Bumi, Unleashed is Land Animation Done Right

<p style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender" href="#" target="_blank">Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.lenarichards.com/store" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Olena Richards</a></span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We've seen a ton of new cards from <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/tla" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Avatar: The Last Airbender</em></a> over the past few weeks, as tons of iconic characters from one of my favorite childhood shows come to life on <em>Magic</em> cardstock. I'm excited to do a deck tech focused on one of the coolest cards from this set so far: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender" href="#" target="_blank">Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender"></div></div></p>
<p>Bumi showcases one of the new mechanics from this set: earthbending. When he enters the battlefield we earthbend 1, meaning that we turn one of our lands into a 0/0 creature with a +1/+1 counter on it. That land also gains the ability to protect itself, coming back to the battlefield after dying once.</p>
<p>That's a pretty strong ability, and I'm really excited to see what other earthbending-related cards will pop up as more cards get revealed for the set! For now, though, there's just a few <em>Avatar</em> cards that are good enough to make the cut for this casual EDH list.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Earthbending Lesson"></div></div>
<h2>What Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender" href="#" target="_blank">Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> Do?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, Bumi is a 4/4 Human Noble Ally. When he enters the battlefield, we earthbend 1. And when he attacks, we get to put two +1/+1 counters on each land creature we control. That's a really cool combination of abilities, and one that lets us lean hard into some of <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>'s strongest traits.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There's a few commanders whose EDHREC pages I've drawn inspiration from today. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kamahl, Heart of Krosa" href="#" target="_blank">Kamahl, Heart of Krosa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> also animates our lands, and provides a team-wide buff every combat. I'm also reminded of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor" href="#" target="_blank">Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who animates lands and hands out +1/+1 counters just like Bumi!<br />
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kamahl, Heart of Krosa"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor"></div></div></p>
<p>But, this deck tech isn't about those cards, so let's get back to Bumi. As I mentioned, we'll be leaning into two of <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>'s biggest strengths: lands and +1/+1 counters. Our commander blends those two strategies together well, so we'll be sure to win with a wide board of land creatures suited up with tons of counters.</p>
<p>Let's see how we can build out this lean, mean, mono-green machine!</p>
<h2>Key Cards for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender" href="#" target="_blank">Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<p>In order to really take advantage of our commander's +1/+1 counter production, we've got to ensure that we've got a full board of land creatures. While Bumi does make one 0/0 land creature (with a +1/+1 counter on it) when he enters the battlefield, it's gonna take a lot more than that to win a Commander game.</p>
<p>One of my favorite land animation pieces is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emergent Sequence" href="#" target="_blank">Emergent Sequence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampant Growth" href="#" target="_blank">Rampant Growth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> variant that turns the basic we fetch into a creature. I'm quite surprised that this card isn't more popular in green decks that care about +1/+1 counters, so I'm especially excited to give it a shoutout here.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emergent Sequence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Earthbending Student"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wrenn and Realmbreaker"></div></div>
<p>I've also got to talk about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Earthbending Student" href="#" target="_blank">Earthbending Student</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a new creature that animates a land and grants a relevant keyword to all of our animated friends. Vigilance is particularly sweet on our animated lands, as it means we can attack with them and still tap them for mana afterwards. To that end, I've included another way to give our land creatures vigilance: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Embodiment of Insight" href="#" target="_blank">Embodiment of Insight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Lastly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrenn and Realmbreaker" href="#" target="_blank">Wrenn and Realmbreaker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a nice way to recur our best permanents in the late game, while turning our lands into 3/3s along the way.</p>
