Scoop: The Way Magic's Avatar Set Brings Back 2 Fan-Favorite Tribal Mechanics

Magic: The Gathering players often enjoy tribal strategies — who has not built a zombie deck before? — while this upcoming ATLA Universes Beyond set is reintroducing two well-known examples that match perfectly to its theme.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first ability, known as "Ally," first introduced with a Zendikar set and gives bonuses each time more permanents bearing this subtype come onto play.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" is another enchantment type which first appeared with Champions of Kamigawa. While not creature-based tribal theme, these enchantments likewise become power as a player has additional Shrines in play.

A Comeback for Allies Ability

While Shrine cards have been shown up here and there in newer releases, Allies mechanic was much rarer — but that changes in ATLA, in which this mechanic gets heavily featured.

Aang has to assemble a lot of allies on the journey to bring back balance to the world, so there's no more fitting way to represent that in an Magic: The Gathering set.

Exclusive Cards Showcase

Following its first card reveal, here are previews of one Allies and one Shrine cards from the upcoming ATLA set.

Teo, Spirited Glider: The Fan-Favorite Figure

This character stands as a beloved minor figure from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of Earth Kingdom that resided in an Air Temple after his home was destroyed in a disaster, which left him paraplegic.

Thanks to his father's expertise with mechanics, he can soar in the air with a flying device, and dares Aang in a flying race.

This card Teo reproduces his passion for flying along with his tribe's reliance on gliders by letting you draw and discard whenever you attack using an airborne unit, while additionally strengthening your team via counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this is represented as a card named Northern Air Temple, which drains an opponent's life total when coming into play, depending on the number of Shrines you control.

The card furthermore removes an additional life whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

It looks like a strong addition, given the card's low mana cost and valuable enter the battlefield ability.

One big drawback of Shrine decks in formats besides Commander are that these cards are always legendary permanents, but this card can be great when paired with another Shrine, that deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your main phase.

The Timely Crossover

At a time when crossover products have been garnering significant backlash by the community, an iconic series such as Avatar could be exactly just what MTG needs.

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

Monique Adams
Monique Adams

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in the casino industry, specializing in slot machine mechanics and player psychology.