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Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts often enjoy tribe-based strategies — who hasn't built an elf deck once or twice? — while this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set revives two well-known mechanics which match perfectly with the flavor.

Returning Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

One first mechanic, called "Ally," was debuted in the Zendikar set and gives boosts whenever more permanents with this subtype come onto the battlefield.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" represents another enchantment-based type that first appeared with Champions of Kamigawa. Although not a creature tribal theme, Shrines also become abilities when a player controls additional of them on the battlefield.

The Comeback of Allies Mechanic

Although Shrines have been shown up sporadically in recent sets, Allies subtype has been far less common — but that ends with ATLA, where the feature gets prominently used.

The protagonist Aang has to gather many friends during his journey to restore balance to the world, so there's no more fitting way to show this through an Magic set.

Exclusive Card Showcase

Following its first card announcement, here is previews of one Allies and a Shrine card in the new ATLA set.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Fan-Favorite Figure

This character stands as one beloved minor figure in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy from Earth Kingdom who lived at the Northern Air Temple after his village was ruined in a disaster, which rendered him paraplegic.

Thanks to his father's expertise in mechanics, Teo is able to fly in the air using a flying device, even challenges Aang to a flying race.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider reproduces Teo's fondness of the skies along with his tribe's reliance of flying machines by allowing the player loot each time a player attacks with a flying creature, while also pumping your creatures with counters in the process.

The Temple Card: The Strong Shrine

Regarding his home, this is represented as a card named The Northern Air Temple, which drains an opponent's life total when coming into play, depending on how many Shrine cards you have.

The card furthermore removes one more point anytime a Shrine comes onto the field.

It appears to be an impactful addition, considering its cheap mana cost plus good ETB effect.

A major drawback of Shrine-based decks outside of EDH is that Shrines are always Legendary, but this card can be great in combination alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which drains every opponent during the start of your turn.

A Timely Crossover

Currently when Universes Beyond products are garnering significant hate by fans, a beloved series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender can be precisely just what Magic: The Gathering needs.

Spoiler season is already here, with all cards will be launched November 21st.