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Magic: The Gathering fans frequently embrace tribal decks — what player has not built an elf deck once or twice? — while this upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover release brings back two well-known mechanics which match perfectly to its setting.

Returning Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first mechanic, named "Ally," was introduced in a Zendikar set and provides boosts each time more permanents bearing the Ally subtype come onto play.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" is an enchantment type which originated in Champions of Kamigawa. Although not exactly creature-based tribal theme, Shrines also become abilities as a player owns more Shrines on the battlefield.

A Comeback for Allies Mechanic

Although Shrines have appeared sporadically across recent releases, the Ally mechanic has been far less common — but this ends in ATLA, in which the mechanic gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang has to recruit a lot of allies during the quest to restore peace across the world, so there's no better method to show that in an Magic: The Gathering set.

Revealed Card Preview

Following the initial set reveal, below are a look of one Ally plus one Shrine card in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Beloved Character

Teo stands as a popular minor character in ATLA, a young man of the Earth Tribe who lived at an Air Temple following his village was ruined by a disaster, which left him unable to walk.

Thanks to his father's expertise with engineering, he can fly through the skies using a flying device, and dares the Avatar in a flying race.

This card Teo, Spirited Glider showcases Teo's passion of flying along with the Earth Tribe's reliance on gliders by letting you loot each time you attack using a flying creature, and also pumping your team with +1/+1 counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine

Regarding his home, this is represented as a card named Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total when entering the battlefield, based on the number of Shrines you have.

It furthermore drains an additional point whenever another Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

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

One major weakness for Shrine decks in formats besides EDH is the fact that Shrines are always Legendary, but Northern Air Temple can be effective in combination alongside another Shrine, that deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

The Welcome Collaboration

At a time while Universes Beyond products are garnering a lot of hate from the community, a beloved series such as Avatar could be precisely what Magic: The Gathering requires.

Preview period is already here, and the full set set to be released on Nov. 21.