Earlier this year I shared a list with you for Tellah, Great Sage, a card that has some incredibly strong synergy with Mana Echoes, an old enchantment from Onslaught. I love decks that play really well with older cards, which might help explain my bad habit of playing Food Chain in unexpected places for a few years.

Today I've got an Avatar, the Last Airbender list that will probably play at a bracket 2 or 3 level, but which has some wonderful synergy with another old enchantment that only sees play in very specific lists. This is also an experiment in building a burn deck in EDH, which explains why it's going to have trouble keeping up with more powerful Commander decks. Burn is a real challenge to play in multiplayer, and today's commander isn't an obvious fit mechanically to lead a burn deck.

What I'm sacrificing in competitiveness, I am going to try to make up for in theme. There aren't a lot of legendary characters in Avatar better suited to lead a burn deck than today's commander. Before I go any further, let's meet our sweet prince and the old enchantment that works so well with him.

Maybe sweet isn't the best way to describe Zuko, Exiled Prince, though his ability is pretty sweet, even if it isn't game breaking. This 4/3 Human Noble costs four mana and has Firebending 3. That means that whenever he attacks, I'll add three Red mana, which will be available until end of combat. Mana is great, but mana only available until the end of combat is much less useful. Zuko makes up for that shortcoming with his activated ability, which will let me pay three mana of any color to exile the top card of my library. I'll be able to play that card until end of turn.

The enchantment I'm choosing to run is going to be in the 99 of the deck. I'll have plenty of games where I don't even see it, but I'll be thrilled if Braid of Fire is in my opening hand. This two-mana enchantment has a cumulative upkeep cost. A permanent with a cumulative upkeep cost will get an age counter at the beginning of my upkeep step, and I'll then either pay the upkeep cost or sacrifice it. Many of these cards have an upkeep cost you have to pay in mana, but Braid of Fire will actually pay me to keep it around. I'll gain a Red mana for each age counter, but that mana will drain from my mana pool when steps and phases end, so most decks have no way to take advantage of it.

Zuko, Exiled Prince is a four-drop. I could reasonably play Braid of Fire on turn two, and if I'm hitting my land drops or playing mana rocks, I could have Zuko out on turn four. If I put an age counter on Braid of Fire on turns three and four, by the time turn five rolls around I'll put my third age counter on it, and I'll get three red mana to put into Zuko's activated ability. I'll be getting what amounts to a free impulse draw in addition to my normal draw.

When I get excited about synergy with an old enchantment that just amounts to an extra impulse draw each turn, you can tell I'm not building a high-powered Commander deck. That's OK. There is a place for all kinds of power levels in Commander, and any wins you might get are all the more fulfilling for the challenge involved in actually getting there.

Firebending

The first thing I decided to lean into when building this list was the firebending keyword. It's new, debuting in the TLA set, and it pairs nicely with today's commander. Any commander with an instant speed activated ability can take advantage of the mana you'll get when a creature with firebending attacks. Lathliss, Dragon Queen comes to mind, though there's only one Dragon card in Avatar with firebending. I might just keep creatures with this keyword back as blockers if Zuko isn't in play.

I'm running Fire Sages, which has firebending 1, and Rough Rhino Cavalry, which has firebending 2, but those two are really just concessions to one of the themes of the deck. They could easily be dropped out for better cards. There are a few cards with firebending that are worth a closer look.

Firebending Student is a two mana Human Monk with prowess and Firebending X, where X is its power. It has a base bower of 1, but this card had me very, very tempted to throw in some of my usual mono-colored equipment like Strata Scythe or Blackblade Reforged to try to get some real value out of her. I still might do that, but this first draft lean on her prowess ability to give her a power boost.

Sozin's Comet is a five-mana sorcery spell that will give each creature I control firebending 5 until end of turn. That will stack on top of other firebending abilities, and it means that each creature I attack with will generate at least five red firebending mana. Attacking with just three creatures would let me generate fifteen red mana, which I could then use with Zuko to exile five cards from the top of my library. Unlike the mana, those cards will be available until end of turn, though I'll want to exile them one at a time to see if I hit any useful instants.

