White Lotus TileWhite Lotus Tile | Art by Dee Nguyen

I've only seen one season of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I'm in love with how the characters and bending abilities have been lovingly translated into Magic by the game's dedicated designers and developers.

You can check out some of the set's best commander options here, courtesy of Bennie Smith. But, what of that world's most important weapons, tools, apparatuses, and places?

That's what I'm here for, dear readers! Today, I'll bring you a selection of powerful and versatile artifacts and lands from Avatar, from some of the animated series' most imposing landmarks to a deceptively powerful piece of apparel. Let's bend right into it!

The Walls of Ba Sing SeThe Walls of Ba Sing Se

Imagine getting beaten down by a fortress! The Walls of Ba Sing SeThe Walls of Ba Sing Se looks to turn that nightmare into reality by slotting into a toughness-matters or defenders theme decks and boasting both one of the biggest backsides (that's toughness, for you adults out there!) and a protective ability to boot.

In Betor, Kin to AllBetor, Kin to All, Walls gets you 3/4 of the way to doming your opponents for half their life totals on top of single-handedly granting your team pseudo-vigilance. Unfortunately, Betor doesn't invite Walls to the brawl; you'll need Arcades, the StrategistArcades, the Strategist or Felothar the SteadfastFelothar the Steadfast to try and swing for 30 damage.

I'd like to see someone lose a game after drawing 30 cards, too.

Speaking of nightmares, Phenax, God of DeceptionPhenax, God of Deception lets you devastate the opponent with Walls without attacking and by taking 30 cards off the top of opponents' decks. The indestructible effects helps here too, as none of your creatures really want to be attacking. Jaws of DefeatJaws of Defeat in these black decks offers yet another angle of attack.

Planetarium of Wan Shi TongPlanetarium of Wan Shi Tong

While this is expensive, it does promise unspeakable value, especially when you do a little extra work to break it. Even on its face, paying one mana to cast the best card from the top two of your deck seems good, even if there's a chance you see two lands and hit a third once you've scried them both to the bottom.

But that's just on its face! Notably, this works on your opponents' turns, so you can get more bites out of the apple by playing this with other repeatable scry effects that can be activated on other turns, like:

• Crystal BallCrystal Ball
• Arwen UndómielArwen Undómiel
• Syr Ginger, the Meal EnderSyr Ginger, the Meal Ender
• Doom WhispererDoom Whisperer
• Glarb, Calamity's AugurGlarb, Calamity's Augur
• Laser ScrewdriverLaser Screwdriver

Just to name a few!

Of course, instead of leaving it all to chance, you probably want to stack the deck — literally — with effects like BrainstormBrainstorm and tutors.

Bender's WaterskinBender's Waterskin

What if your mana rock also had a tiny Seedborn MuseSeedborn Muse living inside it? Bender's WaterskinBender's Waterskin answers that question and has so far waltzed into over 7,000 EDHREC decks, because free mana is busted!

Okay, a three-mana artifact that taps for only one mana in return isn't the best initial return on investment, but it's probably more than worth it if you're at a multiplayer table and you're casting multiple spells off of the mana this gets you that you wouldn't be able to cast otherwise.

It reminds me of a Coalition RelicCoalition Relic that takes less work to squeeze more mana out of, and Relic is already a fine card.

And, this being the format where you can do anything, there are several commanders that reward you heavily for casting stuff on opponents' turns, including Alela, Cunning ConquerorAlela, Cunning Conqueror and Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed.

Even when you're not triggering spell payoffs using the Waterskin, blue decks are going to love taking sips out of this to cast cheeky cheap counterspells like An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse and Swan SongSwan Song off that single mana.

The Fire Nation DrillThe Fire Nation Drill

Oh, you don't know the drill? My readers will know how much I love flexible and modal spells like Charms. This stands out to me as a jack-of-several-trades that just might do something in the right deck.

Killing a utility creature is a fine start, even though casting this for four mana may elicit a few grumbles for what it gets you. Then, having the ability to strip problem permanents of protective abilities may also come in handy in a removal-heavy deck. Do note that you can activate this in response to the first ability, in case you want to get rid of a sticky creature with the Drill.

