Dwarven Shrine is one of those really terrible cards that nobody seems to have been able to abuse. This is my stab at a viable deck with the Shrine as a win-condition.
Life's Finale is also an enabler for a quicker kill - Delay a creature spell, then search your opponent's library for that creature. Then Dwarven Shrine deals 6 damage every 3 turns. 12 damage if you have 2 Shrines out, which is likely late game.
Card Explanations:
Isochron Scepter - I've purposefully toned down the deck so it does not have the usual Isochron Scepter degeneracy, like with Counterspell for example. None of the spells are perfect hard-counters, so the game remains interesting. This allows Dwarven Shrine to be the main win-con.
Delay - Great card to put on the Scepter - not only does it protect our win-condition, it also enables it. This is a "fair" counterspell that does not make the game less fun.
Lim-Dûl's Vault - For finding our combo pieces, and also works well on the Scepter. Sets up the Miracle cards really well.
Countersquall and Izzet Charm - The deck needs to protect Dwarven Shrine and these cards do that well. However, I didn't want to lock out the game after a Turn 2 Isochron Scepter, so I chose non-creature counterspells.
Dralnu, Lich Lord - Allows us to use all of our spells again, and sort-of negates the Dwarven Shrine damage that I might self-inflict by getting rid of graveyard spells.
I've put some other ideas I had in the Sideboard. Grim Lavamancer seemed like a good play to get rid of some of my spells that could cause self-inflicted Dwarven Shrine harm. Jester's Scepter seemed interesting but perhaps too clunky, and same with Praetor's Grasp. I've listed some other instants that I thought about putting in for the Scepter package, but ultimately cut.
Last interesting idea was Research // Development + Buried Alive as another enabler for Dwarven Shrine. Since it counts all graveyards, I thought I could Delay a spell, use R/D to grab 4 creatures that my opponent was playing, then use Buried Alive to put them in my graveyard to set up a huge Dwarven Shrine kill. Obviously clunky so I took it out, but it's still an interesting idea.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to make Dwarven Shrine shine even more. Obviously this deck does best when the opponent is playing 4-of's, but it still can win via Scepter damage if your opponent is not.
3 Island
3 Swamp
5 Mountain
1 Halimar Depths
4 River of Tears
4 Crosis's Catacombs
4 Crumbling Necropolis
Creatures 1
1 Dralnu, Lich Lord
Enchantments
4 Dwarven Shrine
Non-Scepter Spells 8
3 Life's Finale
2 Temporal Mastery
2 Vanishment
1 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Isochron Scepter
Scepter Instants 19
4 Delay
4 Lim-Dûl's Vault
2 Fire // Ice
2 Terminate
1 Izzet Charm
1 Odds // Ends
1 Dead // Gone
1 Countersquall
1 Into the Roil
1 Jilt
1 Whirlpool Whelm
4 Grim Lavamancer
1 Jester's Scepter
1 Praetor's Grasp
1 Memory Lapse
1 Remand
1 Magma Jet
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Swerve
1 Agony Warp
1 Brainstorm
1 Buried Alive
1 Research/Development
The main combo is Dwarven Shrine + Isochron Scepter with Delay imprinted on it. Delay does not stop the spell from being cast, and it forces the opponent to cast the spell again in 3 turns, thereby causing multiple Dwarven Shrine triggers. Isochron Scepter allows you to do this every turn, and eventually Dwarven Shrine kills the opponent. (Note that Ertai's Meddling doesn't do the same thing as Delay)
Life's Finale is also an enabler for a quicker kill - Delay a creature spell, then search your opponent's library for that creature. Then Dwarven Shrine deals 6 damage every 3 turns. 12 damage if you have 2 Shrines out, which is likely late game.
Card Explanations:
Delay - Great card to put on the Scepter - not only does it protect our win-condition, it also enables it. This is a "fair" counterspell that does not make the game less fun.
Lim-Dûl's Vault - For finding our combo pieces, and also works well on the Scepter. Sets up the Miracle cards really well.
Fire // Ice - Draw or damage, good on Scepter.
Odds // Ends and Dead // Gone - You can use both sides while imprinted on the Scepter.
Into the Roil & Jilt - Scepter allows you to pay Kicker costs.
Vanishment & Whirlpool Whelm - I wanted the deck to be a tempo-based deck, and these cards fit in well.
Temporal Mastery - The combo does take some time to set up, so Extra turns are good. Easily set up with Lim-Dûl's Vault.
Life's Finale - Good sweeper and enabler for Dwarven Shrine to shine.
Countersquall and Izzet Charm - The deck needs to protect Dwarven Shrine and these cards do that well. However, I didn't want to lock out the game after a Turn 2 Isochron Scepter, so I chose non-creature counterspells.
Cruel Ultimatum - Alternate finisher card.
Dralnu, Lich Lord - Allows us to use all of our spells again, and sort-of negates the Dwarven Shrine damage that I might self-inflict by getting rid of graveyard spells.
Last interesting idea was Research // Development + Buried Alive as another enabler for Dwarven Shrine. Since it counts all graveyards, I thought I could Delay a spell, use R/D to grab 4 creatures that my opponent was playing, then use Buried Alive to put them in my graveyard to set up a huge Dwarven Shrine kill. Obviously clunky so I took it out, but it's still an interesting idea.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on how to make Dwarven Shrine shine even more. Obviously this deck does best when the opponent is playing 4-of's, but it still can win via Scepter damage if your opponent is not.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus