Earthbending in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Last updated on January 9, 2026

Toph, the Blind Bandit | Illustration by Yueko

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a TV show that tells the story of Aang, a little boy who’ll eventually become the Avatar, but he’ll first have to learn to manipulate the elements, like earth, fire, and water. Learning how to earthbend is an important part of his journey, and he’ll have to rely on earthbending masters, like Toph and Bumi.

This exciting new Avatar set introduces us to all these, and today, we’re focusing our attention solely on earthbending. This new mechanic is capable of making the land fight for you, like a big chunk of animated rock, so let’s see everything about it, including rules and best cards. Avatar has a generous number of earthbending cards, and most of them are pretty powerful, so let’s dive in!  

How Does Earthbending Work?

Earthbending Lesson | Illustration by Toni Infante

When you earthbend X, target land you control becomes a 0/0 creature with haste that’s still a land. Put X +1/+1 counters on it. When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.

It’s a relatively safe way to put counters onto a land and turn it into a creature with haste, because even if it dies, you get the land back onto the battlefield tapped. That won’t happen if the land gets bounced, so good old Unsummon can be a nice tempo answer to the mechanic.

Some spells will just earthbend X, like Earthbending Lesson, so we can compare that to a vanilla 4/4 creature card. Others will earthbend as added benefits, such as Toph, the First Metalbender. Among other implementations, we also have creatures that earthbend when they enter or die, as you’d expect in a traditional MTG set.

The History of Earthbending in MTG

Earthbend was first designed in 2025, in the sets Avatar: The Last Airbender (TLA) and Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal (TLE). The flavor of earthbend is more connected to the earth and land, which is primarily green in MTG, so it makes sense that earthbend is mainly a green mechanic and secondary in black.

Due to the naming conventions, earthbending and all other bending mechanics from Avatar are unlikely to appear in Magic again outside of Avatar-aligned products.

Can You Earthbend the Same Land More Than Once?

You can. The mechanic doesn’t say anything specific about targeting a “noncreature” land. So if you earthbend 2 on your Forest, it’s a 0/0 Forest with two +1/+1 counters on it. Later, if you earthbend 3 on the same land, it will still be a 0/0 land, and it will get three more +1/+1 counters. Just beware putting all your eggs in one basket, because if they kill the land in response, you’ll lose both the land you had on the battlefield and sometimes the secondary effects on your earthbending spell.

Can the Lands Still Tap for Mana?

Sure. The mechanic explicitly says that the earthbended land is still a land, and thus it retains its mana-generating capabilities. It can still be tapped to generate mana. It also gains haste, so it's unaffected by summoning sickness.

Can You Earthbend a Creature Land?

You can earthbend a creature land, considering that earthbend targets any land you control. Note that manlands will turn into 0/0s and lose their base stats. If you already have a creature land in play, like Dryad Arbor, and you earthbend it, it becomes a 0/0 creature with two +1/+1 counters. That'll effectively leave you with a 2/2 Dryad Arbor.

Does Earthbend Untap the Land?

It doesn’t. Earthbend doesn’t say it'll untap the land, so if you tapped a land to generate the needed mana to cast the earthbending spell, pay attention to how you’re tapping – especially on MTG Arena where the land autotapper sometimes makes bad decisions for the players.

Does the Land Gain a Creature Type?

No, the land is just a creature with no types. It’s mainly a creature you can attack and block with. So, you’re not turning your land into an “earth creature” or “plant creature” of some sort. Just for comparison, the awaken mechanic turns creatures into 0/0 elemental creature lands, but earthbending does not.

Can You Counter Earthbend?

Earthbending is a targeted ability since it targets a specific land. So, destroying the land can make the spell or ability fizzle. For example, Earthbending Lesson is a 4-mana sorcery that earthbends 4. If you destroy the land that's targeted in response, Earthbending Lesson doesn’t have a valid target anymore and is put into the graveyard without resolving.

Another interesting situation is with the card Rebellious Captives. When a player pays mana to exhaust it, they’ll put two +1/+1 counters on it and earthbend 2. In this case, you can kill the target land in response and counter the whole exhaust ability. Note that cards that destroy or bounce a land at instant speed are usually not maindeckable, so this will rarely happen, unless you earthbend a land that’s already a creature.  

Does the Animated Land Have Summoning Sickness?

A land that becomes a creature can have summoning sickness, but MTG designers have already identified this as a potential rules and gameplay issue. For this reason, the earthbending mechanic already gives the animated creature haste, so it can attack right away.

Gallery and List of Earthbend Cards

• Aang, at the Crossroads / Aang, Destined Savior
• Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender
• Badgermole
• Badgermole Cub
• Ba Sing Se
• Beifong's Bounty Hunters
• Bitter Work
• Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender
• Bumi, King of Three Trials
• Bumi's Feast Lecture
• Bumi, Unleashed
• Cracked Earth Technique
• Dai Li Agents
• Dai Li Indoctrination
• Earthbender Ascension
• Earthbending Lesson
• Earthbending Student
• Earthen Ally
• Earth Kingdom General
• Earth Rumble
• Earthshape
• Earth Village Ruffians
• Fatal Fissure
• Haru, Hidden Talent
• Rebellious Captives
• Rockalanche
• Sandbenders' Storm
• Solid Ground
• The Boulder, Ready to Rumble
• The Cave of Two Lovers
• The Legend of Kyoshi / Avatar Kyoshi
• Toph, Earthbending Master
• Toph, Greatest Earthbender
• Toph, Hardheaded Teacher
• Toph, the Blind Bandit
• Toph, the First Metalbender

Best Earthbend Cards

These are the best cards with the earthbend mechanic, or the cards that are most likely to see Constructed play. While Avatar Aang has earthbend in its rules text, it doesn’t earthbend; it’s more of a payoff to the mechanic, so I’ve left it off the list.