And finally — and this may sound like a stretch, but hear me out — the Drill leaves behind either a powerful brawler or fodder for sacrifice effects like Deadly DisputeDeadly Dispute, Demand AnswersDemand Answers, and Sai, Master ThopteristSai, Master Thopterist.

What if we add a little recursion into the mix in the form of Buried RuinBuried Ruin or a commander like Greasefang, Okiba BossGreasefang, Okiba Boss? I think there's something there!

Secret TunnelSecret Tunnel

Let's get this out of the way: Having unblockability on a land that doesn't have its own way to become a creature is an incredibly cool, albeit unsubtle, way to nudge you towards pairing this with earthbending effects like Toph, the First MetalbenderToph, the First Metalbender or Bumi, UnleashedBumi, Unleashed.

On top of that, this oozes backwards-compatibility with land animators like Obuun, Mul Daya AncestorObuun, Mul Daya Ancestor.

Animation shenanigans aside, Secret TunnelSecret Tunnel is also just a supercharged Rogue's PassageRogue's Passage for kindred decks. It's going to be interesting to see which typal decks want this colorless source the most, though I'm willing to wager that Ninjas, Warriors, and Samurai could be among the most likely to make room, either because unblockability matters, you're playing creatures with high power, you're trying to trigger on-combat-damage abilities, or some combination of those three.

White Lotus HideoutWhite Lotus Hideout and Jasmine Dragon Tea ShopJasmine Dragon Tea Shop

These nonbasic lands aren't going to be cracking anyone's format best-card list overall, but I do think it's important to call out how White Lotus HideoutWhite Lotus Hideout and Jasmine Dragon Tea ShopJasmine Dragon Tea Shop offer rainbow mana for Shrines decks and Ally typal decks, respectively.

The Tea Shop in particular looks to be a solid workhorse for a deck that will often include the multicolor activated ability of General TazriGeneral Tazri, who is by far the most popular Ally commander. Interestingly, I don't see many other Allies with activated abilities, but having a rainbow land in a deck that will be playing all five colors of creatures with powerful enters effects helps a lot.

Meanwhile, the Hideout offers what is likely a less redundant source of multicolored mana, since Allies can already play fixers like Cavern of SoulsCavern of Souls, Unclaimed TerritoryUnclaimed Territory, Ancient ZigguratAncient Ziggurat, and Ally EncampmentAlly Encampment.

Abandoned Air TempleAbandoned Air Temple and Agna Qel'aAgna Qel'a

I'm quite surprised it's been more than a decade since we've gotten a land that does something similar to Gavony TownshipGavony Township. If you like throwbacks, then you'll be happy to know that the Township is one of the most played cards from Innistrad. It only makes colorless mana and it needs two colors to activate, so I'm betting on Abandoned Air TempleAbandoned Air Temple to see a ton of play and become one of the most important utility lands in +1/+1 counters theme decks.

Of course, you can also just stick it into mono-white aggressive kindred decks like Giada, Font of HopeGiada, Font of Hope Angels or Dion, Bahamut's DominantDion, Bahamut's Dominant and Knights.

Finally, the blue member of the cycle, Agna Qel'aAgna Qel'a, is more of an honorable mention, but I did want to shout it out as a similarly single-color version of Desolate LighthouseDesolate Lighthouse, or the Loothouse as boomers affectionately call the card, that also doesn't cost a lot to play in your control decks.

Card selection and filtering is powerful, so decks looking to keep mana up on opponents' turns might want something like this.

Conclusion

That's a wrap for Avatar's best artifacts and lands! I don't see anything that will absolutely knock the socks off Commander anytime soon. Rather, this set seems to have given us a good mix of build-arounds like Planetarium and fun utility pieces like the nonbasic lands and Waterskin.

I'm excited to see what is actually around the bend for this set, and whether I missed a really powerful card while studying the set. Let us know what you think!

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