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MTG fans often embrace tribe-based decks — who hasn't built a zombie strategy once or twice? — while this upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover release is reintroducing two popular examples which match perfectly with the theme.

Returning Tribal Mechanics

One initial mechanic, called "Ally," was introduced with the Zendikar which grants boosts whenever additional creatures with this subtype enter the battlefield.

Alternatively, "Shrine" is an enchantment-based subtype that first appeared in Kamigawa. While not exactly creature-based tribe, Shrines likewise become abilities as you owns more of them on the battlefield.

The Return for the Ally Mechanic

While Shrines have been appeared occasionally across recent sets, Allies mechanic was much rarer — but that ends with ATLA, where the feature gets prominently used.

Aang must assemble many friends during his journey to bring back balance across the world, and there's no more fitting method to represent this through a Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Revealed Card Preview

Following its initial card reveal, here is a look of an Ally plus one Shrine cards from the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo, Spirited Glider: The Beloved Character

Teo stands as a cherished minor character in ATLA, a young man from Earth Kingdom that lived in the Northern Air Temple following his village was destroyed in a disaster, an event that rendered him paraplegic.

Thanks to his father's skill in mechanics, he can glide through the skies with a flying device, even dares the Avatar in a flying contest.

This card Teo reproduces his passion of the skies along with the Earth Tribe's use on flying machines by letting the player draw and discard each time a player attacks using an airborne creature, while additionally strengthening your creatures with +1/+1 counters in the process.

Northern Air Temple: A Powerful Shrine Enchantment

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this appears in the card The Northern Air Temple, that reduces your opponent's life upon coming into play, depending on the number Shrine cards you control.

It also drains an additional point whenever a Shrine enters the field.

It looks like an impactful addition, given the card's cheap mana cost plus good ETB effect.

A big weakness of Shrine-based strategies in formats besides Commander are the fact that these cards are always Legendary, but this card is effective when paired with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which drains all opponents during the start of your turn.

The Welcome Crossover

Currently when Universes Beyond products are garnering a lot of backlash by the community, a beloved franchise such as Avatar: The Last Airbender could be precisely what MTG needs.

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