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MTG enthusiasts consistently embrace tribal tactics — who hasn't assembled a goblin deck once or twice? — and this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set revives two well-known examples that align seamlessly with the setting.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

The first mechanic, named "Allies," was introduced with the Zendikar set which gives buffs each time additional creatures with the Ally subtype come onto the field.

Alternatively, "Shrines" is another enchantment type which originated with Champions of Kamigawa. While not a creature tribe, these enchantments also become abilities as a player controls additional of them on the battlefield.

A Return of the Ally Mechanic

While Shrines have appeared here and there across newer releases, the Ally subtype has been far less common — until that ends in Avatar: The Last Airbender, where the feature gets prominently used.

Aang has to gather a lot of friends on the journey to restore peace across the four nations, so it's no better way to show that in a Magic expansion.

Revealed Card Preview

After its first card announcement, below is previews of an Allies and one Shrines cards in the new ATLA set.

Teo: The Beloved Character

Teo stands as one popular supporting character in ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom who resided in an Air Temple following his village was destroyed by a flood, an event that rendered him paraplegic.

Thanks to his dad's expertise in engineering, Teo is able to soar in the air using his glider, even challenges the Avatar to an aerial contest.

This card Teo, Spirited Glider represents Teo's passion of flying along with the Earth Tribe's use of gliders through letting you draw and discard whenever a player attacks using an airborne unit, and additionally strengthening your team via counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: The Strong Shrine

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this appears in the card The Northern Air Temple, that drains an opponent's life upon entering play, depending on how many of Shrines you have.

It also removes one more point anytime a Shrine comes onto the field.

This looks like an impactful addition, given the card's low cost and valuable enter the battlefield effect.

One major weakness of Shrine decks outside of EDH are the fact that Shrines are always Legendary, but Northern Air Temple can be great in combination with another Shrine, that drains every opponent during the start of your main phase.

The Timely Crossover

Currently when Universes Beyond products are garnering significant hate from the community, a beloved series like Avatar could be precisely what MTG requires.

Preview period is already here, with the full set will be released on Nov. 21.