"Sometimes during a battle, you need to move things out of harm's way ... or out of your way."

This is Wizards of the Coast's introductory comment on the Airbending mechanic, one of Magic's newest keyword abilities in the latest set, Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the original Avatar: The Last Airbender story, Airbending is one of the four elemental bending arts: the act of controlling and manipulating air currents.

Alone, the description doesn't explain precisely what the mechanic does. We can start to get the feel, however, that it offers versatility in gameplay--being able to move things out of either harm's way or your way means the ability is useful in both offensive and defensive situations.

The ability also is reminiscent of other mechanics, as is often the case. This week, I'm doing a deep dive into Airbending, what it is, how it can be used in various situations, and highlight a handful of the more interesting cards with this keyword mechanic.

What is the Airbending Mechanic?

To describe the rules surrounding the Airbend mechanic, let's take a look at an example and break it down. The simplest example is probably Airbending Lesson:

Here we have Airbending in its purest form--the card text is literally, "Airbend target nonland permanent. Draw a card." That's all this three-mana instant (lesson) does. The reminder text is helpful in describing exactly what it means to Airbend a nonland permanent:

"Exile it. While it's exiled, its owner may cast it for 2 rather than its mana cost."

Wizards of the Coast's explanation mentions this same reminder text, and then provides a little extra explanation. Airbending a permanent or a spell does not change when that card can be cast. For example, if you Airbend a creature that an opponent owns during your turn, they'll usually have to wait until their next turn to cast it again. Additionally, note that Airbend only lets you cast the exiled cards (if a land is somehow airbended, it can't be played). Airbending a token effectively exiles it permanently. If you're casting a card after it was airbended into exile, you are paying an alternative cost so other alternative cost rules apply. For example, if the spell has X in its mana cost, you can't pay X in addition to the 2 mana to re-cast that spell--X must be 0 in this situation.

That's essentially it! Airbending and a handful of important rules nuances associated with the mechanic. Now let's put that ability into action using a couple hypothetical situations!

Using Airbending Defensively

In some situations, Airbending your own cards will be a valuable method of protecting your most powerful permanents. Consider, for example, the versatility of Airbender's Reversal.

Here we have a modal instant (lesson) with two options: you can either destroy an attacking creature or you can Airbend a creature you control. This card is versatile because it provides utility in varying defensive situations. It can be a powerful removal spell if you're under attack, or it can rescue one of your creatures before its destroyed.

Imagine a turn when you attack with a powerful creature to push damage through, and your opponent attempts to destroy your creature with a removal spell. By casting Airbender's Reversal, your creature doesn't get destroyed by that removal spell--instead, the creature will go into exile and you'll be able to recast it for 2 mana. This effectively counters the removal spell and allows you to cast the creature again for just 2 mana, which will often be a discount to its actual mana value (assuming you're using Airbender's Reversal to save a larger creature).

When Airbending your own creature, you also unlock potential for additional synergies. For instance, Airbending your own creature with an "enters the battlefield" (ETB) effect means you can trigger that effect an additional time. Airbending a creature that draws you a card upon entering means you effectively get to draw an extra card when you recast the creature for 2 mana. Sometimes you have other cards in play that offer ETB effects and you can trigger those as well. These are nice, added benefits of Airbending your own stuff.

Using Airbending on the Offense

What if you are the aggressor, attempting to push damage as quickly as possible through attacking your opponent? In that case, Airbending your own creature may not sound very attractive as it removes the creature from combat, needs to be recast (although for just 2 mana), and then has summoning sickness all over again.

That's where Airbending an opponent's creature can come in handy! We've already seen how a card like Airbending Lesson can target an opponent's nonland permanents. Another example of a card that can often be used offensively is Glider Staff, an equipment that airbends up to one creature when it enters and equips to pump a creature and grant it flying.

The optimal play pattern for a card like Glider Staff often involves curving out with an aggressive build. Imagine a Limited match where you're on the play. You cast a 2-drop creature and your opponent follows up with one of their own. Then on turn three, you cast Glider Staff and Airbend your opponent's blocker, allowing you to get in for damage. Then while your opponent wastes a future turn re-casting the airbended creature, you can spend the same mana to equip your creature to grant it +1/+1 and flying--thus making it more difficult to block.

