Fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender have a reason to get excited, as the first preview of the Avatar Universes Beyond set is here. Scheduled to release on November 21, 2025, the eagerly anticipated crossover arrives after Final Fantasy and aims to shake up Standard with a host of new mechanics inspired by the four bending arts.
Airbending centers the reveal with Appa, Steadfast Guardian, a white mythic legendary creature who naturally flies. Airbending is a unique mechanic that exiles a permanent, then lets its owner recast it from exile for two generic mana. Appa also creates a 1/1 Ally token when you cast any spell from exile, building a strong synergy loop with other exile-focused effects and with a growing Ally creature theme.
Waterbending brings Aang’s Iceberg, an enchantment that plays like a removal spell with a twist. It features flash and a Waterbend ability, a blend of convoke and improvise: you pay its generic mana cost by tapping artifacts and creatures you control. Each tapped creature or artifact contributes one mana, and you can sacrifice Aang’s Iceberg to scry 2 by meeting its Waterbend cost.
Katara, Water Tribe’s Hope looks to bolster your board by generating an early Ally on entry and then scaling power with Waterbending X. On entering, you create a 1/1 Ally, and you can spend X mana to set all of your creatures’ power and toughness to X on your turn, potentially turning the tide in the late game.
Earthbending introduces Toph, the First Metalbender, a three-colored legend with a strong twist on artifact and land interactions. She makes non-token artifacts count as lands (without mana-producing abilities) and adds +1/+1 counters to lands equal to the stated number of the ability. Those lands gain haste and become 0/0 creatures; if they die or are exiled, they return to the battlefield tapped, offering a powerful land-based engine for able players to leverage.
Firebending features Fire Lord Zuko, a tri-colored legendary who epitomizes the X mana mechanic. When Zuko attacks, you add X mana to your mana pool, with X equal to Zuko’s power. The mana sticks around through combat, enabling you to follow with a spell cast from exile that can grant your board +1/+1 counters, further pushing your aggression and reach.
The set also expands with other mechanics tied to the Avatar world. Allies continue to play a central role, with Avatar Enthusanist and Momo, Friendly Flier delivering ongoing synergy. Avatar Enthusanist grows as you weave more Ally creatures into play, while Momo reduces the cost of your first non-Lemur flying creature each turn by one generic mana, easing early pressure if that creature has flying.
Lessons return as a familiar spell subtype. They’re attached to sorceries and instances, and when paired with Learn, you can tutor for them. Earthbending Lesson, for example, teaches Earthbending while fitting into land-and-earth themes by letting you Earthbend for four.
Redirect Lightning is a standout among the lessons, a red instant that lets you swap a spell or ability’s target for another one at the cost of five life or two generic mana, adding a surprising way to contest opposing plans.
Sagas are given a dramatic place in the lineup with The Rise of Sozin // Fire Lord Sozin. The first chapter wipes away an opponent’s resources by exiling a card from their deck, graveyard, and hand, and the saga then transforms into a creature. Fire Lord Sozin, a 5/5 with menace and firebending 3, can devastatingly rewatch the opponent’s graveyard: by paying X on its triggered ability, you can take any number of creature cards with total mana cost X or less from your opponent’s graveyard and reanimate them under your control.
Shrines also return, with Southern Air Temple featuring a scaling effect that grants +1/+1 counters to all your creatures equal to the number of Shrines you control. The more Shrines you bring to the battlefield, the more your team grows.
Fated Firepower is Uncle Iroh’s mythic enchantment, entering with a number of fire counters equal to the X you pay. Whenever a source you control would deal damage to an opponent or their permanents, it deals that damage plus the number of fire counters on Fated Firepower.
Visuals and presents
The Avatar set includes borderless, high-contrast treatments that mirror the elemental themes. A borderless Aang card is planned as a chase piece for collectors, appearing in Collector Boosters only. Field Note cards, a nod to the series’ world-building, return as sketch-style notes about creatures’ biology. The design team has experimented with multiple frame variants to reflect each element, along with new foil treatments and other surprises to discover.
Products and collector appeal
Beyond Standard-leaning products, the set introduces a Commander’s Bundle that isn’t a traditional preconstructed deck but offers a structured path to building in Commander format. It includes 9 Play Boosters, 1 Collector Booster, 5 non-foil promo cards (three of which are identical across bundles), and a mix of basic lands, plus a Click-Wheel for tracking. Scene Boxes, following a model seen in previous universes, gather six borderless foil cards that form a single, cinematic scene when laid out together. Three Scene Boxes are planned, and earlier Scene Box formats have yielded strong card pulls, making them worth watching for both fans and collectors.
What’s next for Avatar
Today marks the first public glimpse of the set; another reveal is planned for October 28, with additional card specifics and mechanics teased. Prerelease events are scheduled for November 14–20, with the official tabletop release set for November 21. If you’re planning to dive in, check with your local game store for events and availability.
Summary and value considerations
The Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set blends iconic characters with bold new mechanics built around exile, lessons, and elemental theming. Expect a mix of aggressive, tempo-driven plays and strategic, long-game setups that harness the unique interactions between Air, Water, Earth, and Fire bends. Collectors will likely target the borderless Aang and the new frame variants, while players will evaluate how the exile-based cards influence Standard and other formats. For builders, the Saga and Shrine synergies offer distinctive assembly options, particularly when combined with Ally tribal themes and the Learn/Lesson dynamic.
Additional notes for readers
– If you’re curious about how to optimize your draft or constructed decks around these mechanics, pay attention to how Waterbend and exile interactions shape card selection and tempo.
– Keep an eye on pricing and supply for borderless chase cards and Scene Boxes, which historically drive both interest and value in these crossover sets.
– For those planning a Commander build, the Commander’s Bundle presents a convenient entry path with a curated mix of boosters and cards.
Overall, the Avatar set promises to be a landmark addition to Magic, delivering familiar characters and fresh, inventive mechanics that could make this one of the most talked-about Universes Beyond releases in years. Prerelease fever is likely to follow as players test the set’s unique fusion of the Avatar world and Magic’s sandbox gameplay.