This article was originally published on 9/11/06.

I didn’t really give Avatars in general much thought until Avatar Week here at magicdeckvortex.com rolled around. I’ve used Avatars, but I never really paid much attention to them, what they are and what they’re all about. A few of them caught my attention, just because of the abilities. Not because they’re Avatars. But after a little digging into the Avatars of Magic, I’ve become fascinated by this small corner of the game.

(Keep reading—there’s a contest at the end.)

Oddly enough, Avatars are not Legendary, although the Avatar tokens are. There is the 20/20 indestructable for 30 mana Marit Lage who enters from Dark Depths, and Kaldra, who pops out for one mana after three pieces of equipment are in play on the same side of the board. Some Avatars do what one would expect from an Avatar, such as the Scion of Darkness. That bad boy does what Black wants to do: Trample over its opponent’s creatures so that it can raid a fresh graveyard. It can be brought out early with a Dark Supplicant and three dead clerics (provided that they give their lives in sacrifice). That’s an effective beatstick, as far as Avatars go. Some just leech off of your other creatures.

What makes an Avatar?

This is just my opinion, and it’s open to debate. An Avatar needs to be bigger, better, stronger than other creature types, except maybe Legendary. I qualify that because there is the potential to have a true Avatar of a world-eating entity. In comics, the various characters who played herald to a certain entity who ate populated planets for a snack were pretty heavy hitters. And they were just the ones who told entire species that they were doomed. Think of the devouring entity as the Avatar of Hunger. Or Gluttony. Something big and powerful that took a lot of resources and strategy to defeat.

In Magic, there are several divisions of better-than-average creatures. Here are a few examples (yes, this is just a broad generalization, and is not meant to envelop all examples of each type):

• Legends: Some good, some bad, but they are all one-of-a-kind. This is the highest level of what a character, creature type, or idea can be. They embody more than just the spirit of an idea, they have created themselves in the idea’s image.
• Lords: The ruling class among a subtype. These boost the type/subtype’s features (+1/+1 and Forestwalk, in the case of the Elvish Champion), or give some other reward for a player using creatures of the type.
• Patrons: There are slightly lower on the food chain, since they come with a higher price (though a sacrifice will tempt them out of hiding sooner). They offer a decent return on the investment, but it’s not as bold as a Lord’s.
• Incarnations: These are close to “Avatar lite.” They are representations of an idea, incarnations of something greater than themselves. And when their bodies are finished, they live on in spirit, aiding those left behind.

There is another type of creature that doesn't exist as of yet in Magic, but one that is discussed later in the article. It's a type that I call "Kings". They draw their power from a certain creature type, but they aren't exactly a representation of what those creatures are. They reflect the sheer numbers of the creature type, getting their strength from legions of followers, or failing when there are few (or none) left. These are on the edge of what I consider Avatars to be, but they don't quite have the embodiment factor that an Avatar should have. (The difference is between the Doubtless One and the Scion of the Ur-Dragon.

The Patrons and Incarnations are actual types tjat haven’t been used outside of their own sets, but they help show what else has been done. But the question is: what makes an Avatar?

Avatar, according to Dictionary.com

av•a•tar n.
1. The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
2. An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
3. A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity: occultism in its present avatar.

Since there aren’t any “deities,” per se, in Magic, the first doesn’t work as it is. The last two, however, are very close to how Avatars are used in paper Magic. (I know little about the electronic Avatars in Magic: the Gathering Online, other than they do nifty things for you when you use one of them.)

What I expect from an Avatar is a big, splashy effect that goes beyond giving my creatures flying while it’s in my graveyard or granting certain creatures a little buff and a side ability. It’s the embodiment of an idea, a manifestation of something greater. Something that couldn’t exist purely on its own. Look at the Scion of Darkness again. That is as Black as you can get, chock full of trample-y goodness and graveyard theft. It is the embodiment of Black—its desires, its drives, its attitude. An Avatar should be something that your creatures look at in awe, and that your opponents look at in fear.

