Deck Tech: Taking a Shine to Shrines - Bonus Budget List Included!
“Magictating” is defined as getting into the zone with your Magic the Gathering collection--thinking, planning, organizing, reminiscing about past games, and imagining future games. It is a combination of hard thinking about the game and calm meditation, reveling in the joy it brings you.
Inspiration:
I used to have many sixty card multiplayer decks. One of those decks was based on Hondens, and another one was based on Arboria. When new shrines were printed in M21, I knew I wanted to combine ideas from both decks to create something new for Commander. I just love the idea of making a dangerous pilgrimage into the late game, and then winning with my holy shrines. The deck needs a five color commander, and while Golos, Tireless Pilgrim 's name seems to fit the idea of the deck, I wanted to utilize Sisay, Weatherlight Captain 's ability to pull shrines from the deck and put those shrines directly into play. Playing a five color deck is one of my favorite things to do, and winning without creatures can be sublimely satisfying.
Notable Synergies/Combos:
This deck is loaded with cards that work well with one another. The shrines stack well together, but this deck dives a bit deeper. Many of these enchantments just serve to slowly tighten the screws and make my opponents unable to reach me from my Privileged Position. This deck takes some divine turns, and it helps to analyze some of its synergies and combos.
Enchanted Evening and Calming Verse blow up everyone else's permanents, so that often leads to instant scoops from the table. If you are a fan of this interaction, then consider adding Cleansing Meditation. You could also consider adding Aura Thief and killing it with a Honden of Infinite Rage activation, thus stealing everyone's permanents (gross, right?). I opted not to include Aura Thief, as thievery does not strike me as an acceptable practice for a holy shrines deck.
Arboria has long been a card I enjoy playing. Leyline of Anticipation, Vedalken Orrery, and Sisay all work with Arboria. Once you have enough lands in play, you choose to play cards only on your opponent's turns. This lets you maximize Arboria's protection. Other players may take advantage of Arboria, and that is fine, because this deck wins with shrines! Be careful when you play Arboria, as it is a World enchantment, and if you play Caverns of Despair after it is already in play, then you must discard Arboria (whichever World enchantment is newest gets to stay).
Paradox Haze is great to keep the old fashioned Hondens cranking out extra value. Use Copy Enchantment on Paradox Haze to double the righteous activations! Do not try to copy a Legendary or World Enchantment, because that would be sad.
Dream Tides combines sublimely well with Kismet, Frozen Aether, and Sanctum of Tranquil Light. This will wreck any green deck, and give all other creature-based decks absolute fits. Your opponents' board development will be so stalled, that you are sure to make it to the late game. Shrines shine in the late game.
Pendrell Mists taxes creatures and stalls development. It helps to make every other taxing effect in the deck even stronger. I have cast Copy Enchantment targeting this, and it makes life miserable for creature decks.
While playing this deck, I am often heard saying, “You cannot attack me unless…” The Propaganda-style enchantments all stack on each other, so if you resolve a Ghostly Prison and a Sphere of Safety, I doubt anyone is attacking you anytime soon. Being able to toss Copy Enchantment on something like Collective Restraint is just gross. In addition, Island Sanctuary is great once you have either of the blue shrines in play.
Sterling Grove, Privileged Position, and Cloud Cover help keep your hallowed enchantments protected, and if they do get destroyed, we have recursion enough in Replenish, Crystal Chimes, and Open the Vaults. Be sure you leave a mana open whenever Sterling Grove is in play (then tutor up the best enchantment for the situation).
Eidolon of Blossoms and Mana Bloom combine to create a bouquet of cards in your hand.
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain, synergises with every legendary permanent in the deck (including the Legendary Land, Serra's Sanctum).
Draw, how the deck keeps the cards flowing:
The draw package in this deck is all enchantment based. I felt it was all on theme, and I like the idea of playing Song of Creation. I do have a couple mass recursion spells, so discarding a few enchantments is not necessarily a permanent problem. Rhystic Study, a clear powerhouse, might be the best it has ever been in this mana-taxing deck. People will almost never be paying the one mana.
Ramp, how to keep up on mana development:
This deck utilizes Glacial Crevasses and Winter's Chill as spicy includes, so I need to put snow-covered lands into play. As such, I chose to go with Rampant Growth effects, which maximize the number of snow-covered basic lands I have in play. Collective Restraint is godly when we have five basic land types being represented (Dryad of the Ilysian Grove smooths things out as well).
Answers, the cards that deal with particular situations:
This deck eschews traditional targeted removal in order to adopt an approach that uses shields. I just want to keep people from killing me with their nasty creatures. If they are going the artifact route, then I want to play Titania's Song and make those pesky artifacts into creatures that are easier to deal with. This does hit my two artifacts, so I have to be careful not to turn those items off when I still need them. Calming Verse answers enchantments, while Karmic Justice and Martyr's Bond help to make people pay for any items they destroy.
Spice:
Winter's Chill is a card I have always wanted to pull off. This is the deck that uses it to great effect. After an opponent has spent all their mana enabling all their attackers, then you nail them with this little beauty and freeze out those pesky creatures. In the same vein, Siren's Call is an interesting way for blue to kill creatures. If your opponent cannot attack because they cannot pay the mana, then their creatures still die. Meanwhile, Glacial Crevasses makes people not want to even bother attacking you. And lastly, Katabatic Winds is hilarious. I bet your friends will be impressed by your old school jank.
