🔗 Share this article Reveal: How Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Set Brings Back Two Popular Tribal Gameplay Features MTG fans consistently enjoy tribal strategies — who has not assembled a goblin deck before? — and this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set is reintroducing two beloved mechanics that fit perfectly to the flavor. Returning Tribal Mechanics The first ability, named "Ally," was debuted in a Zendikar set which gives bonuses whenever more creatures bearing the Ally type enter play. On the other hand, "Shrines" represents another enchantment subtype that originated with Champions of Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribe, Shrines likewise become power when a player owns more Shrines in play. A Comeback for the Ally Ability Although Shrine cards have been shown up occasionally in recent sets, the Ally subtype was seldom seen — until that ends in ATLA, where this feature gets heavily featured. Aang has to recruit a lot of companions during the journey to restore balance across the four nations, and there's no more fitting way to represent this in a Magic: The Gathering expansion. Exclusive Card Showcase After the first set announcement, below are previews at one Allies and one Shrines cards in the new ATLA release. Teo: The Fan-Favorite Character This character is one cherished minor character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of the Earth Tribe who lived at the Northern Air Temple after his village was ruined in a flood, an event that rendered him paraplegic. Thanks to his father's prowess with engineering, Teo can glide through the skies using his glider, even dares Aang in a flying race. This card Teo showcases his fondness of the skies along with the Earth Tribe's reliance on gliders through letting you loot whenever you attack with a flying unit, and also pumping your team via +1/+1 counters in the process. The Temple Card: The Strong Shrine Speaking of his home, it is represented as the card The Northern Air Temple, that reduces an opponent's life upon entering the battlefield, based on the number of Shrines you have. It also drains one more life whenever another Shrine enters the battlefield. It appears to be a powerful card, given the card's low mana cost and valuable ETB effect. One big weakness for Shrine-based decks in formats besides Commander are the fact that Shrines are typically Legendary, however Northern Air Temple is effective when paired with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, that deals damage to every opponent during the start of your turn. A Welcome Crossover At a time while Universes Beyond products are receiving significant hate from the community, an iconic series such as Avatar can be precisely what MTG requires. Preview period is already here, with the full set set to be released on Nov. 21.