Through the Years

Looking over the list of Avatars, there are few and they’ve changed since the beginnings of Magic. The color wheel has been solidified, and the creatures have been streamlined. The early Avatars could never be printed in today’s game, since they do things that enemy colors do, or they don’t have the right flavor for the colors that they’re in.

Here’s a quick rundown of the Avatars by set, oldest first. This is just a very general overview, as some of these are covered in more detail in other articles.

Personal Incarnation: This beefy Avatar is the granddaddy of ‘em all. With a P/T of 6/6, it should have set the standard for all Avatars that followed. Its ability is redirection—moving damage from itself to its owner—and it hurts when it goes into the graveyard. It brings a lot of pain, both to the enemy players and its own controller. It’s White, but if it were to see inclusion in one of today’s sets, my guess is that it would be White/Black.

Ebon Praetor: Out of Fallen Empires, this is a 5/5 trampling first striker that demands a blood sacrifice during your upkeep. If it weren’t for the first strike thing, I’d call this pure Black, worthy of Avatar status.

Hand of Justice: Another FE Avatar, from before the color pie was solidified. It has a very White feel to it, until you get to what it really does. Today’s White doesn’t have much in the way of overt creature destruction, but the Hand is a walking Terror without the drawback. It’s a defender, but in a weenie deck, this thing is a machine gun nest. Throw in Blue to keep untapping it, and it’s a one-sided Wrath of God.

Ethereal Champion: This is the Personal Incarnation’s little brother. For the cost of one life, one damage is prevented to it. That still feels like a Black/White ability to me, though. It’s not as strong or as tough as the Incarnation, but it has the same taste with damage redirection. It was last printed in Sixth Edition, which really wasn’t that long ago. It just seems odd to me that White Avatars would bring so much pain to their controllers.

Serra Avatar: This is where the idea of an Avatar really began to get strange. P/T equal to your life total, and it never goes away. Your opponent might be able to take away its physical form, but the spirit of what it embodies lives on, to return at a whim. There is only one way to stop it, and that’s remove the idea.

The Prophecy Avatars are interesting, because they are the embodiment of the different colors’ ideals at the time. And they have much cheaper costs for different game conditions. Spiffy.

Avatar of Fury: As long as your opponent controls seven or more lands (something that Red usually doesn’t like—it’s the color of choice for land destruction), this 6/6 flying, firebreathing beater comes in for two Red.

Avatar of Hope: Aptly named, this thing can block every critter your opponent throws at it. Handy to have when you’re at less than 3 life, when you can pay two White for it. With one of these and an Armadillo Cloak, the game’s all but won.

Avatar of Might: This truly is Big Green. An 8/8 trampler for two Green, but only if you let your opponent flood the board with weenies first.

Avatar of Will: This one is a little confusing to me… Its cost is a mere two Blue when your opponent has Hellbent. The thing has a 5/6 body, which is nice, but it only has flying. No nifty ability like “2 colorless, 1 Blue, tap: Counter target spell”? It doesn’t quite have the feel of an Avatar to me, and it’s not quite Blue—getting your opponent to 0 cards in hand is more of a Black thing, and it doesn’t have the nice secondary effect.

Avatar of Woe: This is back to being what an Avatar should be. Send ten creatures to their doom, and it’s a mere two Black to play. A 6/5 body that can’t be blocked except by Black or artifact creatures, AND it taps to send another creature (of any color) to the graveyard. It’s everything Black can be. An army of woe.

This is where we get into Extended-legal territory. With one exception. Some of these are what I want from an Avatar, while some are just kings in disguise.

Doubtless One: This is the first “king.” It’s the embodiment of Clerics, with P/T equal to the number of Clerics in play. I like that mechanic. It’s simple, it shows that the creature represents its brethren, but it’s not quite the embodiment of the ideal. Even with the soul link, it just doesn’t give me what I want in an embodiment. It’s more like a leader that’s more than a Lord, but not quite an Avatar, which is why I look at it as more like a king. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve been on the wrong end of these things, and they hurt. They’re good cards. I’m just not sure about the “Avatar” thing. If it did other things that Clerics like to do (such as redirect damage or prevent it), I’d be more convinced of its Avatar-ness.

