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Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts often enjoy tribe-based tactics — what player hasn't assembled a zombie deck once or twice? — and the new ATLA Universes Beyond release is reintroducing two popular examples which align perfectly with the setting.

Returning Tribe-Supporting Abilities

The initial mechanic, called "Allies," first introduced in a Zendikar set and gives bonuses whenever additional creatures bearing this type come onto the field.

On the other hand, "Shrines" represents another enchantment-based subtype that originated in Champions of Kamigawa. While not a creature tribal theme, these enchantments likewise become power when you has more Shrines in play.

The Comeback for Allies Mechanic

Although Shrine cards have appeared occasionally across newer sets, the Ally subtype has been seldom seen — but this changes with ATLA, where the mechanic gets prominently used.

Aang has to gather numerous friends on his quest to restore balance across the four nations, and there's no better method to reflect that through an Magic set.

Exclusive Card Showcase

After its first card reveal, below is previews of an Ally and one Shrine card in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Figure

This character is a popular supporting character in ATLA, a boy from Earth Kingdom that resided at the Northern Air Temple after his home was ruined by a flood, which left him paraplegic.

Due to his dad's prowess with engineering, he can soar in the air with a flying device, even challenges Aang to a flying race.

The card Teo reproduces his passion of flying along with the Earth Tribe's reliance of gliders by allowing you draw and discard each time a player attacks with an airborne unit, and also strengthening your creatures with +1/+1 counters in the process.

Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this is represented in the card Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total when entering play, based on the number of Shrines you control.

The card furthermore removes an additional point anytime a Shrine comes onto the battlefield.

It looks like a powerful card, given its low mana cost and good enter the battlefield effect.

One big drawback for Shrine decks in formats besides EDH are the fact that these cards are always Legendary, however this card is effective in combination with another Shrine, that drains every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

A Welcome Collaboration

At a time when Universes Beyond products are garnering a lot of backlash by the community, a beloved franchise like Avatar could be precisely just what MTG requires.

Preview period has begun, with the full set set to be launched November 21st.