Waterbender's Restoration
Instant — Lesson
As an additional cost to cast this spell, waterbend 
. (While paying a waterbend cost, you can tap your artifacts and creatures to help. Each one pays for 
.)
Exile X target creatures you control. Return those cards to the battlefield under their owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal
- Price
- $3.46
- EDHREC rank
- #7243
Waterbender's Restoration puts a permanent back on the battlefield from any graveyard — your opponents' included — and does it at instant speed for three mana. Avatar Aang decks run it as a recursive engine piece, but the effect is strong enough that any blue-green value shell should take a hard look.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Avatar Aang
Avatar Aang's ability to chain spells across multiple types makes Waterbender's Restoration a natural fit — recurring a key creature or artifact mid-chain extends the turn and reloads the engine.
Katara, the Fearless
Katara, the Fearless rewards playing spells from unusual zones, and Waterbender's Restoration pulling a permanent straight onto the battlefield bypasses hand and cast restrictions that would otherwise slow the deck down.
Iroh, Grand Lotus
Iroh, Grand Lotus decks want a steady flow of permanents entering the battlefield to trigger his draw and ramp effects, and Waterbender's Restoration delivers one at instant speed whenever the graveyard has something worth taking.
Vannifar, Evolved Enigma
Vannifar, Evolved Enigma cares about creatures entering and leaving play in rapid succession, and Waterbender's Restoration lets you recover a sacrificed piece — or steal an opponent's — without tapping Vannifar herself.
Satoru, the Infiltrator
Satoru, the Infiltrator generates value whenever creatures enter the battlefield through alternate means, and Waterbender's Restoration slotting a creature directly into play — not casting it — lines up exactly with that trigger condition.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Waterbender's Restoration does its real work: four players mean four graveyards, and instant-speed reanimation that can hit any player's pile is significantly stronger than it looks on paper. The political dimension matters too — you can recover a threat that an opponent removed, or pull a piece from a third player's bin to redirect a game state. In Legacy and Vintage, where the card is technically legal, it sits well below the power threshold of dedicated reanimation strategies and sees no meaningful play. Oathbreaker follows the Commander logic at a smaller table size, where the effect is slightly less explosive but still playable in the right shell.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$3.46 cheap tier
At $3.46, Waterbender's Restoration sits in the sweet spot where the effect is real but the cost won't break a budget build. Demand is driven almost entirely by Avatar: The Last Airbender Commander decks, so the price is unlikely to climb much unless a non-ATLA commander breaks it wide open.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Avatar Aang
- Katara, the Fearless
- Iroh, Grand Lotus
- Vannifar, Evolved Enigma
- Satoru, the Infiltrator
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.