If you like to call the ancient power of the legendary spirits, then Shrine Tribal is the right deck for you! Let’s see how you can tame the spirits to your will!
I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.
Shrine is an enchantment type introduced in Champions of Kamigawa. Shrine has no inherent rules meaning, but each Shrine gets better and better as you control more and more Shrines. Shrines encourage multicolor decks, because they are all legendary. (source: MtG Wiki)
With the release of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin came to MtG, offering us the ultimate Shrine Tribal commander. An Legendary Shrine with a five-color identity that features Shrine Tribal support, being able to create Shrine tokens on nontoken Shrine ETB. In addition, it offers enchantment graveyard recursion, as by paying 
,
at instant speed, we return target enchantment from our graveyard to the battlefield. A perfect leader for our Shrine Tribal.
Synergy Diagram
I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building. But in some cases, I do a mix of top-down and bottom-up building.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck:
- Add all the Shrines. Since there only a few cycles of Shrines, we should include them all in our Shrine Tribal to maximize its efficiency.
- Add Enchantment support. Adding cards that have Enchantment synergy can really elevate our build as all Shrines are Enchantments.
- Add Legendary synergy cards. Since Shrines are Legendary Enchantments, cards that synergize with Legendaries are very strong in our build.
- Add cards that synergize with our strategies. To make the best out of our strategies, we can further amplify them by adding cards that support many of our strategies.
For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that greatly fit the Shrine Tribal theme.
The deck:
Shrine Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
37 Lands
9 Ramp: Herald of the Pantheon, Sanctum Weaver, Font of Fertility, Wild Growth, Fertile Ground, Chromatic Lantern, Sanctum Weaver, Fertile Ground, Trace of Abundance, Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest, Kyoshi Island Plaza, Market Festival
9 Target Removal: Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars (Planeswalkers), Blightcaster, Go-Shintai of Hidden Cruelty, Darksteel Mutation, Kenrith’s Transformation, Seal of Cleansing, Seal of Primordium, Honden of Infinite Rage, Sanctum of Shattered Heights
3 Board Wipes:Doomwake Giant, Urza’s Ruinous Blast, Extinguish All Hope
4 Graveyard Recursion: Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin, Primevals’ Glorious Rebirth, Crystal Chimes, Sanctum of All
1 Graveyard Hate: Agent of Erebos
6 Tutors: Hei Bai, Forest Guardian, Zur the Enchanter, Idyllic Tutor, Plea for Guidance, Sterling Grove, Sanctum of All
5 Protection: Destiny Spinner, Sterling Grove, Ghostly Prison, Propaganda, Sphere of Safety
9 Card Draw: Sythis, Harvest’s Hand, Satyr Enchanter, Setessan Champion, Enchantress’s Presence, Eidolon of Blossoms, Abundant Growth (1/2), Kenrith’s Transformation (1/2), The Spirit Oasis, Sanctum of Calm Waters, Honden of Seeing Winds
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: –
As we see from the comparative analysis, the rates per category seem a bit underwhelming but are close to the minimum optimal. We see no Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions, which is kinda misleading: There is no single card that can finish the game alone, but Shrine Tribal synergy can turn some shrines into secret finishers. In the same way, the rates per category are also kinda misleading, as statistics doesn’t count Shrine synergy.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Font of Fertility is a cheap Enchantment that can be sacrificed by paying 
for a Rampant Growth effect. Its low cmc makes it ideal for cards that have synergy with Enchantment ETB.
Chromatic Lantern is a great color fixing mana rock that is optimal in 5-colored decks such as our Shrine Tribal.
Sanctum Weaver is a great mana source for enchantment synergy decks and works wonders in 5-colored decks as it provides X mana of any one color where X is the number of enchantments we control.
Herald of the Pantheon is an enchantment cost reducer so it works great in our Shrine Tribal build.
Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest is a powerful Shrine that produces X mana of any one color, where X is the number of Shrines we control. A must-have for our Shrine Tribal.
Kyoshi Island Plaza is another powerful Shrine that on ETB, let us search our library for up to X basic land cards, where X is the number of Shrines we control and we put those cards onto the battlefield tapped. Moreover, whenever another Shrine we control enters, we search our library for a basic land card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Amazing synergy with our Shrine Tribal.
