🔗 Share this article

MTG enthusiasts often adopt tribe-based tactics — what player has not assembled an elf deck once or twice? — while the new Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set is reintroducing 2 well-known examples that fit perfectly to its theme.

Returning Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

The initial mechanic, named "Ally," first debuted with the Zendikar set which grants boosts each time additional creatures bearing this subtype enter play.

On the other hand, "Shrines" is an enchantment-based type which originated in Kamigawa. Although not exactly creature-based tribal theme, Shrines likewise become strength as you controls more of them on the battlefield.

A Comeback of the Ally Mechanic

Although Shrine cards have been appeared sporadically across recent sets, the Ally mechanic was much rarer — but this changes in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which the feature is heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang must recruit numerous allies during the quest to restore balance across the four nations, so there's no more fitting way to represent this in an Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Revealed Cards Showcase

After its first set announcement, here is a look of an Allies and one Shrines card from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender set.

Teo: A Beloved Character

Teo is a beloved supporting figure from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of the Earth Tribe that resided at the Northern Air Temple following his village was destroyed by a disaster, an event that left him paraplegic.

Thanks to his dad's expertise with engineering, he can fly through the skies using a flying device, and dares the Avatar to a flying race.

This card Teo represents Teo's love of the skies along with the Earth Tribe's reliance of flying machines by letting the player draw and discard each time you attack using an airborne unit, and additionally pumping your creatures with +1/+1 counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine

Speaking of Teo's home, this is represented as a card named The Northern Air Temple, that drains an opponent's life total when coming into play, based on the number Shrine cards you control.

It also removes an additional life anytime a Shrine comes onto the field.

It looks like a powerful card, given its cheap mana cost and valuable enter the battlefield ability.

One big weakness of Shrine-based decks in formats besides Commander are that Shrines are always Legendary, but Northern Air Temple can be effective when paired with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

The Welcome Crossover

At a time while Universes Beyond products are receiving significant backlash from fans, a beloved series like Avatar: The Last Airbender can be precisely just what MTG needs.

Spoiler season is already here, with all cards set to be launched November 21st.