🔗 Share this article

MTG enthusiasts frequently enjoy tribal tactics — what player has not built a goblin deck once or twice? — while the new Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond release is reintroducing two popular mechanics that fit perfectly with the setting.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

The first mechanic, named "Allies," was introduced in the Zendikar and provides bonuses whenever more creatures bearing this type come onto the battlefield.

Alternatively, "Shrine" represents another enchantment-based type which originated in Champions of Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribe, these enchantments also gain strength when you has additional of them in play.

The Return for Allies Mechanic

While Shrine cards have shown up sporadically in recent sets, Allies subtype was much rarer — until that ends in Avatar: The Last Airbender, where the feature gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang has to assemble numerous companions during the journey to restore balance across the four nations, so there's no more fitting method to show this through an Magic: The Gathering set.

Revealed Cards Preview

After its initial set reveal, here is previews of an Allies plus a Shrines card in the new ATLA set.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Figure

Teo stands as one cherished supporting character in ATLA, a boy of the Earth Tribe who resided in an Air Temple following his village was ruined by a disaster, which left him unable to walk.

Thanks to his father's prowess in engineering, he is able to glide in the air with his glider, and dares Aang in a flying race.

The card Teo reproduces his love for flying and the Earth Tribe's use of flying machines by allowing the player loot each time you attack with an airborne unit, and also boosting your team via counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this appears in the card Northern Air Temple, which reduces an opponent's life total when coming into play, based on the number of Shrines you have.

It furthermore drains an additional point anytime another Shrine enters the field.

This appears to be a strong addition, given its cheap mana cost plus good ETB ability.

A big drawback for Shrine-based decks in formats besides Commander is the fact that Shrines are always legendary permanents, but this card is effective when paired with another Shrine, that deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

A Welcome Crossover

Currently when Universes Beyond products have been receiving a lot of hate from fans, a beloved series such as Avatar could be precisely just what Magic: The Gathering needs.

Spoiler season has begun, with all cards will be released on Nov. 21.