Reveal: The Way Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Set Brings Back 2 Popular Tribal Gameplay Features

MTG players often embrace tribe-based strategies — who hasn't built a zombie deck before? — and the upcoming ATLA crossover set revives 2 popular examples that match seamlessly with its theme.

Reappearing Tribal Mechanics

One initial ability, called "Ally," was debuted in a Zendikar and grants buffs whenever additional permanents with the Ally subtype enter the field.

Alternatively, "Shrines" is an enchantment-based type which originated in Champions of Kamigawa. Although not exactly creature-based tribal theme, these enchantments likewise become abilities as you owns more Shrines in play.

A Return for Allies Ability

While Shrine cards have been shown up sporadically in recent sets, Allies mechanic has been much rarer — until that ends with Avatar: The Last Airbender, where this feature gets prominently used.

Aang has to recruit many allies during his journey to bring back balance across the four nations, and there's no better way to show this in a Magic: The Gathering set.

Revealed Card Showcase

After its initial set announcement, here is previews of one Ally and a Shrine cards from the upcoming ATLA set.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Fan-Favorite Character

Teo stands as a popular supporting character in ATLA, a boy from the Earth Tribe who resided at an Air Temple after his home was destroyed by a disaster, which left him paraplegic.

Thanks to his dad's prowess with engineering, he can soar in the air with his glider, even dares Aang to an aerial race.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider showcases Teo's passion of flying along with the Earth Tribe's use of gliders through letting the player loot each time a player attacks with an airborne unit, while additionally pumping your creatures via counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: A Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding his home, this is represented as the card Northern Air Temple, which reduces an opponent's life total when coming into the battlefield, depending on how many of Shrines you control.

The card also drains one more point anytime a Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

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

One major drawback for Shrine decks outside of EDH is the fact that Shrines are always legendary permanents, however Northern Air Temple is effective when paired with another Shrine, that deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

The Welcome Collaboration

Currently while crossover sets are receiving significant criticism by the community, an iconic franchise such as Avatar: The Last Airbender could be exactly what Magic: The Gathering requires.

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