Pointed Discussion

I really appreciate the dark, dusk, controlled building in the art work. Do you wish to read the review of this cards mechanics? Then it will cost you a fee. J.k., Temple Garden has the review.

I came on here hoping there would be an interesting discussion about the deeply philosophical card title. Godless shrine, what does this mean? A shrine to what then if not God? wordnetweb.princeton.edu defines the word shrine as "a place of worship hallowed by association with some sacred thing or person." Interesting stuff.

I just checked the price of this.

$10 for one card.

The Orzhov claim to be religious, but their only true devotion is to money and power. Hence the Godless Shrine. I really like the name.

10$ for this card is still okay, considered it is just short of being a genuine dual land, and dual lands cost at least 60$. Grab them now, they'll eventually cost 20$-30$.

I Usually Have My Knight Of The White Orchard Fetch This For A Following Tidehollow Sculler Or Aext Turn Pontiff. Art Is Spectacular Too By The Way My Fav Shockland 5/5

$25 and climbing. Planeswalkers may come and go, but shocklands will always be greatness.

Great cards. Sadly, Magic card-selling store-owners think so too. At least they're not basic lands. That would completely destroy the game.

Everything about Orzhov is amazingly flavorful in my opinion.

so FEW comments on this card?!?! 0.0

that's ridiculous. 4x this, 2x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and 2x Vault of the Archangel. Donesies.

Comboes with Dragonskull Summit and the above to make a disgusting nearly-monored Hellrider Deck. A bunch of one mana red creatures, Sorin's tokens and emblems,
activate the Vault for a turn 6 that deals like 20-something damage and gains you 20-something life. In style. (WRB has been my favorite color combination since Kaalia of the Vast was spoiled.)

I need this card! @DarthParallax, is just an amazing color combination, my Vorthos dissertation is brewing on Sarkhan the Mad. I'm wondering if people will be able to guess the decklist.

i dont get this ... how or why is this card or temple garden rated higher than Gruul Turf?

maybe there is something im not seeing? (aside from returning a land to owner's hand and coming in tapped) doesnt it give you then 2 mana for the cost of one next turn and so on? i run 2 in my green deck and i get to send out 2 drops easily.

i dont have to pay life, and i dont have to choose between one of the other ...

@lorddarktoothx:
tl;dr These lands offer many more possibilities because they can be played untapped turn 1, have basic land types, and can make some very color-intensive early plays possible.

What this card offers that Karoo lands (what Gruul Turf and it's buddies are usually called) is flexibility and fast colored mana.

With this card, I could drop it T1 and cast a card that costs {W}, then next turn drop a Swamp and cast something that costs {B}{B} (or vice versa). I can't think of cards off the top of my head that are particularly exploitable like that for Godless Shrine (though I'm sure there are some) but you get the principle. With some of the other lands some of the possibilities are crazy (Wild Nacatl, for instance).

The fact that these can be played on turn one is also key. Gruul Turf can never be played on turn one (or rather it can, but it will then have to bounce itself and is thus worse than pointless).

These lands, due to their subtypes, can also be fetched by Farseek, the Obslaught/Zendikar fetch lands, and other cards that look for land types, allowing for better options for color fixing. Few spells can fetch the Karoo lands.

Is it always going to be better than a Karoo land? No, but it's usually at least close, and it has the potential to be much better.

The RTR art for this looks spectacular! Almost makes me want to go over to the Orzhov side...

My boyf bought me a couple of old ravnica boosters as a suprise gift. I pulled one of these. :)

The green elements on the ground of the shrine always throw me off when I see this card.

This is also brilliant with Crypt Ghast. You tap it for white, and since it's a swamp, it also produces Black...

why is this card worth so much?