Deck Name: Shrine to the Moon

Format: Legacy
Deck Type: Mechanic-Based Control
Deck Theme: Shrine & God Constellation — Divine Lock and Value Engine
Colors: Five-Color (W U B R G)

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Description

“Shrine to the Moon” is a Legacy mechanic-based control deck that wins by building an unstoppable enchantment engine and converting long-term value into inevitability. The deck leverages Sanctum of All and multiple Shrine enchantments to generate recurring card advantage, life-drain, ramp and tempo swings every upkeep. The World Tree and Mirror Box enable explosive board development (including cheating in God cards), while a toolbox of control answers — Doomskar, Shatter the Sky, Disdainful Stroke, Prismatic Ending — keeps the board clean until the shrine engine takes over.

This deck thrives in long, attrition-oriented games and excels in multiplayer tables where incremental advantage compounds. In 1v1 Legacy-casual and competitive casual pods it punishes greedy lines, grinds through opposing resources, and converts the shrine loop into alternate win paths (Sigil tokens, God triggers, and planeswalker inevitability). The deck is resilient to single-target removal thanks to Sterling Grove and Greater Auramancy and has alternate finishes via The World Tree tutoring Gods onto the battlefield.

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How to Play

Early Game:
Establish mana and interaction. Spend early turns applying selective answers: Disdainful Stroke and Heartless Act for problematic threats, and keep Fabled Passage sequencing clean to hit colors. Use Argothian Enchantress / Sythis to smooth card advantage while you assemble the engine. Preserve removal for disruptive threats to your shrine plan (artifact/enchantment hate, fast combo pieces).

Mid-Game:
Secure Sanctum of All or a critical Shrine (Fruitful Harvest / Calm Waters). Protect critical pieces with Sterling Grove and Greater Auramancy. Use Doomskar / Shatter the Sky to reset hostile boards and buy time. If Mirror Box comes online, consider duplicating key enchantments (a second Sanctum of All or a value Shrine) — the deck’s inevitability scales exponentially once you stack shrine triggers.

Late Game:
Flip inevitability into victory. The shrine triggers flood your turns with mana, cards, and drains; The World Tree can tutor several God permanents at once, swinging the board massively. Sigil of the Empty Throne and planeswalker ultimates (Teferi / Nicol Bolas) provide alternate, reliable win conditions if opponents try to race or exile key permanents. Continue to protect critical enchantments — once the engine runs, the deck converts small advantages into unstoppable board states.

Ideal Opening Hand:
A strong opener contains:
2 lands (at least two colors)
One early piece of interaction (Disdainful Stroke / Heartless Act)
One Shrine or an Enchantress / Sythis for draw smoothing
One fixing land (Fabled Passage or Triome equivalent) or Chromatic Orrery

Mulligan aggressively if you lack at least one interaction + two lands, or if you cannot reasonably cast two-color spells by turn 3.

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How the Mechanic Works

Establish the Engine:
Cast Sanctum of All and a critical mass of Shrines. Sanctum of All is the deck’s accelerator — it lets you search for and repeatedly trigger Shrines each upkeep, turning individual shrine effects into a chain of value.

Scale and Protect:
Sterling Grove / Greater Auramancy protect shrine pieces from targeted removal while draw engines (Sythis, Argothian) and Chromatic Orrery keep you ahead on resources. Mirror Box breaks the legend rule constraint to let you double powerful legendaries (extra Sanctum, additional God, etc.), exponentially increasing the engine’s output.

Finish Lines:
The engine creates multiple finishers: repeated drains from Shrine of Stone Fangs, massive card draw from Shrine of Calm Waters, token creation from Sigil of the Empty Throne, and God triggers or The World Tree mass-tutor into game-ending permanents. If opponents attempt to remove your core threats en masse, you can frequently recur them with Hall of Heliod’s Generosity or play alternate finishers (Nicol Bolas, Teferi ultimates).

This is a deck that converts time into inevitability; every upkeep compounds advantage until opponents can no longer interact profitably.

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Sideboard Strategy

Against Aggro Decks:
Supreme Verdict / Doomskar — sweep wide boards.
Leyline of Sanctity — stop burn or discard-based racing.
Shifting Ceratops — pressure and protection vs blue-control counters.

Against Control Decks:
Dovin’s Veto — shut down counter war windows.
Shifting Ceratops (in) or Klothys (out) depending on attrition lines.
The Kami War — alternate, unavoidable threat that taxes counters.

Against Combo Decks:
Rest in Peace — graveyard disruption vs recursion storm or reanimator shells.
Dovin’s Veto / Disdainful Stroke — counter key interaction spells.
Leyline of Sanctity — protects your setup from discard and burn combo decks.

Against Artifact/Enchantment Hate:
Banishing Light / Elspeth Conquers Death — targeted removal and recursion.
Hall of Heliod’s Generosity (in-game play) — recur lost Shrines.

Sideboard plan: When opponents bring heavy enchantment hate, prioritize protecting Sterling Grove and Greater Auramancy, keep tutors in to rebuild, and apply pressure with alternate finishes (World Tree → Gods, Sigil tokens).

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Skill Level and Playability

“Shrine to the Moon” is ideal for players who enjoy planning multiple turns ahead, sequencing protection, and balancing resource curves. The deck rewards careful timing, knowledge of opponent lines, and patience — you must know when to commit to the engine and when to preserve defenses.

Difficulty Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Playstyle: Reactive control that transitions to inevitability
Best For: Multiplayer pods and Legacy-casual / Competitive Casual 1v1

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Competitive Profile and Ratings

Power Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5)
Strong in long games and high-value matchups; not the fastest deck but extremely difficult to stop once on-line.

Mechanic-Based vs Control Ratio: 65% Mechanic-Based / 35% Control
(The deck is primarily a mechanic/value engine that uses control tools to protect and buy time.)

Speed: ⭐⭐☆☆☆ (2/5)
Slow to assemble; depends on mid-game to late-game superiority.

Resilience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
High resilience due to protection suite (Sterling Grove, Greater Auramancy), recursion (Hall of Heliod’s Generosity), and alternate finishers.

Complexity: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5)
Requires sequencing know-how and meta-awareness to maximize engine potential.

Best Format Fit:
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ 1v1 Competitive Casual — very strong when games go long.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Multiplayer (4+ players) — shines as advantage compounds.
⭐☆☆☆☆ Legacy Tournaments (without heavy tuning) — needs tighter mana and faster interaction for top-tier Legacy events.

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Play Like a Pro – 5 Tips for Mastering the Deck

Protect the engine first — Sterling Grove and Greater Auramancy are your keystones; never expose Sanctum of All without protection.

Don’t be greedy with Mirror Box timing — duplicate the wrong permanent too quickly and you hand opponents tempo; pick high-impact duplicates (a second Sanctum of All, a God, or Sigil).

Use sweepers proactively — Doomskar / Shatter the Sky on your turn after you’ve secured a shrine or two often flips board states in your favor.

Save tutors for answers when necessary — Enlightened Tutor / World Tree are best used to find the piece that closes windows (Hall of Heliod’s Generosity vs enchantment hate; God vs racing).

Keep alternate finishers primed — Sigil tokens, The World Tree mass-tutor, and Nicol Bolas / Teferi ultimates are your fail-safes if opponents attempt to exile or destroy the shrine loop.

Bonus: Mulligan to a hand with an answer + lead on draw engines (Enchants / Sythis) more often than a pure Shrine; setup speed matters.

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Quote:
“Under the moon, the sanctums awaken — patience turns to inevitability.”

Last Update: 24/10/2025