Scoop: How Magic's Avatar Set Revives 2 Popular Tribe-Focused Mechanics

MTG players often embrace tribal strategies — who hasn't built a zombie deck at some point? — while this new Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set brings back two well-known mechanics which match seamlessly with the theme.

Returning Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first mechanic, known as "Allies," was debuted with a Zendikar which grants bonuses each time more permanents bearing the Ally type come onto play.

Meanwhile, "Shrine" represents another enchantment-based subtype which originated in Champions of Kamigawa. While not a creature tribal theme, these enchantments likewise become power as you controls additional Shrines in play.

The Return for the Ally Mechanic

Although Shrines have shown up sporadically in recent releases, Allies mechanic was seldom seen — but this ends in ATLA, where the mechanic gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang must gather a lot of allies on his journey to bring back balance to the world, so it's no better way to represent this in a Magic set.

Exclusive Card Preview

Following its first set announcement, below are a look at an Allies plus a Shrines card from the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Character

Teo stands as one popular minor character from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy of Earth Kingdom who lived in the Northern Air Temple after his village was destroyed in a disaster, which rendered him paraplegic.

Because of his father's skill in mechanics, Teo can fly in the air with his glider, and dares Aang to a flying contest.

The card Teo reproduces Teo's fondness for flying and the Earth Tribe's use on gliders through letting you draw and discard each time a player attacks with a flying unit, and also boosting your team with +1/+1 counters in the process.

The Temple Card: A Powerful Shrine

Regarding his dwelling, it is represented in the card Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total upon entering play, based on how many of Shrines you control.

It also drains one more life anytime another Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

It looks like a strong addition, given the card's cheap mana cost and good ETB ability.

A big drawback for Shrine strategies in formats besides EDH is the fact that Shrines are always legendary permanents, however Northern Air Temple is effective in combination alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, that drains every opponent at the beginning of your main phase.

A Welcome Crossover

Currently when crossover products have been receiving a lot of criticism from the community, an iconic franchise like Avatar could be precisely what MTG requires.

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

Randall Cooke
Randall Cooke

A seasoned gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in online casinos and slot machine mechanics, specializing in strategy development.