Thriving Isle: Creative Combo Lines for Blue Mana Power

In TCG ·

Thriving Isle card art from Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Blue fans, gather ’round the river of ideas—the Thriving Isle can feel like a breath of fresh water in a sea of multicolor chaos. Hailing from Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal (set code tle), this humble land enters tapped and imposes a clever constraint: when it comes into play, you choose a color other than blue. Then, tapping it with our favorite blue additive can yield either a steady stream of blue mana or one mana of the chosen color. It’s a simple rule with powerful, pocketful-of-mems payoff: your mana base can flex to fuel splashy spells, big draws, and even five-color ambitions. And yes, the flavor text — Ember Island line by Lo and Li — hints at clean slates and true selves, a cheeky nod to identity in deck-building as much as in storytelling. 🧙‍♂️🔥

Where Thriving Isle fits in a blue powerhouse

Thriving Isle is a common land with a deceptively broad palate. Its mana-cost is zero, but its trick is in the entry choice and the tap payoff: you can generate {U} or one mana of the chosen color, which means you can “fix” for a multi-color plan without compromising your blue-heavy core. In practice, this makes it an ideal anchor for four-, five-, or even mono-blue shells that crave a bit of flexibility—especially in formats where a single land can unlock an entire turn cycle. The card’s lore-friendly tie to Ember Island adds a layer of flavor to the deck-building narrative: a clean slate that invites you to craft a bold new color-mixing strategy. 🎨

Flavor note: "Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you." —Lo and Li

Creative combo lines you can build around Thriving Isle

1) Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal: the infinite untap engine

This is a classic blue-combo spine, and Thriving Isle makes it smoother to deploy. The plan is simple in spirit: fix into blue, deploy Isochron Scepter, exile Dramatic Reversal with the imprint, then cast Dramatic Reversal for zero mana via the Scepter’s effect. While the ship is sailing, Thriving Isle helps ensure you have U ready to pay for the Scepter’s activation or to keep your nonblue color options online as you assemble the key pieces. The result? Infinite untaps on your artifacts and mana rocks, which can fuel a decisive draw or a devastating finish. The Isle’s flexibility means it’s not just a blue fix; it’s a greenlight for your tempo-to-combo pivot. 🧙‍♂️⚔️

2) High Tide storms with a blue-green splash

With Thriving Isle in play, you’re well-positioned to lean into a High Tide strategy that can spike into a multicolor curveball. The Isle provides U or the chosen color to support an early High Tide, essentially turning your manabase into a springboard for a big storm turn. You can cast a flurry of cantrips and cheap blue spells while using Thriving Isle to shore up the non-blue color needs of your multi-color suite—white for Swords or removal, green for ramp or card draw, or red for direct damage—before you unleash a planned finisher that capitalizes on your temporary mana avalanche. The artful part here is that your mana-fixing land is the bridge between a durable blue engine and a flashy, multi-color payoff. 🧊🔥

3) Five-color control through deliberate color-splashing

Thriving Isle’s entry constraint invites you to curate a deck that isn’t afraid to color-splash. By choosing a non-blue color at entry and tapping to produce either U or that color, you can sculpt a reliable five-color control shell. For example, you may run several dual-lands, fetch lands, and a suite of flexible counterspells and removal. Aspire to five-color consistency for big-ticket late game plays, while Thriving Isle remains the flexible spine that makes the color-switching feel organic rather than forced. It’s a subtle, satisfying way to maintain island-blue control while still being able to answer threats across the table. 💎🎲

4) Multicolor card-draw tempo with a blue backbone

Blue loves to draw and this is where Thriving Isle shines as a support piece. Suppose you’re running a stack of draw engines and cantrips that require color-diverse costs or mana sources. Thriving Isle helps ensure you always have U on deck when you need it, while the chosen color broadens the range of cheap spells you can cast, enabling a tempo-heavy plan. Think of it as a two-way valve: you drain just enough from the non-blue color to fuel a crucial spell, then switch back to blue to keep the card-draw engine humming. It’s the kind of pragmatic elegance MTG fans adore—smart planning that respects the card’s art and flavor. 🎨

Practical notes for builders

  • Thriving Isle is ideal in EDH/Commander styles that embrace multi-color synergy. Its set, Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal (tle), adds a flavorful, image-rich narrative to your land base. The card’s rarity is common, which makes it an affordable but impactful option in many builds.
  • Consider pairing Thriving Isle with mana rocks or other lands that synergize with your chosen non-blue color. This helps you realize the “choose a color other than blue” entry and the “tap for U or chosen color” payoff in the same turn.
  • Flavor and lore matter: Ember Island’s clean slate vibe invites you to rethink your deck’s color identity and reimagine your game plan around blue’s control and tempo tools. The card’s art by Slawek Fedorczuk adds a layer of visual storytelling to your board state. 🧙‍♂️
  • Price-wise, Thriving Isle sits in a comfortable range for casual to mid-tier competitive play, with foil and non-foil variations offering some nice variance for collectors and players alike. 💎
  • As with any five-color or multi-color strategy, keep an eye on your mana curve and the tempo of your opening turns—Thriving Isle rewards patient setup and thoughtful color fixing as much as raw speed. 🧭

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Thriving Isle

Thriving Isle

Land

This land enters tapped. As it enters, choose a color other than blue.

{T}: Add {U} or one mana of the chosen color.

"Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you." —Lo and Li

ID: 94f93e5f-dba0-4079-8e6a-dd5d6fe6afa4

Oracle ID: 69fc70b8-b143-4662-ac95-e2743037239d

TCGPlayer ID: 662987

Cardmarket ID: 855837

Colors:

Color Identity: U

Keywords:

Rarity: Common

Released: 2025-11-21

Artist: Slawek Fedorczuk

Frame: 2015

Border: black

EDHRec Rank: 1215

Set: Avatar: The Last Airbender Eternal (tle)

Collector #: 263

Legalities

  • Standard — not_legal
  • Future — not_legal
  • Historic — legal
  • Timeless — legal
  • Gladiator — legal
  • Pioneer — not_legal
  • Modern — not_legal
  • Legacy — legal
  • Pauper — legal
  • Vintage — legal
  • Penny — not_legal
  • Commander — legal
  • Oathbreaker — legal
  • Standardbrawl — not_legal
  • Brawl — legal
  • Alchemy — not_legal
  • Paupercommander — legal
  • Duel — legal
  • Oldschool — not_legal
  • Premodern — not_legal
  • Predh — not_legal

Prices

  • USD: 0.91
  • USD_FOIL: 0.40
  • EUR: 0.25
Last updated: 2025-11-16