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MTG fans often embrace tribe-based strategies — who hasn't assembled an elf strategy before? — and this upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set revives two popular mechanics that match perfectly with its theme.

Returning Tribal Mechanics

The initial ability, named "Ally," first introduced with a Zendikar and provides buffs each time additional creatures bearing this type come onto play.

Meanwhile, "Shrines" is an enchantment-based type which first appeared with Kamigawa. Although not creature-based tribal theme, these enchantments likewise gain strength when you has additional of them on the battlefield.

A Comeback of Allies Ability

Although Shrines have been appeared occasionally in newer releases, the Ally mechanic has been much rarer — but this ends with ATLA, in which the mechanic gets heavily featured.

Aang must assemble a lot of friends on his quest to restore peace to the world, and there's no more fitting way to represent that in an Magic expansion.

Revealed Cards Preview

After the first card announcement, here are a look at one Ally plus a Shrine card in the new ATLA release.

Teo: The Fan-Favorite Character

Teo is a cherished minor figure from ATLA, a young man of Earth Kingdom that resided at an Air Temple after his home was ruined in a disaster, an event that rendered him paraplegic.

Thanks to his dad's skill in engineering, Teo is able to soar in the air using a flying device, even dares the Avatar in a flying race.

The card Teo represents his love for the skies and his tribe's use of flying machines through allowing you draw and discard whenever a player attacks with a flying unit, while also boosting your creatures with +1/+1 counters in the process.

Northern Air Temple: The Strong Shrine

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

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

It appears to be a strong card, considering the card's low mana cost and good ETB ability.

A big weakness for Shrine-based decks outside of Commander are that Shrines are typically legendary permanents, however Northern Air Temple is great when paired alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which drains all opponents at the beginning of your turn.

The Timely Crossover

Currently while Universes Beyond sets have been garnering significant backlash by fans, a beloved series like Avatar can be precisely just what Magic: The Gathering requires.

Spoiler season is already here, and all cards will be released November 21st.