Battlebond

Battlebond
[[File:{{#setmainimage:BBD logo.png}}|250px]]
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	Two connected figures in front of a diamond shape.
Design	Shawn Main (lead) Sam Burley Adam Prosak Robert Schuster Melissa Li Jules Robins
Development	Gavin Verhey (lead) Ian Duke Melissa Li Jules Robins Michael Yichao
Art direction	Cynthia Sheppard
Release date	June 8, 2018
Plane	Kylem
Themes and mechanics	Two-Headed Giant, Team play, Warrior-tribal, "twos"
Keywords/​ability words	Assist, Partner with, Support
Set size	254 cards +2 alternate art Planeswalkers
Expansion code	BBD
Development codename	Slingshot
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
[[Commander Anthology Volume II]] Battlebond [[Signature Spellbook: Jace]]

Battlebond is the first-ever Two-Headed Giant-focused Magic booster set. It was released on June 8, 2018. Battlebond was the Innovation Product for 2018, and was designed to be drafted.

Set details

“

Forge an Unbreakable Bond in Battle

”

Battlebond is inspired by sports and e-sports. The set contains 254 unique cards (5 Basic Lands, 101 Commons, 80 Uncommons, 53 Rares, 15 Mythic Rares); 85 of those cards are new and will all immediately be legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. Returning favorites from throughout Magic 's history (many with new art) round out the set and cultivate an environment of two-on-two combat and sport. The Battlebond set is designed to be drafted with players who will make groups of two players for Two-Headed Giant multiplayer games. The expansion symbol depicts two connected figures in front of a diamond shape, and is a silhouette of the Spire Garden towers. Battlebond is printed worldwide on Japanese multi-ply card stock.

To facilitate the draft environment, R&D skimped on the weaker power level cards normally found at common and also increased the number of common artifacts above the normal rate. Apart from draft, Battlebond can also be played Sealed. Most of the unique mechanics — the main selling point of the play experience — are indifferent to the format, so long as it's Two-Headed Giant. Partnered pairs will always show up together in booster packs. If you open a foil partner, the other partner will also be foil. Some cards appearing in the set were designed with Commander, Cube, and other formats in mind.

Collector numbers for this set starts with the partners in rarity order, followed by the other new cards in WUBRG, and finishing with the reprints in WUBRG.

Promos

There are twenty-two promos (the eleven partnered pairs); both planeswalkers with alternate art (numbered #255/254 and #256/254) and all with foil treatment. They come in two-card packs.

Flavor

Welcome to Battlebond, where competitors battle in pairs. Recruit a trusted partner and fight shoulder-to-shoulder, hand-in-hand, or back-to-back for glory and the roar of the crowd! Forge an unbreakable bond with your combat companion and claim your place in the pantheon of champions! All new cards in Battlebond depict the environment of Valor's Reach, an area on the plane of Kylem, where combat is fought two-on-two. And like any good spectator sport, the goal isn't just to win, but to look good doing it. Style points count.

Marketing

Battlebond is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card). Like other draft related sets, it features horizontal art on the booster packs. They have artwork depicting key characters Will and Rowan Kenrith, Zndrsplt and Okaun, and art from the card Lore Weaver. The set is also sold in Booster Battle Packs containing six boosters.

Tokens / Emblems

Battlebond features six token and two emblems:

1. 1/1 Spirit creature with Flying, for Doomed Traveler.
2. 1/1 Warrior creature, for Blaring Recruiter, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, Regna, the Redeemer and Take Up Arms.
3. 2/2 Zombie creature, for Doomed Dissenter and Noosegraf Mob.
4. 5/5 Zombie Giant creature, for Quest for the Gravelord.
5. 3/3 Beast creature, for Beast Within
6. 1/1 Myr artifact creature, for Genesis Chamber.
7. Emblem for Will Kenrith
8. Emblem for Rowan Kenrith

Rules for limited play

For Battlebond, Sealed uses six packs and Draft uses four packs.

See also: Comprehensive Rules for Two-Headed Giant.

