Shrines decks have been popular ever since Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin was printed in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Now, with Avatar: The Last Airbender, Shrines decks are getting a much needed boost with some powerful new cards.
The Shrines in the Avatar set are, much like before, Legendary Enchantments with a subtype of Shrine. Some of the previous Shrine cards have also been creatures in the case of the Go-Shintai, but generally speaking, they’re for the most part Enchantments.
Unlike the Honden cycle (which trigger on your upkeep) and the Go-Shintai cycle (which trigger on your end step), the Avatar Shrine cards trigger on EtB and also when another Shrine enters.
SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE
First up, it’s the Southern Air Temple. Getting to buff your board with +1/+1 counters is always good, and considering this has no ceiling, it’s pretty fairly costed at four mana. Once it’s in play, you also get the benefit of putting a +1/+1 counter on each creature whenever a Shrine enters. It’s like Thalia’s Lieutenant on steroids, but for Shrines. I like this one quite a bit.
It’s most similar to Go-Shintai of Boundless Vigor, which asks you to pay mana on your end step to grow one of your Shrines. Obviously in Shrine decks you’re playing all (or most) Shrines so you can get the maximum Shrine count, so playing these together will be pretty good.
CRESCENT ISLAND TEMPLE
Another four mana Shrine, so I’m thinking it’s gonna be pretty strong. Oh – looks like it is!
Crescent Island Temple is going to make you a 1/1 Monk with Prowess for each Shrine you control when it enters. Remember, Prowess triggers when you play non-creature spells, so playing more Shrines and other enchantments is going to pay off here. And would you look at that – this Shrine also makes more monks once it’s in play whenever another Shrine enters.
Token spam is one of the main win cons for Shrine decks, and between Honden of Life’s Web and Go-Shintai of Shared Purpose’s Spirit token generation and the Monks from the Crescent Island Temple, you’re going to be making plenty of tokens to flood the board and chump block with until you can grow them larger.
NORTHERN AIR TEMPLE
And now for the biggie: the one mana superstar Shrine, the Northern Air Temple. If this one doesn’t get you hot under the collar, I’m not sure what will. Northern Air Temple – for one mana, mind – is basically a new wincon for Shrines decks. It drains each opponent for each Shrine you have in play. And if you get it down before people are within knock-out distance, it also sets up a life drain tick for other Shrines entering.
Far and away one of the most exciting spoilers of preview season so far, I think you’ll agree.
Shrine decks definitely could do with more win conditions, and this’ll pair nicely with Sanctum of Stone Fangs and Honden of Infinite Rage, the two main “damage” sources from Shrines we have so far.
NEW SHRINE SYNERGY CARDS AND COMMANDER
There are also some new Shrine synergy cards. Guru Pathik is a pretty sweet add for Enchantress decks running a mix of Shrines and Sagas. Aang’s Journey, meanwhile, is essentially four mana to tutor a shrine and a basic land to hand while gaining 2 life. It’s not out and out amazing, but if you’re wanting to limit powerful tutors like Enlightened Tutor, then it’s a safe option.
Perhaps most excitingly, there’s a new potential Shrines Commander in Avatar Jumpstart – Hei Bai, Forest Guardian. When it enters, you get to dig for a Shrine to put into play, which is already excellent. It also has a tap ability to make a bunch of nigh-unblockable Spirit tokens for WUBRG. Whether in the CZ or the 99, this is a really solid add to Shrines decks.
Of course, the best Shrines Commander is still probably Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin – along with the best synergy shrine being Sanctum of All – but I’m interested in seeing what other options we might get in the Avatar set.
Getting new win conditions like Northern Air Temple is so crucial for Shrine decks, and the power to amplify your board with Southern Air Temple and Crescent Island Temple is also a boon to these types of decks.
Do you have a Shrines deck? What cool tech cards do you enjoy playing?
I’m thinking about adding Wildsear, Scouring Maw from Bloomburrow to mine. Moonshaker Cavalry is a nice wincon too, especially to synergize with Spirit payoffs. I’m also kinda tempted to do some weird stuff with Mirror Box… there’s gotta be some great ways to pop off with that in all five colors.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.