of X and Y, but the thematic point is to emphasize Piandao's minimalist approach to combat. Hence vanilla sword selections like Bronze SwordBronze Sword and Short SwordShort Sword.

The Hero's Blade Vibe Check for this deck is a resounding yes. Hero's BladeHero's Blade is an ideal play on early turns before casting Master Piandao.

Lessons

The Lesson subtype first appeared in Strixhaven: School of Mages (STX). These spells see very little play in Commander. The most popular is Introduction to AnnihilationIntroduction to Annihilation, and it appears in less than 1% of decks. Still, there's very little opportunity cost for including spells like Expanded AnatomyExpanded Anatomy or Introduction to ProphecyIntroduction to Prophecy when the Commander enables card selection.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is bringing new Lesson cards to Magic. Unfortunately, the set isn't fully previewed yet, and we don't know if any of the new Lessons will feature Piandao. So far, only two of the previewed Lessons fit in mono-white: Aang's JourneyAang's Journey and Airbending LessonAirbending Lesson.

Rock Gardening

Tempo is very important to this list. White needs to regulate the pace of the game, or as Piandao would say, "Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and use them to his advantage." This deck will use cards like Authority of the ConsulsAuthority of the Consuls and Windborn MuseWindborn Muse to manipulate the pod until Master Piandao is ready to strike.

Eventually this deck is going to win through combat damage, but it's too slow to call it aggro. The deck is designed to leverage incremental advantages from Ally typal synergy into a meaningful combat threat. By the time Piandao stamps his identity on the battlefield, there should be some other Allies ready to buff him up.

From that point on, Master Piandao's attack triggers help fuel the deck through to the end game.

Special Material

This deck is full of choices that reflect important moments from the story, or aspects of Piandao's character. The focal character of the episode is Sokka, who seeks to train with the master. Representing that untrained and uncertain version of Sokka, we have Sokka, Wolf Cove's ProtectorSokka, Wolf Cove's Protector.

Duelist's HeritageDuelist's Heritage is an excellent representation of Master Piandao's role in teaching Sokka to fight. Piandao quite literally passes a wealth of generational knowledge on to Sokka. In turn, Sokka becomes a much more effective strategist and combatant. Mechanically, granting the right creature double strike often redefines combat.

It's also noteworthy that Duelist's Heritage can be used pragmatically on other players' creatures, much the same way that Piandao knowingly teaches swordsmanship to an enemy of the Fire Nation.

The episode begins with Team Avatar's benders extinguishing a wildfire ignited by a meteor impact. When Piandao endeavors to help Sokka make his own sword, they use that space earth to, "...make a sword unlike any other in the world." I'm sure Sokka's space sword will be featured on a card, but it hasn't been revealed at the time of this writing. At least we have a MeteoriteMeteorite for the raw material.

Forging the space sword showcases Piandao's mastery as a smith. Blacksmith's SkillBlacksmith's Skill is a story reference and efficient interaction in one package.

Meanwhile, Resolute StrikeResolute Strike is a handy combat trick that can give Master Piandao two quick buffs for the price of one. +2/+2 is good, cheating equip costs is better, and this card does both for one mana. The name of the card reminds me of another Piandao quote. When teaching Sokka calligraphy, Piando advises, "Remember, you cannot take back a stroke of the brush. or a stroke of the sword." Resolute Strike is also an instant, which is a card type white can't normally take back after casting.

Single CombatSingle Combat is my homage to Piandao and Sokka's duel at the end of the episode. The spell allows each player to choose their combatant, in the same way that Sokka makes the call to fight his own battle, without the help of his friends. It's also a great board wipe for any deck that relies on one creature consistently attacking.

Master Piandao Commander Deck List

The Warrior in the Garden

One of the many reasons I love the character Master Piandao is the relevance of a proverb attributed to a real samurai, Miyamoto Musashi: “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war.” Piandao characterizes this proverb's ideal by living in peace while constantly preparing for conflict.

I designed this deck to uphold the same principle. This deck would be right at home in the garden of Bracket 1, tending to the artistry of the game. However, the intent of the deck is to contend in Bracket 2, where the competition is focused more on mechanics than thematic elements.

I'm eagerly awaiting more spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender. I'm optimistic that decks like this one are only going to get better when the set releases later this year.

In the mean time, join the conversation the comments. What you would have done differently with this deck? What are you most excited for with ATLA coming to Magic?

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