Sokka, Bold Boomeranger Commander Deck Tech

Sokka, Bold Boomeranger | Art by Toni Infante

There really is just something about two-mana Izzet () commanders. I can't help myself. Luckily, there seems to be no shortage of new ones to build with lately!

This recent round of Avatar spoilers gave me a lot to be excited about, and I think we all know which legend I have to tackle first. In this deck tech, I'm going to be adding Sokka, Bold Boomeranger to my collection.

What Does Sokka, Bold Boomeranger Do?

Sokka, Bold Boomeranger is a two-mana 1/1 that discards up to two cards when he enters, and then draws that many cards. Whenever you cast an artifact or Lesson spell, Sokka gets a +1/+1 counter. That second line of text is going to be the real key, here.

The way I see it, Sokka is asking me to play him, sculpt my hand a little, then slam cheap artifacts until he's big enough to start eliminating players.

This is going to shape out to be a more traditional Voltron strategy than most of my other commander damage-focused decks. I'll have Equipment spells that further increase Sokka's power, grant him evasion, and make it easier to force through 21 points of commander damage.

The strategy I'm going with for Sokka is so similar to my early build of Malcolm, the Eyes that I could simply switch Malcolm for Sokka without changing anything else and the deck would function identically. The major difference is that Sokka's second ability is essentially a built-in Nettlecyst, which improves consistency by a mile.

Key Cards for Sokka, Bold Boomeranger

There aren't really enough Lesson cards to really lean in to that half of Sokka, Bold Boomeranger just yet. However, Sokka giving all Lesson cards the additional upside of "when you cast this spell, put a +1/+1 counter on Sokka" renders some otherwise medium Lesson cards borderline playable.

Redirect Lightning is an instant staple in any red deck. A Deflecting Swat effect that costs one mana all the time and its only drawback is losing a measly five life? Sign me up. I'd include this card even if it didn't trigger Sokka. The only way this card is coming out of the deck is if the Commander rules change to allow me to build a sideboard of Lesson cards.

Aang's Journey and Environmental Sciences are mana fixing spells that help smooth out this deck's draws, especially with the dangerously low land counts I tend to go with in these decks.

Introduction to Annihilation was, until very recently, my favorite Lesson card. Sure, it's five mana; that's a lot. But a removal spell that can remove almost anything while triggering Sokka seems pretty sweet regardless.

One of the many joys of playing artifact decks is casting big, splashy spells like God-Pharaoh's Statue. Unfortunately, those spells tend to be extremely mana intensive.

And, while my beloved Tolarian Academy is banned, it does have some reasonable equivalents these days. Storm the Vault and Uthros, Titanic Godcore both do a solid impression of Tolarian Academy with a little work. Thankfully, getting three power into play to station Uthros and getting five artifacts into play for Storm the Vault are both very easy requirements with Sokka and the 31 artifacts with a mana value of three or less in the deck.

Sokka is really hungry for card draw. Running out of cards to play on turn three or four would be a disaster for this deck. To prevent that, the deck has a lot of card draw.

Thoughtcast and Thought Monitor are classic inclusions in any deck with a high density of cheap artifacts. At their best, both of them draw two cards for one mana.

Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain draws a card each time you cast a historic spell. That includes artifacts and legends. Paired with cost reducers, like Enthusiastic Mechanaut and Etherium Sculptor, Jhoira can create really explosive turns.

O'aka, Traveling Merchant is a very niche draw engine that pairs really well with commanders that can put a lot of +1/+1 counters into play. Counters won't be a scarce resource, especially with The Ozolith preserving the counters that would normally be lost when Sokka inevitably gets removed. Trading a counter here or there for even more cards to cast is a no-brainer.

How Does This Sokka, Bold Boomeranger Deck Win the Game?

The key to a Voltron deck like this is the Equipment that's going on its commander. Luxior, Giada's Gift is stunning here. Most people only think about this card in the context of turning a planeswalker into a creature. But, Luxior grants the equipped creature +1/+1 for each counter on it. This will double the amount of power and toughness granted by the +1/+1 counters Sokka puts on himself. This Equipment alone will usually turn Sokka into a lethal threat.

Commander's Plate and Shadowspear both give Sokka the final piece of the puzzle: evasion. A 21/21 commander isn't worth anything if a 1/1 can block it and render it useless. Trample and protection from white, black, and green should be enough to stop pesky chump blockers from nullifying this deck's combat step.

Combat isn't the only way to kill a player. I can't think of a cooler way to finish a game than ending a staring contest with the only remaining opponent, who has a million blockers, than ignoring all that and just casting Gravitic Punch. The best part about Gravitic Punch specifically is that it can be cast twice in the same turn. If that won't eliminate a player, I don't know what will.

Sokka, Bold Boomeranger Commander Deck List

Conclusion

I'm thrilled to sink my teeth into the newly revealed legends from Avatar! Sokka looks absolutely fantastic, as does just about every other potential commander I've read so far.

I'd place this deck in Bracket 3 (Upgraded) very comfortably, and I'd recommend it to any player that enjoys artifacts-matter strategies. At its best, playing this deck just feels like playing with my dream Vintage Cube deck. That's the play experience I strive for in Commander, and so far I'm very pleased with this effort.

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