As I understand it, Ran and Shaw are the only remaining Dragons in the world of Avatar. They've got flying, firebending 2, and when they enter play, if I cast them and have three or more Dragon and/or Lesson cards in the graveyard, I'll make a token copy of it that isn't legendary.

The decision on whether to lean into dragons for this list was a real quandary. Before I found out that Ran and Shaw were the last living dragons in Avatar, I was going to run a bunch of them. I am running a bird dragon in Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest, but I decided to honor the lore and not run any true dragons. That made it an easier decision to pivot to building this as more of a burn deck.

Bringing the Burn

There are a lot better commanders to use for an EDH burn deck, but it felt right to lean into that theme for a character like Zuko. I'm far from an expert on Avatar, but I do know enough about direct damage in EDH to pull in some great support cards.

One of those support cards is the shiny new enchantment, Fated Firepower. It has a casting cost of XRRR and has Flash. It enters with X fire counters, and if a source I control would deal damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, it deals that much damage plus an amount equal to the number of fire counters on it instead.

Adding damage isn't always as good as simply doubling damage, and one way to double damage from my red instant and sorcery spells is to copy them. Pyromancer's Googles is a five-mana artifact that taps to give me a Red mana. If that mana is used to cast a red instant or sorcery spell, I'll copy the spell and may choose new targets for the copy.

Burn damage doesn't have to be from an instant or sorcery spell, but I wanted to lean into those because it felt right for a deck built around a firebender. Fire Servant is a 4/3 Elemental that will double damage from any red instant or sorcery spell I control. I may not be in the colors to be able to overload a Rite of Replication, but I do have Mirage Mirror in the list as a way to make a second copy so I can double my damage twice. I'm also running City on Fire, which can triple damage from sources I control.

While my hope is that I'll have games where my damage amplification gets a bit out of control, I'll still have to draw into my burn spells.

I'm running a few old standbys. Lightning Bolt is in the list on the premise that if I don't run it I won't ever get the chance to bolt an opponent who happens to be at under 4 life. It isn't likely I'll win a game with it, but it's possible. With the right support cards, that 3 could be a much higher number. I just have to hold back until I'm able to make them hit hard enough to matter. There are better burn spells than Lightning Bolt and I managed to find a few of them for this list.

Comet Storm is in the mix but Delayed Blast Fireball might be better in Zuko. If I cast Delayed Blast Fireball for three mana it will deal 2 damage to each opponent and each creature they control. If I pay 2 mana and exile it face down I can cast it for its foretell cost of six mana. The spell reads "if this spell was cast from exile, it deals five damage to each opponent and each creature they control instead". That means that clause will apply if I cast it after exiling it with Zuko's activated ability.

I've only got a few nonbasic lands, so Price of Progress is likely to be very good in the late game with little risk to my own life total. This Red instant costs a modest two mana and will deal damage to each player equal to twice the number of nonbasic lands that player controls. I've got friends that play a ton of nonbasics, but I'll probably want to wait for one of my damage doublers to stick before I play it.

Crackle with Power may be a sorcery, but it should be able to push out a bunch of damage. It costs a whopping XXXRR, and it deals five times X damage to each of up to X targets. That means if I can cast it for eight mana, X will equal two and it will hit up to five targets for 10 damage. If I'm able to play a Mana Geyser earlier in the turn there's a decent chance I'll be able to kill the table if nobody has been gaining tons of life.

I've got a few burn spells that will only deal with creatures. Mizzium Mortars costs two mana and deals 4 damage to target creature I don't control, but I can overload it for six mana to hit each creature I don't control. Street Spasm is an X spell that can deal X damage to target creature without flying that I don't control. It can be overloaded for XXRR to deal X damage to each creature without flying that I don't control.