Fertile Ground, Wild Growth, Market Festival and Trace of Abundance are ramp staples that also have Enchantment synergy, while at the same time most help with color fixing.
Target Removal
Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars is a Shrine that help us deal with planeswalkers and can even be a finisher if we have enough Shrines around. At the beginning of our end step, we may pay to deal X damage to target player or planeswalker, where X is the number of Shrines we control. A natural inclusion for Shrine Tribal.
Blightcaster has amazing synergy with our Shrine Tribal, offering target removal whenever we cast an Enchantment spell, as we may have target creature get -2/-2 until end of turn. A top card for our build which is full of low cmc Enchantments.
Go-Shintai of Hidden Cruelty offers us repeatable creature removal. At the beginning of our end step, we may pay to destroy target creature with toughness X or less, where X is the number of Shrines we control. A must-have for Shrine Tribal.
Darksteel Mutation and Kenrith’s Transformation are target creature removal staples for Enchantment synegy builds, so they have great synergy with our Shrine Tribal.
Seal of Cleansing and Seal of Primordium are target Artifact/Enchantment removal staples for Enchantment synegy builds, so they have great synergy with our Shrine Tribal.
Honden of Infinite Rage offers us repeatable creature removal. At the beginning of our upkeep, Honden of Infinite Rage deals damage to any target equal to the number of Shrines we control. A must-have for Shrine Tribal, that can even be a finisher if we control enough Shrines.
Sanctum of Shattered Heights is another repeatable creature removal that can also target planeswalkers. By paying and discarding a land card or Shrine card at instant speed, Sanctum of Shattered Heights deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker, where X is the number of Shrines we control. A must-have for our Shrine Tribal.
Board Wipes
Doomwake Giant is an Enchantment Creature — Giant that may act as a repeatable one-sided board wipe as long as we can cast multiple enchantments. Whenever it or another enchantment we control enters, creatures our opponents control get -1/-1 until end of turn. Great synergy with our Shrine Tribal.
Urza’s Ruinous Blast is a board wipe for non-Legendary nonland permanents and works wonders in our Shrine Tribal, as all Shrines are Legendary.
Extinguish All Hope is a staple for black enchantment-heavy decks and works as a one-sided board wipe in our Shrine Tribal, as all Shrines are Enchantments.
Graveyard Recursion
Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin, as we have already analized, is a great repeatable graveyard recursion tool for enchantments.
Primevals’ Glorious Rebirth works wonders in our Shrine Tribal, as all Shrines are Legendary, so we get a great mass Shrine recursion.
Crystal Chimes is another great mass recursion tool for our Shrine Tribal, as by paying 
, and sacrificing it, we return all enchantment cards from our graveyard to your hand.
Graveyard Hate
Agent of Erebos works wonders in our Shrine Tribal, as it becomes a repeatable graveyard removal tool, a true nightmare for any graveyard deck.
Tutors
Sanctum of All works as a repeatable tutor (at the beginning of our upkeep) for any Shrine in our library and/or graveyard which is alone very stong. Moreover, if we control six or more Shrines, it becomes a Shrine ability trigger doubler. A must-have for Shrine Tribal.
Hei Bai, Forest Guardian on ETB let us reveal cards from the top of our library until we reveal a Shrine card and we may put that card onto the battlefield. A great Shrine tutor that coms with a nice extra ability. By paying , For each legendary enchantment we control, we create a 1/1 colorless Spirit creature token with “This token can’t block or be blocked by non-Spirit creatures”. Another must-have card for our Shrine Tribal.
Zur the Enchanter works as a repeatable tutor (ehenever Zur attacks) for an enchantment card with mana value 3 or less and let us put it onto the battlefield. A great pick for our Shrine Tribal.
Idyllic Tutor and Plea for Guidance are Enchantment staple tutors and work great in our Shrine Tribal.
Protection
Sterling Grove is an Enchantment protection staple, giving all our enchantments shroud. In addition, it can be sacrificed for at instant speed, to tutor an enchantment card on top of our library. A top inclusion for our Shrine Tribal.
Destiny Spinner has “Creature and enchantment spells you control can’t be countered”. A great protection card for our Shrine Tribal.
Ghostly Prison, Propaganda and Sphere of Safety are cards that protect us by taxing the opponents that dare to attack us . They work great with our Shrine Tribal as they are Enchantments and they are an important part of our defence, as we do not have enough creatures to hold the line. Sphere of Safety can be insane with our build as it scales with the number of enchantements we control.
