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Magic: The Gathering fans frequently adopt tribe-based tactics — what player has not constructed a zombie deck at some point? — while the upcoming ATLA crossover set is reintroducing two popular examples that align perfectly with its flavor.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first mechanic, named "Ally," was introduced with the Zendikar set and provides boosts each time additional creatures bearing this type enter play.

On the other hand, "Shrines" represents an enchantment type that originated with Kamigawa. Although not a creature tribal theme, Shrines likewise become abilities as a player has more Shrines on the battlefield.

A Comeback for the Ally Ability

While Shrines have appeared here and there in recent releases, Allies subtype was far less common — until that changes with Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which this feature gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang has to gather a lot of companions on his journey to restore balance to the four nations, and there's no more fitting method to represent this in an Magic set.

Revealed Cards Showcase

After the first card reveal, here is a look at one Ally plus one Shrine card from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Beloved Figure

Teo stands as one popular minor character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy of Earth Kingdom that resided in an Air Temple after his village was destroyed in a disaster, which left him unable to walk.

Thanks to his dad's skill with engineering, he is able to soar through the skies using a flying device, and challenges Aang in a flying race.

The card Teo reproduces Teo's passion of flying along with the Earth Tribe's use of flying machines by allowing the player loot whenever you attack using a flying creature, and additionally pumping your creatures with +1/+1 counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: A Strong Shrine Enchantment

Speaking of his home, it appears as the card The Northern Air Temple, which reduces your opponent's life total when coming into play, based on how many of Shrines you have.

The card furthermore drains an additional point whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

This appears to be an impactful addition, given its low mana cost plus good enter the battlefield effect.

One big weakness of Shrine decks in formats besides Commander are that these cards are always Legendary, however this card is effective in combination with another Shrine, that deals damage to all opponents at the beginning of your turn.

A Welcome Crossover

Currently while Universes Beyond products have been receiving a lot of criticism from fans, an iconic franchise such as Avatar could be precisely what MTG requires.

Preview period has begun, and all cards will be launched November 21st.