Exclusive: The Way Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Expansion Reintroduces Two Popular Tribal Gameplay Features

MTG enthusiasts often adopt tribe-based strategies — what player has not constructed a zombie strategy once or twice? — while the forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set brings back two well-known examples which fit seamlessly with its flavor.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

The initial ability, named "Allies," was debuted with a Zendikar set which provides bonuses each time more creatures bearing the Ally type enter the battlefield.

On the other hand, "Shrines" is another enchantment-based subtype that originated with Champions of Kamigawa. While not a creature tribe, Shrines also gain power when a player has additional Shrines in play.

The Comeback of the Ally Mechanic

While Shrines have appeared occasionally across newer releases, the Ally subtype has been seldom seen — but this ends with ATLA, where this feature gets heavily featured.

Aang must gather a lot of friends during the journey to bring back peace across the four nations, and it's no more fitting way to reflect that through a Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Revealed Cards Showcase

After its initial set reveal, here are previews at one Ally plus a Shrine card from the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: The Beloved Character

This character is a popular supporting character from ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom who lived in the Northern Air Temple following his village was destroyed by a flood, which rendered him unable to walk.

Due to his dad's skill with engineering, Teo is able to fly through the skies with a flying device, and challenges Aang to a flying race.

This card Teo represents Teo's fondness for the skies along with his tribe's reliance on flying machines through allowing you draw and discard whenever you attack using a flying unit, and additionally strengthening your creatures with counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: The Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding Teo's dwelling, it is represented in the card The Northern Air Temple, which reduces your opponent's life upon entering the battlefield, based on the number Shrine cards you control.

It furthermore drains one more life whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

It appears to be a strong card, considering the card's low mana cost and good ETB ability.

A big weakness for Shrine-based decks in formats besides EDH are the fact that Shrines are always legendary permanents, however this card can be great in combination with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

A Welcome Collaboration

Currently while Universes Beyond sets have been garnering a lot of hate from the community, an iconic franchise such as Avatar could be exactly just what MTG needs.

Spoiler season is already here, with the full set will be released on Nov. 21.

Maria Barrera
Maria Barrera

Periodista especializada en tecnología y futurismo, con más de una década de experiencia cubriendo avances innovadores.