Exclusive: How Magic: The Gathering's Avatar: The Last Airbender Expansion Reintroduces 2 Fan-Favorite Tribal Gameplay Features

MTG enthusiasts often adopt tribe-based tactics — what player hasn't constructed a zombie strategy before? — while this upcoming ATLA crossover set is reintroducing two beloved examples that match seamlessly to the flavor.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities

The initial ability, known as "Allies," first introduced with the Zendikar and provides buffs whenever additional permanents with this subtype come onto play.

Meanwhile, "Shrines" is an enchantment-based type which originated in Kamigawa. Although not exactly a creature tribal theme, Shrines likewise become strength when a player owns more Shrines on the battlefield.

A Comeback of Allies Mechanic

Although Shrines have been appeared here and there across newer releases, Allies mechanic was far less common — until that ends with Avatar: The Last Airbender, where this feature gets heavily featured.

The protagonist Aang has to assemble a lot of allies during the quest to bring back peace to the world, so there's no more fitting method to reflect this through an Magic: The Gathering expansion.

Revealed Card Preview

Following the initial card reveal, below are previews at an Ally plus a Shrine cards in the upcoming ATLA set.

Teo, Spirited Glider: A Fan-Favorite Figure

Teo stands as one popular supporting figure from Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy of the Earth Tribe that resided at an Air Temple following his village was destroyed in a disaster, an event that left him unable to walk.

Due to his father's expertise in engineering, he is able to glide through the skies with a flying device, and challenges the Avatar to an aerial race.

The card Teo reproduces Teo's fondness of flying and his tribe's use on gliders by letting the player loot whenever you attack with an airborne unit, while additionally pumping your creatures with counters at the same time.

Northern Air Temple: A Strong Shrine

Regarding Teo's home, this is represented as the card Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total when coming into play, depending on how many Shrine cards you control.

The card furthermore drains an additional point whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.

It looks like a powerful card, considering its cheap cost and good ETB ability.

One major drawback for Shrine strategies outside of Commander are the fact that these cards are always Legendary, but Northern Air Temple is great when paired with another Shrine, that drains all opponents at the beginning of your main phase.

The Timely Collaboration

At a time while crossover products have been garnering a lot of criticism from the community, an iconic franchise such as Avatar could be precisely just what Magic: The Gathering needs.

Spoiler season has begun, with all cards will be launched on Nov. 21.

Debbie Jones
Debbie Jones

A seasoned casino enthusiast and slot game analyst with over a decade of experience in gaming strategies and industry trends.