The Gaang's all here! With Edge of Eternities wrapped and San Diego Comic-Con providing a first look at Magic: The Gathering - Marvel's Spider-Man, Wizards didn't waste any time to hit the last set of the year. Yesterday kicked things off for Magic: The Gathering - Avatar: the Last Airbender as we got to see our First Look during the week's WeeklyMTG stream.

Up until now, we'd only gotten a small handful of teases here and there. MagicCon Chicago earlier this year revealed the upcoming set with MagicCon Las Vegas showing us our first card from the set in the special raised foil version of Avatar Aang // Aang, Master of Elements. Then at San Diego Comic-Con, fans got treated to special promo copies of Katara, the Fearless as well as a special treatment version of Yue, the Moon Spirit. Each of these teased elements of the set that we'd soon get to see with this First Look.

All five core members of Team Avatar had cards shown off throughout the stream. For some, we got to see multiple versions while for others we only got to see one iteration. This confirmed that we would see numerous cards for several characters like in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth to show their varying arcs throughout the story.

Many of these cards also provide our first glimpse into the mechanics behind each of the elemental bending moves. We got early teases when we were shown variant versions of Avatar Aang and Yue, the Moon Spirit. Now we know exactly what they do, which can tell people what to prepare for as we get closer to the set's release.

We saw a few other early looks at some other mechanical aspects as well. The most notable of these was clearly the inclusion of Lesson cards. Many of these depict extremely iconic moments such as Sokka's reciting of haikus in the Tales of Ba Sing Se episode (the card is a haiku itself!) and Zuko redirecting lightning. Each of these represents teaching moments for the characters, though it's noted that "learn" isn't a mechanic in this set. While nothing was announced or even teased, it's suspected by many that this is a future seed for Secrets of Strixhaven next year.

Additionally, we got shown the return of Shrines. These depict less oppressive Shrines than we've seen in the past, utilizing a powerful one-time effect followed by small effects as you play more Shrines. The only one we've seen so far is the Southern Air Temple, but we'll no doubt see more of these as more cards get revealed from the set.

Last but not least, as has become a tradition with Universes Beyond releases, we've seen the return of sagas once more. Here we only got to see one so far: The Rise of Sozin // Fire Lord Sozin. This also shows off double-faced cards in the set, which we already knew of thanks to the earlier reveal of Avatar Aang // Aang, Master of Elements.

Several classic story moments or fan favorites were shown off as well. The moment that kicks off the whole story - Aang in the iceberg - shows up on the card Aang's Iceberg. So do does the opener of every episode in the series get represented with the card Fire Nation Attacks. Even the goofy Avatar Enthusiasts who greet the team on Kyoshi Island in the series make an appearance (headed by the beloved foaming mouth character at the front).

In addition to the core Gaang, we also got to see the likes of the group's companions Appa and Momo. Appa, Steadfast Guardian, offers a fun means of airbending. Momo can get silly with a bunch of cheap fliers and is no doubt going to be a fun competitive player.

It was also revealed that we'd see them across several cards in artwork - continuing a popular visual motif with both characters. Appa flying is a classic image and Momo is frequently depicted getting into trouble in small cutaway shots in the show. If you look carefully in various artworks of the cards revealed thus far, you'll see these represented accurately - including each of the set's five basic lands!

We also got to see several Booster Fun variant treatments for many of these cards as well. A big centerpiece for the set has been to show off the sweet elemental showcase frames across multiple cards. Additionally, cards like Appa, Momo, and The Rise of Sozin // Fire Lord Sozin get some cool borderless treatments as well. Perhaps most notable among these, though, are the borderless neon ink battle pose cards. The three of these shown off so far for Fire Lord Zuko, Katara, the Fearless; and Toph, the First Metalbender are all textless - a first for these neon ink treatments.

We also got our first look at some of the Magic: The Gathering - Avatar: the Last Airbender Eternal Legal Cards (say that five times fast). Most of the ones shown off are expected to be part of the set's accompanying Jumpstart release. These include some favorites like an early in-story depiction of Fire Lord Ozai as well as the beloved Cabbage Merchant (with an ominous cart careening towards him in the art). As the set's name would imply, each of these are only legal in Eternal formats.

They aren't the only Eternal Legal Cards, though. The set has also been revealed to include a subset bonus sheet of cards that depict a moment from within the series using a direct screengrab. Two images were depicted thus far. The first was Force of Negation - depicting the final energybending sequence of Sozin's Comet. The other depicts The Banyan Tree as The Great Henge, representing a classic moment in Book (season) 2.

The full details for all these and more can be found in the Collecting Magic: the Gathering - Avatar: the Last Airbender article on Wizards' website. You can also see all of the cards in the official card image gallery.

Interested in picking up some cards? Check out all the various products for the set available for preorder right here on CoolStuffInc or with your local game store! Get those orders in now, though, because this set is certain to be extremely hyped in the wake of Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy just a few months ago.

Paige Smith

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