r/TheLastAirbender • u/Earthmelon25253 He who knows 10,000 facts about Avatar • Jul 26 '25
Image "Yue The Moon Spirit" MTG Card Reveal
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u/nixahmose Jul 27 '25
I'm curious to see what Waterbend means given that its separate from the waterbending X keyword. Maybe it'll be something like:
"Activate this ability only if you have triggered waterbending this turn"
or
"Activate this ability only if you have ________ this turn" where _____ is an effect that's part of waterbending X. So if waterbending 2 means "tap 2 creatures an opponent controls when this creature attacks," then Waterbend would mean "Activate this ability if you have tapped a creature an opponent controls this turn."
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u/figurative_capybara Jul 27 '25 edited Jul 27 '25
What's odd is it can't be based on mana spent, i.e water blue, air white etc. unless "Spirit Bend" is a thing. Or Black gets a totally different mechanic.
Quoting another post, this makes sense:
I thought something similar, based on the flip side of Aang.
Airbending is gaining life, waterbending is drawing cards, earthbending is putting a +1/+1 counter on a creature, and firebending is dealing noncombat damage to an opponent. Then Aang's flip shows his mastery of the elements by basically Bending 4 of every element when he flips.
In order to flip little Aang, you'd need to have gained life, drawn a card, put a +1/+1 counter on a creature, and have dealt noncombat damage to an opponent that turn - though Aang takes care of the Firebending when he enters.
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u/stfatherabraham Jul 27 '25
i'll point out that this SPECIFIC idea means aang kills you during your next draw step
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u/AmongstUs69 Jul 27 '25
How
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u/stfatherabraham Jul 27 '25
Aang draws you a card every time you bend. If drawing a card is bending...
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u/bradleybeasley2 Jul 28 '25
I think that it is more that to waterbend is to draw a card, not that drawing a card is waterbending. In the same way that apples are fruit, but not all fruit are apples.
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u/stfatherabraham Jul 28 '25
That's a fair idea, but it's not consistent with the actual wording of the post I'm commenting on.
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u/stfatherabraham Jul 27 '25
The fact that the cost is "Waterbend o5, T:" not "Waterbend, 05, T:" or "Waterbend 5, T:" makes me think that the waterbend part is directly related to 5 generic mana in some way. Maybe "tapping a creature with waterbending X can pay for X of a Waterbend cost?"
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u/LeekingMemory28 Jul 28 '25
As a 25 year Magic player, without seeing the rules text for Waterbending, it reads like “Waterbend 5” is the cost, and 5 is generic mana in an activated ability, tapping is part of the cost for this specific ability.
I will also point out that you can reduce the Waterbend ability with cards like Training Grounds#9%C2%B7ScryfallMagicTheGatheringSearch).
I’m curious if all bending will be a mana cost ability, or just Waterbending, due to push and pull of water. All being mana related makes sense from an intuitive new player perspective, but may be wildly difficult to balance around.
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u/androkguz Jul 30 '25
You do seem to get it. "Waterbend [5]" is a single thing, and a cost nonetheless. When you pay it, you have waterbent, which would fullfill 1/4 of Aang's requirement
My guess is that far from being a drawback, it's an advantage. That "Waterbend [5]" is easier than just regular [5]
For example, it could be that you can reduce that cost by tapping creatures, like a sort of Convoke.2
u/F4RM3RR Jul 27 '25
HIGHLY unlikely that its separate. That would be 8 new mechanics/keywords in the set, all of which having a nightmarishly similar keyword name thjat is allso new and too similar... thats a massive playability issue which is even worse for new players... which are kinda the point of these sets.
more likely that this is more of a grammatical difference
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u/nixahmose Jul 27 '25
It’s not unlikely, it is straight up a separate mechanic that serves as an activation cost rather than a keyword ability. Having a singular ability that can somehow simultaneously operate as a keyword and an activation cost with two different names would be a rules nightmare to understand.
While 8 new mechanics/keywords may sound like a lot, keep in mind that these are basically a cycle of 4 and both sets are going to be really similar to each other. Firebending 2 and waterbending 2 are likely going to trigger the exact same way but the former will be deal 2 noncombat damage to any target while latter will likely tap 2 creatures an opponent controls. Likewise, _____bend are likely going to be activation costs that can be activated when their respective bending keyword has been activated that turn.
So it might sound a lot on paper, but there’s a lot of overlap between them and they aren’t going to be complex mechanics to understand.
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u/garf02 Jul 27 '25
I assume is like a Mana Dork waterbending X is “tap to produce X Water bending mana” ” and then use it for whatever someone else abilities require that “mana” Is not devotion cause is a trigged/ activated ability cause Aang card say “whenever you [element]bend” so its NOT a passive
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Jul 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LeekingMemory28 Jul 28 '25
Technically, red mana from Steam Vents#288%C2%B7ScryfallMagicTheGatheringSearch) counts as mana from an Island.
If it was about mono-color mana spent, Adamant is already there.
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u/ellacution7 Jul 30 '25
my guess is it might be similar to descend x vs descended in caverns of ixalan? obviously it’s a bit different since in this case both are keywords, but i would imagine one is an activated ability and one is static
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u/MathProf1414 Jul 27 '25
"Somehow Omniscience returned..."
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u/Blongbloptheory Jul 27 '25
Something tells me the 4 cost creature with the 5 cost activated ability isn't going to be batting in the same league
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u/MathProf1414 Jul 27 '25
It clearly isn't as good as Abuelo's, but is still a way to get Omniscience in early.
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u/LeekingMemory28 Jul 28 '25
There was already an Omniscience cheat with the survivor mechanic from Duskmourne and Vehicles/Mounts/Spacecraft. They all just required going into another color to justify.
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u/clappuh Jul 27 '25
Did they give any swag at the panel? I know some folks were talking about a promo card for the avatar set
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u/Ensign_Alejandro Jul 27 '25
No promo card just a postcard with the date for the debut. They also gave away a signed card and some figures for people who answered trivia questions. The people who were just there for the card got relatively easy questions most fans should know wrong. It was really painful knowing a lot of fans didn't get in to see the panel because people saw an opportunity to make money.
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u/ironkodiak Jul 27 '25
I believe that's just the entirety of ComicCon isn't it?
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u/Ensign_Alejandro Jul 27 '25
You're not wrong. This was my first SDCC but not my first con so I am aware of the resellers just thought it was interesting seeing how obvious it was with this panel.
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u/ironkodiak Jul 27 '25
I've been doing cons for over 30 years. While I enjoy the spectacle of the current giant cons with lots of neat stuff for lots of people to see, I do also very much miss the small, spend 5 minutes talking to big comic creators at their booth because it just isn't really that busy, cons of yesteryear.
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u/clappuh Jul 27 '25
That’s too bad. But it seems like the resellers didn’t do too well in snagging the cards!
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u/Ensign_Alejandro Jul 27 '25
I was kinda happy that the resellers wasted their whole Saturday trying to get a promo card that didn't exist. A guy in line was saying before the panel that they had 4 in the hall and they were all planning on selling the card for $250 a piece.
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u/narfidy Jul 26 '25
Imprisoned in the Moon alt art about to go crazy