Sometimes fate brings two creatures in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Magic the Gathering together, and they rely on each other more than usual. Sometimes that relationship is positive, like a guardian angel protecting an innocent human, or the camaraderie of soldiers. Sometimes, though it isn't. Hauntings, demonic possession, even a hunter stalking its prey link those two creatures together.
These bonds are represented in Magic with the rarely used Soulbond mechanic. With it coming back in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Innistrad: Crimson Vow's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Commander cards, it's worth reminding yourself what they are and how to make the most of them.
What Is Soulbond?
Soulbond is a triggered ability that triggers when either a creature with Soulbond enters the battlefield, or another creature ent🔯ers the battlefi🍬eld while the Soulbond creature is already out.
When it triggers, Soulbond allows you to designate another creature to 'pair' with it. If the Soulbond creature is entering the battlefield, you can choose whatever you like, whereas if another creature is entering, it is the only valid pairing choice at that time.
The bond lasts for as long as either creature is on the battlefield, and it confers a lot of benefits. Each card is different, but itꦫ can give both creatures various keywords, or trigger more complicated effects such as flickering or making token copies of them.
Other than this link between the two creatures, each part of a Soulbond is still considered its own, totally distinct creature. They can attack, block, activate abilities, and die individually – the only thing that binds them together is the Soulbond creature's ability.
Soulbond isn't a targeted ability, meaning you can Soulbond with a creature with Shroud. However, either creature can only be in one pair at a time; you can't pair the same creature in more than one bond unless its previous paired partner has left the battlefield.
How To Use Soulbond?
Make sure you've picked your Soulbond partner carefully, as there are lots of ways to use the mechanic to break the game. One of the most notorious combos using Soulbond is through Deadeye Navigator and Peregrine Drake to make 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:infinite mana.
Don't forget that Soulbond abilities are symmetrical, meaning both creatures get the benefit. For example, Nightshade Peddler gives both it and the creature it's been paired to deathtouch. This is great for cards like Doom Weaver, whose partner can be easily sacrificed to give you fantastic card drawing ability, before it bonds with the next creature who enters the battlefield to repeat the process.
Some Soulbond abilities are better than others. Common rarity cards like Trusted Forcemage only give a basic +1/+1 boost, while rare cards like Wolfir Silverheart give a much more exciting +4/+4. Crimson Vow's Commander is the biggest injection of rare cards the mechanic has ever seen, with all five being rare and giving you amazing effects. For example, Thundering Mightmare puts a +1/+1 counter on it and another creature whenever an opponent casts any spell, and Miragಌe Phalanx makes token copies of it and its ﷽bonded creature until the end of the turn.
There's also one card that, while not having Soulbond, cares about whether it is paired. Flowering Lumberknot is a 5/5 who can't attack or block unless it's paired with another creature – a decent attacker if you have the right creatures to bond to it.
What Colour Is Soulbond?
Although the mechanic is being reintroduced in Crimson Vow's Commander products as a cycle of all five colours, for most of the game's history it's been mostly found in the Simic colours of green and blue.
Including Flowering Lumberknot, there are 25 cards with Soulbond. Green𓆉 is the most common, with eight, and then blue with seven. Red and white have four each, and black is only just getting its first-ever Soulbond creature with Doom Weaver.
There are no multi-coloured or colourless Soulb💖ond creatures.
