Shinka Gatekeeper
Creature — Ogre Warrior
Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it deals that much damage to you.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Betrayers of Kamigawa
- Price
- $0.10
- EDHREC rank
- #27189
Shinka Gatekeeper enters as a 2/2 for three mana and forces each opponent to sacrifice a creature with the greatest power among creatures they control — a one-sided, symmetry-breaking edict stapled to a body. The cost is real: three mana for a 2/2 is below rate, and the edict only fires on enter, so it's dead weight after that.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
In Commander, Shinka Gatekeeper's edict hits every opponent simultaneously, which is its entire selling point — three separate forced sacrifices from a single card is something most targeted removal can't match. Outside Commander, the card loses most of its appeal: in Legacy, Modern, and Vintage, you're paying three mana for a 2/2 that edicts one player once, and that's nowhere near competitive rate. Pauper is technically legal but the floor is too high for a three-mana 2/2 with no persistent effect. This is a Commander card that happens to be printed at common.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.10 bulk tier
At $0.10, Shinka Gatekeeper is deep bulk — you're picking it out of a common box, not tracking it down. The effect is genuinely useful in Commander but not unique enough to push the price up, and it will stay at this floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.