Smellerbee, Rebel FighterSmellerbee, Rebel Fighter | Art by Enishi

Avatar: The Last Airbender is truly a set that keeps on giving. I still come across cards from it and its Jumpstart tie-in that I have never seen before, and these cards are darn cool. Avatar has 122 legendary creatures across the Standard-legal and Eternal sets. But as long as these cards are interesting and relatively simple, that's not a bad thing.

Being surprised by new cards is a feeling I miss, and I've been surprised more in the last year than for a long time. Smellerbee, Rebel FighterSmellerbee, Rebel Fighter, who only leads 84 decks on EDHREC - fewer decks than either JovenJoven or ChandlerChandler! - is a card that I only learned about while doing one of my periodic checks for new Rebels to pair with Lin Sivvi, Defiant HeroLin Sivvi, Defiant Hero and friends, and this freedom fighter is no joke.

What Does Smellerbee, Rebel FighterSmellerbee, Rebel Fighter Do?

Granting haste to the whole team is already powerful, but her second ability is the real payoff. Drawing cards equal to the number of attackers, every turn, can snowball faster than most opponents will be able to get their feet underneath them.

Smellerbee solves the two biggest problems for purely Aggressive decks in Commander by removing the three-turn waiting room of summoning sickness and by accelerating our card flow faster than our opponents can respond.

Smellerbee is reminiscent of Narset, Jeskai WaymasterNarset, Jeskai Waymaster, another 2025 commander that proved very powerful. While Narset's incentive for casting tons of spells pushes more directly in a Storm direction, their abilities are similar enough that we shouldn't ignore Smellerbee's potential as a combo commander.

Key Cards for Smellerbee, Rebel FighterSmellerbee, Rebel Fighter

Smellerbee wants us to play out as many creatures as possible every turn before combat. She forces us to discard our hand if we want to draw more cards during combat, so our choices are use 'em or lose 'em. Luckily, she will give everything haste, so we can immediately attack with anything we play.

Because of this, we're playing as many cheap creatures as possible, including everyevery zerozero manamana creaturecreature thatthat cancan attackattack. These creatures represent a replacement card the turn they come down, plus an additional card every time they can attack down the line.

Skirk ProspectorSkirk Prospector, GoldhoundGoldhound, and Impulsive PilfererImpulsive Pilferer can all turn back into mana on a later turn, letting us store value for the next turn even while discarding our hand. Finally, Mogg AlarmMogg Alarm gives us two creatures for zero mana as long as we aren't afraid to part with our lands.

Alongside these free (and "free") creatures, we're running some of the best one-drops around. Ragavan, Nimble PilfererRagavan, Nimble Pilferer is banned in Legacy, and Dragon's Rage ChannelerDragon's Rage Channeler is a multi-format staple. Marauding MakoMarauding Mako and Flameblade AdeptFlameblade Adept each have their own competitive pedigree, and grow out of control with all the discarding we're going to do.

Stadium HeadlinerStadium Headliner gives us two attacking creatures for only one mana, while acting as removal in a pinch. Signal PestSignal Pest and Rosnakht, Heir of RohgahhRosnakht, Heir of Rohgahh don't have any power themselves, but their battle cry ability can turn into tons of extra damage on a wide board.

Another type of creature that works phenomenally in this deck is the many two-drop mana producers that red now has. First of all, dropping an Iron MyrIron Myr or a Sunset StrikemasterSunset Strikemaster on turn two lets us play Smellerbee on turn three, but she also gives haste to our mana creatures once she's in play, letting them repay half of their casting cost the turn we deploy them. This lets us build our mana faster than the allotted one land per turn while still developing our board.

Since Smellerbee makes us discard all the cards we can't play every turn, we get to include one of my favorite packages of aggressive threats. Ivora, Insatiable HeirIvora, Insatiable Heir and Hobgoblin, Mantled MarauderHobgoblin, Mantled Marauder join Marauding MakoMarauding Mako as enormous threats, and Inti, Seneschal of the SunInti, Seneschal of the Sun, Veronica, Dissident ScribeVeronica, Dissident Scribe and Monument to EnduranceMonument to Endurance can help give us even more card advantage and act as backup plans if our commander gets removed.

We can extend this package by playing cards that come back from the graveyard as well, with Ox of AgonasOx of Agonas, Scrapwork MuttScrapwork Mutt, and Phyrexian Dragon EnginePhyrexian Dragon Engine giving us more rummage effects.

This deck is all about density, and so we need a few creatures that can add to our plan while also having enough raw power to present a plan B if Smellerbee isn't around.

