Avatar of WoeAvatar of Woe | Art by rk post

Since Secrets of Strixhaven came out, we’ve explored the students at the Arcavios Academy, with Wizards and Warlocks, as well as the the mascots of the colleges, with Inklings, Pests, and Fractals (but not Spirits and Elementals, as those had been discussed in Innistrad and Lorwyn, respectively). But there is one…secret Typal strategy that was part of both Strixhaven sets, getting a major glow-up in the most recent visit.

Have you guessed it? It’s Avatars!

Avatars have taken a variety of forms, both in art and in gameplay mechanics, since their introduction. In Strixhaven, Avatars represent raw, primordial mana. Wandering ArchaicWandering Archaic was a standout from that initial foray, while Wildgrowth ArchaicWildgrowth Archaic shows the polychromatic beauty of the creature type, which brings together all colors of mana and all planes of existence. Avatars truly represent the spirit of Pride and couldn’t be more perfect to highlight as the calendar flips from May to June.

Avatars represent everything from strong emotions, like Avatar of FuryAvatar of Fury, to whole planes of existence, like Soul of ZendikarSoul of Zendikar. Many powerful characters from Universes Beyond have also featured the Avatar type, although they don’t necessarily mesh well, mechanically or lore-wise, with the in-universe Avatars. It is cool, however, to see the depth and breadth of the creature type.

Avatar History

The earliest Avatars are also among the more iconic: the Avatar cycle from Prophecy. Each is an eight-mana creature with gaudy stats and conditions for a massive cost reduction. They are also named after strong emotions and feature some form of evasion; three fly, one tramples, and one has fear. Avatar of WoeAvatar of Woe, in particular, was an early Commander staple, as it cares about creatures in all graveyards, taps to TerrorTerror, and is a six-power creature that many decks can’t block.

Another major cycle of Avatars was the Soul cycle from Magic 2015. These creatures have a form of evasion along with two activated abilities, one that is repeatable on the battlefield and one that does the same effect but only once and from the graveyard. Soul of New PhyrexiaSoul of New Phyrexia, in particular, is a solid defense for board wipes and can often surprise opponents when sprung out of the graveyard.

But how do we win a game with six- and eight-mana creatures? And what kind of commander could bring them together?

What Does Karona, False GodKarona, False God Do?

It’s certainly fitting to write about a false god in the wake of the finale of The Boys, given Homelander’s fate (no spoilers here). For as long as Commander has been a format, I’ve seen people trying to solve the intriguing puzzle the Karona poses. Its abilities are funky, exciting, and, seemingly, built for multiplayer.

Karona is all five colors plus a generic mana for a 5/5 haste creature. The haste is particularly important because each player untapps and gains control of it during their upkeep. These two elements are what separate ThreatenThreaten effects from Mind ControlMind Control effects, making Karona fairly strongly red-aligned. Lore-wise, this makes sense, as Karona is a version of Jeska, who has typically been red, like in Jeska, Warrior AdeptJeska, Warrior Adept and Jeska, Thrice RebornJeska, Thrice Reborn.

The real sauce, though, comes with Karona’s triggered ability. When Karona attacks, all creatures of the type of its controller’s choice get a Giant GrowthGiant Growth. It’s worth noting that this occurs regardless of who controls the creature, so it’s important to note changelings and type overlap. Luckily, though, few players seem to run incidental Avatars nowadays, so we can supercharge our board with little fear.

But what would an Avatar deck look like? And what support would they need?

Key Cards for Karona, False GodKarona, False God

Avatars are large creatures, representing sprawling concepts like powerful emotions and whole planes of existence. As a result, they boast large mana values and stats. These make it difficult to create a cohesive identity, as amassing a board of multiple large creatures has historically been difficult. Thankfully, many have abilities to reduce their cost or be relevant in different zones.

Wildgrowth ArchaicWildgrowth Archaic and Soul of RavnicaSoul of Ravnica both care about the amount of colors we’re playing, although they also both provide value, even if our colors aren’t fixed. The Archaic gets bigger the more colors of mana we use, but can also be an early chump blocker if needed. Soul of RavnicaSoul of Ravnica is a flying threat and draws cards equal to the amount of colors among permanents we control. Doing this multiple times if it’s out can be backbreaking, while it still functions from the grave to push us through slogs.

Avatar of WoeAvatar of Woe and Overlord of the HauntwoodsOverlord of the Hauntwoods are powerful creatures that have been played in multiple formats due to their ability to circumvent their high mana costs. Avatar of WoeAvatar of Woe’s powers were mentioned earlier, while Overlord of the HauntwoodsOverlord of the Hauntwoods and its ilk can be cast for an impending cost, triggering ETBs (enter the battlefield effects) such as its own ability to make an EverywhereEverywhere land token, helping us ramp and fix our mana.

The primordials of Ravnica, like Diluvian PrimordialDiluvian Primordial, and the demigod cycle of Shadowmoor and Eventide, like Deus of CalamityDeus of Calamity, may be pricey, but they are undoubtedly powerful. The primordials do powerful things with opposing card zones, while the demigods are able to be cast flexibly because of their hybrid costs and dominate combat.

But how do we get these big bodies out?

PersistPersist and Bloodline BiddingBloodline Bidding are reanimation effects that either have low mana costs or can be cast for less. PersistPersist plays off of the subtle advantage Avatars have by being powerful creatures that somehow aren’t legendary, despite feeling like they could be. Bloodline BiddingBloodline Bidding is an excellent means of recovering from board wipes, bringing a whole board back because they share a type.

The Soul StoneThe Soul Stone is a ramp piece that pulls double duty as a reanimation spell late. Belbe's PortalBelbe's Portal, meanwhile, lets us drop our big creatures directly into play. Since many of them have strong ETBs, like the primordials, we can trigger them at instant speed while completely disrupting our opponents’ combat plans.

Five-color decks often have difficulty with their manabases, but ours is fairly simple. On one hand, we have nonbasics like The World TreeThe World Tree, which make mana of any color. On the other hand, we have the Triomes, which mesh well together to fix our mana, but slow our spells a bit. Still, the mana fixing and cycling option help us cast our spells and draw out of flood, which we need to function.

But how do we close the game out?

How Does This Karona, False GodKarona, False God Commander Deck Win?

Our primary means of winning is via card quality, beating in with large creatures grown by our commander that dwarf what opponents are casting. This is a risky proposition unless we have ways of creating our large creatures quickly, which our ramp and reanimation spells do.

Being in green provides another benefit, however. As a large creature stompy deck, we can play powerful spells that put multiple large creatures out at a time. Kindred SummonsKindred Summons can put many Avatars out as long as we had some to begin with, while Selvala's StampedeSelvala's Stampede can drop Avatars from our hand and deck.

Conclusion

Avatars are a type that has been around for a while, both in-universe and beyond. This build was focused on in-universe Avatars, but there are lots of ways to go, and not all of them use all five colors.

But how would you build Avatars? And which commander would you choose?

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