Released November 2025

Avatar: The Last Airbender

What's New

🪨EarthbendNEW

Turn one of your lands into a 0/0 land creature with haste and pile on +1/+1 counters — and it comes back if it dies or is exiled.

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The chosen land becomes a 0/0 land creature with haste in addition to its other types — it keeps its supertypes, subtypes, and mana abilities, so you can still tap it for mana.
Its combat stats come entirely from the +1/+1 counters: earthbend 2 makes it a 2/2, earthbend 4 makes it a 4/4.
Haste means it can attack and use tap abilities right away, ignoring summoning sickness.
A delayed triggered ability is created on resolution: when the land dies or is put into exile, it returns to the battlefield tapped under your control.
Earthbend does not grant a color — most lands are colorless, so the resulting creature stays colorless unless another effect changes it.
You can target a land that's already an earthbended creature; it just gets more counters and its base is reset to 0/0.

Can opponents respond to an earthbend?	Yes. The spell or ability containing earthbend uses the stack — an opponent can destroy the targeted land in response, causing the earthbend to fizzle.
Does the return trigger fire if the land is bounced to my hand?	No. The delayed trigger only tracks moving to the graveyard or exile. Bounced or shuffled-away lands don't come back.
How fast can I earthbend?	At the speed of the card it's printed on — sorcery speed on a sorcery, instant speed on an instant.
If the return trigger fires, is it still a creature?	It returns tapped as an ordinary land, not as a creature — the animation and counters are gone.

📖 Official rule text

Card text: (Target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that's still a land. Put N +1/+1 counters on it. When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.)

Rule 701.66a

“Earthbend N” means “Target land you control becomes a 0/0 land creature with haste in addition to its other types. Put N +1/+1 counters on it. When that land dies or is put into exile, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.”

Rule 701.66b

An ability that triggers whenever a player earthbends triggers when the delayed triggered ability described in rule 701.66a is created.

Likely interactions

⚡ Board wipe

A creature sweeper destroys the earthbended land, but its delayed trigger immediately returns it to the battlefield tapped as a normal land — you lose the counters and the creature status, not the land.

701.66

⚡ Bounced

The return trigger only watches for the graveyard or exile. If an opponent bounces the animated land to your hand, it just sits there — no return, no protection.

701.66

⚡ Control change

The return happens under the control of the player who earthbended, tracked by the delayed trigger's wording. If an opponent steals your earthbended land and it dies, whether it returns to you turns on exactly how that delayed ability is read.

701.66

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☠️ Counter doublers

Effects that add extra +1/+1 counters could stack with earthbend's counters, but exactly how many land on the animated land depends on the specific doubling effect.

701.66

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💧WaterbendNEW

Pay a cost by tapping your artifacts and creatures — each one covers {1} of generic mana.

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Each untapped artifact or creature you tap while paying a waterbend cost pays for {1} of generic mana — like Convoke and Improvise combined.
Waterbend can only replace generic mana. Colored pips in the cost still have to be paid with actual colored mana.
Summoning sickness doesn't matter — you can tap a creature you just cast this turn to pay a waterbend cost.
When waterbend is an additional cost, you can only substitute taps for the generic mana inside the waterbend amount, not for other generic mana in the total cost.
You don't sacrifice the tapped permanents — Clue and Treasure tokens can be tapped and kept.
An ability that triggers "whenever you waterbend" fires just from paying a waterbend cost — even if you paid it entirely with real mana.

Can opponents respond by killing the creature I want to tap?	No. Waterbend is a cost payment made while casting or activating — no player has priority during the payment.
Can I tap a creature for both its mana ability and waterbend?	No. Tap it once — it can either produce mana or count toward the waterbend cost, not both.
How many permanents can I tap?	Never more than the generic mana in the waterbend amount. A waterbend {6} caps you at six taps, no matter what other generic mana the spell has.
Can I waterbend at instant speed?	Yes, if the spell or ability it's attached to can be cast or activated at instant speed.

