Is MTG really getting an Avatar The Last Airbender set in 2025?
Just a moment...
A surprise clue has Magic: The Gathering fans convinced that the last set of the year will be Avatar: The Last Airbender - could it be true?
Avatar at least fits in thematically with Magic, like LoTR and possibly Assassin's Creed. What's frustrating is that there aren't many other IPs that fit in very well, so once they get exhausted we're left with things like Marvel, Spongebob, etc.
As an aside, Tintin is probably my favorite IP in my life, and I will always love everything Tintin. But I don't think I would buy a Tintin magic set at all, and in fact it would kind of make me feel weird. Tintin, a journalist set in the 20s/30s, grounded fully in reality and current events, is the exact opposite of magic and spellcasting. They make as much sense as peanut butter and tomato sauce together.
And I think that right there might be my biggest underlying problem and disgust with it all -- because there is zero thematic overlap it comes off entirely as a naked cash grab. Effectively, "see! you love magic and you love tintin, you should love magic-tintin! will you give us money now?" That's how I see this in my head and that's how it all plays out to me. The "game" of Magic is now very clearly a much lower priority than the "business" of Magic and right there you lost me. They have figured they won't lose enough to impact "growth" and maybe they figure they can recapture lost fans with a "return to magic" phase in the future. But right now I have 0 interest in anything coming out this year, and I've grown too frustrated with the current state of the game regardless of UB.
As an aside, Tintin is probably my favorite IP in my life, and I will always love everything Tintin. But I don't think I would buy a Tintin magic set at all, and in fact it would kind of make me feel weird. Tintin, a journalist set in the 20s/30s, grounded fully in reality and current events, is the exact opposite of magic and spellcasting. They make as much sense as peanut butter and tomato sauce together.
This is how I felt about Jurassic Park. My favorite movie of all time but I can't seriously play a card with Sam Neil or Ian Goldbloom on it.
Find myself wondering how that'd balance out colorwise. Air and water are traditionally blue related, earth is green, fire red... so we're left with white and black kinda empty handed. Bloodbending I guess goes black but even with that...
I think Air would have to become White. Black doesn't really fit at all in Avatar, that one would be curious to see how they fit in.
I could see technology as being black, a la how Korra treated technology vs spirits in its final arc.
White doesn't really fit the air nomads (Except Tenzin). White is about law and rigidity, which is more fire nation and earth kingdom than air nomads.
I could see wedges perhaps. Mardu fire nation? Temur air nomads? Abzan earth kingdom? Sultai water tribes?
That leaves Jeskai for spirits? Or whatever other tribe
Hama might be Sultai
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Aang is 5C on at least one mythic
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Amon is Esper
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Zaheer is Mardu
I've been thinking about this more. Would Aang then have to be {W}{U}{R}{G} or would there be 4 different versions of Aang?
I could see it going a few ways, either two (or more?) cards, for kid Aang and for Avatar powers unlocked Aang (Considering the LotR set had several versions of some folks, it does make sense.), some sort of Saga type thing, or a DFC in some way. If he did have a casting cost for Avatar Aang, I think 5 color would get chosen over the more thematically appropriate four... though I'm very good at being proven wrong.
If so, they must reprint Imprisoned in the Moon
And have Zuko's "that's rough, buddy" in flavor text somewhere