Appa, Steadfast Guardian – Avatar
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.0
Casual: 4.4
Limited: 4.1
Multiplayer: 3.9
Commander [EDH]: 4.1
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Appa is a character who stays with a lot of people who watch The Last Airbender. Not only is he cute, but much like Bloomburrow‘s animals, he reminds us that a lot of the qualities and emotions we think make us human also exist in the animal world. And good ones, like loyalty, courage, and perseverance. As such, it’s fitting that he wears the Ally type and even more fitting that he is all about the team. Remember Glorious Protector? I hope you do, because it’s a good card, and Appa gives you even more control over when and how his allies come back. They could well be coming back for much less than it cost to play them the first time, and they’ll even bring extra creatures to punish the opponent even more for interacting. I’m honestly a little surprised he gets so many abilities, but then again, Appa makes a big impression on viewers.
On top of that, it looks like Magic’s Avatar: The Last Airbender set might allow players to make a deck that’s both all animals and all Allies, and I think that sounds pretty neat.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
As mentioned earlier, I do not really know the Avatar: The Last Airbender lore aside from vagaries, so let’s cut to it. Appa, Steadfast Guardian caught my eye for his interesting combination of abilities: a sort of phasing effect, followed up by creating more tokens as they come back. These are certainly potent, and the interesting wrinkle here is the return off the Ally subtype from the Zendikar era. That opnes up a lot of potential, since Ally effects often trigger with and off of each other, so a fair few of these cards may have legs for that alone.
Appa certainly loks like he’d fit the bill. Four mana lets you get any of your nonland permanentsout of the way of danger, letting them come back later for 2 mana. Airbending is one of the four “bending” keywords throughout the set, and airbending is a good sort of “get out of the way” effect on its own. That said, if Appa is still around as things come back, he’ll also give you another body with those cards…and anything else rejoining the fray from exile.
Appa feels pretty dangerous; I don’t know how much, but he’s both a defensive tool and a way to build another army. For four mana, that’s pretty nice, and he even comes in as an acceptable body; a 3/4 with flying won’t win awards, but it can do the job in a pinch, and he threatens rude things if he does live to see another turn. Not wholly sure how great Appa will be in practice, but the ability to throw a defensive play that can easily pivot offensive is quite valuable, indeed.
Constructed: 4.25
Casual: 4.75
Limited: 4.75
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
Thijs
Avatar is upon us. After the – I think quite mediocre – results of Spider-Man, I’m curious to see how this will land among fans. It’s the third (!) Universes Beyond set this year, we’re now officially in the age of this-is-no-longer-an-experiment.
Appa apparently is Aang’s main mode of transportation in the Avatar Universe, that’s probably why he is an Ally alongside his bison-ness. He’s a flash creature with flying that lets you airbend other nonland permanents upon entering. Airbending is flickering with a new name and an extra cost. Basically you exile a permanent and it stays exiled until you recast it for 2 generic mana. Appa also creates a 1/1 creature token every time you cast a card from exile.
Here’s the fun thing: someone casts a board wipe, you cast Appa and exile all other nonland permanents and then return them all to the battlefield for 2 mana each. Nice trick Appa!
Constructed: 3,7
Casual: 4
Limited: 3,5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Magic the Gathering Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We would be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉
