Aven Shrine

Enchantment

Whenever a player plays a spell, that player gains X life, where X is the number of cards in all graveyards with the same name as that spell.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (6)

SufferFromEDHD on Shadowborn Doomsday Rave

1 year ago

Ayara, First of Locthwain = blood artist #2

Starlit Sanctum decent sac outlet.

Skullclamp incredible sac outlet.

Secret Salvage Shadowborn tech

Remembrance Shadowborn tech

Aven Shrine this cycle typically has 0 value in EDH. Your engine/strategy breaks this jank!

Tzefick on Taborax's Apostles of Despair

3 years ago

Very nice alternative. I must say I think your list of searchable demons is a little thin and not that much utility to get. It appears you mostly have demons that grant card draw in some fashion.

I would probably put in something like Archfiend of Depravity or Pestilence Demon for swarm control. And I do find Archfiend of Despair a very neat tech choice to wallop an opponent out who has taken a bit too much damage. Or Sower of Discord to either dissuade an opponent from attacking into you or to utilize damage against one player to swing against another.

While Reaper from the Abyss is a very nice card that keeps on giving, I find Overseer of the Damned to be a good alternative, as the effect happens immediately and can better be utilized to save your skin or deal with a problematic creature from an opponent.

Also I'm surprised to not see Secret Salvage nor Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker in your list.

---

All this being said I don't think I'll ever drop the Orzhov variants of Shadowborn Apostle decks.

The amount of value you can get with Black-White is well worth it in my eyes.

Cards like Aven Shrine or Remembrance are easily paying themselves back in short time.

Include cards like Immortal Servitude and Rally the Ancestors and if you're a bit more casual; Angel of Glory's Rise. Even if you only have a small slew of Apostles, you can use them again and again for quite cheap.

Of course there's the palette of removal that is accessible with white; Vindicate, Utter End, Anguished Unmaking. Merciless Eviction is also a favorite along with Austere Command.

And while we're at it, throw in a Smothering Tithe.

Tzefick on Athreos, God of Passage (Orzhov) JLK Inspired

5 years ago

Suggestions for "additions" (I'm not sure what you want to take out)

Also here is my list if you want some additional inspiration: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/shadowborn-apostles-demons-will-rise/

The list is outdated, casual, and just a rough remake of a list I had previously that I lost, but there might be something you've missed in there.

• Aven Shrine - Provides ridiculous lifegains even with just a small number of apostles in the yard.
• Xathrid Necromancer - (Rotlung Reanimator v. 2) - Tokens enters tapped, which is an issue, but it triggers off humans which hits slightly more targets than cleric. More of an aggressive inclusion rather than combo defensive tool.
• Angel of Glory's Rise - gets back all your Clerics for another run.
• Rally the Ancestors - You have Immortal Servitude, this is its buddy.
• Doom Whisperer - Razaketh, the Foulblooded does what this does better under normal circumstances. Haven't playtested this one but the general idea is to Surveil as many Clerics into the graveyard as possible until you hit a mass-resurrection-spell. Combines really well with aforementioned Aven Shrine by possibly finding and fueling the Shrine's condition, leading to mass lifegains, leading to more Surveil.
• No Rest for the Wicked - Haven't playtested this one either and possibly more a jank inclusion. The idea is to make sure you can get your Clerics back into hand if Athreos is not available or people are willing to pay. It's better to just have the mass resurrection spells before this.

I would probably pull out:

• Krav, the Unredeemed - He seems lackluster in the setup and you don't seem to create an abundance of tokens to really abuse his ability.
• Harvester of Souls - Would likely swap him out for a Grim Haruspex. While the Harvester triggers off of your opponent's creatures dying, you would need a Grave Pact effect in play to actually take advantage of that. The main portion of cards you get from this is from your own creatures. And I figure if you are able to search for a demon, the Harvester is not the prime target. At least when I've played he has been under performing. The Haruspex is easier to cast and is returned with both Rally the Ancestors and Angel of Glory's Rise. You can even find her with Recruiter of the Guard in case you've already found your Edgewalker.
• Unburial Rites - Just seems lackluster to me but that's also because my playgroup run a lot of exile, especially on big targets in colors that usually gets them back. In general I find Phyrexian Reclamation to be a better inclusion because I can secure I get my Clerics back which is the overall gameplan.

Anyway just my 2 cents. Hope you can use it in some capacity :)

PowerElephant on Idea for a shadowborn apostle …

5 years ago

Karador, Ghost Chieftain sounds like a great idea, he would largely mitigate my need for card draw, as instead of drawing tons of Shadowborn Apostles I could simply re-play the same ones multiple times. As well as giving me accses to some aditional amazing cards like the ones you mentioned, Aven Shrine, Nantuko Shrine. The only thing that bothers me with that strategy is the fact that it needs 3 colours. With so many Shadowborn Apostles in the deck, would 3 colours be too much? With only 2 colours I could easily have every land in the deck give me black mana, but with 3 that would be too cluncky, not to mention that it would make the deck much more expensive.

KongMing on

5 years ago

Some ideas to help you obtain more Shadowborn Apostles: How about making copies of the Apostles with God-Pharaoh's Gift , Mimic Vat, Minion Reflector, or Soul Foundry?

I see you already have Rememberance (so OP for this deck....) How about Aven Shrine?

Since you'll often have a graveyard full of Apostles, why not work on recurring them? Rally the Ancestors lets you return allllll your Apostles for a measly 3 mana. Also, consider Faith's Reward as a way to return all of the Apostles on the turn you sacrifice them.

clayperce on Best. Advent Calendar. Evar.

8 years ago

Good on ya CheeseBro! And yeah that would be seriously cool. God pack would probably be that plus a Price of Glory and Diabolic Tutor for the uncommons. But really, as long as it's not some Commander un-staple like Aven Shrine, we're good!