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Magic: The Gathering players often enjoy tribal strategies — who hasn't assembled an elf strategy at some point? — while this new ATLA crossover release revives 2 popular examples which match perfectly with its theme.

Reappearing Tribal Mechanics

One first mechanic, named "Allies," was introduced in the Zendikar set and grants buffs whenever more permanents with the Ally subtype enter the battlefield.

On the other hand, "Shrine" is an enchantment-based type which first appeared with Kamigawa. While not creature-based tribe, Shrines likewise gain power as you owns more of them on the battlefield.

The Comeback for Allies Mechanic

While Shrines have appeared here and there across recent sets, the Ally mechanic was far less common — until that ends with ATLA, where the feature is prominently used.

The protagonist Aang has to recruit many friends on his journey to bring back balance across the four nations, so there's no more fitting method to represent that in an Magic: The Gathering set.

Exclusive Card Preview

After its first set reveal, here is previews at an Allies and a Shrine card from the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Beloved Character

Teo is a popular supporting figure from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of the Earth Tribe who lived in the Northern Air Temple following his village was ruined in a flood, an event that left him unable to walk.

Due to his dad's prowess with engineering, Teo is able to fly through the skies using his glider, even dares the Avatar in a flying contest.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider represents Teo's passion of flying and the Earth Tribe's use on flying machines by allowing the player draw and discard each time you attack using a flying unit, and also boosting your team via +1/+1 counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding his dwelling, it is represented as a card named Northern Air Temple, which reduces your opponent's life total upon entering the battlefield, based on the number of Shrines you control.

The card furthermore removes one more life whenever a Shrine enters the field.

It looks like a powerful addition, considering its low cost plus good enter the battlefield ability.

A major weakness for Shrine decks outside of Commander are that Shrines are typically Legendary, but Northern Air Temple can be effective in combination with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, that deals damage to every opponent during the start of your main phase.

The Welcome Crossover

Currently when crossover sets are receiving a lot of hate from fans, a beloved series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender can be precisely just what MTG requires.

Preview period is already here, and the full set will be launched on Nov. 21.