Heedless One: Again, with a P/T equal to the Elves in play, it’s nothing to sneeze at in an Elf deck. But it only has trample. Not quite up to Avatar status to me.

Nameless One: It morphs. It gets bigger when Wizards come into play. But that’s all it does.

Reckless One: This one has haste, which is nice—particularly when there are a bunch of Goblins in play.

Soulless One: It looks for Zombies in graveyards. It makes sense, and solid decks can be built around it. But there’s no pizzazz, nothing that screams, “Look at me! I’m an Avatar!”

These could have been better (and have a higher mana cost) if they did something for the creatures that they represent. Which goes back to calling them “kings.” Kings do nothing except grow rich off of the labors of the governed. Even the elected ones.

Scion of Darkness: I like this card. Probably too much. It’s unhealthy. It’s the Avatar of Darkness. But it acts like an Avatar. This bad boy does what Black wants to do: Trample over its opponent’s creatures so that it can raid a fresh graveyard. It can be brought out early with a Dark Supplicant and three dead clerics (provided that they give their lives in sacrifice). That’s an effective beatstick, as far as Avatars go.

Avatar of Me: Even though this is from Unglued (and therefore illegal in most countries), the Avatar of Me has almost everything that an Avatar should. It is an in-game manifestation of a player, the physical form of a being that cannot exist inside the game. Of all the Avatars in Magic, this is as close to what I think an Avatar should be as any of them. It turns the player into an abstract idea from the board’s point of view. The only thing missing is “Avatar of Me has protection from the color of your hair.”

Kaldra: This Avatar isn't a card, and it's Legendary. It's pretty vanilla at a colorless 4/4, but it gets its sword, helm, and shield equipped to it as soon as it hits the board. That makes Kaldra a little sick and wrong. Kind of like Voltron when the lions come together, Kaldra is greater than the sum of his parts.

Ravnica block brought back some of the old ideas for what an Avatar should be. The only problem is that it went both ways—the big, splashy effect route and the “king” route.

Excruciator: You gotta love a card with a name that could double as a title for a Schwarzenegger movie. With a P/T of 7/7 and unprevetable damage, this thing could double as Schwarzenegger.

Scion of the Wild: This is just a rebuilt Onslaught “Avatar” (king) without the restriction of creature type.

Sanguine Praetor: This is another fully Black Avatar. It kills one of its own to kill a lot of others. When the board is clear, it can swing for 7 points a shot. Get the right mana curve with this, and it’s better than those Kirin from Kamigawa.

Avatar of Discord: I liked this card a lot more before I started writing about Avatars. Until this one came along, I hadn’t given much thought to Avatars as a creature type. It has a lot of utility, but it’s also the weakest of the Avatars. How does it embody discord? It flies, it hits for five, and it makes you discard two cards. All of which is pretty good for three mana. But there’s no big effect, other than accelerating Hellbent along with some smackdown. When I think of discord, I think of traitors. Betrayal. Mutineers. Chaos. The random exchange of half of your permanents with an opponent. Something that tastes like discord.

Stalking Vengeance: ...embodies vengeance. A creature dies, but with its last gasp it hits an opponent for sending it away. That lives up to its Avatar status.

The last two are from Coldsnap, which is technically between Ice Age and Alliances. But it’s Extended- and Standard-legal. For a long time.

Herald of Leshrac: I keep thinking of this as a Blue card, even though it’s Black. Blue reeks of land theft, but this Avatar does lean toward Black. You’re rewarded for stealing your opponent’s lands. A lot of your opponent’s lands. I haven’t read the story behind Leshrac and his Herald, but this does seem to embody something more focused than just an idea. Maybe WotC is moving toward using Avatars as incarnations of the powerful characters in the Magic worlds…

Marit Lage: When I saw the preview for Dark Depths, I was awed. A 20/20 creature with an indestructable body. The problem is the cost-- it takes 30 mana to get that. But I know there's a way to break that card...