Card Draw
Sythis, Harvest’s Hand ,Satyr Enchanter, Setessan Champion, Enchantress’s Presence and Eidolon of Blossoms are enchantment strategy staples that trigger either on enchantment ETB or on enchantment cast, letting us draw a card. All work great in our build as we have a strong enchantment strategy/theme.
The Spirit Oasis is a Shrine that on ETB let us draw a card for each Shrine we control. In addition, Whenever another Shrine we control enters, we draw a card. A must-have card for Shrine Tribal.
Sanctum of Calm Waters is a Shrine that let us draw X cards, where X is the number of Shrines we control, at the beginning of our precombat main phase. If you do, we discard a card, which is a small cost for its draw potential. Another must-have card for Shrine Tribal.
Honden of Seeing Winds is a Shrine that let us draw a card for each Shrine we control at the beginning of our upkeep. Another must-have pick for Shrine Tribal.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
–
Although there is no single card in our Shrine Tribal that can alone be a finisher, with a bit of setup, there are some cards that have the potential to win us the game.
Other synergy pieces
Shrines
Go-Shintai of Boundless Vigor, at the beginning of our end step, let us pay to put a +1/+1 counter on target Shrine for each Shrine we control. A great target is itself, as it has Trample and it can easily turn into a big threat.
Southern Air Temple on the other hand, on ETB put X +1/+1 counters on each creature we control, where X is the number of Shrines we control. In addition, whenever another Shrine we control enters, we put a +1/+1 counter on each creature we control. A great addition to our Shrine Tribal.
Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom, at the beginning of our end step, let us pay to choose target player to mill X cards, where X is the number of Shrines we control. Of course we can target ourself to fill our graveyard, which can be quite helpful in our Shrine Tribal build.
Go-Shintai of Shared Purpose, at the beginning of our end step, let us pay to create a 1/1 colorless Spirit creature token for each Shrine we control. A great token creator for our Shrine Tribal build.
Crescent Island Temple on ETB, for each Shrine we control, let us create a 1/1 red Monk creature token with prowess. Moreover, on Shrine ETB we also create a 1/1 red Monk creature token with prowess. Another great token creator for our Shrine Tribal build.
Honden of Life’s Web at the beginning of our upkeep, let us create a 1/1 colorless Spirit creature token for each Shrine we control. Another great token creator for our Shrine Tribal build.
Northern Air Temple and Sanctum of Stone Fangs help us drain our opponents, while raising our life at the same time. Great inclusions for our Shrine Tribal build.
Honden of Cleansing Fire at the beginning of our upkeep, let us gain 2 life for each Shrine we control. A great pick for our Shrine Tribal.
Honden of Night’s Reach at the beginning of our upkeep, let us force target opponent to discard a card for each Shrine we control. Another great pick for our Shrine Tribal.
Other
Ajani’s Chosen, Archon of Sun’s Grace, Hallowed Haunting and Sigil of the Empty Throne are token creators on enchantment ETB or cast, so they help us build a board presence.
Leyline of the Guildpact offers great color fixing and is an Enchantment so it works well in our Shrine Tribal.
Doublers : 3 cards
Weaver of Harmony doubles target activated or triggered ability from an enchantment source, Strionic Resonator can copy target triggered ability we control and Paradox Haze doubles our upkeep step. All double the fun of our Shrine Tribal!
Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.
Mana Curve
The mana curve is not too far from average. There is a spike at position 4 and an absence of 8+ mana drops, which is normal, as our Shrine Tribal rely on Shrines that have 1-5 cmc.
Card Type Distribution
The Shrine Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant enchantment-heavy theme with 36 enchantments and if we count enchantment creatures, the actual number climb to 49. Creatures have a lesser presence with 21 creatures but 13 of them are enchantment creatures, so those categories collide. All other categories have a much smaller presence with Artifacts at 2 and Sorceries at 5. No Instants, Planeswalkers or Battles are present for the time.
Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with the high number of tutors and the strong graveyard recursion and Shrine creation from our commander Go-Shintai of Life’s Origin, the deck synergy makes it far more competitive than the image the numbers show, as many of the Shrine abilities scale with the number of Shrines and turn to be very effective.
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If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium).
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
