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Magic: The Gathering players consistently enjoy tribe-based decks — who hasn't assembled a goblin strategy once or twice? — while this new Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set revives 2 beloved mechanics which match seamlessly with the theme.

Reappearing Tribal Mechanics

The initial mechanic, known as "Ally," first introduced with the Zendikar set which provides bonuses each time additional creatures with the Ally subtype come onto the battlefield.

Alternatively, "Shrines" represents another enchantment type that originated in Champions of Kamigawa. Although not a creature tribe, these enchantments also gain power as a player controls more Shrines in play.

The Comeback of the Ally Mechanic

Although Shrines have shown up sporadically across recent releases, the Ally mechanic has been far less common — until that changes with Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which this mechanic gets prominently used.

Aang has to gather a lot of friends during his journey to restore peace to the four nations, and it's no better way to reflect that through a Magic set.

Exclusive Cards Showcase

After its first card reveal, below is previews of an Allies and one Shrines card in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Beloved Figure

This character is one popular minor character from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of the Earth Tribe that lived at an Air Temple following his home was ruined by a flood, an event that rendered him paraplegic.

Because of his dad's expertise with engineering, Teo is able to fly in the air using a flying device, and dares Aang to an aerial race.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider reproduces his love of the skies and his tribe's reliance on flying machines by letting the player draw and discard whenever you attack using a flying unit, while also boosting your team with counters in the process.

Northern Air Temple: The Powerful Shrine

Regarding his home, it is represented as the card The Northern Air Temple, that drains your opponent's life when entering the battlefield, depending on how many Shrine cards you have.

It furthermore removes an additional point anytime another Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

This appears to be a strong card, considering the card's low cost and valuable ETB effect.

A big drawback of Shrine strategies in formats besides Commander is that Shrines are always Legendary, but Northern Air Temple can be great in combination with another Shrine, that deals damage to all opponents during the start of your main phase.

The Timely Collaboration

At a time while Universes Beyond sets have been garnering a lot of hate from fans, an iconic series like Avatar could be exactly just what MTG needs.

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