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Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts often adopt tribal decks — what player hasn't constructed a zombie strategy at some point? — and the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover set brings back 2 beloved mechanics that align seamlessly to its theme.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first mechanic, called "Ally," first introduced in a Zendikar set which grants buffs each time more creatures with the Ally type enter the battlefield.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" is an enchantment-based type that first appeared with Champions of Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribal theme, these enchantments also gain abilities as you controls more Shrines in play.

The Comeback of the Ally Ability

Although Shrines have shown up sporadically across newer sets, the Ally subtype has been much rarer — but that ends with Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which this feature gets heavily featured.

Aang must gather a lot of allies on his quest to restore balance across the four nations, so there's no more fitting method to reflect that through an Magic set.

Revealed Card Showcase

After its initial card announcement, here is a look at an Allies and a Shrines cards in the new ATLA release.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Figure

Teo stands as a cherished minor character from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man of the Earth Tribe that lived in the Northern Air Temple following his village was ruined by a disaster, which rendered him paraplegic.

Thanks to his dad's expertise with engineering, he is able to soar through the skies with his glider, even challenges Aang in a flying contest.

This card Teo, Spirited Glider represents his passion of flying along with his tribe's reliance of flying machines through allowing you draw and discard whenever a player attacks using an airborne unit, and also pumping your creatures with counters in the process.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine

Regarding his home, it is represented in the card The Northern Air Temple, that reduces an opponent's life total upon coming into the battlefield, depending on how many of Shrines you have.

It furthermore drains an additional point anytime a Shrine enters the battlefield.

This appears to be a powerful addition, given its low cost and good ETB effect.

One major weakness for Shrine-based decks in formats besides EDH are that Shrines are typically legendary permanents, however Northern Air Temple can be effective in combination alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, that deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

The Timely Crossover

At a time while Universes Beyond products are receiving a lot of hate from fans, an iconic franchise like Avatar could be precisely what Magic: The Gathering requires.

Spoiler season is already here, and the full set will be launched on Nov. 21.