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Magic: The Gathering players often embrace tribe-based decks — what player has not constructed a zombie strategy at some point? — while the new ATLA Universes Beyond set is reintroducing 2 popular mechanics which align perfectly with its setting.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

One initial mechanic, named "Allies," was introduced with the Zendikar which gives buffs each time additional creatures with the Ally type enter the battlefield.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" represents an enchantment-based subtype which first appeared with Kamigawa. Although not exactly creature-based tribal theme, Shrines also become abilities when you has additional Shrines in play.

The Return of Allies Ability

Although Shrine cards have appeared here and there in recent releases, Allies mechanic has been much rarer — but this changes in ATLA, in which the feature gets prominently used.

Aang has to recruit numerous companions during his quest to restore balance to the four nations, and there's no more fitting method to represent this through a Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Revealed Cards Preview

After the initial card announcement, below is previews at one Ally and one Shrine cards from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Figure

This character is one popular supporting character from ATLA, a young man of Earth Kingdom that resided in the Northern Air Temple after his home was destroyed in 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 Aang to a flying contest.

The card Teo represents his fondness for the skies along with his tribe's use on flying machines by letting the player draw and discard each time a player attacks with a flying creature, while also boosting your creatures with +1/+1 counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Speaking of Teo's home, this is represented as the card The Northern Air Temple, which reduces your opponent's life when coming into the battlefield, depending on the number of Shrines you control.

The card also removes one more point whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

This appears to be a strong card, given the card's low mana cost plus valuable enter the battlefield effect.

One big drawback of Shrine-based decks in formats besides EDH is that Shrines are typically Legendary, but this card is effective when paired alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which drains all opponents during the start of your turn.

The Welcome Crossover

Currently when Universes Beyond products have been garnering a lot of criticism from the community, a beloved series such as Avatar can be exactly just what MTG needs.

Preview period has begun, with all cards set to be launched November 21st.