GambleGamble | Art by Irina Nordsol

Reprints and Screenshots

Usually with a new Magic set, we'd be getting a bunch of Commander preconstructed decks that contain a smattering of reprints. That didn't happen with Avatar: The Last Airbender.

However, if you heard that news and lamented that you wouldn't be getting your 120th reprint of Sol RingSol Ring, don't fret!

While there are only four reprints in the mainline TLA release that aren't basic lands (shown below), there are 102 total spread across Source Material cards (a.k.a. screenshot treatments), Jumpstart boosters, and Elemental Frame cards.

Source Material Cards

As per Wizards of the Coast's marketing materials, there's a source material card for every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, for a grand total of 61 source material cards. Each source material card lists the book and episode that the artwork comes from in the bottom-left corner of the card.

You can acquire these in non-foil in Collector Boosters, Play Boosters, Bundles, and Scene Boxes. Foils only show up in Collector Boosters.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights:

The Great HengeThe Great Henge

With its reprint here, The Great Henge has officially been in the same number of Universes Beyond sets as regular sets.

After debuting in Throne of Eldraine, the big tree showed up in Middle-earth as well as one of the high-ticket chase mythics in Commander Masters. 

Counting the various treatments spread throughout those appearances, we're looking at eight distinct versions of the tree (and one serialized version). The reprint in TLE brings that total up to nine.

It's worth noting that none of those versions are less than $60, and The Banyan Tree won't change that.

Despite that price, The Great Henge is extremely popular in Commander, appearing in nearly 10% of decks that can play it. By sheer volume, it's seen most in The Ur-DragonThe Ur-Dragon decks, though by percentage it appears most frequently in Kona, Rescue BeastieKona, Rescue Beastie decks at a 40% clip.

Force of NegationForce of Negation

Force of Negation first appeared way back when they first "broke" Modern.

Debuting in Modern Horizons, Force of Negation has reemerged sparingly over the last six years. It was included in Double Masters 2022, and...well, that's it really. Unless you count a Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy Buy-a-Box Promo, currently retailing at $2,000 or so.

Because of that exclusivity coupled with its significant playability in a ton of formats outside Commander, it's not cheap. The best you'll do is around $50 for a copy.

If you do happen to have a copy, you're probably playing it in decks that lean to the more competitive side of the Bracket spectrum. As a result, we see it most in partner decks featuring some combination of Kraum, Ludevic's OpusKraum, Ludevic's Opus, Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver, and Thrasios, Triton HeroThrasios, Triton Hero.

Overall, it's played in around 8% of decks playing blue.

Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection

Unlike the first two cards we've discussed, Teferi's Protection has actually been reprinted quite a few times relative to its time existing as a card.

First appearing in Commander 2017, we've seen a judge promo, two Secret Lair versions, a spot in Double Masters 2022, and twin treatments as a Strixhaven Mystical Archive pick.

That's a lot for this particular Game Changer. However, despite all these different treatments and showcases, you'd be hard-pressed to acquire a copy for less than $40.

Despite being a Game Changer, Teferi's Protection is one of the most popular white cards ever printed, coming in at sixth in the list of Top White Cards. We see it in 17% of all decks playing white, or more than a half-million overall.

It's a great pick for another reprint, but it's unlikely its inclusion here will do anything to make it more affordable, especially if you're a person that would rather not have a screenshot from an animated television show as the art.

Cruel TutorCruel Tutor

We're going from a card that's seen a half-dozen reprints over eight years to a card that's seen exactly one reprint over 28 years.

Cruel Tutor might not seem like much. It's more expensive to cast than Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor, and it charges you two life despite not being an instant like Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor.

What it does have going for it, though, is scarcity. We've seen Cruel Tutor only once, as a brief member of The List, since it came out with 1997's Portal. 

Because of that relative dearth of accessibility, the card's held fast to its $35 price tag for awhile now. Will that change with an inclusion in TLE? It's hard to say, especially with that incredibly divisive art.

