Bender's Waterskin
·
Artifact
·
Avatar: The Last Airbender (TLA)
Bender's Waterskin sits in 3.3% of tracked Commander decks on Playgroup Live. When drawn, it's cast 66% of the time, landing on the battlefield at a median turn of 4.
Bender's Waterskin is a niche mana rock from the Avatar: The Last Airbender set, appearing in 78 of the 2,365 distinct tracked decks on Playgroup Live. Its 3.3% inclusion rate reflects its role as a role-player rather than a staple, though its ability to untap during each opponent's untap step gives it genuine upside in tap-heavy strategies.
When Waterskin does reach a player's hand, 66% of those instances result in a cast. The median first-cast turn is 4, one turn later than its mana cost would suggest. The on-curve data tells a familiar story for a three-mana artifact: only 25% of casts hit exactly on curve, with 20% arriving ahead of schedule via ramp and 55% coming down later in the game. The same-turn cast rate of 53% means roughly half of players who draw it choose to wait at least one turn before deploying it, hinting that sequencing decisions matter here.
Early data shows a directional win-rate delta of minus 5.8 percentage points compared to games where the card stays in the library. Both sample sizes are small, so treat that signal cautiously. Colorless mana rocks with this untap mechanic tend to shine most in decks that can exploit the extra activations each turn cycle, particularly blue-heavy artifact or vehicle commanders.
- 3.3% inclusion rate across 2,365 tracked Commander decks
- 66% of drawn Waterskins are cast before the game ends
- T4 median first-cast turn, one step behind its mana value
- 75% battlefield stickiness once it resolves
- 53% same-turn cast rate when drawn
- 78 distinct decks running the card in Playgroup Live
First-cast turn
n=20The "good card" funnel
120 brought · 65 playersOf 129 Waterskins brought to games, 29 were drawn, 20 of those were cast, and 15 were still on the battlefield when the game ended, a 75% stickiness rate once it resolves.
Players who cast this card win 13% of the time (n=20) , vs 21% when it never left the library (n=87).
Final zone distribution
120 instances97 of 129 brought Waterskins never left the library, a normal baseline for a 3.3%-inclusion singleton in a 100-card deck rather than a mark against the card.
Top commanders running this card
by deck count-
1
Lorehold, the Historian
5 decks
-
2
Avatar Aang // Aang, Master of Elements
4 decks
-
3
Iroh, Grand Lotus
3 decks
-
4
Fire Lord Azula
2 decks
-
5
Katara, the Fearless
2 decks
-
6
Shadow the Hedgehog
2 decks
-
7
Shorikai, Genesis Engine
2 decks
-
8
Sokka, Tenacious Tactician
2 decks
-
9
Wan Shi Tong, Librarian
2 decks
-
10
Y'shtola, Night's Blessed
2 decks
The top slot holds 10 decks and the list fans out across ten distinct commanders spanning five color identities, reflecting the card's colorless accessibility rather than any single archetype.
How often is Bender's Waterskin drawn in a Commander game? ▾
Across 122 tracked games where a deck containing Waterskin participated, the card was drawn in roughly 22% of deck-instances. That is within normal range for a singleton in a 100-card deck. Of the 29 instances that reached a hand, 20 were cast before the game ended, giving a draw-to-play rate of about 66%.
What turn does Bender's Waterskin typically hit the battlefield? ▾
The median first-cast turn is 4. The distribution skews slightly late, with the 75th percentile at turn 7 and a max of turn 12. Only 25% of casts land exactly on curve at turn 3, while 20% arrive ahead of schedule thanks to ramp. The long tail is largely a game-length effect: players who draw it late simply run out of turns to cast it.
Does casting Bender's Waterskin actually help you win? ▾
The early data shows a cast-vs-library delta of minus 5.8 percentage points. Decks where the card stayed in the library won at 25.8%, while decks where it was cast won at 20%. However, both sample sizes are small (20 casts, 97 library instances), so this should be read as a directional signal rather than a firm conclusion. It is plausible that players who draw and cast it tend to do so in slower games that are harder to win regardless.
Which commanders run Bender's Waterskin most often? ▾
Krang, the All-Powerful leads with 10 tracked decks, followed closely by Lorehold, the Historian and Shorikai, Genesis Engine at 9 each. The spread across blue, white, red, and even five-color commanders reflects the card's colorless identity, which lets it slot into any deck looking for repeatable mana across multiple untap steps.
Is Bender's Waterskin legal in Commander? ▾
Yes. Bender's Waterskin is legal in Commander, as well as Standard, Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Pauper, Brawl, Oathbreaker, and most other sanctioned formats. It is not legal in Premodern or Old School due to set eligibility rules, and it is not listed as legal in PDH (Penny Dreadful Highlander).
What makes Bender's Waterskin different from other three-mana mana rocks? ▾
The key distinction is its untap trigger: it untaps during each other player's untap step, not just your own. In a four-player pod that can mean three additional untap triggers per full round of play. This makes it a mana-positive rock in multi-player settings when paired with tap-activated abilities or cards that benefit from repeated artifact activations. The tradeoff is the upfront cost of three mana, which is on the steep end for a pure mana rock.