Scoop: How Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender Set Revives 2 Popular Tribe-Focused Mechanics

MTG fans consistently enjoy tribal decks — what player has not assembled a zombie strategy at some point? — and this new Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover release is reintroducing two well-known examples that fit perfectly to the theme.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first ability, named "Ally," was debuted in the Zendikar set and provides boosts whenever more creatures with the Ally type enter play.

Alternatively, "Shrines" represents an enchantment subtype which originated with Champions of Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribe, these enchantments likewise become abilities when you has more Shrines on the battlefield.

A Comeback of Allies Ability

While Shrine cards have shown up sporadically across recent sets, the Ally subtype has been far less common — but that changes with Avatar: The Last Airbender, where this feature gets prominently used.

Aang has to gather many allies on the journey to restore balance to the four nations, so there's no better method to represent that through an Magic: The Gathering set.

Exclusive Cards Showcase

Following the initial set reveal, below are a look of an Ally and one Shrine cards from the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender set.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Beloved Figure

This character is one popular minor figure in ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom that lived in the Northern Air Temple after his home was ruined in a disaster, which rendered him paraplegic.

Thanks to his dad's expertise with engineering, Teo can fly in the air with his glider, even challenges Aang in an aerial race.

The card Teo showcases Teo's fondness for flying and the Earth Tribe's reliance on flying machines through allowing the player draw and discard each time a player attacks using a flying unit, and also boosting your creatures via +1/+1 counters in the process.

The Temple Card: A Strong Shrine

Regarding his home, this is represented in a card named Northern Air Temple, that drains an opponent's life total when entering the battlefield, based on how many Shrine cards you control.

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

It appears to be an impactful card, considering the card's low mana cost plus valuable ETB ability.

A big weakness for Shrine strategies in formats besides EDH is that these cards are always Legendary, but Northern Air Temple is great when paired alongside another Shrine, which deals damage to every opponent during the start of your main phase.

A Timely Collaboration

At a time while Universes Beyond sets have been garnering significant hate by the community, an iconic franchise such as Avatar: The Last Airbender could be precisely just what MTG needs.

Preview period has begun, with the full set will be released on Nov. 21.