Skip to content
Commander Nexus
  1. Commander Nexus
  2. Commanders
  3. Appa, Loyal Sky Bison

Command zone

Appa, Loyal Sky Bison

Appa, Loyal Sky Bison

Legendary Creature — Bison Ally

Appa, Loyal Sky Bison wants a deck that sends cards back to their owners' hands. It also works in a deck built around Allies or Bison.

  • Mana cost4 genericwhitewhite
  • White ()
  • Power / toughness4 / 4
  • RarityUncommon

Flying

Whenever Appa enters or attacks, choose one —

• Target creature you control gains flying until end of turn.

• Airbend another target nonland permanent you control. (Exile it. While it's exiled, its owner may cast it for 2 generic rather than its mana cost.)

Build a deck with Appa Find it in the app

Archetypes
Themes

Cards That Fit Appa, Loyal Sky Bison

Picked for what they do in Appa's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Appa's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

Does what Appa, Loyal Sky Bison does6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Appa, Loyal Sky Bison

explain how Appa works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 2 Oct 2025

If the spell you cast has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X.

Wizards of the Coast 2 Oct 2025

Lands exiled this way cannot be played from exile. (Lands that were animated by earthbend will be returned to the battlefield tapped when they're exiled.)

Wizards of the Coast 2 Oct 2025

Since you are using an alternative cost to cast a spell from exile this way, you can't pay any other alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those.

Wizards of the Coast 2 Oct 2025

To airbend one or more permanents and/or spells means to exile each of those objects. For each card exiled this way, for as long as it's exiled, its owner may cast it from exile by paying {2} rather than paying its mana cost.

Wizards of the Coast 2 Oct 2025

Tokens exiled this way will cease to exist and cannot be cast.

5 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Appa, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWPlayers write colors as letters: W for white.BounceBounce decks send cards on the battlefield back to their owner's hand, to slow opponents down or to reuse their own cards. Bouncing an opponent's card makes them pay for it again; bouncing your own lets its 'when this enters' ability happen twice.Open the Bounce pageAirbendAirbend sends a permanent or a spell into exile, out of the game for now. Its owner can cast it again later, but only by paying 2 mana instead of its normal cost.Open the Airbend pageEvasionAn ability that makes a creature hard to block, so its attacks reach the player. Flying, menace, landwalk and plain 'can't be blocked' are the common kinds.Open the Evasion pageCombat TrickAn instant you cast during a fight to change how it ends: making a creature bigger or smaller, or keeping your creatures from dying. Boros Charm, Flawless ManeuverOpen the Combat Trick pageAttack TriggerTriggers when a creature attacks, so the reward comes from declaring the attack. You get it even if the creature is blocked. Sword of the Animist, Adeline, Resplendent CatharOpen the Attack Trigger page