Cephalid Shrine
Enchantment
Whenever a player casts a spell, counter that spell unless that player pays 
, where X is the number of cards in all graveyards with the same name as the spell.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Odyssey
- Price
- $0.28
- EDHREC rank
- #29349
Cephalid Shrine turns every spell cast into a counterspell lottery — each instant or sorcery your opponents play forces them to discard a card for each letter in its name, which snowballs fast in a multiplayer game full of Counterspell and Lightning Bolt. The catch is symmetry: your own spells feed it too, which means the card rewards either spell-light builds or a combo finish like Guile that converts the discards into something broken.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Cephalid Shrine is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but it's a Commander card in practice. Legacy and Vintage have zero interest — those formats close out games before a cumulative enchantment tax matters, and neither has the multiplayer spell volume to make the discard punishing. In Commander, Cephalid Shrine shines as a soft tax piece in blue control builds or as a combo enabler alongside Guile, where the forced discards fuel a lock rather than just slowing opponents down.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
GuileCephalid Shrine
Infinite magecraft triggers; Infinite storm count
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.28 bulk tier
At $0.28, Cephalid Shrine is deep bulk — you're paying almost nothing for a card with a narrow but real combo application. Bulk enchantments with unique text tend to sit at this price floor indefinitely unless a combo spike finds them, so don't expect movement, but don't hesitate to throw one in a list for the cost of a sleeve.
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Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.