Reveal: The Way Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Expansion Brings Back Two Fan-Favorite Tribe-Focused Gameplay Features

Magic: The Gathering fans often enjoy tribal strategies — who hasn't built an elf strategy before? — while this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond release brings back 2 well-known examples which fit seamlessly to the flavor.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

The initial ability, known as "Ally," first debuted in a Zendikar which provides bonuses each time additional permanents bearing this subtype enter the field.

On the other hand, "Shrines" is another enchantment type which originated with Kamigawa. While not exactly creature-based tribe, Shrines also gain power when you has more Shrines in play.

The Comeback of the Ally Mechanic

While Shrines have shown up here and there in newer sets, the Ally subtype was much rarer — but this ends in ATLA, where this feature gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang must assemble a lot of friends on the quest to restore balance to the world, so there's no more fitting method to reflect that in an Magic expansion.

Exclusive Cards Preview

Following the first set announcement, here are previews at one Ally plus one Shrines card from the upcoming ATLA set.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Figure

Teo is one cherished supporting character from ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom who lived in an Air Temple after his village was destroyed in a flood, which left him paraplegic.

Due to his father's prowess with mechanics, Teo is able to soar through the skies using a flying device, and dares the Avatar to a flying race.

The card Teo represents his love of flying along with his tribe's reliance on flying machines by letting the player loot each time a player attacks with an airborne unit, while also boosting your team via +1/+1 counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: The Strong Shrine

Regarding his home, it is represented as a card named Northern Air Temple, that reduces your opponent's life total upon coming into play, based on how many Shrine cards you control.

The card furthermore removes one more life anytime a Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

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

A big drawback for Shrine-based strategies in formats besides EDH are that Shrines are typically legendary permanents, but Northern Air Temple can be effective in combination with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which deals damage to all opponents during the start of your main phase.

The Timely Crossover

At a time when Universes Beyond products are receiving significant hate from fans, an iconic franchise such as Avatar: The Last Airbender could be precisely what MTG needs.

Preview period has begun, with all cards will be released on Nov. 21.