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MTG fans consistently enjoy tribal strategies — who hasn't built a zombie deck once or twice? — and this upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover release revives 2 popular mechanics which fit perfectly to the setting.

Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Mechanics

One initial mechanic, named "Allies," was debuted in the Zendikar set and provides bonuses each time additional permanents bearing the Ally type come onto play.

On the other hand, "Shrines" represents an enchantment subtype which first appeared in Champions of Kamigawa. While not exactly creature-based tribe, Shrines likewise gain power as you has additional Shrines in play.

The Return of the Ally Ability

While Shrines have been shown up here and there across newer releases, the Ally mechanic was far less common — but that ends in Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which the feature is prominently used.

Aang has to assemble a lot of friends on his journey to bring back peace to the world, so there's no better method to represent this in an Magic set.

Exclusive Card Preview

Following the first set reveal, here are a look at one Ally and a Shrines cards in the new Avatar: The Last Airbender release.

Teo: A Fan-Favorite Character

This character stands as one beloved minor character from ATLA, a boy from the Earth Tribe who lived in the Northern Air Temple after his home was ruined in a disaster, which rendered him paraplegic.

Because of his dad's prowess in engineering, he is able to fly through the skies with a flying device, and challenges Aang to a flying race.

The card Teo reproduces Teo's love of the skies along with his tribe's use on gliders through allowing you draw and discard whenever a player attacks using an airborne unit, and also pumping your team via counters at the same time.

The Temple Card: A Powerful Shrine

Regarding Teo's dwelling, this is represented as the card The Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total when entering play, based on how many Shrine cards you have.

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

This looks like a strong card, considering its low cost plus valuable enter the battlefield effect.

One big weakness for Shrine-based strategies in formats besides Commander are that Shrines are typically legendary permanents, however Northern Air Temple is great in combination alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, that drains all opponents during the start of your main phase.

The Timely Collaboration

Currently while crossover products have been receiving significant criticism by the community, an iconic franchise like Avatar: The Last Airbender could be precisely just what MTG requires.

Preview period is already here, with the full set will be released November 21st.