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Magic: The Gathering fans often adopt tribal decks — who has not constructed a goblin strategy at some point? — and this new Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover release is reintroducing two popular mechanics which align perfectly with its theme.

Returning Tribal Mechanics

The initial mechanic, named "Ally," first introduced with the Zendikar and gives buffs each time more permanents bearing this type enter the battlefield.

On the other hand, "Shrines" is another enchantment subtype that originated with Kamigawa. Although not creature-based tribal theme, these enchantments also become power when a player controls additional Shrines on the battlefield.

A Return for the Ally Ability

While Shrines have shown up sporadically across newer releases, the Ally subtype has been seldom seen — until this changes in ATLA, in which this feature gets central.

The protagonist Aang has to gather a lot of friends during the journey to restore peace across the world, and there's no more fitting method to show that through an Magic set.

Revealed Card Showcase

Following its initial set reveal, below is a look of one Ally and a Shrines card from the new ATLA release.

Teo: The Beloved Character

Teo stands as one beloved minor character from ATLA, a young man from the Earth Tribe that resided in an Air Temple following his home was destroyed by a flood, which left him unable to walk.

Thanks to his dad's prowess in mechanics, he is able to fly through the skies using a flying device, even challenges the Avatar to an aerial race.

The card Teo, Spirited Glider reproduces Teo's fondness of the skies and his tribe's use on flying machines by letting you loot whenever a player attacks using a flying unit, and additionally boosting your team via +1/+1 counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: The Powerful Shrine

Speaking of Teo's home, it is represented as the card The Northern Air Temple, that reduces your opponent's life upon entering play, based on the number of Shrines you have.

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

This appears to be an impactful card, given its low cost and good enter the battlefield effect.

A big drawback for Shrine decks in formats besides EDH are that Shrines are always Legendary, however this card can be effective when paired alongside another Shrine, that deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.

A Welcome Crossover

Currently when crossover products have been receiving significant backlash from the community, an iconic series such as Avatar can be precisely just what Magic: The Gathering needs.

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