Draft

• Each team of two will receive four Battlebond booster packs to start the draft.
• Teams will open one booster and pick two cards from the pack before passing the booster pack to the next team on their left. This continues with teams taking two cards from the packs being passed around until there are no cards left to pick.
• Pack rotation remains left (clockwise) for the first pack, right (counter clockwise) for the second, left for the third, and right for the fourth pack.
• The team builds two 40- card decks from the cards that they have drafted — one deck for each player.
• Teams play single game matches.

Sealed

• Each team of two receives six Battlebond booster packs.
• The team builds two 40- card decks from the six booster packs — one deck for each player.
• The remaining unused cards will create a shared sideboard.
• Teams play single game matches.

Themes and mechanics

Battlebond has "twos" all throughout the art, flavor text, and world of Kylem.

The new mechanics in Battlebond elevate the promise of Two-Headed Giant to its full potential.

• Assist lets another player pay the generic mana cost of your spell, this way helping you to cast it.
• Partner with [name] is a variant of the Partner ability. It limits the ability to certain card pairs in the set. There are eleven of these pairs. They can be used as co-commanders (if legendary), and allow for the following: "When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put [name] into their hand from their library, then shuffle." Note that not all the partners in Battlebond are legendary. The ones that aren't can't be commanders.
• Support, last seen in Oath of the Gatewatch, is a returning mechanic.

The set also introduces a new term: "your team". Any card that refers to "your team" refers to you or a teammate. If you're not playing a team game, "your team" just means "you."

Card types

Rowan and Will

Battlebond introduces the Azra creature type, and the Will and Rowan planeswalker types.

The set has a significant Warrior-tribal theme. The Warrior archetype is centered in black and red with a good amount in white. Blue and green have some Warrior rewards at uncommon, as well as some common Warriors. While reprints still have their old artwork, all the new Warriors in Battlebond have glowing weapons as a visual cue.

Cycles

Battlebond has seven cycles, one of which is a double cycle:

Cycle name
Partners	Blaring Recruiter ()	Chakram Retriever )	Soulblade Corrupter ()	Impetuous Protege ()	Ley Weaver ()
	Blaring Captain ()	Chakram Slinger ()	Soulblade Renewer ()	Proud Mentor ()	Lore Weaver ()
	Five uncommon enemy-colored pairs of creatures, each with the partner with ability.
Legendary partners	Regna, the Redeemer ()	Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom )	Virtus the Veiled ()	Khorvath Brightflame ()	Pir, Imaginative Rascal ()
	Krav, the Unredeemed ()	Okaun, Eye of Chaos ()	Gorm the Great ()	Sylvia Brightspear ()	Toothy, Imaginary Friend ()
	Five rare enemy-colored pairs of legendary creatures, each with the partner with ability.
Cycle name
Friend or foe	Regna's Sanction	Zndrsplt’s Judgment	Virtus's Maneuver	Khorvath's Fury	Pir's Whim
	Five rare sorceries, each associated with one of the legendary partners, and each having effects that require you to choose friend or foe per player. Each spell has a beneficial effect for friends and harmful effects for foes.
Cycle name
Allied multicolor commons	Riptide Crab	Urborg Drake	Auger Spree	Rhox Brute	Centaur Healer
	Five common ally-colored cards to support draft archetypes.
Rare multicolor cards	Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer	Evil Twin	Last One Standing	Apocalypse Hydra	Archon of Valor's Reach
	Five common ally-colored cards to support draft archetypes.
Bond lands	Sea of Clouds	Morphic Pool	Luxury Suite	Spire Garden	Bountiful Promenade
	Five rare dual lands that enter the battlefield tapped, unless you have two or more opponents.
Uncommon multicolor draft archetypes	Jelenn Sphinx	Dinrova Horror	Azra Oddsmaker	Relentless Hunter	Enduring Scalelord
	Kiss of the Amesha	Vampire Charmseeker	Rushblade Commander	Savage Ventmaw	Unflinching Courage
	Ten uncommon ally-colored multicolored cards to support draft archetypes.