This offers an effective one-two punch when the name of the game is offense. Aang, the Last Airbender is a creature that can fulfill a similar role one step higher on the mana curve.

Such cards offer a significant tempo gain by adding to your board state while setting back an opponent a turn and 2 mana.

A Couple Noteworthy Airbending Cards

In addition to the commons and uncommons mentioned above, there are a handful of noteworthy rares and mythic rares that showcase the Airbending mechanic. Mind you, Wizards of the Coast didn't go too hard on Airbending cards in this set. This was likely deliberate because a set filled with dozens of Airbending cards and interactions can lead to some awfully tedious gameplay. Imagine playing a game of Limited and having your creatures airbended repeatedly--the game would feel awfully repetitive and frustrating. Therefore, Wizards of the Coast was careful when designing their suite of about a dozen cards with the ability.

One major Airbending headliner from this set is Appa, Steadfast Guardian, a mythic rare flying Bison that can flash into play and Airbend any number of nonland permanents you control.

Appa, Steadfast Guardian offers unlimited protection potential--imagine a game when your opponent casts Destined Confrontation in an attempt to kills most of your creatures, and you flash in Appa to rescue your entire board while being forced to sacrifice their own creatures!

Appa, Steadfast Guardian does more than protect your creatures. It also rewards for playing exiled (read: airbended) cards by giving you 1/1 Ally creature tokens each time! Thus, your army comes back unharmed and larger thanks to Appa's last ability.

Another powerful mythic rare with the Airbending ability is Aang, Airbending Master himself!

This creature airbends another creature upon entering--note that this can target your creature or an opponent's. If you want to get aggressive, you could remove a blocker by targeting an opponent's creature. However, Aang, Airbending Master rewards you for targeting your own creatures. By doing so, you get an immediate experience counter, which provides you with 1/1 white Ally creature tokens every upkeep! If you can combine Aang, Airbending Master with Appa, Steadfast Guardian you'll build up an army of allies extremely quickly!

Another noteworthy Airbending card is Aang, Swift Savior (notice how Aang shows up repeatedly?).

Aang, Swift Savior reminds me of previous UW creatures with flash that can interfere with a spell on the stack, such as Venser, Shaper Savant. In this case, instead of bouncing that creature or spell to its owner's hand, Aang, Swift Savior airbends that card instead.

Lastly, I want to touch on the ultimate defensive Airbending card, Monk Gyatso:

Previously, I talked about how being able to Airbend your own creature at instant speed is a fantastic way of saving it from removal spells. Well, Monk Gyatso is essentially a static way of maintaining this optionality for your entire army! With Monk Gyatso in play, you have the option of Airbending any other creature you control that is targeted by a spell or ability, making it virtually impossible for your opponent to kill any of your creatures with spot removal unless they remove Monk Gyatso first!

Wrapping It Up

With a set called Avatar: The Last Airbender, Wizards of the Coast needed to get the Airbending mechanic right. It feels like they did so perfectly by creating a mechanic that has value in both defensive and offensive situations. They also used Airbending sparingly enough in the set to ensure it can be appreciated without suffocating gameplay. Of the four bending mechanics, I believe this one is the most interesting and versatile.

It begs the question of whether we'll see Airbending show up in a future set? In other words, where does Airbending appear on the Storm Scale? I don't see the mechanic on the Wiki site just yet, but I have to imagine it'll come up in Mark Rosewater's Blogatog some point in the near future. Being such an entrenched ability in the Avatar universe, I have to imagine the ability won't show up again in a different set anytime soon.

So, Airbending fans will have to appreciate the dozen or so cards with the ability we have from the latest set. We may not see many new cards printed with the mechanic for years to come--that being said, perhaps this is for the best. If you had the ability to build a deck around Airbending and could leverage the ability repeatedly, it could lead to an unfun play experience. This again underscores the importance of striking balance with Airbending's frequency on cards; a balance Wizards of the Coast struck perfectly this time around.