Earthbend is a new MTG keyword action, introduced with Avatar: The Last Airbender set. In this article, we’ll talk about everything you need to know about it in order to unlock its full potential.
Let’s get right into it.
How Does Earthbending Work?
Earthbending always has a number associated with it. To earthbend X, target a land you control. It becomes a 0/0 creature with haste and you put X +1+/1 counters on it.
If that land creature dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped. (It’s no longer a creature.)
So, you’re turning one of your lands into a creature — without the risk of losing your mana source permanently. Even if your opponent destroys/exiles it, you’re getting it back.
Examples
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples to see this mechanic in practice.
Earhtbending Lesson actually has a Lesson card type, but let’s focus on its main effect, which is pretty simple. You pay four mana for a sorcery, to earthbend 4.
So, you target your land, which becomes a 0/0 creature and you put four +1/+1 counter on it. The land is now a 4/4. If it dies or is exiled, you return it back to the battlefield tapped. It’s not a creature but at least, you’ll be able to use it for mana on later turns.
Here’s another example, that’s also a great commander for this mechanic.
Toph turns all of your nontoken artifacts into lands. (But without the ability to be tapped for mana.) Furthermore, at your each end step you earthbend 2.
So, you turn your land into a 0/0 and put a couple of counters on it. Plus, you get it back if it dies or is exiled. Combined with the first ability, that’s actually a pretty neat way to protect your artifacts.
MTG Earthbend – FAQ
Now you know about the basics of this mechanic, but perhaps you want to learn more about a specific edge case. Here are the answers to some weird scenarios that might come up.
Yes, you can. This means that you simply add additional counters to it. So if you first earthbend 2, then earthbend 3 on a same land, you’re left with a 5/5.
Yes, you can.
It doesn’t get returned to the battlefield tapped. Instead, you’ll have to replay it.
No, it doesn’t. You can still tap it for mana and activate its other abilities.
Yes, you can. The earthbend mechanic creates a 0/0 creature with haste.
Yes, it does. The lands will get twice as many counters.
Congratulations, you’ve made an indestructible creature.
Conclusion
That’s all about the earthbending mechanic. As always, feel free to leave a comment below, if there’s something that we didn’t cover about it.
If you enjoy this mechanic, and want to open some cool cards with it, you can order an Avatar Play booster box on Amazon. It contains 30 boosters, so hopefully you’ll get some great pulls.
If you’re looking for more information about this set check out the following articles:
- Full-Art Appa Lands (basic lands featuring your favorite sky bison)
- Avatar Scene Boxes (cards that create a large image when put together)
- Avatar Commander’s Bundle (a brand-new product)
Until next time, have fun turning your lands into creatures, and may you always have just enough of them, and never too many.
What if Zoph dies while you control an artifact on which you used earthbend? Since when she is in play, artifacts become lands. Would the artifact lose the earthbending ability since it is not a land anymore or would it keep it?
Great question. The artifact would stop being a land, but it would remain a 0/0 creature with two +1+/1 counters on it. (Assuming you used earthbend 2 on it.)
It would keep the “return to battlefield tapped” ability. It only needs to be a land to be the original target of earthbending.
That’s true yeah. Forgot to mention that in my first comment, thanks for pointing it out.
Would a artifact in hand still count as a land? For cards like Burgeoning.
I assume you mean with Toph in play. It wouldn’t work for artifacts in hand — as you don’t control them yet.
If a spell that returns a creature is used on an earthbent land, does the land lose its counters and earthbent characteristics? Like if you play the land again, can it be destroyed?
Yeah. The land comes back like its regular version. It can be destroyed, it’s no longer a creature, it doesn’t have counters anymore.
What if you sacrifice a land that was Earthbend, would the land come back after you sacrifice it?
Great question – yes, it would! So this opens up some cool possibilities with sacrifice theme.
Would toph, first metal bender ability be considered a characteristic defining ability
No, it wouldn’t. CDAs only affect the object they’re on. They don’t affect other things.
When a card with earthbend dies does it come back with earthbend still?
Do you mean a land that was earthbended onto? It comes back “without earthbend” just like you’d play it from your hand. (Except it’s tapped)
Ok here’s a tricky one. You use Liquidmetal Torque to make Toph an artifact in addition to its other types. Naturally Toph’s own ability makes it a Legendary Artifact Creature Land. Since Toph is s land, Toph can Earthbend herself.
Liquidmetal Torque’s ability lasts till the end of turn, after the end step earthbend 2 trigger, what happens when Toph stops being an artifact/land and then Toph is destroyed/exiled?
Neat interaction. Toph would keep the two +1/+1 counters. When she is destroyed or exiled, she will return to the battlefield tapped. (Just like anything else would if it was a target of the earthbend ability.)
Would Toph be a 2/2 or a 5/5 in this situation?
If you make Toph an artifact and then earthbend her, she becomes a 2/2 creature with haste (base 0/0 with two +1/+1 counters).
If you have Ashaya, Soul of the Wild in play, can a creature with earthbending (say Earthbending Student) target itself upon entering the battlefield and create a loop? That is, if the earthbending creature dies/get exiled, provided that you still have Ashaya on the battlefield, the creature re-enters tappen and chooses itself as a earthbending target once again. As I understand earthbending, it doesn’t remove the textbox from the creature, it just gives it 0/0 and adds +1/+1 counters, right?
Oh, that’s a great interaction, and you are right. A combination of Ashaya + creature that earthbends on ETB + sacrifice outlet will create a loop. It gives you infinite enters and die triggers, but it doesn’t quite win the game by itself.
How would Arixmethes, the Slumbering Isle react to earthbend, specifically what happens when I earthbend it while it is still a land and then remove the slumber counters. Will Arixmethes stay a 0/0 creature with some earthbend counters on it or turn into a 12/12 Kraken with +1/+1 counters on it?
Once you earthbend something, its base P/T becomes 0/0. Essentially, slumber counters become meaningless here, as it is now a 0/0 creature with some counters.
But at least you’ll get it back if it dies or is exiled. (Tapped, but otherwise the same as if you’d just play it from your hand.)
How would earthbending interact with Ashaya, Soul of the Wild + the manifest dread mechanic? If a card that is face down is earthbent, can it still be flipped over? In that case what would it’s P/T be? And if it is killed while face down with earthbending applied, does it come back face up or face down?
Yeah, you turn it face up if it’s a creature card by paying its mana cost. It will still have base 0/0 stats, though.
If it dies or is exiled, It’ll return face up tapped if it’s a permanent card. (With its regular stats.)
How about if your land creature gets airbended? Airbend says that you can cast it again for 2 mana while it’s exiled. However, I believe you don’t ‘cast’ lands you can only ‘play’ lands?
You are correct — lands can’t be cast, they are only played. Thus, if a land creature is exiled with airbending, it’ll remain in the exile and you aren’t able to deploy it again.
Now, given that this mechanic will see a lot of play alongside earthbending, let’s check what happens when an earthbent land creature gets airbent. In that case, it’s exiled — but returned to the battlefield tapped (It’s no longer a creature), thanks to the earthbend effect.
Let’s say you have Toph, First Metalbender and Mycosynth Lattice on the battlefield and have Ajani, Nacatl Pariah earthbent. If you exile Ajani to transform, would earthbend prevent the transformation?
No, it wouldn’t.
What happens when i earthbend one equipment that one creature is using?
From rule 301.5: “An Equipment that’s also a creature can’t equip a creature.”
So, if you earthbend an equipment a creature is using it becomes unattached. (It will fall off.)
1. How would Artifact equipments work with earthbending? The artifact made land creature wouldn’t get the “equipped creature gets …” effects or “equipped creature does x on attack” trigger effects it gives, correct?
2. Artifacts that have “when this artifact is put from the battlefield into the graveyard” effects, do those still trigger if earthbended? Do they even hit the graveyard at all? Same with “dies” effects
1. Yes, that is correct. You also wouldn’t be able to use its equip ability.
2. Yes, these kind of effects would still trigger, as they do hit a graveyard.
What happens when I earthbend Hagra Broodpit and it dies, will it come back to the battlefield and if yes, will it be Hagra Mauling since that’s the front side?
It will not return, since the front face is an instant card, and instant (or sorcery) cards can’t enter the battlefield. It will remain in the graveyard. (Or in exile if it was exiled.)
If the card would be a creature like Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation would he come back on his frontside ?
Yes. If a double-faced card would enter the field without being cast, it enters front-face-up. (As long as it’s a permanent.)
What happens if you steal a land and earth bend it, would the land reenter under my control or my opponents when it dies or gets exiled?
It’s based on who earthbent it. If you stole it, and earthbend it, you’ll get it back when it dies / is exiled.
What happens if I earthbend Inkmoth Nexus, then activate it later? Does it become a 1/1 or stay a 0/0?
You’ll set it at 1/1 and it will still have the +1/+1 counters from earthbending.
Can you target a earthbend land that is already a creature with a spell that says no land targets?
No. It’s still a land, so you can target it with something that says “target nonland”.
Ok just got done playing a game of commander and I was the last one alive. I had “Toph the first metal bender” out and “the “ozolith” along with a lot of lands and artifacts all earthbent. The opponent casted Fairwell and choose everything basically a boardwipe. Would all my earthbent lands and artifacts comeback after being exiled and then all the counters then move to “the ozolith”? Because of tophs flavor text which states (When it dies or is exiled, return it to the battlefield tapped.)
Yes, your earthbent permanents would return to the battlefield tapped. The counters wouldn’t be put on Ozolith after it returns, as it doesn’t “see” creatures leaving the battlefield. (The triggers would happen with previous Ozolith, which is no longer in play at that point.)