The 24 Best White Cards in Avatar: The Last Airbender Ranked

Momo, Friendly Flier | Illustration by Brandon L Hunt

Avatar: The Last Airbender (TLA) is just around the corner, and if you’re a white mage at heart, here’s what may interest you the most in this great set. Universes Beyond gets a lot of flack, often rightfully so, but this is almost like a true MTG set at heart, and if you’re a fan of Avatar, even better!

White TLA and TLE cards bring up the new airbending mechanic, and some surprises like the return of allies as a meaningful creature type.

Enough chitchat, let’s dive in!

What Are White Cards in Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Suki, Kyoshi Captain | Illustration by Shiren

White cards in Avatar: The Last Airbender (TLA) have a white color identity. We’re also considering cards from Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal (TLE).

White has a few themes in these sets. One of the main ones is the ally creature type, a strong component of the GW archetype. We have good white ally creatures, cards that make ally tokens, and more. White is also home to airbending, and although there aren’t that many airbending cards, we have a few good ones to talk about.

Best Reprints and Bonus Sheet Cards

First, let’s cover some classic reprints. As has been the trend with MTG sets of late, we have many reprints and bonus sheet cards to talk about, so let’s mention the tried-and-true hits before we highlight the new arrivals.

#6. Scout’s Warning

Scout's Warning deserves a shoutout because it’s reprinted officially for the first time since Future Sight. It’s a cantrip that allows you to flash a creature in a color that doesn’t have that much access to flash, or a card that you can combine with other non-flash creatures for a greater effect.

#5. Release to Memory

Paying 4 mana to cast Release to Memory and just exile a graveyard is very expensive. But when you can make a lot of 1/1 spirit tokens, say three or four, then you’ve spent your mana very efficiently.

#4. Drannith Magistrate

Drannith Magistrate has become a Commander staple because it prevents so many things from happening. Not only does it lock the command zone, but you also put a halt on suspend, foretell, flashback, and the like. Decks that thrive on casting spells from zones other than their hand will have to spend a removal spell on this just to function properly.

#3. Flawless Maneuver

Free cards usually excel since they break the mana system. Flawless Maneuver can be a “free” way to protect your commander and their subordinates from certain doom, and if you’re tapped out, it becomes an even greater surprise when you cast this card in response to a removal spell or board wipe.

#2. Enlightened Tutor

Many combos need an enchantment or artifact piece to work. Enlightened Tutor is a limited Vampiric Tutor-like card, but it gets the job done, especially if you fire it at your opponent’s end step and draw what you need right after.

#1. Teferi’s Protection

Teferi's Protection can be considered the white Cyclonic Rift. For just 3 mana, you get access to a very powerful effect that protects you, your life total, and your permanents. It’s hard to imagine a white deck that plays to the board with creatures, enchantments, planeswalkers, or what have you, that doesn't run this card.

#18. Aang’s Iceberg

Just want to point out that Aang's Iceberg costs 1 mana less than Cast Out, although without cycling. Still, as a flash enchantment that serves as a removal spell, it'll see some play. Sometimes you’ll waterbend it away, mostly for synergy purposes. This card can also flicker one of your own cards at a terrible rate, but the options are good.

#17. Sokka’s Charge

Double strike and lifelink are two of the best combat abilities, and they work very well together. Sokka's Charge is a card that can give your creatures that, but only for allies, and on your turn only. It’s a very powerful card, but clearly a build-around at that.

#16. Airbender Ascension

Here’s a removal/tempo spell that might see much more play. Airbender Ascension doesn’t exile for good, but the real value is in its quest counters. In decks that create a lot of tokens or blink their permanents, you’ll set up this in no time, and when you do, you get a blink effect for free every turn. Airbending your own ETB value creature is a good option as well.

#15. Jet, Rebel Leader

Jet, Rebel Leader has a very powerful attack trigger, but a not-so-powerful body to say the least. It’s up to us to create the conditions that allow it to attack safely, either via tricks, auras, or equipment. I’d start by considering this card for an ally deck to get the most of allies synergies and strengthen Jet’s 3/4 stats.

#14. South Pole Voyager

South Pole Voyager is a mix between a Soul Warden and a card draw engine. I like that you can combine this with cards like Invasion Reinforcements and draw a card right away, even on your opponent’s turns. This card can be a powerful engine in token decks and lifegain decks alike.

#13. Tale of Momo

Tale of Momo is a very novel ally tutor spell that you can cast for , and it puts the card straight into your hand. It’s useless if you don’t have allies or changelings, but it’s very strong otherwise.

#12. Monk Gyatso

Monk Gyatso is a powerful way to get a lot of airbending triggers. It requires some work, but if you’re playing an EDH deck that cares about blinking, exiling cards, casting cards from exile, or just airbending, Gyatso can do some heavy lifting.

#11. Hakoda, Selfless Commander

I’d rank Hakoda, Selfless Commander top 5 if its “play from the top” ability worked for other creature types besides allies. But it's still a solid creature, and its sacrifice ability is very powerful, defending your creatures from both wrath effects and -X/-X effects. Poor Toxic Deluge players have to make a bigger effort.

#10. Sokka, Swordmaster

Sokka, Swordmaster works well with expensive equipment. You can attach Colossus Hammer-like cards to Sokka free of charge, and it can also reduce the cost of expensive equipment, so it works on both axes. You can build around Sokka or add this card to your good old RW equipment-matters deck, and it’s going to do fine.

#9. Southern Air Temple

The key word here for Southern Air Temple is each. Just putting a +1/+1 counter is already a very strong effect, and you keep getting these with more and more shrines. You’re not playing this in shrineless decks just for the effect alone, but shrine decks these days have a lot of creatures and token creation, so this card should fit just fine.

#8. Suki, Kyoshi Captain

Suki, Kyoshi Captain is excellent in warrior decks, and it’s an excellent combo to increase your creatures’ power and give them double strike at the same time. I’d add this card to well-established warrior EDH decks like Najeela, the Blade-Blossom. There’s a solid intersection between warrior and ally creatures, so this card can thrive in ally decks that have some warriors as well.

#7. Suki, Courageous Rescuer

Suki, Courageous Rescuer has a solid 2/4 body, and it buffs all your other creatures, so finally, a “lord” card that’s not creature restricted in this set. You’ll also get some allies here and there to benefit from the buff, but this card is solid regardless of the creatures surrounding it. There’s a good argument for Standard mobilize decks that create 1/1 tokens, as well as for some Mardu () go-wide and sacrifice decks to include this card, too.

#6. Momo, Friendly Flier

At first, I got terrible flashbacks of a certain friendly neighborhood card when I saw the name of this card, but hey, Momo, Friendly Flier is a cool flying creature. It gives your fliers a mana discount, which blue and white decks will appreciate. If you cast fliers consistently, Momo is even a 2/2 flier or bigger for just . It’s a solid package.

#5. Appa, Steadfast Guardian

Appa, Steadfast Guardian is a juiced-up Restoration Angel. It gives you so much advantage. First, you’ll protect your permanents when this card enters, and you’ll be able to recast all your cards later. This can give you loads of value, either by creating 1/1 ally tokens or by recasting your permanents and getting extra bodies. I’d say you’ll mostly want this card in enter the battlefield decks, but token and ally decks are also fair game.

#4. Aang, Airbending Master

Aang, Airbending Master is a cool airbend payoff or blink payoff, and each time you exile one of your creatures, you get an experience counter. Which, of course, rewards you with that many ally tokens. You can cast it and airbend a creature you control right away to get rewards, or just slow down one of your opponents. And you can slot this in other EDH decks that care about experience counters, like Otharri, Suns' Glory.

#3. The Legend of Yangchen / Avatar Yangchen

The Legend of Yangchen is a 5-mana saga that gives you so much value, mainly in Commander games. The first chapter gives you a multitude of removal effects, the second chapter gives you cards, and on top of this, you also get a powerful creature on the flip. And maybe, with a card like Narset, Parter of Veils by your side, it’s also a very good card in 1v1 games.

#2. United Front

I love X-spells that create tokens, so I might be heavily biased on United Front. If you have any ally synergies with cards from the Zendikar sets, this is the strongest way to trigger them, and I imagine Kalastria Healer is one of the best immediate payoffs. Not only that, but all your creatures get +1/+1 counters, so it’s a mix of a token-making spell and a creature buff spell.

#1. Avatar’s Wrath

Avatar's Wrath is, in some cases, a very interesting 4-mana wrath effect that exiles. One of its best uses is against token decks considering that they’re all exiled, so your opponents can’t protect them with indestructibility. Resetting boards filled with +1/+1 counters is also a good application. Another interesting aspect is that you can replay your exiled creatures too, so in decks that want to get constant value from their own creatures, it’s one of the very best wrath options available.

Wrap Up

Southern Air Temple | Illustration by Salvatorre Zee Yazzie

I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting that many good cards in white from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but the color certainly delivered. It’s got niche build-arounds for minor themes like equipment and allies, and some of these more playable cards can become staples in the long run, at least for casual Commander. The reprint of expensive staples like Teferi's Protection and Enlightened Tutor is indeed welcome.

What do you think about this set and its white cards, guys? Do you think any of these can become white staples going forward? Please let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it over in the Draftsim Discord.

As always, thank you for reading and stay safe out there.