Want to throw trinkets at your opponents? We have the Commander for you.
Avatar: The Last Airbender has entered Magic: The Gathering, bringing its wonderful world, colorful characters, and fantastic abilities. It’s a pretty wonderful set, and we’re happy to discuss some of the best cartoon characters from 20 years ago. That’s right, fellow mid-30s people, that’s 20 years ago.
Anyway, midlife crisis aside, we’re incredibly excited to dig into some of the amazing legendary creatures from the set, and we’re starting with one of the most popular in Toph, the First Metalbender. In this Commander Bestiary, we’re going to dig deep into the earth itself and leave you with a decklist.
Who is Toph, the First Metalbender in Magic: The Gathering?
Toph, the First Metalbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender, Rare
Toph is a blind earthbender who used her unique strengths to eventually break out of an apparently inescapable metal box by learning to metalbend. It was an incredible moment in the Avatar: The Last Airbender television series, and just one of many reasons why so many people love Toph as a character, and she is an essential part of Team Avatar. Pun intended here, but she rocks.
Toph, the First Metalbender’s Strengths
Toph, the First Metalbender is a four-mana red, green, and white 3/3 that makes turns all of your nontoken artifacts into lands in addition to their other types, although they can’t tap for mana. Along with that, she lets you earthbend 2 in your end step, meaning you’ll put two +1/+1 counters on any land you control, and it becomes a 0/0 creature with haste.
Better yet, if that land creature dies or becomes exiled, it just comes back into play tapped instead of going away forever. This allows you to recur artifacts with a frightening degree of ease, just so long as you can earthbend them enough. This is a great card for all sorts of general nonsense, and can allow for some powerful strategies, especially regarding artifact cards.
Toph, the First Metalbender’s Weaknesses
Toph has no abilities during combat, no protection, and a soft three toughness. This means that she’s not going to be marching into battle on its own, nor can she deflect any targeted removal, and can be tagged by a Lightning Bolt. There are a decent number of weaknesses here, but to be fair, the strengths more than outweigh those by offering such a fun and unique way to play your Commander deck.
The Best Archetypes for Toph, the First Metalbender
The best archetypes for Toph, the First Metalbender are artifacts, earthbending, and land creature matters. It’s basically a good mix of earthbending to power up your artifacts and allow them to be brought back, and then buffs to our land creatures to enable them to attack and die again and again. There’s definitely a temptation to look into landfall strategy, but that’s going to be a side effect in the best decks, not the aim.
The Best MTG Cards You Should Play With Toph, the First Metalbender
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If you’re looking to break new ground with your very own Toph, the First Metalbender Commander deck, then we recommend including these cards:
- Ba Sing Se
- Toph, Greatest Earthbender
- Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender
- The Legend of Kyoshi
- Solid Ground
- Walking Ballista
- Arcbound Ravager
The Infinite MTG Combos You Can Play With Toph, the First Metalbender in Commander
So, there are a few infinite combos with Toph, the First Metalbender, and one of them immediately turns the Commander deck into a Bracket 4 or 5, and that’s pairing Toph with Mindslaver. With both cards in play, you can control an opponent on each of their turns, and this happens infinitely. This one is definitely a bit mean, but if you’re looking to build a more powerful version of Toph, this is the way to go.
The other notable combo is Toph alongside Springheart Nantuko and Lotus Cobra, which grants you infinite landfall triggers and tapped land tokens. All of the mentioned cards need to be on the battlefield, along with starting the combo by having a (untapped) land in hand, and need to tap for a mana of any color.
How to Play Toph, the First Metalbender in Commander
Ba Sing Se is an integral part of playing Toph in Commander, as this land lets us pay three mana to earthbend 2, and we can do this every turn. It’s hard to get earthbending without attacking or replaying creatures with the ability, so this is a big deal. If you want extra ways to grow those +1/+1 counters with earthbending, Hardened Scales is another neat addition. Toph, Greatest Earthbender allows you to earthbend equal to how much mana you spent to cast her, and also gives our land creatures double strike, which is fantastic for when combat happens.
READ MORE ABOUT AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER
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Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender earthbends 1 as he enters, then lets you put two +1/+1 counters on each land creature you control whenever he attacks. The Legend of Kyoshi is a saga that draws you cards equal to the greatest power among creatures you control as it enters, then earthbends equal to the number of cards in your hand and turns itself into an Island, then transforms into Avatar Kyoshi. The flipped side grants all of your lands with trample and hexproof, and taps for mana equal to the strongest creature you control. Now, keep in mind that all of the boons listed so far apply to all of our artifact creatures as long as Toph, the First Metalbender is in play. This is a notable boost to the power of our creatures, and means even the humble Ornithopter could become a massive threat.
Solid Ground
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Eternal-Legal, Uncommon
All of this makes for a deck that can passively buff creatures to incredible heights, then slam them down, along with any of those creatures potentially coming back from the grave. Toph, the First Metalbender is very resilient, strong, and should be a lot of fun at the Commander tables.