Mirrored pairs

Battlebond has multiple mirrored pairs.

• Doomed creatures: A pair of common creatures that create a token when they die — Doomed Traveler () and Doomed Dissenter ().
• Striders: A pair of uncommon artifact creatures that cost , and are 3/3s with an enters the battlefield ability that deals damage or gains life — Peace Strider and Pierce Strider.
• Kenrith siblings: A pair of planeswalkers who share the same converted mana cost, the same starting loyalty, have the same costs for their loyalty abilities, and mirrored effects for their -8 abilities. They can also both be used as commanders, and each have partner with each other — Will Kenrith () and Rowan Kenrith ().

Changes in rarity

Common to Uncommon

• Aim High
• Battle-Rattle Shaman
• Dinrova Horror
• Dragon Breath
• Fertilid
• Karametra's Favor
• Loyal Pegasus
• Peregrine Drake
• Pulse of Murasa
• Solemn Offering
• Trumpet Blast

Rare to Mythic

• Doubling Season
• Land Tax
• Mycosynth Lattice
• True-Name Nemesis

Rare to Uncommon

• Angel of Retribution
• Feral Hydra

Uncommon to Common

• Peace Strider
• Pierce Strider
• Riptide Crab
• Royal Trooper
• Stone Golem
• Urborg Drake

Notable cards

• Doubling Season — a much asked for reprint that doesn't fit well in a Standard environment with Planeswalkers.
• Land Tax — Another notable reprint
• True-Name Nemesis — Another reprint. Available for the first time in foil.
• Brightling — a continuation of the mega-mega cycle started with Morphling (Urza's Saga), Torchling (Planar Chaos), Thornling (Conflux), and Aetherling (Dragon's Maze) .
• Will Kenrith and Rowan Kenrith are the first Planeswalkers outside of the Commander series who may be used as commander.

New cards

• Will Kenrith
• Rowan Kenrith
• Regna, the Redeemer
• Krav, the Unredeemed
• Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom
• Okaun, Eye of Chaos
• Virtus the Veiled
• Gorm the Great
• Khorvath Brightflame
• Sylvia Brightspear
• Pir, Imaginative Rascal
• Toothy, Imaginary Friend
• Blaring Recruiter
• Blaring Captain
• Chakram Retriever
• Chakram Slinger
• Soulblade Corrupter
• Soulblade Renewer
• Impetuous Protege
• Proud Mentor
• Ley Weaver
• Lore Weaver
• Arena Rector
• Aurora Champion
• Brightling
• Bring Down
• Dwarven Lightsmith
• Jubilant Mascot
• Play of the Game
• Regna's Sanction
• Skystreamer
• Together Forever
• Fumble
• Game Plan
• Huddle Up
• Nimbus Champion
• Out of Bounds
• Saltwater Stalwart
• Soaring Show-Off
• Spellseeker
• Spellweaver Duo
• Zndrsplt's Judgment
• Archfiend of Despair
• Bloodborn Scoundrels
• Fan Favorite
• Gang Up
• Inner Demon
• Mindblade Render
• Sickle Dancer
• Stunning Reversal
• Thrasher Brute
• Thrilling Encore
• Virtus's Maneuver
• Azra Bladeseeker
• Bonus Round
• Bull-Rush Bruiser
• Cheering Fanatic
• Khorvath's Fury
• Lava-Field Overlord
• Magma Hellion
• Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
• Stadium Vendors
• Stolen Strategy
• Bramble Sovereign
• Charging Binox
• Combo Attack
• The Crowd Goes Wild
• Decorated Champion
• Generous Patron
• Grothama, All-Devouring
• Jungle Wayfinder
• Pir's Whim
• Archon of Valor's Reach
• Azra Oddsmaker
• Last One Standing
• Rushblade Commander
• Vampire Charmseeker
• Sentinel Tower
• Victory Chimes
• Bountiful Promenade
• Luxury Suite
• Morphic Pool
• Sea of Clouds
• Spire Garden