<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toph, the First Metalbender" href="#" target="_blank">Toph, the First Metalbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/eilenecherie">Eilene Cherie</a></em></p>
<p>Welcome, welcome, welcome to <em>Fire and Ice</em>! This is the data-driven series where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different Commander decks, and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity. I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article! For some information on the math that supports this series, check out <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/introducing-the-math-behind-edhrecs-fire-and-ice-series?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this article</a>.</p>
<p>EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. We'll draw conclusions from that data about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight into new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.</p>
<p>Today, we're focusing on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toph, the First Metalbender" href="#" target="_blank">Toph, the First Metalbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. In honor of the recently released <em>Avatar</em> movie, I wanted to take a look at one of the coolest commanders from the set! She currently sits as the 23rd most popular commander on EDHREC, with nearly 30,000 decks to her name!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Toph, the First Metalbender"></div></div>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toph, the First Metalbender" href="#" target="_blank">Toph, the First Metalbender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div id="attachment_189614" style="width: 999px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/newplot-24.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-189614" class="size-full wp-image-189614" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/newplot-24.png" alt="What's Hot and What's Not for Toph, the First Metalbender?" width="989" height="550" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/newplot-24.png 989w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/newplot-24-300x167.png 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/newplot-24-768x427.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 989px) 100vw, 989px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-189614" class="wp-caption-text">What's Hot and What's Not for Toph, the First Metalbender?</p></div>
<p>For <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" 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-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, Toph is a 3/3 Human Warrior Ally. The card also turns all of our nontoken artifacts into lands (this doesn't inherently provide those artifacts with a mana ability, though). On each of our end steps, she prompts us to earthbend 2, putting two +1/+1 counters on a land we control and turning it into a creature that'll return to the battlefield after dying. Earthbent lands being able to come back to the battlefield is a really big deal, and <a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/search/?q=toph%2C%20the%20first">some pilots have built combos around that fact</a>.</p>
<p>Toph pilots blend artifact and land synergies, creating a unique and powerful Naya deck. Avatar cards feature heavily, due to the flavor and power of earthbending, but there are cards from throughout <em>Magic</em>'s history in these lists too! Among this commander's most popular cards are <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Great Divide Guide" href="#" target="_blank">Great Divide Guide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (51% inclusion), <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zuran Orb" href="#" target="_blank">Zuran Orb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (also 51% inclusion), and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Stasis Coffin" href="#" target="_blank">The Stasis Coffin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (45% inclusion).</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Great Divide Guide"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zuran Orb"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Stasis Coffin"></div></div>
<h2>What's Fiery for Toph Decks?</h2>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Planar Engineering" href="#" target="_blank">Planar Engineering</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Fire Score of 11.90</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Planar Engineering"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Explosive Vegetation" href="#" target="_blank">Explosive Vegetation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Roiling Regrowth" href="#" target="_blank">Roiling Regrowth</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> had a baby! This four-mana ramp spell is a perfect fit for Toph decks. If we sacrifice two lands that we previously earthbent to Planar Engineering, we'll end up grabbing four basics from our library without really getting rid of our on-board lands to do so!</p>
<p>Spells in this vein, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harrow" href="#" target="_blank">Harrow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Entish Restoration" href="#" target="_blank">Entish Restoration</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, will always be great inclusions in Toph's 99. This spell just so happens to grab more lands than most other ramp spells at this mana cost, making it even better. Its super high fire score is not surprising in the slightest.</p>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Erode" href="#" target="_blank">Erode</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Fire Score of 7.42</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Erode"></div></div>
<p>Naya decks have access to fantastic removal, including <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. So it's puzzling to see a suboptimal removal spell like Erode gaining so much popularity.</p>
<p>This instant can target planeswalkers, while Swords and Path cannot, but Erode destroys its target instead of exiling it. That's a pretty big difference, especially with how many graveyard decks are out there. I'm not convinced this spell is worth including.</p>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Germination Practicum" href="#" target="_blank">Germination Practicum</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Fire Score of 6.83</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Germination Practicum"></div></div>
<p>Toph decks have no problem creating the mana needed to cast this spell. With that in mind, Germination Practicum can be a great game-ender for pilots that don't want to win with a combo. Our commander already puts +1/+1 counters on our creatures, so this spell is a natural fit for our game plan.</p>
<p>There are certainly more land-centric win conditions available, but Germination Practicum is a great set-it-and-forget-it option.</p>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emil, Vastlands Roamer" href="#" target="_blank">Emil, Vastlands Roamer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Fire Score of 3.85</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emil, Vastlands Roamer"></div></div>
