Exclusive: The Way Magic: The Gathering's Avatar: The Last Airbender Expansion Brings Back Two Popular Tribal Gameplay Features

Magic: The Gathering fans consistently enjoy tribe-based tactics — what player hasn't assembled a goblin deck once or twice? — and this upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set is reintroducing 2 popular examples that fit perfectly to its flavor.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

The initial mechanic, named "Ally," was debuted with the Zendikar which provides buffs each time additional permanents with this type enter the field.

Meanwhile, "Shrines" is another enchantment-based type that first appeared in Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribe, Shrines likewise gain abilities when a player owns additional Shrines in play.

A Return of the Ally Ability

Although Shrine cards have been shown up occasionally in recent releases, the Ally mechanic was much rarer — until that ends with Avatar: The Last Airbender, where the feature gets central.

The protagonist Aang must gather numerous friends on his quest to restore balance across the four nations, and there's no more fitting way to show that through a Magic expansion.

Exclusive Cards Showcase

Following the first card announcement, below is previews at one Allies plus a Shrine card from the upcoming ATLA set.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Fan-Favorite Character

This character is one popular minor character in ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom that resided at the Northern Air Temple after his home was ruined by a disaster, which rendered him unable to walk.

Due to his dad's expertise with engineering, he is able to soar in the air with a flying device, even challenges the Avatar in a flying race.

This card Teo reproduces his passion for flying along with the Earth Tribe's use on gliders by allowing the player draw and discard whenever a player attacks with an airborne creature, while additionally pumping your team via +1/+1 counters in the process.

The Temple Card: The Strong Shrine Enchantment

Speaking of his dwelling, it is represented in the card The Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life when coming into play, depending on how many Shrine cards you have.

It furthermore removes an additional life anytime a Shrine enters the battlefield.

This appears to be a powerful card, considering the card's low mana cost plus good ETB ability.

A big drawback for Shrine-based strategies in formats besides EDH is that these cards are typically Legendary, however Northern Air Temple can be effective in combination alongside another Shrine, that deals damage to all opponents at the beginning of your main phase.

A Timely Crossover

At a time when crossover sets are garnering a lot of backlash from the community, an iconic franchise like Avatar can be exactly just what MTG requires.

Preview period is already here, and all cards will be released November 21st.