Notable Exclusions:
I try not to play Sol Ring in too many of my decks. I hate having to give up a slot to auto-includes, and so I actively try not to include Sol Ring, unless it synergizes with the deck. I will usually use it in a deck that is lacking other forms of ramp too (read non-green decks).
I did not include Dance of the Manse, as I do not want to win with combat damage. That is also why Opalescence is absent. I decided not to include any more than the two tutors, as I prefer to let the game play out a bit more randomly. I do want this deck to be consistently “going off” on turns 6-8. I want to focus my efforts on worshiping under my shrines, while keeping all non-believers away from me. If I have to go the beatdown route, then I will do so with Genju of the Realms or Sisay (if we are forced to win through commander damage). I really made an effort to keep creatures out of the deck. It is a nice upside having all of my opponents' creature removal spells mean almost nothing against my deck. During development, I even toyed with using Umori as a companion, but decided I enjoyed my spicy cards too much to sacrifice them for Umori's flimsy upside.
Approach of the Second Sun is not in the deck because it does not fit the shrine theme. That may sound silly, so feel free to try it in yours. People will surely be desperate to try and kill you, and you can be the archenemy for several turns before they succumb to your second sun.
Gravity Sphere and Mystic Decree are not included either. I did not want yet another World Enchantment, and I do not own Gravity Sphere (I might have included one if I owned it). Perhaps there is an enchantment collector's quest there?
Maelstrom Nexus seems like it would be pretty good in this deck. I just could not fit it in my 64 at the time, and I have it in other decks too. I hate to swap cards out, so I just let them live in certain decks.
Chromatic Lantern seems like a good mana-fixing ramp choice, but when combined with Titania's Song it is a non-combo I want to avoid. For this reason, and that I want to be able to keep the snow-covered land count high, I opted to exclude it from this build.
Budget Considerations:
I have an alternative budget build for this deck as well. The priciest parts of this deck come from a few cards, so I managed to build a similar style version for about $70 (half the cost of one Serra's Sanctum).
Early Game:
Do whatever you can to survive! This is often accomplished by being non-aggressive and playing out Propaganda enchantments. Additionally, you can feel free to ramp and mana fix in the early turns. I often choose to either mana fix or play out some less aggressive enchantments, like the white Sanctum. Do not run out your Sanctum of Stone Fangs or Honden of Infinite Rage in the early game. Those are actually finishing spells, so save them for the middle or later turns. The deck is running two tutors effects which should be used to tutor up answers to problematic board states. Usually, you want either Enchantress's Presence or Dryad of the Illysian Grove early on.
Middle Game:
This is where you need to build up a bubble that will protect you. Be certain to play any Ghostly Prisons, Propogandas, and other attacker taxing enchantments during these turns. People will either be locked out of attacking you, or they may spend their mana sending attackers your way. This is actually not that bad, as your life total may dip a bit, but that's not anything Honden of Cleansing Fire cannot fix. A little damage may help to keep people seeing you as less of a threat.
Feel free to drop Sisay into play even when you cannot immediately activate her ability. When you do activate her ability you should prioritize getting Sanctum of the Fruitful Harvest, Sanctum of Shattered Heights, and Sanctum of Tranquil Light. Those offer you the ability to move toward your end game without people getting overly alarmed. They also allow you to quietly build up Sisay's tutoring abilities without raising alarms. It only takes a turn or two for you to effectively lock people out of attacking and killing you. Do not forget that you can cheat Serra's Sanctum in with Sisay! Dropping Paradox Haze with a couple Hondens in play puts you ahead very quickly.
Also, if you manage to hold an Empty the Vaults, Replenish, or Dance of the Manse (budget version) in reserve, then you can feel free to completely overextend. Those simpletons will be so pleased that they have crippled you, and they will not expect you to completely rebuild your entire board with a single sanctimonious spell.
Late Game:
This is when you put Sanctum of All into play. This card enables you to close out games. This is the reason to play this deck, and the reason Sisay is the Commander. Cheating this into play before your turn is the ideal path to victory. You should also be certain to activate Sisay's ability during your upkeep to snag another Sanctum, so it will activate twice on your first main phase. Do not worry about drawing too many cards. I have drawn 15 cards in a single turn, and that usually leads to a quick victory via Sanctum of Stone Fangs. You will be the archenemy, but your holy shrines, mana taxing, and creature tapping will allow you to easily brush aside any uprisings from unworthy heathens (I mean, friends). The ability to negate all attacking creatures solves most problems.
Final Reflection:
Taking a Shine to Shrines is a faultlessly fun deck to play. It may not be super fun to play against, but it does have weaknesses. My friend, Andrew, absolutely wrecked me with Kederekt Leviathan and Restoration Angel. These types of weaknesses keep the drama going, and allow you to focus on the journey to victory. The deck allows your opponents to beat on each other, but keeps you safe from their attacks. The promotion of non-aggression leads people to build armies and potentially overextend themselves. All of the little synergies in the deck make the deck function like a series of mini-combos that assemble and build toward a final moment where you are able to Enshrine yourself in victory!
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