Special

And this has just been added. I'm sure others will be previewing this one for Avatar Week. One of the preview cards that makes me want to subscribe to Scrye Magazine:

Scion of the Ur-Dragon - WUBRG
Legendary Creature - Dragon Avatar (Rare)
Flying
2: Search your library for a Dragon card and put it into your graveyard. If you do, Scion of the Ur-Dragon becomes a copy of that card until end of turn. Then shuffle your library.
4/4

I just saw it in the forums, and I think I just wet myself. It’s like seeing the Scion of Darkness all over again. The first time I saw a Gold card. The feeling of awe that I had right before a 48/48 Nightmare hit me in my first multiplayer game. This, to me, is just cool. Probably not a card I’d play a lot, but it has the coolness factor that keeps me coming back to the game.

This is an Avatar. A true Scion. The only problem for play is the casting cost. It fits the flavor of the card (which tastes like barbecued opponents). The Scion portals in, then assumes the form of one of its lessers to do the work that it must do.

It looks like Wizards is moving in the right direction with Avatars. Bigger, flashier, and with improved special abilities. This is close to what Avatars can be, and should be.

56 Lines about 23 Avatars

After all of that, I’m still left wondering exactly what Avatar means in Magic: the Gathering. There doesn’t seem to be a hard-and-fast rule about how Avatars are built, but there are a few things that are consistent.

• Avatars are big. With high power/toughness, they are fatties.
• Avatars have decent special abilities without big drawbacks. Or they get bigger among their tribes.
• Avatars with a high converted mana cost have alternative payment arrangements.
• Avatars are not legendary. They don’t mind hanging around with others like themselves.
• Avatars embody something that can’t be easily defined, or they represent a race.

There are cycles that have some of the qualities of Avatars, such as the Kamigawa Dragons or the Mirrodin Bringers, but they don’t quite have what it takes to be an Avatar. (It makes me wonder if Kokusho, the Evening Star would be as powerful if it weren’t Legendary, if the Dragons had been Avatars instead.) These represent what the colors want to do, they embody the ideals of the colors they represent.

There are so few Avatars in Magic compared to other subtypes. But that’s what makes them special. They’re unexplored territory, with new Avatars popping up every few years to let the rest of us know that they’re still around. Some of them feel like Legends, but they have a quality about them that puts them out of reach of the Legend rule. They’re unique, but not to the point of wanting to be the only one. There’s something about Avatars that make them interesting to players and threatening to opponents by simply existing.

The Reckless One is a threat just because of the classic Goblin deck. It doesn’t need to be in the deck to worry an opponent. Quick aside: I won one game because my opponent held onto his removal for the Reckless One that he knew was coming out at any time. After he found out that I wasn’t running the Reckless One in the deck, he beat me consistently. The possibility was enough to keep him at bay.

Avatars can be useful in casual play, and can serve as substitutes for the big power-finishers in tournament decks. Can’t afford a Kokusho? Call the Excruciator. Avatars just beg to have decks built around them. Which brings me to the first Casual Violence contest.

Scion-dipity

This was inspired by Lionden_56’s article, “The Games People Play: Tournament Style!” Instead of hiding what’s in the deck, you’ll be filling in the blanks.

The Scion of Darkness is one of those cards that I’ve wanted to use since the first time I saw it when I opened a Legions booster. It was the first Avatar I’d seen. Since I’ve played Black since the beginning, it shone like a new penny. Beatdown with graverobbing recursion. It embodied everything that I’d imagine in an Avatar. I haven’t used it yet because I have only one Dark Supplicant. I’ve bought collections of Onslaught/Legions/Scourge Black commons and uncommons in the hopes of netting two or three more of those little Cleric-eating engines. Yet I still have only one. But, I can dream (and keep my decklist ready for when I do get them).

NOTE: The contest was removed since it is done and over with... ~Streetz~ 12/25/06

Best of luck in the deck building contest and please enjoy the rest of MDV's Avatar Week.

~Casual Violence~

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.

Articles Spotlights from 2006
The Games People Play - Tactical Magic.
If I worked at R&D
The Beginner’s Guide to Rogue
Druid Week Primer
Opting In: Ravnica
MDV Idol: Finale!
Avatar Week Primer
Delusions of Mediocrity: Getting Stuffy in Here.
Raiding Ravnica: Guildmages and You!
Lands-More than Mana: Part One