Shrines return to Magic: The Gathering in Core Set 2021

A Legendary Enchantment cycle in Magic: The Gathering that hasn’t been seen since 2004 has returned to Standard in Core Set 2021. 

It’s been over a decade since the release of Champions of Kamigawa in Magic, in which the Shrines Enchantment subtype was first introduced. Within M21, there are five Uncommon Legendary Shrines and one five-color Rare Shrine. Each Shrine synergizes with others, making them ideal for gameplay in Commander. 

M21 Shrine Enchantment cycle

Two of the six Shrines have carried on the tradition of performing an ability during a player’s upkeep, while two have abilities activated via a mana cost. The final three are activated at the beginning of precombat. The six Shrines in M21 are Sanctums, legendary temples that contain a Honden, first seen in Kamigawa. And for the first time in Magic history, there’s an additional five-color Shrine, Sanctum of All, that’s a Rare with two abilities.

Sanctum of All

Sanctum of All is a Legendary Rare Shrine that has an ability that activates at the beginning of a player’s upkeep and when an ability of another Shrine triggers, if that player controls six or more Shrines. It has a CMC of five, one of each mana color in Magic. 

• At the beginning of your upkeep, you may search your library and/or graveyard for a Shrine card and put it onto the battlefield. If you search your library this way, shuffle it.
• If an ability of another Shrine you control triggers while you control six or more Shrines, that ability triggers an additional time.

Sanctum of Tranquil Light

Costing a single White mana to cast, Sanctum of Tranquil Light has a mana ability with a CMC of six (one White). But with each Shrine that player controls, the cost of the Sanctum of Tranquil Light’s ability that taps a target creature is reduced by one. 

• Pay 5W: Tap target creature. This ability costs one less to activate for each Shrine you control.

Sanctum of Calm Waters

Breaking tradition, the Sanctum of Calm Waters has an ability that triggers at the beginning of a player’s precombat main phase. It has a CMC of four (one Blue) that synergizes with Teferi in M21 and is powerful when combined with other Shrines. 

• At the beginning of your precombat main phase, you may draw X cards, where X is the number of Shrines you control. If you do, discard a card.

Sanctum of Stone Fangs

Sanctum of Stone Fangs also has an ability that triggers at the beginning of a player’s precombat main phase. But instead of card draw, it steals life from opponents while the player gains life. 

• At the beginning of your precombat main phase, each opponent loses “X” life and you gain “X” life, where X is the number of Shrines you control.

Sanctum of Shattered Heights

Synergizing with the Red theme of Burn, Sanctum of Shattered Heights has a mana ability that deals “X” damage to a target creature or planeswalker. The more shrines a player controls, the more damage it deals. It has a CMC of three (one Red) and has an additional cost in addition to the mana cost. 

• Pay one and discard a land card or Shrine card: Sanctum of Shattered Heights deals “X” damage to target creature or planeswalker, where “X” is the number of Shrines you control.

Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest

You can get ramp by adding mana of any color with Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest. Activated during a player’s precombat main phase, add “X” amount of mana, of any color, where “X” is equal to the number of Shrines that player controls. This card could be useful in Commander. It’s also possible that the Sanctum of Fruitful Harvest will see gameplay in M21 Limited. 

• At the beginning of your precombat main phase, add “X” mana of any one color, where “X” is the number of Shrines you control.

The cycle of Shrines and M21 will release digitally on June 26 and July 3 via tabletop.