A central component to the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise is the concept of bending. In the world of Avatar, there are four types of natural, magical manipulation, called "bending." There's Waterbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Airbending. As someone who is less familiar with Avatar: the Last Airbender, every time I hear of these bending abilities my mind goes to Captain Planet, where there were 5 powers (Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Heart).

One of the truly successful components of Magic's latest set, based on Avatar: the Last Airbender, is the seamless incorporation of these mechanics into the game itself. While the names are a clear tell, if Wizards of the Coast had put any of these four mechanics in a more traditional Magic set and gave it a different name, it would have felt completely natural to the game.

This week, I want to bring these four mechanics to the forefront by focusing on the artwork that brings each bending ability to life. There are multiple instances of each and I won't have space to cover them all. Hopefully, this representation gives readers an appreciation for what it is to waterbend, earthbend, firebend, and airbend in the world of Avatar.

Waterbending

The Waterbending mechanic is primarily Blue (though there are a couple exceptions). When I think of Waterbending as a mechanic, I expect the artwork to display water, naturally. Katara, Bending Prodigy is the perfect depiction for this ability - Mephisto's artwork clearly depicts Katara, in action, practicing her bending.

Katara, Bending Prodigy by Mephisto

When I review this beautiful artwork, I appreciate not just the movement of the water, but also the orientation of Katara's hands, her posture, and her facial expression. She's focusing while shouting something ("You can't knock me down!"), her hands are open and fingers splayed as she manipulates the water around her. I absolutely love this piece, as it brings the waterbending motion to life in Magic card form.

From here, we can find a handful of artworks depicting Katara's growing ability with manipulating water. For example, check out Waterbending Lesson (Sylvain Sarrailh) and Watery Grasp (Rose Benjamin), where Katara channels her ability to achieve a specific purpose.

Waterbending Lesson by Sylvain Sarrailh

Watery Grasp by Rose Benjamin

Again, we see the importance of Katara's posture and hand gestures. The result is a dynamic manipulation of water that again comes to life in a two-dimensional, still medium. These Blue cards really bring the Waterbending ability to life for me.

Earthbending

Earthbending is a predominantly Green mechanic, although there are exceptions as before. When I think of magically manipulating the earth in a Magic context, my mind gravitates toward Green. I picture someone pounding the ground and rocks flying everywhere as they do the bidding of the person performing the bending.

This is precisely what we get with the artwork for Toph, the Blind Bandit by Yueko:

Toph, the Blind Bandit by Yueko

"You think you're so tough?" Indeed, I wouldn't want to cross paths with an angry Toph as she stomps on the ground, lifts her fist into the air, and shoots a dozen boulders in my direction! This card's artwork truly makes Toph, the Blind Bandit a menacing figure not to be messed with. Once again, the dynamic nature of the flying rocks does a fantastic job bringing the Earthbending ability to life in a Magic context.

It looks like Toph isn't the only one who is Earthbending on Magic cards. Other characters depicted Earthbending on cards include Haru, Hidden Talent, The Boulder, Ready to Rumble, and even Earth Village Ruffians. Everybody and their mother can earthbend it seems.

I haven't watched enough of the show to see these additional characters, but apparently humans aren't the only ones Earthbending in the world of Avatar? At least, not according to the cards printed with the Earthbending mechanic. Badgermoles and their cubs can earthbend (and were actually the original earthbenders)!

In each of the Earthbending artworks above, you see a person (or creature) in a specific posture and the depiction of a disruption to the earth beneath. The ground is fractured, cracking into giant rocks, and oftentimes some of these rocks lift off the ground as they're flung in a direction (deliberately or not). Each piece of art brings this to life by illustrating the dynamic nature of Earthbending and using colors and distinct figures to emphasize not just the "what" but also the "how" of Earthbending magic.

Firebending

Red Magic cards have always been associated with fire - it's reckless, powerful, and directly damaging when channeled properly. Fire has been a predominant feature of Red ever since Alpha, where we saw cards like Fire Elemental and Fireball.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Firebending is a predominantly Red mechanic in Avatar: the Last Airbender. Firebending is perhaps one of the most intuitive of the bending abilities because it's easy for people to visualize a mage magically manipulating fire, like we see in a card like Firebending Lesson (Toni Infante).

As with the previous bending abilities, Firebending is brought to life with a specific posture and hand gesture by the casters. Surrounding them is a tightly wound ball of fire, ready to answer their bidding. Most other Firebending cards follow a similar pattern.

The full range of Firebending ability is depicted in the set. From Firebending Student, the simplest form of the ability, where we see a small streak of fire in the air but it's not directly channeled to a purpose, to Jeong Jeong, the Deserter, who is throwing fire everywhere in a mad attempt to slash and burn the landscape around him.

The theme that weaves through each piece of art is constant: a central figure with a particular posture, hands held in a specific manner, using magic to control fire. Whether it be a simple beginning lesson or an expert's mastery of the ability, Firebending proves to be dynamically powerful and naturally well-integrated into Magic.

Airbending

Last, but not least, we have Airbending. If the other three bending abilities are an indication, we can expect artwork depicting Airbending to display a central figure in a particular stance, hands in a certain way, with indications of controlled, blowing wind / air around them. The more advanced airbenders would be manipulating said air to achieve a specific objective.

This is precisely what we see in Aang, Swift Savior.

Aang, Swift Savior by Tetsuko

In Tetsuko's artwork we see Aang himself, floating in air, with his legs and arms set a certain way as he seeks to control the air. Notice how specifically the posture and hand gestures are illustrated - this, again, is a common theme across each of the bending mechanics. These illustrations indicate the importance of posture and form while bending.

Of course, Aang is the only one capable of using Airbending (though, I suspect that's implied by the show's name, Avatar: the Last Airbender). Unlike the other bending abilities, Magic's artwork only shows Aang Airbending (although in Airbending Lesson, Aang is seen being taught by his master Monk Gyatso in the past).

Once mastered, Airbending can be used to accomplish a number of objectives, from interrupting an attacker (Airbender's Reversal) to flying (Aang, the Last Airbender).

Airbender's Reversal by Kotakan

Aang, the Last Airbender by Yueko

In each of these artworks, we see Aang utilizing Airbending to positive effect. These pieces could have come straight out of the cartoon, but this doesn't take away from the fact that they are perfect depictions of the card's ability.

Wrapping It Up

The overlap between Avatar: the Last Airbender and Magic: The Gathering feels almost seamless because of how well-crafted the mechanics are and how well curated the set's artwork is. I am a Magic fan first, but I don't mind how this set is crafted around a different franchise because the set still feels like Magic. Conversely, I hope Avatar: the Last Airbender fans are happy with how the set reflects the Avatar franchise in card game form. In my view, it was a huge success: the use of artwork from the show to depict key scenes, in conjunction with new artwork bringing the four bending abilities to life.

Overall, Avatar: the Last Airbender was a Magic set that proved to everybody that Wizards of the Coast could have their cake and eat it too. In other words, they can leverage the popularity of a separate franchise to attract new players to the game while also ensuring enfranchised players are happy with the gameplay and set flavor.

After all, these cards will be a part of the game forever now - we have to be OK with playing games of Commander, Standard, Modern, Legacy, etc. where a character like Aang, the Last Airbender can make an appearance at the same time as dragons, vampires, and elves. Because of how well Wizards of the Coast executed this set, I think I can accept this.