The Gathering's Best Avatar Commander is already done, and it's not Aang

There is a much more positive undertone to all the cards revealed for the Avatar set Magic: The Gathering compared to Spider-Man, with fans praising how well the IP seems to fit in MTGs world and card mechanics. With four interesting core mechanics tied to the elemental bending types from Avatar, the new Magic: The Gathering the set has tons of combo potential within it and also with other sets and fan favorite cards. As an Eternal format, this can be especially true for Commander, which already has incredible combos like the infamous Thassa's Oracle + Demonic Consultation. Now, a new commander from Avatar is on the rise, and it could be quite powerful.

MTGKatara, Waterbending Master is an OP commander for mono-blue decks, and cards like Aang, at the Crossroads are already competing for the spot of the best commanders from the set. Some cards are just as good in 99 and prove to be versatile in all Commander decks. One such card is the recently revealed Wan Shi Tong, All-Knowing, which could easily be the best commander from the Avatar set, or the best card to fit in the 99, if not both. This is due to a few reasons:

Wan Shi Tong has synergies with many Commander staples (especially in cEDH), such as:
- Sisay, Weatherlight Captain can tutor for it and/or use it to boost himself.
- Valley Floodcaller interrupts it due to its bird subtype and also gives it +1/+1 whenever a non-creature spell is cast.
- Infinite mana drops in decks like Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy or Flubs, the Fool.
- Combos with Hullbreaker Horror for endless card draw.
- Powerful synergy with Tymna, the Weaver, who is one of the most powerful and most played commanders in the game.
- Great reaction card to use against fetchlands or tutor cards, thanks to its flash ability.
Wan Shi Tong is best cast during an opponent's turn, even for just 2 blue mana, as it can get multiple +1/+1 counters in a turn cycle in Commander games due to how many Tutor-like abilities are played.
MTG's Rhystic Study can provide a powerful stax combo with Wan Shi Tong due to the former drawing cards and the latter becoming more powerful when a tutor is used.

It's worth noting that, as a commander, Wan Shi Tong is not immune to the so-called “Commander Tax”, meaning that the extra mana needed to cast it from the zone cannot be diluted into X fraction of its cost. If it was removed once, for example, players must pay 1 generic and 2 blue to cast it, then add X mana as they wish.

Say hello to Magic: The Gathering's Best Commander Card in Avatar: The Last Airbender

The reason why Wan Shi Tong can be so strong as a commander lies in the fact that it is instantly available to cast from the command zone. Since most Commander decks have at least some tutor-like cards (ie fetches, ramp cards that draw lands from the library, true tutor cards like Demonic Tutor, and tutor-like abilities like Sisays), it's going to be very unlikely that Wan Shi Tong won't get bigger and more powerful in any given Commander game. Considering it also has both flight and vigilance, Wan Shi Tong can be a great attacker and blocker in battle once powered up.

How to play MTG's Wan Shi Tong, All-knowing in Commander

Much like some of the best commanders in the MTGWan Shi Tong can work wonders with various combinations and strategies. It could be built as a Bird Tribe deck, it could serve as a potential candidate for Voltron strategies, it could push any card draw strategy readily available in the command zone, and it could work perfectly in artifact-matter decks.

A powerful Voltron card in MTG to consider for Wan Shi Tong is Commander Plate, which, for 1 generic to cast and 3 generic to equip, would give it +3/+3 and protection from white, black, red, and green.

The possibilities of Wan Shi Tong are endless, and because it doesn't cater to a specific playstyle, it remains very flexible. Still, since this is a mono-blue commander, it is inherently bound to play interaction spells like Flusterstorm, Fierce Guardianship, and other counterspells in MTGwhich are necessary to keep it alive for migrations, so that it can continue to grow in power.