Uyo, Silent Prophet

There aren't enough avatars whose entire ability happens at the beginning of the game.  In fact there's only one: Elvish Champion.  (Don't try to tell me that Seshiro or Maralen count.  They do something at the beginning of the game, but the thing that they do affects the entire rest of the game, too.)  So I made this avatar, and a couple of the below ones, with that in mind.

This particular ability seems potentially risky, but I couldn't think of any specific spell that made it degenerate.  The worst I came up with was Tidings, but even that just turns the avatar into a worse version of Squee.

Maybe Bestial Menace would be overpowered?  I should probably change the 5 to a 4.

Brothers Yamazaki

This is one of my favorites that I made.  The fact that it creates its copies out of nowhere is (for some decks) a big step up from what the Sakashima avatar does.

The "legend rule" line allows for increased shenanigans without being a mandatory deckbuilding requirement.

Also notice it can copy any permanent, and not just creatures.  Why not?  I wonder if it should say "target non-Cloudpost permanent" though, ha ha.

Supreme Inquisitor

My original design had the ability cost much less, and only be usable once per game (like Ashling the Extinguisher's ability).  I think it would play much better this way, though.

I'm sure a rules lawyer would point to some problem with the templating, but...  you know what I mean!

Fugitive Druid

They already have the Raksha avatar to make your equipment stronger.  So why, in all these years, was there never an avatar to make your auras stronger?

I actually know why: it's because auras are bad and, unlike equipment, run the risk of card disadvantage.  So that's where this avatar's second ability comes into play.  With it, the opponent's Lightning Bolt with your aura on the stack is no longer a 2 for 1.

Print this card, WotC!  Or at least a regular card with this ability.  Aren't you always talking about how you're looking for ways to reduce auras' inherent disadvantage?  I won't even demand royalties.

Gosta Dirk

There are a couple of existing avatars whose main ability is their hand size, and whose actual ability is negligible.  Why not make a couple more?  Plenty of decks could benefit from the slight boost this guy gives them.  (Even if, I admit, his text box basically boils down to "your creatures have reach.")

Angelic Protector

The Goblin Warchief avatar already pumps up attacking creatures.  Why not make an avatar to pump up defending creatures?

This is good with creatures who never attack.  And it's good with creatures who hang out for a while before attacking.  It even synergizes with cards like Spike Feeder and Spikeshot Goblin.

Kaho, Minamo Historian

This is a pretty straightforward counterpoint to Higure, the Still Wind, whose one subtle change of "creature" to "non-permanent" has vast implications.

With Higure, your only viable strategy is a creature rush deck.  But here, you have some design tension going on.  How many creatures should you run?  How many instants and sorceries can you fit?  WotC loves cards with tension.

(I also changed "combat damage" to just plain "damage," because why not?  If I want to use Prodigal Sorcerer, I should be allowed.)

Elvish Piper

A little trickier and a lot more fun than Etched Oracle, if you ask me.  Also much less restrictive with your deckbuilding requirements.

Should your whole deck be big stuff?  Should you have only a few big cards, paired with discard outlets to empty the rest of your hand?  Should your deck be mostly land?  Decisions.

Elder Druid

This is the only avatar on this list to be a complete reprint of an existing ability (that being Amulet of Vigor, of course).

So why Amulet of Vigor?  Because, if you're going to play a deck with that ability, you always want it in your opponent hand.  And you never want to draw more than one.  The world of vanguard is the perfect place for abilities like that.

Figure of Destiny

Yeah, the original level-up card himself, Figure of Destiny!  Now providing you a different way to "level up" your guys, turning anyone you have into someone of legendary proportions.

Will my elf become an Eldrazi?  Or will he become Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked?  Spin the wheel to find out!

Ovinomancer

This is another one of my favorite designs.

On the obvious side, you can hose a guy of your opponent's with it.

