Thursday 13 February 2014

The Original Shrines

Aven ShrineCabal ShrineCephalid ShrineDwarven ShrineNantuko Shrine
That's right, Kamigawa didn't invent the idea of shrines! Before I start, I just want to put it out there that I think these should have the subtype "Shrine". It only makes sense.

Aven Shrine
We're leaving the gate with easily the weakest part of the set. 6 life over 4 cards is worse than just straight-up casting 4 Healing Leaves and that's pretty bad. If it was doubled, like Dwarven Shrine, then maybe it would be playable, but right now it isn't.

Pros: Adds lifegain to repeated casts
Cons: Only 6 life over 4 cards
Rating: 0.5/5

Cabal Shrine
This can really hurt a control deck since they won't want to cast their countermagic more than once or twice because they'll have to chuck a good chunk of their hand to do so. It's something that can also bite you though since it will make you discard your hand for spells as well. I think a Rakdos-style deck might be able to use this most effectively, but it's a real double-edged sword.

Pros: Forces discard on repeated casts
Cons: Major double-edged sword
Rating: 2/5

Cephalid Shrine
Again, another double-edged sword, but this one is a bit more manageable since you can mitigate any negative effects by simply running a low-cost deck. Think a deck that would run Dark Confidant, but more blue.

Pros: Really good control card
Cons: Small double-edged sword
Rating: 3/5

Dwarven Shrine
Suicide red embodied in a single card. This is a great card for red since there are a fair number of different red burn spells that do the same thing, so you can mitigate the amount of damage you will take by essentially running a singleton deck. Every time you kill an opponent's creature, they will have to think twice about playing another copy of that creature because they'll be taking a fair bit of damage to do so.

Pros: Damage on repeated casts
Cons: Very mitigatable double-edged sword
Rating: 3.5/5

Nantuko Shrine
This is the shrine from this set that I want to make a deck around. Green has a lot of cards that sack themselves to get things (Yavimaya ElderDiligent Farmhand, etc) and repeated casts of those things will get you more Squirrels. There are also cards like Chatter of the Squirrel which have flashback that make more Squirrels. Throw in Nut Collector and Squirrel Mob and it'll be a fun time!

Pros: Squirrels on repeated casts
Cons: Enemies get Squirrels too
Rating: 4/5

No comments:

Post a Comment