Honden of Cleansing Fire MTG Card


The card offers consistent life gain, boosting survivability and triggering synergistic effects. It faces challenges in deck incorporation due to its specific mana cost and pace. When combined with other Shrines, its value multiplies, enhancing deck performance.
Card setsReleased in 2 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityUncommon
TypeLegendary Enchantment — Shrine

Text of card

At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain 2 life for each Shrine you control.

To the sorrow of all, its fire was turned toward those who worshipped it.


Cards like Honden of Cleansing Fire

Honden of Cleansing Fire takes its place within a unique cycle of cards known as the Shrines in MTG. This enchantment provides recurring life gain, a feature which resembles the functioning of another card, Authority of the Consuls. While the latter offers life gain whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent’s control, the Honden rewards its controller with life during each of their pre-combat main phases. This can give players a reliable source of life, incrementally restoring their total each turn.

Comparatively, we also have Righteous Cause, which prompts lifegain whenever a creature attacks. Though this effect can potentially yield more life in decks geared toward aggression, it’s contingent on an active board presence unlike the unwavering consistency offered by Honden of Cleansing Fire. Additionally, Prism Ring is elicited as another life-enhancing card which is color-specific, granting life whenever a player casts a spell of the chosen color.

In summary, Honden of Cleansing Fire presents a steady and dependable lifegain mechanism that integrates well in decks that benefit from or synergize with such a stratagem, making it a valuable card for players looking to gain incremental advantages and endurance in a match.

Authority of the Consuls - MTG Card versions
Righteous Cause - MTG Card versions
Prism Ring - MTG Card versions
Authority of the Consuls - MTG Card versions
Righteous Cause - MTG Card versions
Prism Ring - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Honden of Cleansing Fire by color, type and mana cost

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Castle - MTG Card versions
Karma - MTG Card versions
Conversion - MTG Card versions
Angelic Voices - MTG Card versions
Seeker - MTG Card versions
Drought - MTG Card versions
Justice - MTG Card versions
Divine Transformation - MTG Card versions
Field of Souls - MTG Card versions
Light of Day - MTG Card versions
Opal Titan - MTG Card versions
Ivory Mask - MTG Card versions
Parallax Wave - MTG Card versions
Worship - MTG Card versions
Diversionary Tactics - MTG Card versions
Moat - MTG Card versions
Teleportation Circle - MTG Card versions
Hallowed Haunting - MTG Card versions
Drawn Together - MTG Card versions
Proper Burial - MTG Card versions

Decks using this card

MTG decks using Honden of Cleansing Fire. Dig deeper into the strategy of decks, sideboard cards, list ideas and export to play in ARENA or MOL.

#NameFormatArchetypeEvent
Five-color MidrangeFive-color Midrange GladiatorSword and Sandals Showdown: AM Week 06 2024

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The Honden of Cleansing Fire provides consistent life gain during each of your upkeep phases, which cumulatively can outmatch the damage output of aggressive opponents. This continuous life gain also synergizes with cards that trigger off of life gain, potentially drawing you extra cards or creating additional effects.

Resource Acceleration: While not directly impacting your mana pool, the life buffer created by Honden of Cleansing Fire effectively gives you more resources in terms of survivability. This can afford you extra turns to draw into more land or critical spells and can force your opponent to commit more resources to the board to overcome your life total.

Instant Speed: Although Honden of Cleansing Fire doesn’t operate at instant speed, its automatic trigger during your upkeep acts like an insurance policy, steadily increasing your life total outside the pace and interaction of your opponent’s spells and abilities. This “set it and forget it” feature ensures that its benefits accrue without requiring any additional investment of mana or actions during your turn, allowing you to keep mana available for reactionary plays or counterspells.


Card Cons

Specific Mana Cost: Honden of Cleansing Fire demands a precise color combination to cast, predominantly white mana. This requirement can complicate deck-building strategies, especially in a format rich with multicolored cards and decks.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that includes three generic and one white mana, Honden of Cleansing Fire can be less appealing than lower-cost alternatives. In a game where speed can be crucial, this card may lag behind more mana-efficient options.

Discard Requirement: Although Honden of Cleansing Fire does not have a discard requirement, its inclusion in a deck that revolves around Shrine cards could potentially clash with strategies that prefer an immediate impact on the board state, rather than a gradual benefit.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Honden of Cleansing Fire offers consistent life gain each turn, which can be a crucial advantage in various formats. Its ability to fit into different Shrine-enabling decks or life-gain strategies makes it a multipurpose card worth considering.

Combo Potential: When combined with other Shrines, it scales up your beneficial effects proportionally to the number of Shrines in play. This synergy offers impressive combo potential, leading to powerful board states that are tough for opponents to counter.

Meta-Relevance: In metagames that favor long, drawn-out matches, the sustained life gain from Honden of Cleansing Fire provides a buffer against aggressive strategies. It’s a reliable piece in a strategy aiming to outlast and stabilize against faster decks.


How to beat

The Honden of Cleansing Fire sits comfortably in the realm of enchantments that gain life in MTG. This card, from the Kamigawa block, can be quite a nuisance due to its consistent life-gaining ability at the beginning of your upkeep. When exploring tactics to overcome this regenerative power, it’s crucial to deploy strategies that can either neutralize or bypass the enchantment’s effect.

Countering Honden of Cleansing Fire directly can be done through enchantment removal spells such as Disenchant or Mortify. Another efficient path is to use cards like Back to Nature, which can clear out all enchantments from the field, nullifying the life gain advantage. Alternatively, focusing on a strategy to manage your opponent’s life total through aggressive combinations or setting them up for a devastating blow can outpace the life gained from Honden of Cleansing Fire. Essentially, the key lies in either removing the source of the life gain or crafting a game plan that diminishes its overall impact on the match.

While the Honden can be part of an enchantress’s strategy, building around potent win conditions that don’t hinge on incremental life gain, but rather on powerful, game-ending plays, will keep you poised for victory against decks utilizing this MTG card.


BurnMana Recommendations

If you find value in gradual advantages and enjoy building around themes like the Shrines, the Honden of Cleansing Fire can be an asset to your MTG collection. This enchantment’s capacity for consistent life gain affords you the flexibility to withstand aggressive plays and carve out your path to victory over time. Consider the potential that this card holds within various deck builds, maximizing synergies, and buffering your life against swift opponents. For those intrigued by the mechanisms and strategies involved with this powerful enchantment, delve deeper with us. Learn how to integrate the Honden of Cleansing Fire into your deck for optimal performance and turn the tide of your games.


Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Honden of Cleansing Fire MTG card by a specific set like Champions of Kamigawa and Eternal Masters, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Honden of Cleansing Fire and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Honden of Cleansing Fire Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2004-10-01 and 2016-06-10. Illustrated by Greg Staples.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12004-10-01Champions of KamigawaCHK 142003NormalBlackGreg Staples
22016-06-10Eternal MastersEMA 132015NormalBlackGreg Staples

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Honden of Cleansing Fire has restrictions

FormatLegality
HistoricbrawlLegal
CommanderLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
ModernLegal
OathbreakerLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal
GladiatorLegal
TimelessLegal