Exclusive: How Magic's Avatar Expansion Brings Back 2 Popular Tribal Gameplay Features

Magic: The Gathering players often adopt tribal strategies — who has not constructed a goblin deck before? — while this forthcoming ATLA Universes Beyond set brings back 2 well-known examples which match seamlessly with the theme.

Returning Tribe-Supporting Abilities

One first mechanic, known as "Ally," was introduced in the Zendikar and provides bonuses each time more permanents with the Ally type enter play.

Meanwhile, "Shrines" is an enchantment type which first appeared with Champions of Kamigawa. Although not exactly a creature tribe, these enchantments likewise gain strength when you controls additional Shrines on the battlefield.

The Return of Allies Mechanic

While Shrines have appeared here and there in recent sets, Allies subtype has been far less common — but this changes with ATLA, where the mechanic gets central.

Aang must gather a lot of friends during the quest to restore peace to the four nations, so it's no more fitting method to show this in an Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Exclusive Cards Showcase

Following its initial card announcement, below is a look of an Ally plus a Shrine card in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender set.

Teo: The Fan-Favorite Figure

This character is one beloved minor character in ATLA, a young man from the Earth Tribe who resided in the Northern Air Temple following his home was destroyed in a disaster, an event that rendered him paraplegic.

Because of his father's expertise with engineering, he can soar in the air using a flying device, even dares Aang to an aerial race.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider represents Teo's fondness of flying and the Earth Tribe's reliance on gliders by letting you draw and discard whenever a player attacks using an airborne creature, and also strengthening your creatures via +1/+1 counters in the process.

Northern Air Temple: A Strong Shrine

Regarding Teo's home, this is represented in a card named Northern Air Temple, that drains your opponent's life total upon coming into play, depending on the number of Shrines you have.

The card also drains one more life whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

It looks like a strong addition, given the card's low cost plus good ETB effect.

A major weakness of Shrine strategies in formats besides EDH are that these cards are typically Legendary, but this card can be great when paired with another Shrine, which deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

The Welcome Collaboration

Currently when Universes Beyond products are garnering a lot of hate from the community, a beloved series such as Avatar can be precisely what Magic: The Gathering requires.

Spoiler season is already here, and the full set will be released November 21st.

William Pratt
William Pratt

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