EmbercleaveEmbercleave | Art by Joe Slucher 

Hello everyone, my name is Jonathan, and today's article is completely centered around firebending, a new ability from the Avatar: The Last Airbender set. We'll look at the best cards to use with your firebending mana.

What Is Firebending?

But, what does firebending do? A creature with firebending produces red mana when it attacks that lasts until the end of combat.

The amount of mana produced varies from creature to creature. For example, a creature with firebending 1 will add , while a creature with firebending 2 will add .

This creates a situation similar to Radha, Heir to KeldRadha, Heir to Keld's, where we're able to gain additional mana on each of our turns, but we do so at a weird time during said turns. In fact, this mana has to be used on something that can be done at instant speed and that during our combat phase.

While there are truly a ton of cards to be cast or abilities to be activated at that time, I tried to think of some of the best ones to pair with firebending mana, especially older cards that might benefit the most from some modern power-up.

The other criteria behind my choices was that the cards should, in the most part, be proactive, considering we're getting this mana when attacking.

Additionally, all of the five colors have access to firebending. Although the early spoilers seem to indicate it's mostly a Grixis-oriented () ability, we've seen green and white cards as well, like Uncle IrohUncle Iroh or Fire Lord ZukoFire Lord Zuko.

Additionally, Avatar AangAvatar Aang is a five-color legend with firebending; so, indeed we're not lacking commanders synergizing with it! At the same time, I prioritized red-colored effects, considering all of the mana we're making out of our attacks will be of that color.

One last thing before diving into the card: It's true that there are cards that can, in theory, produce a lot of mana through firebending, such as Sun WarriorsSun Warriors or Sozin's CometSozin's Comet on a stacked board, but the actual highest value we've seen on a card at the time of writing (October 28^th) is firebending 4 on Ozai, the Phoenix KingOzai, the Phoenix King.

This means that I'm not really considering having access to a huge amount of mana when choosing which cards to include on the list, but only around or on average.

So, with all of this premise out of the way, here are some of the best cards to cast and/or abilities to use with firebending mana!

The Aggressive Cards To Use With Firebending Mana

The first category of cards I thought about when reading what firebending does was "very aggressive effects that can turn a whole combat step into your favor." Yes, I'm not really good at giving names, but you get the spirit.

For example, Savage BeatingSavage Beating was one of the first ones I added to my notes, because it checks all of the boxes. It can only be cast during our combat step, it requires red mana, and it gives us access to an extremely aggressive effect.

In addition to all of this, being pretty expensive to begin with means it can be tricky to get the most out of it with entwine; firebending solves this problem as well, making sure we get that small mana boost we need to go all out. Also, the additional combat step means we're going to have even more possibilities to spend additional red mana during our turn!

Another example is EmbercleaveEmbercleave. Once the scourge of Standard, this Equipment wants to be cast at instant speed during the combat step so that we can dish out unexpected damage. Now then, how about making it even less predictable casting it off of a firebending trigger?

This one also lines up pretty well with the low-ish amount of mana this ability can produce, considering we're probably going to play it in a go-wide strategy anyway. Hence, it's more than probable that we'll be able to give +1/+1, trample and double strike to one of our creatures even with all of our lands tapped.

One thing that makes me very happy is that this new keyword could revitalize, or at least help modernize, one of my personal favorites: SunforgerSunforger. While it'll never be possible to activate it with a firebending trigger (unless we have some sort of mana-filtering ability on the board as well), having our equipped creature being able to pay for half of this cost simply by attacking (which is exactly what we'd want to be doing anyways) sound very cool.

However, it's unlikely our opponents will let us get away with multiple triggers, especially if we're getting something out of all of them. For this reason, cards like Celestial ArmorCelestial Armor can really help, giving us a way to protect our mana-producing creature if it ever gets picked on.

Silver Shroud CostumeSilver Shroud Costume is even better because it can be cast with generic mana, allowing us to use our red mana even more efficiently. At the same time, the effect is a bit worse: once the initial protection has ended, granting unblockable to a creature isn't all that valuable.

The best out of the bunch, in any case, is Mithril CoatMithril Coat. It can be cast with generic mana, the effect lasts as long as the Equipment is attached, and it grants good-enough protection. Hexproof and/or shroud would have been appreciated as well, but this remains a pretty good deal to take.

But what if the maths for the blockers doesn't align as we'd like? Well, fear not, for there are options to consider!

First off, we could solve the problem going even more aggro with Dictate of the Twin GodsDictate of the Twin Gods, hoping it's enough to overwhelm our opponents' defenses.

Then, if we need to adjust some toughness numbers, PyrohemiaPyrohemia could really help us. We can use all of our mana or just a fraction to deal just enough damage to all of the creatures (and players, for good measure) to make sure our attackers get the most out of their aggression.

Lastly, if we're out of solutions, effects like Hardened TacticianHardened Tactician's can be our life-saver. Of course, we would need to choose the correct options depending on our overall strategy, but having access to a sacrifice outlet could help us salvage those combat steps that don't really go as we intended.

Setup Cards To Use With Firebending Mana

Not all of our cards have to be strictly aggressive; we can also use firebending mana to propel our future game actions.

For example, Olivia VoldarenOlivia Voldaren could take advantage of some extra spare mana, so that it can set up a board state where multiple opposing creatures are Vampires. In this way, we could later use its second ability (perhaps using even more firebending mana) to gain control of whatever we'd like.

Another card I'd love to include in a deck centered around firebending is The Sound of DrumsThe Sound of Drums. This is a fresh take on the classic goad effect, which actually would fit perfectly with this theme. First of all, having fewer blockers in the way means we'd be able to take safer attacks, thus not forcing us to risk our firebending creatures.

Additionally, this one can be easily recurred from the graveyard, and that's where the additional mana comes in clutch: We can enchant an opposing creature, watch it as it's forced to attack and perhaps it dies doing so, and lastly we can bring it back thanks to firebending to start this chain over again.

One last utility inclusion could be Tectonic ReformationTectonic Reformation. This one solves one of aggro decks' worst problems: flooding. And it does so, once again, doing what aggro decks do best: attacking. The ability to combine two aspects that affect the same deck so much could really make these kinds of cards shine.

One final area in which firebending could be relevant is overall efficiency. In particular, we could really make the most out of cards that give everything we cast flash, because this means that none of our additional mana ever goes to waste. For this reason, even a former staple such as Vedalken OrreryVedalken Orrery could easily return to being relevant.

On the same line, Elsha of the InfiniteElsha of the Infinite is even better, because it actively produces card advantage. Although it limits the number of cards we can cast with flash, having access to the top of our library at any given moment almost assures we're going to have something to do with our additional mana.

Last but not least, effects like Insight EngineInsight Engine also shine, because they grant a generic (i.e., always good) card advantage that we can always rely on if we ever have spare mana. This makes sure we never run out of gas as we proceed to bash everyone in the face for the game.

What do you think of these suggestions? Do you like them? Have you considered something else to play in your firebending decks? Let me know in the comments below!

More Avatar: