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MTG players often embrace tribal decks — what player has not constructed a zombie deck once or twice? — while the upcoming ATLA Universes Beyond release brings back two well-known mechanics that align seamlessly with the setting.

Reappearing Tribal Mechanics

One first ability, known as "Ally," was introduced in a Zendikar set and gives bonuses each time more permanents bearing the Ally type enter the field.

Alternatively, "Shrines" represents an enchantment-based subtype which first appeared in Champions of Kamigawa. While not creature-based tribal theme, these enchantments likewise become abilities as you owns additional of them on the battlefield.

The Return for Allies Mechanic

While Shrine cards have shown up occasionally in recent releases, Allies mechanic was much rarer — but this changes in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which this feature is heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang has to assemble many allies on the quest to bring back peace across the four nations, and it's no more fitting way to represent this in a Magic: The Gathering set.

Revealed Card Preview

After the first set reveal, here are a look at one Allies and one Shrines cards in the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: The Beloved Figure

This character stands as a popular supporting figure in ATLA, a young man from the Earth Tribe who resided in an Air Temple following his home was ruined by a disaster, an event that rendered him unable to walk.

Thanks to his father's skill in mechanics, he is able to glide in the air using his glider, and challenges the Avatar to a flying race.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider represents his love of flying and his tribe's use on flying machines through letting the player draw and discard whenever a player attacks with an airborne unit, and also strengthening your creatures via +1/+1 counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: The Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding his home, it appears in a card named The Northern Air Temple, that reduces your opponent's life when entering play, depending on how many Shrine cards you control.

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

This appears to be an impactful addition, considering its cheap mana cost plus good enter the battlefield ability.

A big weakness of Shrine decks outside of EDH is the fact that these cards are typically Legendary, but Northern Air Temple can be great in combination alongside another Shrine, which drains all opponents at the beginning of your main phase.

A Welcome Crossover

At a time when Universes Beyond products have been garnering a lot of criticism by the community, an iconic series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender could be precisely just what MTG requires.

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