🔗 Share this article Exclusive: How Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Expansion Brings Back 2 Popular Tribe-Focused Gameplay Features MTG fans often embrace tribal strategies — who has not constructed a goblin deck before? — and this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set brings back two popular mechanics that align perfectly to its setting. Reappearing Tribal Abilities One initial ability, known as "Ally," first introduced with the Zendikar which provides bonuses whenever more creatures with the Ally type enter play. Alternatively, "Shrines" represents an enchantment subtype which first appeared with Champions of Kamigawa. Although not a creature tribe, Shrines also gain abilities as a player has additional Shrines on the battlefield. A Return for Allies Mechanic Although Shrine cards have been shown up sporadically in recent releases, the Ally mechanic was far less common — until this changes with ATLA, where this mechanic gets heavily featured. The protagonist Aang must recruit many allies on his journey to bring back balance across the world, so it's no more fitting way to show this through an Magic set. Exclusive Cards Showcase After its first set reveal, here is previews at an Allies and a Shrine cards in the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender set. Teo, Spirited Glider: The Beloved Figure This character is a popular minor character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy of the Earth Tribe that resided at an Air Temple following his home was destroyed by a disaster, which rendered him unable to walk. Thanks to his dad's expertise in engineering, he is able to soar through the skies with his glider, even dares the Avatar to an aerial contest. The card Teo reproduces his passion for flying and his tribe's reliance on gliders by letting you draw and discard whenever a player attacks with an airborne unit, and also boosting your creatures with +1/+1 counters in the process. Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine Regarding his home, this is represented as the card Northern Air Temple, that drains your opponent's life total when coming into the battlefield, based on the number of Shrines you control. It furthermore drains an additional point whenever a Shrine comes onto the battlefield. It appears to be a powerful card, considering its cheap mana cost plus good ETB effect. A big drawback for Shrine-based strategies outside of EDH is the fact that Shrines are typically Legendary, but Northern Air Temple is great in combination alongside another Shrine, which deals damage to all opponents during the start of your main phase. A Welcome Crossover At a time while crossover sets have been garnering significant criticism by the community, a beloved series like Avatar: The Last Airbender can be precisely just what Magic: The Gathering requires. Spoiler season has begun, with all cards will be launched on Nov. 21.