The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit | Art By Claudiu-Antoniu Magherusan

I'm the perfect age to appreciate the latest instalment of Universes Beyond properties coming to Magic: The Gathering. Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite shows from my earlier years, and I'm so excited to be able to do a deck tech on my favorite character from the entire series.

They're silent and deadly. It's unknown if they're friend or foe to Aang. They're undoubtedly one of the coolest characters ever to unsheathe two swords and break someone out of prison. Introducing: The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit, Prince Zuko's covert persona used to rescue The Avatar.

I don't often build a deck like this one: no game-winning combos thrown in, the commander central to the deck strategy, the creature suite on the smaller side, and some very skewed numbers in specific card categories. Luckily, Avatar: The Last Airbender is unique and allows me to stretch the brewing muscles in my brain.

So join me as we check out the cards I used to maximize all that The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit has to offer.

Ice Cold

With the ability for my first creature spell each turn to have flash, and wanting to cast creatures during the combat phase, prioritizing enter the battlefield effects is key. With that in mind, I focused on two specific ETBs and tried to maximize both. The first is the ability to freeze out my opposition with a three-pronged lockdown strategy.

Referee SquadReferee Squad in most decks would look embarrassing. A card not often seen outside of Draft, but downright perfect for what I'm trying to do. The creature gets flash thanks to the commander, and when it comes down during combat, I can draw a card and prevent a creature from attacking me.

Three mana is cheap to begin with, but if the game plan goes well, casting this for only is very doable.

Ty Lee, Chi BlockerTy Lee, Chi Blocker is not only a fantastic card both in and outside of this specific strategy. I mean, who would say no to a creature with flash, prowess, and, provided she stays alive, the most dangerous creature unable to do anything? While this deck doesn't leverage the prowess aspect of Ty Lee to the fullest, this card is too good not to include.

Besides, Zuko needs at least one of his friends along for the ride.

Tempest CallerTempest Caller rounds out what is the third prong on this strategy. Between stun counters, not untapping, and tapping down all creatures at once, every angle should be covered. This should be enough to win combat against larger creatures.

Timing is everything for this deck. The disruption during combat is a key to winning the game, and the name of that game is tempo. To tempo out three other players at the table, however, is a tall task. So, using these effects more than once is the second priority.

Bounce

Small blue creatures in the game often share one strange trait: the ability to bounce permanents back to hand. While this may not be exciting, it's relevant to my strategy and keeps the value flowing, allowing me to outpace the competition. The crazy thing is, the best creature in the deck for doing this is neither small nor blue.

Usually seen as a combo piece in decks like Animar, Soul of ElementsAnimar, Soul of Elements, Ancestral StatueAncestral Statue is the main value piece of the deck outside the commander. Any creature that I play can essentially play itself until I run out of mana or replay any other creature when the time is right.

I promise that this is the only cheater card I have for the small blue creature section.

Not the Shrieking DrakeShrieking Drake some might be thinking of, but one that won't start a rap beef. It will, however, hit the replay button on itself or any other creature on my side of the board. With enough mana at my disposal and some cards that will be mentioned later, I might be able to have a long track list played out during someone's combat step.

Aether ChannelerAether Channeler has no tricks up its sleeves. What it does have, however, is options — three different options to be specific. Making another body for blocking purposes. A bounce addressing problematic nonland permanents. A card to draw when my hand is running low. Sure, there might be a way to get all of these options on separate cards, but Aether ChannelerAether Channeler operates on an axis of the right ability at the right time.

One of the coolest creatures in the deck is Glen Elendra PrankstersGlen Elendra Pranksters, which earns the award of "Card I didn't know existed." The Pranksters might be the perfect companions to The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit. In a pinch, they can act as a backup if The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit gets removed.

While I no longer get card draw, instead any spell, not just creatures, allows me to have continued operation of my own personal bounce house.

Your Turn Is My Turn

The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit, for all it does well, only gives the first creature spell cast each turn flash. So what I wanted to make sure of is that most, if not everything, in the deck could be cast at instant speed, Blue Spirit out or not. The easiest way to do this is with a well-known enchantment, Leyline of AnticipationLeyline of Anticipation. All of my spells are available whenever I want to cast them.

When it comes to Commander as a format, redundancy can be seen as a sign of power. So I went looking for redundancy.

The best backup to the leyline is High Fae TricksterHigh Fae Trickster. With the exact mana cost and flash itself, this card becomes a must-answer for the table, just like the Leyline would.

The Faerie is joined by a very fishy friend swimming into the list with Tidal BarracudaTidal Barracuda. The downside of giving the rest of the table flash is balanced out by that same table not being allowed to use it against me directly. I can maintain the tempo with this card out, and ideally, maximize the value provided by the Barracuda better than my opponents.