Those spells will do a lot more for me if I've got Toralf, God of Fury in play. Toralf will deal any overflow damage to those creatures to any other target. If I catch an opponent with a huge board of little creatures I might just turn those creature damage spells into some serious player damage.

Odds and Ends

Zuko, Exiled Prince is hopefully going to exile a bunch of cards each game, so it makes sense that I build in some ways to take advantage of that ability. We're in Mono-Red and we're lucky to have lots of extra support for this kind of game plan.

I'm running Heartstone in this list as a way to reduce the cost of Zuko's activated ability. I'm also running Illusionist's Bracers, which is an equipment that can copy the equipped creature's activated ability. Exiling two cards for the cost of three mana is pretty good and if I can get that cost down to two mana it'll feel fantastic.

Nalfeshnee may cost a whopping six mana, but this beast demon is a 4/6 flyer with the perfect ability for Zuko. Whenever I cast a spell from exile, I'll copy it and if it's a permanent spell the copy will gain haste and will be sacrificed at the beginning of the next end step. I'm nervous about the high casting cost but if the game goes long enough this guy could put in some real work.

Casting spells from exile is a main theme of this deck so the background enchantment Passionate Archaeologist will fit right in. It gives commander creatures I own the ability that whenever I cast a spell from exile, my commander will deal damage equal to that spell's mana value to target opponent. This background is fantastic with partner commanders, but it should still put in work in a deck with one commander that's trying to cast lots of spells from exile.

I'm running plenty of other staples that help to push damage out. Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle can turn land drops for a mono red deck into the equivalent of lightning bolts. Descent to Avernus is an enchantment that will spread the wealth and the pain, giving players treasure tokens and damage based upon the number of descent counters on it. The real question is whether I'll be able to get the right support pieces out to be able to actually push out a decent amount of damage.

Exiled Princes, Exiled Cards

I have a long history of being overly optimistic about burn decks in Commander. I brew up a list, imagine how things will fall together perfectly and then I'm disappointed when I either get rolled by more aggressive decks, endlessly countered by control decks, or just underwhelmed when the deck has an average game. That doesn't mean this deck is bad, but my optimism is telling me it's bracket 3 when it might feel more at home against bracket 2 decks.

The lack of game changers aside, any burn deck in Commander is going to need you to be very careful about when and how you interact with the table. If you blow through your burn spells as soon as you draw into them, you might find yourself with an assortment of support pieces in play but no way to take advantage of them.

Zuko, Exiled Prince | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Zuko, Exiled Prince

• Creatures (17)
• 1 Birgi, God of Storytelling
• 1 Brash Taunter
• 1 Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest
• 1 Fire Sages
• 1 Fire Servant
• 1 Firebending Student
• 1 Laelia, the Blade Reforged
• 1 Nalfeshnee
• 1 Neheb, the Eternal
• 1 Professional Face-Breaker
• 1 Ran and Shaw
• 1 Rough Rhino Cavalry
• 1 Runaway Steam-Kin
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Toralf, God of Fury
• 1 Urabrask, Heretic Praetor
• 1 Wild-Magic Sorcerer

• Instants (13)
• 1 Battle Hymn
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Comet Storm
• 1 Deflecting Swat
• 1 Delayed Blast Fireball
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Price of Progress
• 1 Red Elemental Blast
• 1 Reiterate
• 1 Street Spasm
• 1 The Last Agni Kai
• 1 Wild Magic Surge
• 1 Zuko's Exile

• Sorceries (9)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Bumi Bash
• 1 Crackle with Power
• 1 Disrupt Decorum
• 1 Mana Geyser
• 1 Mizzium Mortars
• 1 Price of Freedom
• 1 Reforge the Soul
• 1 Sozin's Comet

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 Braid of Fire
• 1 City on Fire
• 1 Descent into Avernus
• 1 Fated Firepower
• 1 Firebender Ascension
• 1 Passionate Archaeologist