We know that the price of the card has nothing to do with its playability, at least. On EDHREC we see Cruel Tutor in only 0.31% of decks playing black, or around 11,000 of 3.67 million.

That number might see a bit of a jump now, thanks to people who want to play a card with a giant face on the art. There's bound to be a lot of you out there.

Also, if you're into the whole "haven't seen this card since a Portal set" thing, there's also Empty City RuseEmpty City Ruse. This is the first reprint of that particular Portal Three Kingdoms card ever.

The Rest of the Source Material Cards

Jumpstart Reprints

Overall, there are 30 reprints included in the Jumpstart supplementary release associated with Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, two of those are a MountainMountain and a PlainsPlains.

Jumpstart packs contain 20 cards that represent one of 46 possible themes (some of which have multiple variants). All packs have one or two rares/mythics as well as a special "theme insert" that isn't really a card so much as it's a placeholder.

Anything worthwhile reprinted here? Let's take a look (spoiler alert: not really):

Dramatic ReversalDramatic Reversal

It's slim pickings in terms of value or interest with Jumpstart reprints, which is probably clear when we're already talking about a card like Dramatic Reversal.

Since debuting in Kaladesh, we've seen this particularly annoying card included in a handful of special releases like Game Night 2019. Also it had a giant robot man on it once:

Never has the card been particularly expensive, unless you wanted that Secret Lair version with a Transformer. That one's $25.

Far and away the most popular use for Dramatic Reversal is being loaded into an Isochron ScepterIsochron Scepter:

That combo's in more than 90,000 decks according to Commander Spellbook. Overall, 56% of decks that play Dramatic Reversal also play Isochron Scepter.

Descendants' PathDescendants' Path

There's also Descendant's Path, which we've seen a few times since Avacyn Restored. It's been in a Secret Lair as well as The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander. 

This is the fourth printing, and fourth new art, which is pretty neat.

You may be gathering at this point that there's nothing really of note to say about the Jumpstart reprints, and you'd be right. So let's just look at them quickly and move on, yeah?

The Rest of the Jumpstart Reprints

Elemental Frame Cards

Now that we're done with Jumpstart, we can get back to talking about good reprints again. And despite there only being 13 Elemental Frame reprints, there are some really solid ones.

So how do you get these Elemental Frame cards? Same way you get the Source Material Cards: non-foil in Collector Boosters, Play Boosters, Bundles, and Scene Boxes, and foils in Collector Boosters. There are 20 of them overall, so seven are new to Magic with TLA. 

Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship

Everyone likes free spells. That's why Fierce Guardianship is both a Game Changer and is $45 for the cheapest version.

And speaking of free (in terms of mana, not dollars by a longshot), we're also seeing Elemental Frame reprints of Fierce Guardianship's Commander 2020 besties Obscuring HazeObscuring Haze, Deadly RollickDeadly Rollick, Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat, and Flawless ManeuverFlawless Maneuver.

That's a pretty incredible cycle to reprint wholesale in terms of value. Guardianship, Rollick and Swat in particular will be sought-after by fans of Avatar who will be looking to soup up their decks.

Worldly TutorWorldly Tutor

Speaking of reprints that brought friends, how about Worldly Tutor, coming from way back in Mirage?

Joining Worldly Tutor is fellow Mirage staples Enlightened TutorEnlightened Tutor and Mystical TutorMystical Tutor.

We've seen this particular trio reprinted together before, in Dominaria Remastered, but it's still cool to see them brought back with a new look.

And that's not all - you may be wondering why there's no black or red inclusion, and we're happy to say that there is. Kinda.

We just hope that Legacy or Historic players weren't really excited to have an Avatar-themed Entomb for their decks.

The Rest of the Elemental Frame Cards

I Could Spend an Eternity in Here

It's been a long, winding road, but we're finally done.

There are some pretty big-ticket reprints this time around, but they face the same issue that we've seen time and time again with Universes Beyond. Will people be excited about a reprint if the art is a screenshot of a cartoon?

There will be people on both sides of the discussion who feel strongly about these reprints, one way or another. Which are you?

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