On the less obvious side, you can remove your own creatures' drawbacks.  Which would include things like defender, or Cosmic Larva's upkeep cost!  (I always wanted an avatar that let my walls attack, but just having one that says "creatures lose defender" makes for pretty restrictive deckbuilding options.)

Sigil Tracer

Okay, it's useless against certain decks.  But far fewer than Viridian Zealot, and they printed him.

This wil make your opponent think twice before casting Fireball.  Or Counterspell.  (But probably not Kaervek's Spite.)

Dreamborn Muse

Here's another "happens at the beginning of the game" card.  Whether it's enabling your graveyard deck or milling the opponent  (or both), it would see its share of play.

Dralnu, Lich Lord

This came from a question I asked myself: the biggest starting hand size in print is 3; what would an avatar have to look like to have a starting hand size of 4?

It would need some drawbacks, for sure.  And specifically, they would need to be tailored to weaken combo deck strategies, as those are the number one argument against avatars with big hand sizes.  So here's what I came up with.  Of course, certain combo decks are still possible, as are a variety of wisdom strategies.  As are aggro decks and defensive decks!

Desert Nomads

Because Desert is cool, that's why.

Anyway, aside from dealing damage to your opponents' creatures, this avatar also lets you do things like double up on landfall triggers, combo with Life from the Loam, and abuse Crucible of Worlds.  And have like ten of the same card in play at once.

Phylactery Lich

Here's another "counterpoint" card I made, this time in response to Mayael.

As it is, avatars are rife with creature-based effects.  Which is fine, but let's get some variety!

Amoeboid Changeling

Along those lines, this was made as a noncreature variant of the Seshiro avatar.  It started out with a very similar wording to him, but I eventually simplified it by giving all creature types instead of choosing just one.  And affecting all players instead of just you.  Now you can hose your opponents' spells while pumping your own!

Academy Rector

The original version was a counterpoint to Peacekeeper... this final version looks more like an evolution of Jhoira!  Regardless, this is a cool ability that's high in flavor and pretty open-ended deckbuilding-wise.

Gatherer of Graces

Lacking an actual counterpoint to Peacekeeper, I came up with this card.

Unlike Peacekeeper, each activation does two unrelated things (pump up, and card draw).  It also allows for mid-combat tricks.

Still just as good with Yavimaya Enchantress.

Noble Benefactor

Remember what I was saying earlier about always wanting a specific card in your opening hand?

This has the added bonus of enabling certain graveyard-based archetypes, although it's far from a requirement.

Magus of the Future

Even with the anti-manipulation clause, this is a fun and potentially powerful effect.

Might cause a slight rise in value for Mana Severance!

Ghost Council of Orzhova

I said it before, vanguard needs more avatars that don't push you towards creature decks.

This one is probably most at home in a burn deck, or maybe in a blue cheap cantrip deck.  Plenty of other uses though.

Fusion Elemental

I asked myself, "What hand size and starting life would be fair for a completely vanilla avatar?"  There are different configurations to answer that question, but I think this one is fair.

I of course named the avatar after the king of all vanilla creatures, Fusion Elemental.  It unfortunately came quite close to being named after Watchwolf!  It's a better card than Fusion Elemental, but much less imposing out of context.

Kaysa

Here's another take on the Elvish Champion avatar, and a very direct one.  Instead of giving us that creature, what about this creature?

It took me a while to find just the right creature token to have start in play.  Giant Spider costs 4 mana instead of Llanowar Elves' 1 mana, yet I still think it's a completely valid choice for the main reason that it doesn't accelerate your mana.

Hearthcage Giant

And we'll end my list with a card that was actually inspired by one of the old paper avatars... the original Sliver Queen avatar!

Of course, with the Erhnam avatar already out, 1/1 tokens are easy to find, and with the Master of the Wild Hunt avatar, token generators are also easy to find.  So this avatar was my own spin on the idea.  The creatures are smaller than Master of the Wild Hunt's, but are more predictable, don't require green mana, and of course are tribally relevant.