Reveal: How Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Set Revives 2 Fan-Favorite Tribal Gameplay Features
MTG fans often embrace tribe-based decks — who hasn't assembled a goblin deck at some point? — and this forthcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set revives 2 well-known examples that align perfectly with the flavor.
Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics
The first mechanic, called "Ally," was debuted in a Zendikar set and gives boosts whenever more creatures bearing the Ally subtype enter the field.
Alternatively, "Shrine" represents another enchantment type that first appeared with Champions of Kamigawa. While not exactly a creature tribal theme, these enchantments also gain abilities as a player owns additional Shrines in play.
The Comeback of the Ally Mechanic
While Shrine cards have been appeared here and there in newer sets, the Ally mechanic has been much rarer — until this ends with ATLA, where the feature is heavily featured.
Aang has to gather many allies during his journey to bring back balance across the world, and it's no more fitting way to show that through an Magic set.
Revealed Cards Preview
Following its initial card announcement, here is previews of one Allies and one Shrines card from the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender set.
Teo, Spirited Glider: The Beloved Figure
This character is a popular minor figure in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy of Earth Kingdom who lived in an Air Temple after his home was destroyed by a disaster, an event that left him paraplegic.
Because of his dad's skill with engineering, Teo can fly through the skies using his glider, and dares the Avatar to a flying race.
The card Teo, Spirited Glider reproduces Teo's love for the skies and the Earth Tribe's reliance on gliders by letting the player draw and discard whenever a player attacks with an airborne unit, and additionally strengthening your creatures with counters in the process.
Northern Air Temple: The Strong Shrine Enchantment
Regarding Teo's dwelling, this appears in a card named Northern Air Temple, that reduces your opponent's life total when coming into the battlefield, based on the number of Shrines you have.
The card also drains one more point anytime another Shrine comes onto the battlefield.
It appears to be a powerful addition, given its cheap mana cost plus good enter the battlefield effect.
One major weakness for Shrine strategies outside of EDH is that Shrines are always legendary permanents, however this card is effective in combination with another Shrine, which drains all opponents during the start of your turn.
The Timely Collaboration
Currently while crossover sets have been garnering a lot of backlash by the community, a beloved franchise like Avatar: The Last Airbender could be precisely what Magic: The Gathering requires.
Preview period has begun, and the full set will be launched on Nov. 21.