Scoop: The Way Magic: The Gathering's Avatar: The Last Airbender Set Revives Two Fan-Favorite Tribal Gameplay Features
MTG fans consistently adopt tribe-based tactics — what player hasn't assembled a goblin strategy once or twice? — and the forthcoming ATLA crossover release is reintroducing two well-known examples which fit seamlessly to its theme.
Reappearing Tribe-Supporting Abilities
The initial mechanic, called "Allies," was introduced in the Zendikar which gives buffs each time additional permanents bearing this subtype enter play.
Meanwhile, "Shrines" is an enchantment-based type which first appeared in Kamigawa. While not creature-based tribe, Shrines also become power as a player has additional Shrines in play.
A Comeback of the Ally Ability
While Shrines have appeared occasionally in recent releases, Allies subtype has been far less common — until this ends with ATLA, where this feature gets heavily featured.
Aang has to recruit many companions during his journey to bring back balance across the world, so it's no better method to represent that in an Magic: The Gathering set.
Revealed Cards Preview
After the first set reveal, here is previews of an Allies plus a Shrine card in the new ATLA set.
Teo, Spirited Glider: A Fan-Favorite Character
Teo stands as a popular supporting character in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a boy of Earth Kingdom who resided in an Air Temple after his village was ruined by a disaster, which rendered him unable to walk.
Because of his dad's skill in engineering, he can soar through the skies using his glider, even challenges the Avatar to a flying contest.
This card Teo, Spirited Glider reproduces his love for flying and his tribe's reliance on gliders by letting the player draw and discard whenever you attack using an airborne unit, while additionally boosting your creatures with counters at the same time.
Northern Air Temple: A Strong Shrine
Regarding his home, it is represented as the card The Northern Air Temple, which reduces your opponent's life when coming into the battlefield, depending on the number of Shrines you control.
The card also removes an additional life whenever a Shrine enters the battlefield.
This looks like a powerful card, considering its low cost and good enter the battlefield effect.
One major weakness of Shrine-based strategies outside of EDH are that Shrines are always legendary permanents, but Northern Air Temple can be effective when paired with Sanctum of Stone Fangs, which deals damage to every opponent at the beginning of your turn.
A Welcome Crossover
Currently when Universes Beyond sets are garnering a lot of criticism from the community, an iconic series like Avatar: The Last Airbender can be exactly what Magic: The Gathering requires.
Spoiler season has begun, with the full set set to be launched on Nov. 21.