Of course, this means you need a character on board that can initiate the challenge before Maid Marian gets value, but there are 11 4-cost characters that all have decent Strength values, so it isn't hard to get something down the previous turn that can take the Challenge
In short, you can animate the devotion gods, but whether they stay creatures depends on the timing of the effects
There aren't actually any rulings about how the player must perform the shuffle, meaning that they could theoretically conceal their shuffling completely and turn your opponent's blocking into a complete guessing game as opposed to trying to follow the shuffle around which might have been the intention of the card
If you want to min-max Aurelia, then this is likely where you want to be
Let me know in the comments below, or share your beginner Commander stories on the Draftsim Discord
You'll need to be careful when deck building that you don't cram too many of those uninkables into your deck and end up with a hand full of them