📖 Official rule text

Card text: (While paying a waterbend cost, you can tap your artifacts and creatures to help. Each one pays for {1}.)

Rule 701.67a

“Waterbend [cost]” means “Pay [cost]. For each generic mana in that cost, you may tap an untapped artifact or creature you control rather than pay that mana.”

Rule 701.67b

If a waterbend cost is part of the total cost to cast a spell or activate an ability (usually because the waterbend cost itself is an additional cost), the alternate method to pay for mana described in rule 701.67a may be used only to pay for the amount of generic mana in the waterbend cost, even if the total cost to cast that spell or activate that ability includes other generic mana components.

Rule 701.67c

An ability that triggers whenever a player waterbends triggers whenever that player pays a waterbend cost, regardless of how they paid that cost.

Likely interactions

☠️ Countered

Waterbend is only a way to pay a cost. The spell or ability it paid for still lands on the stack and can be countered normally.

701.67

⚡ Sacrifice

If a cost requires sacrificing a creature and waterbending, the sacrificed creature is already gone by the time you tap for the waterbend cost — it can't help pay.

701.67

⚡ Triggered

Cards like Avatar Aang that trigger "whenever you waterbend" go off just from paying a waterbend cost, regardless of whether you tapped permanents or paid full mana.

701.67

🪙 Cost reduction

Generic cost reduction shrinks the waterbend amount, which can lower how many permanents you may tap. The exact cap after a reducer applies is worth confirming case by case.

701.67

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🔥FirebendingNEW

When this creature attacks, make red mana that sticks around until combat ends.

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Firebending is a triggered ability that fires when the creature is declared as an attacker.
It adds N red mana, and that mana doesn't empty as steps and phases end — until end of combat.
The exception only protects the firebending mana — red mana from a tapped Mountain still empties at the next step as usual.
The mana is gone before your second main phase — you can't hold it for sorcery-speed spells after combat.
Multiple firebending instances trigger separately, so firebending 1 and firebending 2 net {R}{R}{R}.
You can spend the mana during any combat step — before blockers, after blockers, or after damage.

Is firebending a mana ability that can't be countered?	No. It's a triggered ability that happens to make mana — it uses the stack and can be responded to or countered.
Do I still get the mana if my attacker is killed after it attacks?	Yes. Once the trigger is on the stack, destroying the source doesn't stop the mana from being generated.
Can I save firebending mana for main phase two?	No. It disappears at the end of the combat phase.
When can I spend the mana?	At instant speed during any point of combat — declare blockers, combat damage, or end of combat.

📖 Official rule text

Card text: (Whenever this creature attacks, add {R}{R}. This mana lasts until end of combat.)

Rule 702.189a

Firebending is a triggered ability. “Firebending N” means “Whenever this creature attacks, add N {R}. Until end of combat, you don’t lose this mana as steps and phases end.”

Rule 702.189b

An ability that triggers whenever a player firebends triggers whenever a firebending ability they control resolves.

Likely interactions

☠️ Countered

Because firebending triggers off an attack and isn't a mana ability, it uses the stack — an opponent can respond to it, and effects that counter triggered abilities can stop the mana from ever being made.

702.189

⚡ Multiple

Two firebending abilities on one creature trigger independently, each adding its own red mana on attack.

702.189

⚡ Mana pool

The floating red mana survives combat steps but empties as the combat phase ends — nothing carries into your postcombat main phase.

702.189

⚡ Extra combat

Effects that grant additional combat phases can let firebending trigger again, but whether earlier firebending mana survives into the new combat depends on exactly when it was generated and lost.

702.189

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💨AirbendNEW

Exile a permanent or spell — its owner can recast it later for just {2}.

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Airbend exiles the chosen permanents and/or spells immediately.
The owner may recast an airbent card for a flat {2} instead of its mana cost, for as long as it stays exiled.
Airbend does not grant flash — normal timing restrictions apply, so an airbent sorcery or creature waits for its owner's main phase.
The {2} is an alternative cost, so no other alternative cost can be used, and any {X} in the mana cost must be 0.
Mandatory additional costs still must be paid; optional additional costs like Kicker may be paid.
Airbending a spell on the stack exiles it — it's not a counter, so it works even against spells that can't be countered.