#10. Earthen Ally

Earthen Ally is a 1-drop that scales as the game goes by, which is a strong indicator of a good card, at least in Standard and Casual EDH. This card can be a 2/2 for 1 mana or stronger, and it’s a solid plan to turn 7 mana into an earthbend 5 activation late in the game.

#9. The Legend of Kyoshi / Avatar Kyoshi

I love The Legend of Kyoshi as a value card. My only gripe is that it’s so dependent on you having a big creature to draw some cards. And if your opponent removes it in response, your saga will be very slow. But when you cast this card and have a 4/4 around, you draw 4 cards and usually get a minimum 4/4 land. Later, Avatar Kyoshi can generate a bunch of mana, besides being a trample enabler for all your lands.

#8. Ba Sing Se

A green land that can earthbend as an activated ability later in the game is a solid addition. Ba Sing Se won’t enter tapped in mono-color or 2-color decks, so these should be the best homes. This land is also very solid in +1/+1 counter decks.

#7. Earthbender Ascension

Three mana gives you a land, a card, and a quest counter on this card, and you need to get to four. Earthbender Ascension is a solid card, and a good way to ramp in enchantment-heavy decks. Many landfall decks can produce giant creatures like Kazandu Mammoth, and this card can turn a 5/5 or bigger into an even bigger trampler.

#6. Toph, Greatest Earthbender

With Toph, Greatest Earthbender, you get at least a 4/4 double strike land when you cast it for the first time, and a bigger land if commander tax is added. But just giving double strike to your land army is an excellent addition.

#5. Bumi, Unleashed

Bumi, Unleashed is slightly higher on this list because it’s Standard legal. But the package is also solid, considering you get a 5/4 trampler and a 4/4 land. The big trample body gets some extra attack steps, so we’re talking a 9-power attack followed by a 4-power one. Not bad at all.

#4. Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender

Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender has the biggest earthbending ability in MTG. It’s huge to get a 6/6 with hexproof and an 8/8 land, and you can get a new 8/8 land every turn. I look forward to seeing this card alongside something like Doubling Season.

#3. Toph, the First Metalbender

Toph, the First Metalbender is the clear Commander card to build around creature lands in Naya colors. Each turn, you’ll earthbend 2, and you can do that on your nontoken artifacts, like your Ornithopters, mana rocks, or your indestructible artifact lands. This is a commander you’ll want to pair with proliferate effects, or cards like Hardened Scales.  

#2. Toph, Earthbending Master

The part that interests me most in Toph, Earthbending Master is how easy it is to rack up experience counters with landfall. This card should be an easy inclusion in Commander decks like Meren of Clan Nel Toth or Azlask, the Swelling Scourge. Earthbending each turn is a powerful strategy, and the lands Toph produces snowball easily.

#1. Badgermole Cub

Badgermole Cub is one of the best cards in Avatar: The Last Airbender, period. By itself, it’s a 2/2 and a 1/1 land, but the best part is the mana-doubling ability. You can have a situation when you cast a turn-1 mana dork, this card, and your dork generates 2 mana. And all your earthbent lands also generate double the mana. Not bad for a creature.

Best Earthbending Payoffs

Earthbending is a mechanic that deals with different aspects, like +1/+1 counters and turning lands into creatures, so let’s look at cards that benefit from earthbending the most.

Avatar Aang draws you a card each time you earthbend, and it’s a nice payoff for all the different bending arts.

Many cards in MTG are lords for land creatures, including Tatyova, Steward of Tides, Blossoming Tortoise, and Jyoti, Moag Ancient. Avatar Kyoshi is also a strong trample and hexproof enabler.

The Ozolith and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire are excellent cards that synergize with +1/+1 counters in general. If your earthbent lands were to die, you can preserve the counters or add more +1/+1 counters than you normally would.

When I think about the biggest earthbending cards, and Avatar Kyoshi, Earthbender in particular, then cards like Vorel of the Hull Clade and Simic Ascendancy come to mind.

Bumi cards have a strong connection with the land as well. Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender adds two +1/+1 counters to your lands, while Bumi, Unleashed gives you an extra combat step.

Nissa planeswalker cards like Nissa, Vital Force, and Nissa, Worldwaker can turn your earthbent 0/0 lands into something fiercer.

Planar Outburst is the perfect sweeper if you earthbend a lot. You can even add one more land creature to your army by awakening it.

Wrap Up

Toph, the First Metalbender | Illustration by Eilene Cherie

And that’s all about earthbend for now, guys. Earthbend is a solid mechanic for Limited, and it gives us something to do with our lands in the late game, not to mention the synergies with +1/+1 counters. We probably won’t seeing earthbend again as a mechanic due to the strong flavor tie with the Avatar IP, but it’s not impossible to do a geomancer design in the future that eventually earthbends or something like that.

What’s your take on earthbend? Are you including earthbending cards in your favorite decks? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it over in the Draftsim Discord.

Until next time, stay safe!