<p>These decks have tons of differently named lands, including nonbasics in our mana base and the artifacts that Toph makes into lands. That allows Emil to <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-tap" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> and create a huge Fractal token. It wouldn't be surprising to create a 10/10 or larger!</p>
<p>The trample that Emil lends to our creatures is nice to have, too. While we won't frequently attack with our transformed lands, it's nice to give them a bit of evasion.</p>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haywire Mite" href="#" target="_blank">Haywire Mite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Fire Score of 2.20</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haywire Mite"></div></div>
<p>If we earthbend this creature, we've got repeatable removal and life gain on demand. This is one of the best creatures to repeatedly target with our commander's end step trigger!</p>
<p>It's also lovely that Haywire Mite costs just <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-1" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> to cast and <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> to activate. We couldn't ask for more from an artifact.</p>
<h2>What's Icy for Toph Decks?</h2>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Earthbending Lesson" href="#" target="_blank">Earthbending Lesson</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Ice Score of -2.61</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Earthbending Lesson"></div></div>
<p>We do want to earthbend frequently, but we'll often want other effects to be attached when we do so. Paying four mana to put four +1/+1 counters on a land we control isn't a great rate, even if we can save that land from demise later down the line.</p>
<p>We also don't care too much about the numerical value attached to our earthbending abilities. As long as the creature returns to the battlefield after dying or being exiled, we don't care how many +1/+1 counters it has.</p>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Badgermole" href="#" target="_blank">Badgermole</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Earth Rumble" href="#" target="_blank">Earth Rumble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Ice Scores of -2.16 and -2.18</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Badgermole"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Earth Rumble"></div></div>
<p>While these cards do have other effects besides earthbending, we're forced to overpay massively for their effects. Badgermole is a <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-4" 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>-cost almost-vanilla 4/4 and Earth Rumble is a <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>-cost fight spell. Badgermole does give our creatures with +1/+1 counters trample, but that doesn't make it worth including when Emil can do so much more (at a lower mana cost)! As for Earth Rumble, there are one-mana fight spells out there. Spending four mana to remove a single creature just isn't justifiable, no matter how on-theme this spell is.</p>
<p>When <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Badgermole Cub" href="#" target="_blank">Badgermole Cub</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toph, Hardheaded Teacher" href="#" target="_blank">Toph, Hardheaded Teacher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and even <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ba Sing Se" href="#" target="_blank">Ba Sing Se</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> exist, it's hard to justify paying this much for mediocre cards that just so happen to earthbend.</p>
<h3><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Haru, Hidden Talent" href="#" target="_blank">Haru, Hidden Talent</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - Ice Score of -1.91</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Haru, Hidden Talent"></div></div>
<p>The average Toph deck has a grand total of nine Allies in it, including Toph herself. So, excluding any shenanigans, Haru will top out at earthbending fewer than ten times per game! That's not nearly enough to justify a slot in our 99.</p>
<p>Even if Haru is guaranteed to earthbend at least once per game when our commander hits the board, it's just not good enough. We can and should look elsewhere.</p>
<h2>What's in a Toph, the First Metalbender Deck?</h2>
<p>Here's Toph's average deck on EDHREC, modified to include all of her hot cards and exclude all of her cold cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Toffee" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Toph, the First Metalbender
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Amulet of Vigor
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Bender&#039;s Waterskin
*1 Chromatic Lantern
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Ichor Wellspring
*1 Lightning Greaves
*1 Liquimetal Coating
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Mishra&#039;s Bauble
*1 Mycosynth Lattice
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 The Earth Crystal
*1 The Ozolith
*1 The Stasis Coffin
*1 Zuran Orb
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
*1 Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender
*1 Badgermole Cub
*1 Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender
*1 Bumi, Unleashed
*1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
*1 Earthbending Student
*1 Emil, Vastlands Roamer
*1 Esper Sentinel
*1 Evolution Sage
*1 Great Divide Guide
*1 Haywire Mite
*1 Lotus Cobra
*1 Moraug, Fury of Akoum
*1 Scute Swarm
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Sylvan Safekeeper
*1 Tannuk, Memorial Ensign
*1 The Boulder, Ready to Rumble
*1 Tireless Provisioner
*1 Toph, Earthbending Master
*1 Toph, Greatest Earthbender
*1 Toph, Hardheaded Teacher
*1 Toph, the Blind Bandit
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Annie Joins Up
*1 Bitter Work
*1 Earthbender Ascension
*1 Felidar Retreat
*1 Terra Eternal
*1 Terrasymbiosis
*1 The Legend of Kyoshi // Avatar Kyoshi
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Crop Rotation
*1 Cycle of Renewal
*1 Earthshape
*1 Erode
*1 Heroic Intervention
*1 Origin of Metalbending
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Redirect Lightning
*1 Swords to Plowshares
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Farseek
*1 Germination Practicum
*1 Hour of Revelation
*1 Nature&#039;s Lore
*1 Planar Engineering
*1 Rockalanche
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Ba Sing Se
*1 Canopy Vista
*1 Cinder Glade
*1 Command Tower
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Fabled Passage
*7 Forest
*1 Jetmir&#039;s Garden
*1 Jungle Shrine
*4 Mountain
*4 Plains
*1 Rootbound Crag
*1 Rumble Arena
*1 Sacred Foundry
*1 Secret Tunnel
*1 Stomping Ground
*1 Temple Garden
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Urza&#039;s Saga
*1 Windswept Heath
*1 Wooded Foothills
*1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Toph is a great commander, and a great character too. The <em>TLA</em> product release was likely timed to draw players in to the theatrical release, so I'm curious: did you see the new <em>Avatar</em> movie? If so, did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments, and I'll be back soon with another <em>Fire and Ice</em>!</p>


toph the first metalbender

Toph, the First Metalbender | Fire and Ice