Scoop: How Magic: The Gathering's Avatar Expansion Revives 2 Popular Tribal Mechanics
Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts often enjoy tribe-based strategies — what player has not constructed a zombie deck at some point? — while the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Universes Beyond set is reintroducing two well-known mechanics which match seamlessly with its flavor.
Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics
The first mechanic, called "Ally," first introduced with a Zendikar which provides boosts whenever additional permanents bearing this type enter play.
Meanwhile, "Shrines" represents another enchantment-based type which originated with Kamigawa. While not a creature tribe, these enchantments likewise gain abilities as a player owns more of them on the battlefield.
A Comeback of the Ally Mechanic
Although Shrine cards have shown up occasionally across recent sets, Allies subtype was seldom seen — but this changes in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which this mechanic gets prominently used.
The protagonist Aang must recruit numerous allies during his journey to bring back peace to the world, and it's no better method to reflect that in an Magic set.
Exclusive Cards Showcase
Following the first set reveal, below are a look of an Allies plus a Shrines card in the upcoming ATLA set.
Teo, Spirited Glider: The Fan-Favorite Character
Teo is a popular minor figure in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a young man from Earth Kingdom that resided at an Air Temple following his home was destroyed by a flood, which left him paraplegic.
Due to his dad's prowess in engineering, he is able to glide through the skies using his glider, even challenges the Avatar in a flying contest.
This card Teo, Spirited Glider represents his passion for flying and the Earth Tribe's use on gliders by letting you loot each time you attack with a flying creature, and additionally boosting your creatures via counters in the process.
The Temple Card: The Strong Shrine Enchantment
Regarding Teo's home, this is represented in a card named Northern Air Temple, which reduces your opponent's life total upon entering the battlefield, depending on how many Shrine cards you control.
It furthermore drains one more life whenever a Shrine comes onto the field.
This appears to be an impactful card, given the card's low mana cost plus valuable ETB effect.
A major weakness of Shrine strategies outside of Commander are the fact that Shrines are always legendary permanents, but this card can be effective when paired alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which drains every opponent during the start of your main phase.
A Timely Crossover
At a time while crossover products have been garnering a lot of criticism from the community, a beloved series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender can be exactly just what MTG requires.
Preview period is already here, and the full set set to be released November 21st.