Commander Deck Tech: Iroh, Grand Lotus

One of the most beloved characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender is Iroh, Zuko's uncle and the master who accompanies him throughout his entire redemption arc. This character is such a fan favorite that WotC released five versions of him in this set.

Besides these cards, our dear Dragon of the West also shows up in Iroh's Demonstration.

Because this is such a beloved character and WotC gave us so many versions of him, he has definitely caught our eye for future deck techs.

In this article, you'll find two lists with Iroh, Grand Lotus: the first one focuses on Lessons and plays lots of cards from the new set, and the second one was built with Storm interactions in mind and triggers infinite amounts of damage with its spells.

Let's meet our commander!

Iroh was a Fire Nation general feared by all. Known for his nickname, The Dragon of the West, this firebender could spit fire and even create lightning.

After his son died in the war, Iroh got attached to his nephew, Zuko, and mentored both him and other members of the Gaang at different times. Our retired general valued the balance between all four elements and even incorporated lessons from other bendings into his fighting style.

With a backstory like this, of course he would work with the Lesson mechanic: Iroh might have been a fearsome warrior, but he was, above all, a wise mentor.

This Iroh is a Temur creature with Firebending 2 (so, when he attacks, he creates two red mana that last until the end of combat).

While Iroh is on our board, during our turn, each non-Lesson instant and sorcery in our graveyard has Flashback equal to their cost. As for our Lessons, they have Flashback 1.

Our main list is full of Lessons.

Iroh represents recursion for our spells, Lessons or not, and really reminds me of Kess, Dissident Mage. We'll cast all our spells more than once because of him and a few other cards.

Unlike other decks we've covered before, this one creates more value when our commander enters play later on, as then we'll be able to enjoy all the spells we've cast until then.

Buffs

We will use sorceries and instants to buff our creatures, either with plain old buffs or Prowess. So, we added:

In a deck centered around instants and sorceries, Balmor, Battlemage Captain and Bria, Riptide Rogue are a must. They essentially wreak havoc on the opponents' life points.

Our monk friend, Guru Pathik, buffs another creature's power whenever we cast a Lesson, Saga, or Shrine. To do that, we have How to Start a Riot, Octopus Form, Origin of Metalbending, and Overwhelming Victory, which also interact with buffs in different ways.

I wouldn't normally use Ran and Shaw in a Dragon list, but it fits this list like a glove. We won't struggle at all to get three Lessons in the graveyard and create a copy of it. Furthermore, its activated ability buffs Dragons, which is great if we want to take advantage of the mana we'll create with firebending.

Burn

Another thing we can always find in lists centered around noncreatures is burn.

As Iroh lets us play cards from the graveyard with Flashback, we added a few specific cards to deal damage when we cast cards from there and from anywhere but our hand, like Burning Vengeance and Flaming Tyrannosaurus.

Coruscation Mage and Longshot, Rebel Bowman are more "democratic" and deal damage whenever we cast a noncreature (this even includes artifacts like Sol Ring).

To deal even more damage and and take advantage of our firebending mana, we have Fated Firepower. This enchantment has Flash and makes us deal more damage to opponents and permanents they control through all sources based on how many fire counters they have.

Doubling Effects

Veyran, Voice of Duality makes our burn and a few other interactions a lot more powerful, and it is a must in decks centered around instants and sorceries.

Card Draw

Lessons are really helpful in Commander for card draw in particular, even if they don't have Learn.

Imagine how fun it will be to cast these spells for Flashback 1 while Iroh is in play!

Besides these ones, we have a few other spells and interactions that give us more resources.

Considering all these different interactions with Lessons, we can definitely say Iroh would be one of the most popular professors in Strixhaven.

Recursion

Let's give Toph, Hardheaded Teacher the respect she deserves!

When Iroh's unlikely friend and earthbender master enters play, she lets us discard a card to return an instant or sorcery from the graveyard to our hand.

Whenever we cast a spell, regardless of the type of spell, she'll turn a target land under our control into a 0/0 creature with Haste and a +1/+1 counter. If that spell is a Lesson, she'll give it two counters.

Savvy Trader lets us reuse permanents in our graveyard and also discounts the cost of the spells we cast from outside our hand.

Removals

Lessons are also great when we want to remove and even counter enemy spells. In particular, we added:

Tokens

Who doesn't enjoy filling their board?

The tokens Hermes, Overseer of Elpis creates might be small, but they Fly and have Vigilance, which makes them quite valuable. Furthermore, when these Birds attack, we may Scry 2.

As for Eris, Roar of the Storm, it creates 4/4 Flying Dragons with Prowess. As we mentioned before, Prowess is quite interesting in this list.

Temur lists are known for their explosive turns, which usually bring unexpected victories.

In the animated series, Iroh often gave advice that led characters down the best path for them, but he was also a firebending master who eventually proved (quite explosively) why he was such a great general.

So, we decided to build an alternative list centered around Storm for him.

Oftentimes, Universes Beyond sets come so fast that we don't get to process the new cards properly or at least study the references behind them.

Luckily for us, Iroh was given the treatment he deserves and came as a master who stands out even in the simplest list, just like a cup of tea brewed with love.

You can build the lists above with the strong, game-changer cards or just enjoy the simplicity of Lessons and a few other interactions released in this set. With Iroh as your commander, you're bound to have fun.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!