Teferi, Mage of ZhalfirTeferi, Mage of Zhalfir is usually seen with cards such as Knowledge PoolKnowledge Pool and Omen MachineOmen Machine to lock out a table from making any plays. Here, it's just a bit of protection, trapping players under sorcery speed casting times while allowing my creatures to hit the board whenever I want.

With the ability to cast cards on the end step before you turn is taken away, well-laid plans begin to crumble.

Do You Have the Timing?

Unfortunately, I can't go to every end step, holding up all my mana, without looking suspicious. The deck is mono-blue, so that'll be the resting state of the game: suspicion. Instead, what I need to do is cheat. A very forgotten card, Victory ChimesVictory Chimes, and a newcomer, Bender's WaterskinBender's Waterskin, allow me to cheat by granting a tiny bit of mana on every player's turn.

What if I need to cheat, but bigger? Simple, take one part Empowered AutogeneratorEmpowered Autogenerator and one part Unstoppable PlanUnstoppable Plan and then never have mana issues again. Every time the Autogenerator is tapped, I get more mana, and every end step, I untap it thanks to my Plan.

If everything goes right in the deck, other cards such as Sapphire MedallionSapphire Medallion and Kefnet's MonumentKefnet's Monument should make all of my cards cheap and castable no matter what.

I Broke the Intruder Alarm

Obviously, I'm not the first person to figure out that casting creatures is good when you have an Intruder AlarmIntruder Alarm. But it isn't often - truthfully never - that I decided in addition to Intruder AlarmIntruder Alarm showing up in the deck, the saltiest card of all time should show up as well. Not only does StasisStasis have one of the strangest arts in the game, but as much as it pains me to admit, the card is very good with this build. Unstoppable PlanUnstoppable Plan untapping my mana rocks and Hydro-Man, Fluid FelonHydro-Man, Fluid Felon, turning into a land allows me to play under the lock.

Additionally, the deck is made in a way where I want to play on other people's turns even more than I want to play on my own. So as long as I can find a way to have mana skipping, my untap shouldn't make a difference.

Too Cool for School

I always want to talk about cool cards. Luckily, one way to do that is by making deck lists and, as a Magic player, finding a card that's off the beaten path, and the perfect addition becomes one of the best parts of the game. Not to the level of Glen Elendra PrankstersGlen Elendra Pranksters in terms of obscurity, there is a Katara from the set that fits the bill for coolness. While not having the keyword flash or caring about it specifically, Katara, Waterbending MasterKatara, Waterbending Master doesn't even care about waterbending.

What she does care about is casting spells during an opponent's turn. Since that's what this deck is all about, into the list they go. With Katara, it's relatively easy to reach a high number of experience counters, so any card draw issues become a thing of the past. It might be the only Katara making the cut, but that doesn't mean other named characters will suffer the same fate.

In the case of Wan Shi Tong, LibrarianWan Shi Tong, Librarian and Wan Shi Tong, All-KnowingWan Shi Tong, All-Knowing, these two Birds are better than any one stone. The Librarian might just be one of the best cards printed in the Avatar: The Last Airbender set, full stop.

A cheap to cast creature that comes with flash and vigilance would already be leaps and bounds above most cards in a set. Add on the ability to put some more mana in up front, and in exchange, you get +1/+1 counters and card draw. Plus, this card scales with the power of the pod. The more tutors your opponents play, the better your Bird gets.

The All-Knowing version is no slouch, but someone has to come in second place. While it does have a more interesting effect than Wan Shi Tong, LibrarianWan Shi Tong, Librarian, it sits at the higher end of the deck curve but provides needed protection against pesky permanents. The knower of 10,000 things scores a perfect 100% for distinct versions in the 99.

Wrap Up

The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit is my favorite character from the entire Avatar: The Last Airbender series. I had high hopes that this character would get their own card and not just be a reference in the flavor text of one of the many Zukos sure to be found within the file. I'm glad to see that I was rewarded with something cool, even if it wasn't what I wanted in the end.

I wouldn't have guessed that, despite the name, the card would ultimately be mono-blue. I also would never have picked this combination of abilities for the card.

If I were designing it, I would've made it a Ninja, since The Blue SpiritThe Blue Spirit will be a card that shows up in the 99 of decks featuring the ninjutsu mechanic. Seeing more cards from the set and Ninjas being absent, I understand the design. Every card is someone's favorite, and even if my favorite character is not my favorite card, I still expect this to show up in the 99 of a variety of decks.

The card is too unique and the character is too cool not to even if I have to drag the deck numbers up myself.

But what do you think? Am I crazy for discounting the leadership skills of Zuko's alter ego? Is running StasisStasis in this deck too mean? Should I try to capture the Avatar and reclaim my honor? Please let me know wherever you can find the nicnax96 handle on social media.

Check out more awesome Avatar: The Last Airbender content here at EDHREC, and hopefully, your games won't change when the Fire Nation attacks.

The Blue Spirit Commander Deck List

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