<p>There's lots of other ways to turn our lands into creatures, from the super powerful <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nissa, Who Shakes the World" href="#" target="_blank">Nissa, Who Shakes the World</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to the game-ending <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Liege of the Tangle" href="#" target="_blank">Liege of the Tangle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to the extra-land-drop granting <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Druid Class" href="#" target="_blank">Druid Class</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. We've got no shortage of ways to animate our mana base!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nissa, Who Shakes the World"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Liege of the Tangle"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Druid Class"></div></div>
<p>Once we've converted our Forests into combat-ready creatures, we need some ways to turn those creatures into game-ending threats. Alongside the steady stream of +1/+1 counters handed out by Bumi, a +2/+2 anthem from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Advocate" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Advocate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or a +1/+1 anthem from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blossoming Tortoise" href="#" target="_blank">Blossoming Tortoise</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can prove extremely potent. Sylvan Advocate provides a really nice anthem for just two mana, and it's even an Ally.</p>
<p>I'm no finance expert, but I'd bet on this card rising in price as more earthbending and Ally kindred synergies crop up in this set.</p>
<p>Finally, if we can manage to maintain the monarchy through a full turn cycle, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Court of Garenbrig" href="#" target="_blank">Court of Garenbrig</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can turn our animated lands into victory quite quickly. We should have a board of relatively imposing blockers at all times, so that likely won't be too tall of a task.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sylvan Advocate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blossoming Tortoise"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Court of Garenbrig"></div></div>
<p>One of the biggest drawbacks of land creatures is that they're more susceptible to removal. It's easy for an opponent to simply get rid of one of our creatures, which would also cut off our mana supply and make their removal super effective. So, aside from the recursion built into earthbending, we've got a few more ways to bring lands back from the graveyard.</p>
<p>The recently printed <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Icetill Explorer" href="#" target="_blank">Icetill Explorer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the best <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crucible of Worlds" href="#" target="_blank">Crucible of Worlds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> effects in all of <em>Magic</em>, giving us an extra land drop and letting us dump more lands into the bin as the game goes on.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Icetill Explorer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Exploration Broodship"></div></div>
<p>Combined with <em>Edge of Eternities</em>' <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exploration Broodship" href="#" target="_blank">Exploration Broodship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, this deck is full of brand-new cards that let us get our lands back. Exploration Broodship even lets us sacrifice a land that we've earthbent, which will allow that land to come back to the battlefield and re-trigger our <em>landfall</em> effects.</p>
<p>That's a relatively niche interaction, but it's still cool to see the interactions between the different card packages we've got in our 99.</p>
<h2>How Does This Bumi Deck Win?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We'll usually win by attacking our opponents with progressively bigger land creatures, beating them down in longer games with our animated mana base. Our commander, combined with some +1/+1 counter synergies like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Duskshell Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Duskshell Crawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, will ensure that our main game plan is effective.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Duskshell Crawler"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We'll be putting a lot of lands onto the battlefield. So, creatures with <em>landfall</em> abilities will be particularly good backup win conditions if we find ourselves unable to punch through with a few big lands. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scute Swarm" href="#" target="_blank">Scute Swarm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rampaging Baloths" href="#" target="_blank">Rampaging Baloths</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Avenger of Zendikar" href="#" target="_blank">Avenger of Zendikar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will all give us a sufficiently wide board to ensure we're in a strong position at every combat step. I've even included a few fetch lands, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shire Terrace" href="#" target="_blank">Shire Terrace</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prismatic Vista" href="#" target="_blank">Prismatic Vista</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to beef up our Landfall strategy.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scute Swarm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rampaging Baloths"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Avenger of Zendikar"></div></div>
