Exclusive: How Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender Expansion Reintroduces Two Fan-Favorite Tribal Gameplay Features
MTG enthusiasts often adopt tribe-based tactics — what player hasn't constructed an elf strategy once or twice? — while this upcoming ATLA Universes Beyond release revives 2 well-known mechanics which align perfectly to its flavor.
Reappearing Tribal Mechanics
The first ability, known as "Allies," first introduced with a Zendikar set which grants boosts each time additional permanents with this type enter play.
Meanwhile, "Shrines" is another enchantment-based subtype which originated with Kamigawa. While not a creature tribe, these enchantments also become abilities as a player has more Shrines in play.
The Comeback of the Ally Mechanic
While Shrine cards have shown up sporadically across recent sets, Allies mechanic has been much rarer — but this ends with Avatar: The Last Airbender, in which the mechanic is prominently used.
Aang must recruit a lot of allies during the quest to restore peace to the world, so there's no better method to reflect this through an Magic: The Gathering expansion.
Exclusive Card Showcase
Following its initial card reveal, here is a look of one Ally plus a Shrines card from the upcoming ATLA release.
Teo, Spirited Glider: A Fan-Favorite Figure
Teo is one beloved minor character in ATLA, a boy of Earth Kingdom who resided in the Northern Air Temple after his home was destroyed by a disaster, an event that rendered him paraplegic.
Because of his father's prowess in mechanics, Teo is able to glide through the skies using his glider, and challenges Aang in a flying contest.
The card Teo reproduces his fondness of flying and the Earth Tribe's use on flying machines through allowing you draw and discard each time you attack using a flying creature, while also boosting your team via counters at the same time.
The Temple Card: A Strong Shrine
Regarding his dwelling, it is represented as the card Northern Air Temple, which drains your opponent's life total when coming into the battlefield, depending on how many of Shrines you control.
The card also drains one more life whenever a Shrine enters the field.
It appears to be a powerful addition, given its cheap mana cost plus good ETB ability.
One big weakness for Shrine strategies outside of Commander are the fact that these cards are always legendary permanents, however this card is effective in combination alongside Sanctum of Stone Fangs, that drains every opponent during the start of your main phase.
A Timely Crossover
At a time while crossover products have been garnering significant hate by fans, a beloved series like Avatar: The Last Airbender can be precisely what MTG needs.
Spoiler season is already here, with the full set set to be released on Nov. 21.