Hanweir GarrisonHanweir Garrison and Krenko, Tin Street KingpinKrenko, Tin Street Kingpin can each create multiple tokens every combat, making them must-kill threats. We can stack their triggers with Smellerbee so that she counts the Garrison's new attacking tokens and draws extra cards. At three mana, they're "expensive" to cast compared to most of our deck, but they're self-contained value engines, and the Garrison can even combine with Hanweir BattlementsHanweir Battlements to meld into Hanweir, the Writhing TownshipHanweir, the Writhing Township.

Not quite as high up the curve, Grenzo, Havoc RaiserGrenzo, Havoc Raiser acts as a backup card advantage engine, and his goad ability can remove blockers over and over.

Winning the Game with Smellerbee, Rebel FighterSmellerbee, Rebel Fighter

This deck looks like a simple aggressive strategy to our opponents, but it can also draw upwards of ten cards a turn. From that point it's hard not resemble a combo deck, and so we're leaning into that angle.

We're playing a few mana producers that can enable us to pull off some crazy turns and cast as many cards as we can draw. Nykthos, Shrine to NyxNykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Battle HymnBattle Hymn both make tons of mana if we have a lot of creatures in play, and Mana GeyserMana Geyser rewards us just for playing multiplayer, often netting upwards of a dozen mana.

Runaway Steam-KinRunaway Steam-Kin gives us mana in smaller chunks, but can often create just as much of an advantage, giving us a rebate on all of our red spells. With these engines, the world is our oyster, and we have some spicy ways to close the game from there.

All of our cheap creatures and card draw set us up to act as a Storm deck, but only a few of the cards with literal storm fit into our strategy well. Empty the WarrensEmpty the Warrens is perfect, giving us a huge board that even has haste alongside Smellerbee, and potentially drawing us even more cards when combat comes. Stormscale ScionStormscale Scion is similar, and almost makes the cut, but it's just too expensive for such a low-to-the-ground deck unless we draw our biggest mana makers.

Haze of RageHaze of Rage, though, is a heater here. It can turn our lowliest Crimson KoboldsCrimson Kobolds into a must-block threat, and can come down for as little as two mana while also giving us a mana sink for however much we can make.

Along the same lines, Rites of InitiationRites of Initiation can do a decent Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth impression in this deck, either giving us a way to turn cards we're going to discard anyways into damage or acting as a game-ender by discarding all the cards Smellerbee has drawn us this turn.

Another way to multiply our damage is to attack multiple times. Each extra combat we take is another Smellerbee trigger, and once we have a wide enough board we can chain enough of these effects to find our pump spells and take out the whole table.

Fury of the HordeFury of the Horde is the best of the bunch, since we'll usually be pinched on mana but flush with cards at this stage of the game. Combat CelebrantCombat Celebrant is the next-cheapest way to get a second combat, and can attack right away with Smellerbee out.

Finally, Final FortuneFinal Fortune is risky, but it can be the nail in the coffin to end the game, letting us untap all of our lands as well to set up a kill.

Smellerbee, Rebel Fighter Commander Deck List

This deck is a great rebuttal to anyone who claims that aggro can't work in Commander. There are tools to scale an attacking deck to be able to deal 120 damage, and there are tools to outpace even the soupiest of midrange soup decks in terms of card draw. The only problem with aggro in Commander is one of category blurring. By leaning into the fastest, most synergistic angles to deal 120 damage, the purest aggro deck becomes a combo deck.

Taken to the extreme, Smellerbee, Rebel FighterSmellerbee, Rebel Fighter is NecropotenceNecropotence that deals our opponents damage instead of us. It's hard not to build a Storm deck around her, but that doesn't mean it isn't also an Aggro deck.

This deck can almost always get Smellerbee in play on turn three and attacking on turn four. Uninterrupted, that will usually lead to a big turn and a definitive win on turn six or seven. Of course, that plan revolves around the commander, and we are soft to removal on Smellerbee. But she can usually get in at least one attack, and the pieces she leaves behind, while they might look silly, can hold their own.

Inti, Seneschal of the SunInti, Seneschal of the Sun can rummage our OrnithopterOrnithopters away for our good cards, and Zookeeper MechanZookeeper Mechan and Ornithopter of ParadiseOrnithopter of Paradise can build up our mana until we're ready to go for the win again.

If you're a fan of counting to twenty in other formats, whether you're counting Tendrils of AgonyTendrils of Agony or Lava SpikeLava Spikes, this deck will not disappoint you, though it will surely surprise your opponents.