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Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts consistently enjoy tribal strategies — who hasn't assembled an elf deck at some point? — while the forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond release revives 2 well-known mechanics that align perfectly to the flavor.

Returning Tribal Mechanics

The initial ability, known as "Ally," first introduced in a Zendikar which grants bonuses whenever more creatures bearing the Ally type come onto play.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" represents another enchantment-based subtype that originated with Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribal theme, these enchantments likewise become strength as you has more Shrines in play.

A Return of Allies Mechanic

While Shrine cards have shown up here and there across newer releases, Allies mechanic has been seldom seen — until this ends with ATLA, where this feature is heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang must gather many friends during his journey to bring back balance to the world, and there's no more fitting method to represent this through a Magic: The Gathering set.

Revealed Card Preview

After its first set reveal, below is a look at one Ally plus one Shrine card in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: The Beloved Figure

Teo is a popular supporting character from ATLA, a young man from Earth Kingdom that lived in the Northern Air Temple following his home was ruined in a disaster, an event that left him paraplegic.

Thanks to his father's skill in mechanics, Teo can soar through the skies with a flying device, and challenges Aang to an aerial contest.

The card Teo showcases his passion of the skies along with the Earth Tribe's reliance of gliders through allowing the player draw and discard each time a player attacks with a flying unit, and additionally pumping your creatures via +1/+1 counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: The Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding his home, it is represented as a card named The Northern Air Temple, that reduces an opponent's life when entering the battlefield, based on how many of Shrines you control.

The card furthermore removes one more life whenever another Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

This looks like an impactful card, considering the card's cheap cost plus valuable ETB effect.

A major drawback of Shrine decks outside of Commander is that Shrines are always Legendary, but this card is effective in combination with another Shrine, that drains all opponents at the beginning of your turn.

The Timely Collaboration

Currently when crossover sets are garnering a lot of hate by the community, an iconic franchise such as Avatar can be exactly just what MTG needs.

Preview period is already here, with all cards set to be launched on Nov. 21.