Overview:

This Go-Shintai Shrine/Gate tribal deck focuses on incremental value through enchantment synergies and land-based win conditions. It combines Shrine triggers for life gain, card draw, damage, and token generation Gate Gate accumulation for Maze's End victories. The deck has moderate resilience through recursion but suffers from slow setup and vulnerability to enchantment hate.

Primer:

Core Strategy: The deck aims to establish multiple Shrines for cumulative upkeep triggers while developing Gates for Maze's End or Basilisk Gate combat wins. Key phases:

1. Ramp & Setup: Use land tutors (Cultivate, Circuitous Route) and cost reducers (Jukai Naturalist) to deploy Shrines/Gates
2. Value Engine: Activate Shrine synergies with Sanctum of All doubling triggers and extra upkeep steps from Paradox Haze/Sphinx of the Second Sun
3. Win Conversion: Either overwhelm with Shrine triggers (Honden of Infinite Rage, Sanctum of Stone Fangs) or assemble 10 Gates

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3+ lands including green sources
• Prioritize early ramp (Arcane Signet, Kodama's Reach)
• Look for at least 1 Shrine or Gate tutor

Key Tips:

• Sequence land drops carefully to balance Gate types and basic land needs
• Use Go-Shintai of Life's Origin's recursion proactively before board wipes
• Leyline of the Guildpact makes all lands count as Gates for Maze's End

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Foldsto enchantment wipes (Farewell, Cleansing Nova)
• No protection for key pieces (Sanctum of All, Maze's End)

Moderate:

• Slow Gates enter tapped (23/38 lands)
• Limited redundancy for Shrine recursion

Minor:

• Weak to land destruction (Wave of Vitriol)

Most Important Cards:

• Sanctum of All
• Maze's End
• Paradox Haze
• Sphinx of the Second Sun
• Guild Summit
• Leyline of the Guildpact
• Sphere of Safety
• Resurgent Belief
• Brilliant Restoration
• Yenna, Redtooth Regent

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

• Goldfish win ~T10-12 through Shrine triggers or T9+ Maze's End
• No fast mana/turbo enablers

Resilience: 5/10

• Recursion via commander/Brilliant Restoration
• Vulnerable to staggered enchantment removal

Consistency: 5/10

• 8 land/enchantment tutors
• Redundant Shrine effects but key pieces singleton

Interaction: 3/10

• Limited removal (5 targeted, 2 board wipes)
• No counterspells beyond Beast Within

Rating Justification:

This deck sits between Casual/Precon (4.0) and Focused Casual (4.5). While it has better synergy than typical precons with its Shrine/Gate package and recursion, the slow mana base (23 tapped lands), lack of protection, and T10+ goldfish speed prevent it from reaching optimized levels. It matches the T10-12 combat/simple combo benchmark of 4.0 but exceeds precon consistency with multiple tutors.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5