Morska, Undersea SleuthMorska, Undersea Sleuth | Art by Ekaterina Burmak

With the recent release of Avatar: The Last Airbender, four bending arts are now a part of Magic. The one we'll focus on today is waterbending, an interesting blend between the abilities convoke and improvise.

When I think about having a bunch of artifacts laying around waiting to be tapped for stuff, my mind immediately goes to ClueClue production, but which commander cares about Clues and is in the right color combination to access the new waterbending tech?

Today, we're going to rebuild the popular (currently the tenth most played Bant commander) face of last year's Deep Clue Sea precon: Morska, Undersea SleuthMorska, Undersea Sleuth. After all, who could be better fit for waterbending than a Vedalken Fish who lives underwater?

What Does Morska, Undersea Sleuth Do?

Morska has a built-in Reliquary TowerReliquary Tower effect, granting us no maximum hand size. She also cares about drawing multiple cards and will grow each time we draw our second card each turn. Importantly, this is not restricted to our own turn, so spells like BrainstormBrainstorm that draw multiple cards at instant speed will still grant her two +1/+1 counters.

The most important part for maximizing our waterbending potential, however, is Morska's ability to investigate each turn during our upkeep.

How Did This Deck Look Before Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Let's use EDHREC's handy dandy Average Deck feature to see how other brewers have built around Morska. Using the list below, we can put our own detective hats on and investigate the most prominent categories that show up.

Clue Creation

Beyond Morska, the Average Deck has 18 cards that create ClueClue tokens and four that bolster artifact token production. In this deck, Clues serve as the usual source of slow-but-steady card advantage, but they also synergize in various ways with cards in other categories below.

The Average Deck has 36 lands, seven nonland sources of mana, and seven conditional mana boosters/cost-reducers, for a total of 50 "mana-stuff" (highly technical term).

This is a great start, but the fact that we have permanent mana sinks and card draw in the form of Clues means we can go even higher (especially on actual lands).

But wait a second, doesn't more card draw mean we can get away with playing fewer lands?

This video makes the convincing argument that the opposite is actually true, claiming:

If your commander costs four or more and draws cards, not only should you not run [fewer] lands than you otherwise would, you actually should run more. That's a draw spell you'll have every game, and the only barrier between you and those sweet, sweet cards is drawing enough lands or ramp to get there. Ditto if the deck is heavy on draw that costs a lot of mana. Medium to large draw will cut through that slightly higher density of lands with no problem, so running a higher land count won't hurt you. It will only serve to lessen the chance of screw.

Although Morska does only cost three mana, the fact that ClueClue-based card draw is so mana-intensive means a deck built around this commander largely falls in the category described above. With that being said, let's include a few more lands in the rebuild.

Disruption

The Average Deck has a slew of classic targeted removal spells (Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares, Path to ExilePath to Exile, Generous GiftGenerous Gift, Beast WithinBeast Within) alongside classic sweepers (FumigateFumigate, FarewellFarewell). There are also some on-theme disruption spells, like Confirm SuspicionsConfirm Suspicions and Disorder in the CourtDisorder in the Court.

The Rebuild

Waterbending

Let's take a look at the new cards that care about waterbending. We can see great inclusions in many different important categories:

• Big Threats – Benevolent River SpiritBenevolent River Spirit, Katara, Water Tribe's HopeKatara, Water Tribe's Hope
• Draw/Selection – Water Tribe RallierWater Tribe Rallier, Katara, Bending ProdigyKatara, Bending Prodigy, Waterbender AscensionWaterbender Ascension, Spirit Water RevivalSpirit Water Revival
• Disruption – Aang, Swift SaviorAang, Swift Savior, Water WhipWater Whip, Waterbender's RestorationWaterbender's Restoration
• Game-Ending Advantage – Secret of BloodbendingSecret of Bloodbending, The Legend of KurukThe Legend of Kuruk

Challenge the Stats

At only an 11% inclusion rate, this little guy from The Brothers' War isn't being shown nearly enough love. A hidden gem doesn't always have to do something big and splashy. Sometimes, it's just the small piece of the puzzle that holds the whole thing together. In a deck with gigantic waterbending costs, like , , and even , Clues can get you a lot of the way there, but you still need to hit your land drops! Furthermore, sifting through the top card of your deck has added utility with so many ways to draw extra cards at will.

Putting It All Together