• Artifacts (18)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Heartstone
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mirage Mirror
• 1 Nyx Lotus
• 1 Primal Amulet
• 1 Pyromancer's Goggles
• 1 Ruby Medallion
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 The Fire Crystal
• 1 Thran Dynamo
• 1 Trailblazer's Boots
• 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (36)
• 33 Mountain
• 1 Bonders' Enclave
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Buy This Deck Export text

My lists are always meant to be starting points. It's more fun to upgrade than to downgrade a list, so I've been in the habit of sharing lower powered brews in my columns. There may be some sweet synergy but these decks have room to grow. If you wanted to downgrade this deck even further, you might drop out some of the more expensive cards and apply a budget restriction. You could easily drop out Deflecting Swat, Birgi, God of Storytelling, and Valakut, throw in a few more mountains, and call it a day. I'm comfortable with playing 36 lands, but if you swear by 38, 40, or even more, that is an easy way to shift the list closer to something you're comfortable playing.

If you wanted to push this list up in power, there are plenty of ways to do that. Zuko, Exiled Prince probably won't be getting any cEDH play, but it does represent an easy wincon with infinite mana. You'll want Red mana to actually cast many of the spells you exile, and loading up on infinite mana combos is an easy way to give this deck some pop. You may have noticed that I am running Mana Geyser and Reiterate, which can be used together to make a ton of red mana. I'm not running tutors, but if you're aiming for higher powered play you should. Some recursion in the form of cards like Return the Past, Past in Flames, and Underworld Breach would also fit in nicely. Fast mana in the form of cheap mana rocks also makes sense, as there's a better chance you'll exile one with Zuko's ability and have the ability to cast it.

Final Thoughts

I was able to get this list into a game and at one point threatened a win with a Nalfeshnee having given me a second Fire Servant and a copy of a Delayed Blast Fireball. The former had been exiled with Avatar's Wrath, and the latter had been exiled with its Foretell ability. The math was 5 x 2 x 2 x 2 damage to each opponent, so if unchecked I would have killed the table. My buddy Mike - who gave me the chance to "see what my deck could do", had to counter one of the Fireballs and remove one of the Fire Servants or he would have died in the ensuing inferno. He did, though he didn't end up winning. A Momo, Friendly Flier / Tempest Hawk deck managed to eke out the win.

The deck suffered a bit from what many burn decks suffer from: a lack of a board presence. I'm used to playing decks with lots of creatures, so I always felt like I was on the back foot and hoping to find a spot where the Blue players were tapped out. When I went for the win, it was on the premise that if I didn't - I might not get another chance. I was probably right and I'm glad I tried even if I did get stopped. It's better to almost land a big, splashy, game winning play than to not get the chance to try land one at all.

If you're a fan of burn in Commander, you may be wondering how I thought Zuko, Exiled Prince would be a better burn deck that legends like Purphoros, God of the Forge, Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might, or any number of other heavy hitters in red. The honest answer is simple - I don't. Zuko is thematically great for a burn deck, but mechanically all he does is give me impulse draw.

It's worth noting that the Jumpstart card, Zuko, Firebending Master, is also a really interesting card that has an ability that is perfect for a deck built around combat tricks. When I put this list together I don't think Zuko, Firebending Master had been spoiled yet, or at least it wasn't on my radar. I likely won't pen two Zuko columns in a row, but in a few weeks I might circle back to this character to take a look at that card.

One of my favorite things about lower bracket play is that you can build decks like this and have a decent chance at having a fun game. You might even have some good luck and get out a few support cards and be able to kill someone with a Lightning Bolt, or draw into Mana Geyser and kill the table with a Comet Storm. In lower bracket play you can reasonably expect that games might go a little longer and many decks really need that time to build up their board and get their pieces in play.

You may never win games against decks that kill the table before you have the mana to cast a six mana Nalfeshnee, but that's why we have a bracket system in the first place. Those stronger, faster decks aren't going to be challenged by this Zuko list and you'll end up with a non-game. What you want is to find a table where everyone is at roughly the same speed and power level. That's always been an issue in EDH, and the more power creep we see, the more important it will be to try to find pods where everyone is on the same page.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!