Soul Sisters: Godless Shrine vs Isolated Chapel
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on April 10, 2016, 8:49 a.m. by capriom85
As someone who is running Sorin, Solemn Visitor as a 2 of in my Soul Sisters build, I'm somewhat torn. I added 2 Godless Shrine to the deck to make Sorin playable. Then I added some fetches to make Godless Shrine easier to find when I happen to find Sorin.
Here is where the problem kicks in...I need my life to be at 30+ for my Serra Ascendants to do their job (mostly). Is Isolated Chapel a better option in this deck because it automatically comes in untapped since I only runs plains or am I overthinking the most likely 3 points of life I'll be paying to fetch and play the Shrine untapped when I need to? Should the Shrines be Chapels? I mean, the Shrine is costing me 2 life early or 3 life later...that could be the difference between a 1/1 for 1 and a 6/6 for 1.
So you say run the Shrines instead because they can be fetched?
I opted to run Spectral Procession in place of Lingering Souls and also Honor of the Pure. I have room for Souls.
April 10, 2016 9:21 a.m.
And dark confidant. I think the consistency of fetch-shock is more worth it than the 2-3 life you save on chapel, at least in this case. If you were playing a less 1-drop-heavy deck then isolated chapel would be better. I would recommend trying out isolated chapels though, and seeing if you like them more.
April 10, 2016 9:24 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #5
The thing is, Soul Sisters lacks card draw. That means you can easily get into scenarios where your Chapels do come in tapped because you've already played all the Plains you had in your hand and have none to reveal. Shocks don't have this problem.
April 10, 2016 10:01 a.m.
ComradeJim270, you're confusing the traditional check lands with the ones that just came out. Isolated Chapel checks for lands on the field already.
April 10, 2016 10:04 a.m.
Beat me to it. Yea...Chapels in this deck are effectively the same as Scrubland
April 10, 2016 10:06 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #8
You are absolutely right. I don't see the checklands very often so I somehow got the names mixed up. Probably too much SOI limited lately.
Anyway, the fact you can fetch Shrines is still a big deal.
April 10, 2016 10:09 a.m.
I know...what I think I will ecru ally settle on are two WB tangos when they finally finish that cycle for us.
April 10, 2016 10:30 a.m.
In a deck that can't afford to pay life and runs a lot of basic Plains, Isolated Chapel is definitely a good option. And while you're at it, do add Lingering Souls to your 60. Lingering Souls generally is to B/W decks what Abrupt Decay is to B/G - you're making your deck worse by not running it, period.
Oh, and one or two Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoths might help getting your 
fix, too. Have you considered Shambling Vent?
April 10, 2016 10:46 a.m.
Shambling Vent maybe too slow, but I never even thought about Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. No drawback to that at all. I'm not touching it at $17 though. Maybe the Eldrazi ban will help the price fall?
Should I replace Spectral Procession with Lingering Souls???
April 10, 2016 10:54 a.m. Edited.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #12
You should run both Spectral Procession and Lingering Souls.
For Sorin SV, you need 1 black source by turn 4. By turn 4 you've seen 10 cards from your deck (opening 7 + 3 draws). 10 cards is 1/6 of your deck, so you need a minimum of 6 black sources in the deck to have at least a semi-reasonable chance of getting your mana fixing.
Because of that, I'd recommend 4 Isolated Chapel, 1 Godless Shrine, and 4 fetchlands (Windswept Heath and Flooded Strand are fine options since Marsh Flats is stupid expensive and you don't have any basic Swamps). That gives you 9 black sources, so on average you'll see one every 6.667 cards, so usually in your opening hand. This also allows you to run a 1-of Vault of the Archangel, which can break stalemates.
April 10, 2016 11:16 a.m.
That's really great advice. I was looking for a way to get Vault in there, but I am already running Ghost Quarter (2). Will that be too much colorless land? i should probably post a list and throw it up in deck help.
April 10, 2016 11:59 a.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #14
To that question, I have no idea since I have never played soul sisters. However, Jexinfinite (the first person to comment here) is the soul sisters expert on the site, so do whatever Jex says on the matter.
April 10, 2016 12:06 p.m.
JexInfinite, I'm going to post my Soul Sisters list today. When I do I'm going to tag you. Mind helping?
April 10, 2016 12:18 p.m.
if you dont mind would you post the list here so that we can see exactly what you have in mind?
April 10, 2016 1:28 p.m.
I think a bw soul sisters build could be interesting. You could use the life gain from the sisters to help pay for other painful cards such as bitterblossom and dark confidant instead instead of using martyr and Serra ascendant
April 10, 2016 6:22 p.m.
iBleedPunk says... #21
Ayli, The Eternal Pilgrim would be interesting in a BW Soul Sisters build
April 10, 2016 6:29 p.m.
Pokemaster325, my friend plays her in Martyr Life and she is great there
JexInfinite says... #2
Mana consistency > life. Sorin isn't even the reason to run BW, though. Lingering Souls is.
April 10, 2016 9:02 a.m.