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Magic: The Gathering players consistently adopt tribal decks — who has not assembled a zombie strategy once or twice? — and this new Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set revives two beloved mechanics which align seamlessly with the flavor.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first ability, named "Ally," first introduced with a Zendikar which grants buffs each time more creatures bearing the Ally type enter the battlefield.

Alternatively, "Shrines" is an enchantment-based type that originated with Champions of Kamigawa. Although not a creature tribe, Shrines likewise gain abilities when a player has more Shrines on the battlefield.

The Comeback of the Ally Mechanic

While Shrines have shown up here and there in recent sets, Allies subtype has been far less common — until this ends in ATLA, in which the mechanic gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang must recruit a lot of friends on the quest to bring back balance to the four nations, so there's no more fitting method to reflect that in an Magic set.

Exclusive Cards Showcase

After its initial card reveal, here is previews at an Allies plus a Shrine card from the new ATLA release.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Beloved Character

This character is a beloved supporting character from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of the Earth Tribe who lived in the Northern Air Temple after his home was destroyed by a disaster, an event that left him unable to walk.

Thanks to his father's skill in engineering, he can glide through the skies using his glider, and dares the Avatar in a flying contest.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider reproduces his passion for flying and the Earth Tribe's use on gliders by allowing the player loot whenever a player attacks using a flying unit, and additionally pumping your creatures via +1/+1 counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine

Speaking of Teo's home, this appears as the card The Northern Air Temple, that reduces your opponent's life when coming into play, depending on the number of Shrines you control.

The card furthermore drains one more point anytime another Shrine enters the field.

It appears to be a strong addition, considering the card's low mana cost plus valuable ETB effect.

One big weakness for Shrine-based decks in formats besides EDH are that these cards are always Legendary, however Northern Air Temple is great in combination alongside another Shrine, which drains all opponents during the start of your turn.

A Welcome Collaboration

Currently while crossover sets are receiving significant backlash from the community, an iconic series like Avatar: The Last Airbender could be exactly just what Magic: The Gathering requires.

Spoiler season has begun, and the full set set to be released November 21st.