Bumi, Unleashed is Land Animation Done Right

The Best New Commanders From Avatar: The Last Airbender

<p style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CMitori%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art.">MITORI</a></span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">About a month ago, when the new Katara was previewed and it was revealed that the upcoming <em>Avatar</em> set was going to feature the return of the Ally creature type, I wrote an article about the creature type and how there were finally enough to make a solid deck.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the interim, a large amount of cards from the <em>Avatar</em> set have been released, including more Allies. A lot more Allies. So many more, in fact, that a mono-colored Ally deck is possible, albeit with a bit of help from the Changelings.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But why would we want to play mono-colored Allies? Because it would combine my two great loves in <em>Magic</em>: Typal strategies and bouncing! I am known as the Unsummoned Skull, after all!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But what does bouncing have to do with Allies? And how do we get these pieces to fit together into a cohesive strategy? The key is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, the centerpiece of today’s commander deck.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haru, Hidden Talent"></div></div>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">What Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Do?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First and foremost, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a cheap Ally, meaning that he's easy to cast and re-cast, with or without commander tax. This means that we can drop him early to gain a trigger off of each following Ally with his second ability or use him as a curve-topper if we have an aggressive hand, triggering any Allies’ activated abilities when he comes out.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Haru’s triggered ability, alluded to earlier, lets us earthbend 1 whenever an Ally enters under our control. For a low-to-the-ground deck, this lets us go wide with come impunity, as earthbent lands return to the battlefield tapped when they die or are exiled.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Altar of Dementia"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maskwood Nexus"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In fact, were we to get really cheeky, we could opt for a combo-style finish with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Altar of Dementia" href="#" target="_blank">Altar of Dementia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maskwood Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Maskwood Nexus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The Nexus would turn our earthbent lands into Allies, then we can sacrifice them to the Altar, return them to the battlefield as Allies because they are earthbent lands, and earthbend themselves with Haru’s ability, milling our opponents out!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The question remains, however: why limit ourselves to mono-green Allies when there are so many other colors that Allies are in? There is no one answer, but it starts with the reason the last build went from five to three colors: aggressive decks can’t afford to stumble on mana. When they do, they become worse versions of the engines everyone else is running because, card-for-card, we run worse quality. The hope is that our aggression and synergy carries the day before that matters.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Key Cards for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unlike other Ally commanders before him, Haru has the unique ability to go wide quickly with small creatures, simulating Elves, but doing so by animating lands and simultaneously protecting them. While Elf mana dorks are vulnerable to board wipes, earthbent lands pop right back.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Overrun"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This ability to go wide with impunity means that we present a lot of damage very quickly. The problem is, our damage is on small creatures without evasion. Good thing green has a ton of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Overrun" href="#" target="_blank">Overrun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects. Quite a lot of them give a power boost and an evasion boost, although we do sometimes get into the tight position where we need to figure out which lands to tap for mana and which ones to leave up as attackers. As a result, the seemingly simple deck has a lot of play to it.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Guardian Project"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="You Meet in a Tavern"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As an aggro deck, we tend to run out of gas. The draw spells we run bridge two different phases of our plan: some synergize with our bounce spells and some with our Overruns. Guardian Project allows us to draw when a creature enters, which we can also use to re-activate our Ally triggers. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="You Meet in a Tavern" href="#" target="_blank">You Meet in a Tavern</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an Overrun effect that also lets us find multiple creatures if we need more bodies to get rolling.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cloudstone Curio"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Temur Sabertooth"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking of bounce spells, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloudstone Curio" href="#" target="_blank">Cloudstone Curio</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Temur Sabertooth" href="#" target="_blank">Temur Sabertooth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are repeatable bounce effects that let us operate as an aggro-combo deck. Most Allies have abilities that trigger when an Ally enters, including our commander, so triggering these abilities multiple times in a turn is necessary to our engine.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Three Tree City"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mutavault"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Faceless Haven"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soulstone Sanctuary"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our nonbasic lands provide a boost of mana, making it so we don’t have to rely as heavily on our animated lands. These include <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx" href="#" target="_blank">Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Three Tree City" href="#" target="_blank">Three Tree City</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. We can also sneak in a couple of extra Allies with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mutavault" href="#" target="_blank">Mutavault</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faceless Haven" href="#" target="_blank">Faceless Haven</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soulstone Sanctuary" href="#" target="_blank">Soulstone Sanctuary</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all able to be animated as creatures with all creature types.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Does This <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commander Deck Win?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We aim to drop our commander early and expand our board with both Allies and earthbent lands before dropping an <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Overrun" href="#" target="_blank">Overrun</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to deal massive amounts of damage. We use bounce and draw spells to avoid running out of gas before dealing the finishing blow.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commander Decklist</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Haru, Hidden Talent Commander Deck Tech" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Haru, Hidden Talent
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Ancestral Statue
*1 Beastcaller Savant
*1 Chameleon Colossus
*1 Earthbending Student
*1 Game-Trail Changeling
*1 Gladewalker Ritualist
*1 Graypelt Hunter
*1 Guardian Gladewalker
*1 Harabaz Druid
*1 Invasive Species
*1 Joraga Bard
*1 Littjara Glade-Warden
*1 Masked Vandal
*1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
*1 Realmwalker
*1 Rebellious Captives
*1 Stickytongue Sentinel
*1 Stonework Puma
*1 Sylvan Advocate
*1 Tajuru Archer
*1 Tajuru Beastmaster
*1 Tajuru Pathwarden
*1 Tajuru Stalwart
*1 Tajuru Warcaller
*1 Temur Sabertooth
*1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
*1 Turntimber Ranger
*1 Universal Automaton
*1 Vastwood Animist
*1 Webweaver Changeling
*1 Woodland Changeling
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Become the Avalanche
*1 Fangs of Kalonia
*1 Formless Genesis
*1 Last March of the Ents
*1 Nature&#039;s Cloak
*1 Noxious Assault
*1 Overrun
*1 Overwhelming Encounter
*1 Overwhelming Stampede
*1 Preposterous Proportions
*1 Rydia&#039;s Return
*1 Storm the Seedcore
*1 Triumph of the Hordes
*1 You Meet in a Tavern
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Birthing Boughs
*1 Blood Clock
*1 Cloudstone Curio
*1 Decoction Module
*1 Dragon Mask
*1 Erratic Portal
*1 Maskwood Nexus
*1 Skullclamp
*1 The Great Henge
*1 Umbilicus
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Chord of Calling
*1 Inspiring Call
*1 Shared Summons
*1 Vitalizing Wind
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Arch of Orazca
*1 Cavern of Souls
*1 Faceless Haven
*30 Forest
*1 Hidden Nursery
*1 Mutavault
*1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Soulstone Sanctuary
*1 Three Tree City
*1 War Room
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div></span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conclusion</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Allies are a ton of fun as a creature type. They can oscillate between aggro, combo, and tempo, leveraging a conflux of ETB effects, building to a crescendo like a beautiful piece of music.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But how would you build Allies? And do you think we captured their teamwork?</span></p>


earthbend

Bumi, Unleashed is Land Animation Done Right

The Best New Commanders From Avatar: The Last Airbender

Building Ally Typal with Haru, Hidden Talent