Can I choose to pay the full mana cost instead of {2}?	No. You cast the airbent card only for the {2} alternative cost, which is why {X} in the cost becomes 0.
What happens if I airbend a token?	It goes to exile and ceases to exist — there's nothing to recast.
Can I recast an airbent land for {2}?	No. Lands are played, not cast, so an airbent land is stuck in exile.
Does recasting keep counters or attached Auras?	No. The recast card is a brand-new object — counters vanish and Auras don't follow it.

📖 Official rule text

Card text: (Exile it. While it's exiled, its owner may cast it for {2} rather than its mana cost.)

Rule 701.65a

Certain spells and abilities instruct a player to airbend one or more permanents and/or spells. To do so, that player exiles those objects. For each card exiled this way, for as long as it remains exiled, its owner may cast it by paying {2} rather than paying its mana cost.

Rule 701.65b

An ability that triggers whenever a player airbends triggers when that player exiles one or more objects as a result of an instruction to airbend.

Likely interactions

☠️ Uncounterable

Airbending a spell on the stack exiles it rather than countering it, so it removes spells that say they can't be countered — the caster then has to pay {2} to try again.

701.65

⚡ Tokens

A token airbent to exile stops existing as a state-based action and can never be recast.

701.65

⚡ Recast

The recast object has no memory of its former life — planeswalker loyalty, +1/+1 counters, and Auras are all gone, and a recast creature has summoning sickness.

701.65

🔄 Blink value

Airbending your own permanent to exile it and recasting it for {2} can reset abilities that track once-per-object status, but the exact benefit depends on the card being reset.

701.65

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What's Returning

⌛ExhaustRETURNING

A powerful activated ability you can use only once — unless the permanent leaves and comes back.

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An exhaust ability is just an activated ability with the extra rider "Activate only once."
The limit is tied to the specific object on the battlefield — not once per turn, but once for that permanent's lifespan there.
If the permanent leaves and returns, it's a new object with a fresh exhaust ability that can be activated again.
The limit keys off activation, not resolution — once it's on the stack, it counts as used.
Exhaust effects usually add a counter as a memory aid, but the counter is just part of the effect, not the trigger for the limit.
A card with two distinct exhaust abilities tracks each one's activation independently.

Is exhaust once per turn or once per game?	Neither exactly — it's once per object on the battlefield. Blink or reanimate the permanent and you get a fresh use.
If my exhaust ability is countered, can I try again?	No. It was still activated, so the once-only limit is spent even though the ability never resolved.
Do I need the memory-aid counter to land for exhaust to count?	No. Even if the counter is prevented, the ability was activated and can't be used again.
What if an effect triggers on activating an exhaust ability?	That triggered ability goes on the stack above the exhaust ability and resolves first.

📖 Official rule text

Card text: (Activate each exhaust ability only once.)

Rule 702.177a

Exhaust is a keyword that adds additional rules to the activated ability that follows it. “Exhaust — [Cost]: [Effect]” means “[Cost]: [Effect]. Activate only once.”

Rule 702.177b

An effect may allow you to take an action as long as you haven’t activated an exhaust ability this turn. Such an effect allows that action only if you haven’t begun to activate an exhaust ability this turn.

Likely interactions

☠️ Countered

If an opponent counters your exhaust ability on the stack, it still counted as activated — you can't activate that ability a second time on the same object.

702.177

🔄 Flicker

Exiling and returning an exhausted permanent — or airbending and recasting it — makes it a new object with its exhaust ability fully refreshed.

702.177

⚡ Multiple

Two different exhaust abilities on one card each get their own single activation — spending one doesn't lock out the other.

702.177

⚡ Pre-resolution trigger

An ability that triggers when you activate an exhaust ability stacks on top of the exhaust ability itself and resolves before it.

702.177

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Set Timeline