River Shrine

Basic Info

• Type: Action-Fate
• Cost: 3
• Effect: +1 Favor. Trash up to 2 cards from your hand. At the start of Clean-up, if you didn't gain any cards in your Buy phase this turn, gain a card costing up to $4.

Rating

Top-tier 3-cost card. +1 Favor / up to 2 trash / conditional cost-4 gain. Chapel-level thinning (capped at 2) plus Favor plus gain support.

Best feature: cost 3 delivers "2-card Chapel trash + Favor + Workshop-style 4-cost gain" in one card. Top contender for the 3-coin slot.

Overall S tier. Top priority when on board, 1-2 copies.

How to Play

Early: must-buy at 3 coin. Trash Estate+Copper, gain a Favor, and on no-buy turns gain a cost-4.

Mid-game: thin while targets remain. Use the cost-4 gain before Province turns.

End-game: Favor for Prophecy. Trash only when not blocking Province buys.

Key Combos

River Shrine + Fate cards: Favor stack for Prophecy.

River Shrine + Chapel: Two-stage thinning.

River Shrine + University / Craftsman: Multiple cost-4 gain sources.

Synergies

• Chapel: Thinning split.
• Tea House / Poet / Mountain Shrine: Favor source.
• Remodel / Craftsman: Gain methods.

Counters & Bad Matchups

• No trash targets: Thinned decks limit value.
• No-buy condition: Forfeits cost-4 gain on buy turns.
• 4/3 splits at no 3 coin: Rare problem.

Advanced Tips

"No-buy turn → cost-4 gain at clean-up" is powerful. Sometimes deliberately skip buying to trigger the gain on a 3-5 coin turn.

Multiple River Shrines: trash up to 2 per copy, but cost-4 gain triggers only once per turn — extra copies are for trash + Favor.