<p>And, should we choose to go tall instead of wide, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bristly Bill, Spine Sower" href="#" target="_blank">Bristly Bill, Spine Sower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will prove to be a great value play in the early game <em>and </em>a nice game-ender with his activated ability. Same goes for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scythecat Cub" href="#" target="_blank">Scythecat Cub</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a two-drop that can provide a game-ending amount of counters.</p>
<p>We can even pump our excess mana into <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Waker of the Wilds" href="#" target="_blank">Waker of the Wilds</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kamahl, Fist of Krosa" href="#" target="_blank">Kamahl, Fist of Krosa</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to punch through clogged board states!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bristly Bill, Spine Sower"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scythecat Cub"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Waker of the Wilds"></div></div>
<h2>Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Building a Lands Deck with Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
*1 Avenger of Zendikar
*1 Blossoming Tortoise
*1 Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
*1 Destiny Spinner
*1 Disciple of Freyalise // Garden of Freyalise
*1 Druid of Purification
*1 Duskshell Crawler
*1 Earthbending Student
*1 Embodiment of Insight
*1 Icetill Explorer
*1 Insidious Fungus
*1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
*1 Kamahl, Heart of Krosa
*1 Liege of the Tangle
*1 Llanowar Loamspeaker
*1 Loot, Exuberant Explorer
*1 Lotus Cobra
*1 Mossborn Hydra
*1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer // Nissa, Sage Animist
*1 Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth // Temple of Cultivation
*1 Rampaging Baloths
*1 Sazh&#039;s Chocobo
*1 Scute Swarm
*1 Scythecat Cub
*1 Sylvan Advocate
*1 Tireless Provisioner
*1 Titania, Nature&#039;s Force
*1 Titania, Voice of Gaea
*1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
*1 Tyrant Guard
*1 Ulvenwald Tracker
*1 Waker of the Wilds
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Bridgeworks Battle // Tanglespan Bridgeworks
*1 Broken Bond
*1 Emergent Sequence
*1 Ezuri&#039;s Predation
*1 Rude Awakening
*1 Sylvan Awakening
*1 Turntimber Symbiosis // Turntimber, Serpentine Wood
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Case of the Locked Hothouse
*1 Court of Garenbrig
*1 Druid Class
*1 Exploration
*1 Hardened Scales
*1 Meltstrider&#039;s Resolve
*1 Roaring Earth
[/Enchantments]
[Planeswalkers]
*1 Nissa, Vital Force
*1 Nissa, Who Shakes the World
*1 Wrenn and Realmbreaker
[/Planeswalkers]
[Instants]
*1 Beast Within
*1 Collective Resistance
*1 Inspiring Call
*1 Kamahl&#039;s Will
*1 Nature&#039;s Claim
*1 Tail Swipe
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
*1 Exploration Broodship
*1 Herd Heirloom
*1 Oblivion Stone
*1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
*1 Staff of Titania
*1 The Earth Crystal
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Argoth, Sanctum of Nature
*1 Blighted Woodland
*1 Demolition Field
*1 Fabled Passage
*27 Forest
*1 Lair of the Hydra
*1 Mutavault
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Shire Terrace
*1 Soulstone Sanctuary
*1 Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis // Lasting Fayth
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a pretty classic mono-green list. All the staples are here, from extra land drops to <em>landfall</em> triggers to the big creatures that live in the hearts of all Timmy players. </span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Exploration"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mossborn Hydra"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth"></div></div>
<p>This deck sits pretty firmly in Bracket 2, which is where I think a five-mana commander like Bumi works best. This strategy is strong, but not necessarily strong enough to compete with what deckbuilders bring to the table for higher power games.</p>
<p>That's all for this week! Before you go, though, I'd love to know what your favorite mono-colored legend is from <em>Avatar</em> so far. There's a whole bunch of them, so I'm excited to hear all of your thoughts!</p>
<p>For now, though, I'll see you all next week for another deck tech.</p>
<h3>More <em>Avatar</em>:</h3>
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<p><iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;" title="&#8220;Sokka, Bold Boomeranger Commander Deck Tech&#8221; &#8212; EDHREC" src="https://edhrec.com/articles/sokka-bold-boomeranger-commander-deck-tech/embed/#?secret=ZiKcaNY8br#?secret=wrSjVhTTaw" data-secret="wrSjVhTTaw" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></p>


bumi

Bumi, Unleashed is Land Animation Done Right

Building a Lands Deck with Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender