Aang, Airbending Master
Legendary Creature — Human Avatar Ally
When Aang enters, airbend another target creature. (Exile it. While it's exiled, its owner may cast it for {2} rather than its mana cost.) Whenever one or more creatures you control leave the battlefield without dying, you get an experience counter. At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 1/1 white Ally creature token for each experience counter you have.
Strategy & Gameplay
Aang, Airbending Master is a powerful build-around commander for white experience counter strategies. His airbend ability provides repeatable removal that doubles as a flicker effect, exiling an opponent's creature while giving its owner a discounted recast option. The real engine lies in his experience counter generation — every time your creatures leave the battlefield without dying (including the airbend exile), you accumulate counters that fuel an exponentially growing army of Ally tokens during your upkeep. This creates a devastating snowball effect in Commander, pairing exceptionally well with blink effects like Ephemerate, Restoration Angel, and Ghostway. Cards that create multiple ETB/LTB triggers like Panharmonicon and Conjurer's Closet accelerate the counter accumulation. In the 99, he serves as a repeatable removal piece with upside, but as a commander he truly shines, turning any deck focused on enters-the-battlefield triggers into an unstoppable token factory.
Illustrated by Tomoyo Asatani