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Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts often embrace tribal strategies — what player hasn't assembled a goblin deck once or twice? — while this new Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set revives 2 beloved examples which align seamlessly to the theme.

Reappearing Tribal Mechanics

One first mechanic, named "Ally," was introduced in the Zendikar and provides bonuses each time more permanents with this type come onto play.

Alternatively, "Shrine" is another enchantment-based type which first appeared with Kamigawa. While not a creature tribe, these enchantments also gain strength when a player controls more Shrines on the battlefield.

The Return for the Ally Mechanic

Although Shrine cards have shown up occasionally in newer releases, Allies subtype has been much rarer — until that ends in ATLA, where this feature is central.

Aang must recruit a lot of friends during his quest to restore peace to the four nations, so it's no more fitting method to show that through a Magic expansion.

Revealed Cards Preview

Following the first card reveal, below are previews at an Allies and a Shrine cards from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: The Beloved Character

Teo is a beloved supporting character from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man from the Earth Tribe that lived at the Northern Air Temple after his village was destroyed in a disaster, which rendered him paraplegic.

Because of his dad's expertise with mechanics, Teo is able to soar through the skies with a flying device, and dares the Avatar in a flying race.

This card Teo represents Teo's passion of flying along with the Earth Tribe's use on gliders through letting the player draw and discard whenever you attack using an airborne unit, and additionally strengthening your creatures via counters in the process.

Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this appears in a card named The Northern Air Temple, that drains an opponent's life when coming into play, depending on how many Shrine cards you have.

It also removes an additional life anytime another Shrine comes onto the field.

This appears to be an impactful card, given the card's cheap mana cost plus good ETB ability.

One major weakness of Shrine-based decks in formats besides EDH are the fact that these cards are always Legendary, however Northern Air Temple can be great in combination alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which drains every opponent during the start of your main phase.

The Welcome Crossover

At a time while Universes Beyond products are garnering a lot of criticism from the community, a beloved series such as Avatar can be precisely what MTG requires.

Spoiler season has begun, with the full set set to be released on Nov. 21.