Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars
Legendary Enchantment Creature — Shrine
First strike
At the beginning of your end step, you may pay 
. When you do, Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars deals X damage to target player or planeswalker, where X is the number of Shrines you control.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Price
- $0.35
- EDHREC rank
- #5526
Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars hits every opponent for 1 damage at the start of each combat — and in a Shrine-heavy deck, that number climbs fast with each additional Shrine on board. The cost is three mana for a 1/1 with haste, which is acceptable given that Go-Shintai of Life's Origin can reanimate it for free when the engine is running.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Go-Shintai of Life's Origin
Go-Shintai of Life's Origin runs Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars in nearly 90% of its decks because recurring it from the graveyard is trivial, and stacking multiple Shrines turns the per-combat ping into a legitimate clock that pressures all three opponents simultaneously.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars does its real work — the multi-opponent damage trigger scales directly with the number of Shrines in play, and a dedicated Shrine build can assemble enough permanents to close games with repeated pings before anyone stabilizes. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer it's legal but essentially unplayed; Shrine synergies don't have the critical mass or speed to compete with those formats' threat density. Oathbreaker is a theoretical home if you're building around a Shrine-adjacent signature spell, but the card pool is too shallow for a fully functional Shrine package there.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.35 bulk tier
At $0.35, Go-Shintai of Ancient Wars is firmly bulk — a near-zero cost inclusion if you're already building Shrines. Bulk Shrine staples rarely spike unless a new Shrine commander gets printed, so don't expect movement.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.