Magic: The Gathering – Avatar: The Last Airbender First Look: All Cards Revealed So Far

With Final Fantasy in the rear view and Spider-Man next up, Wizards of the Coast certainly isn't lacking in Magic: The Gathering star power. However, before the calendar turns to 2026, there's one more set that's set to bend its way into the long-running card game, and today Wizards gave fans their first look at cards from the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender set.

The preview cards feature some old Magic mechanics that will be returning to competitive formats with the ATLA set, including the Lesson spell subtype, Shrine and Ally creature subtype, and double-faced Saga cards that transform into powerful permanents. The preview also highlighted the set's new bending mechanics, with each of the four elements seeing at least one card throughout the reveal.

Magic: The Gathering - Avatar: The Last Airbender is scheduled to launch November 21 in both local game stores and big box retailers. The next Avatar-themed WeeklyMTG stream will broadcast October 28, with the full card gallery available on the official MTG website on November 7.

Versatility is the name of the game for this enchantment, as it can be used either to earn an extra enters-the-battlefield trigger for one of your permanents, or to lock out an opposing permanent for as long as you need to in order to win the game.

One of the Lesson spells returning to MTG with the Avatar set, this one allows you to search for up to two permanents and place them into your hand. This is a good spell in a pinch, as it will let you search for a basic land if you need to make your next turn's land drop.

The loyal steed of Aang and the gang features on this mythic rare, with a pair of powerful keywords and our first look at the Airbending mechanic, which lets you exile permanents and bring them back later for a set mana cost.

The Ally creature subtype used to be a powerful part of Magic's metagame, and with cards like Avatar Enthusiasts here, we may see an Ally resurgence once all is said and done. Getting more powerful with every Ally creature cast could make this a force to be reckoned with.

This incredibly powerful Saga will let you search a player's library for multiple copies of a single card and immediately banish them from the game. If you know your opponent depends on a single powerful spell as a win condition, you can simply snap it out of existence. Then, on the next turn ...

... the Saga becomes a sturdy 5/5 creature that can't be blocked by a single creature, generates mana with every attack, and lets you steal cards from an opponent's graveyard. This takes some setup, but if you can make it happen, it will be difficult for your opponents to recover.

Aang learns his various bending skills through lessons with his friends, so it's only fitting that our introduction to the Earthbending mechanic in Magic is through a Lesson spell. Hooray for animating lands!

Red players traditionally don't have spare mana lying around very often, but with a couple of Firebenders active, Fated Firepower can turn into a buff that your opponents simply won't be able to counter.

Fan-favorite Zuko gets a legendary creature card worthy of his stature, as his ability to produce enough to return cards exiled through airbending--which, from the Appa card previously, we know to be two generic mana--grants him a synergy with multiple colors that usually results in a powerful presence on any board.

Our introduction to waterbending is, fittingly, Katara, Aang's traveling buddy from the Water Nation. Waterbending grants an extra effect for a specific cost, but that cost can be paid by any artifact and/or creature on your side of the board rather than strictly mana.

Avatar is legal in all formats, but many players will be focusing on the most popular format, Commander, when looking at these new cards. Momo here allows for a "flying kindred" style of mono-white deck, where flying creatures are cheaper to cast and power up the Lemur Bat Ally at the same time.

Any time you can surprise an opponent by dropping the equivalent of an Uno Reverse card on them can lead to a powerful momentum swing, and Redirect Lightning here gives you that power for a single mana--provided you have the life points to pay as well.

This Izzet creature gives good card selection as soon as it's cast, and then can grow larger with certain spells. In the right deck, Sokka can become a problem in a hurry.

Here's Sokka's Haiku.

The text laid out like haiku.

A quite clever move.

Shrines have been a part of Magic's history since the days of Kamigawa block in the mid-2000s, so it's cool to see them return in Avatar. The Southern Air Temple here is a massive board buff that can win you the game on the spot, provided you have enough Shrines on the battlefield.

The "flavor" of Toph is off the charts with this card, and she can animate any of your nontoken artifacts into 2/2 creatures with haste, meaning it can attack immediately after being "awakened." Best of all, if the artifact is destroyed, it comes back tapped and can resume being an ordinary artifact on your next turn. Finally, a way to throw mana rocks at our opponents!

A big part of the MTG Avatar set's product line is Jumpstart Boosters, which are special packs where you can open two packs, combine the cards inside, and instantly have a deck to play a game. Some cards--like the Aang, Katara, and Cabbage Merchant cards seen here--will only be found in Jumpstart Boosters.

We've seen Aang himself before, as his card was revealed during MagicCon: Vegas in June, but now that we have more information on bending mechanics, we can see just how powerful the Avatar will be. Unsurprisingly, he will be very powerful indeed.