Soulbond

Soulbond
Keyword Ability
Type	Triggered (1st ability) Triggered (2nd ability)
Introduced	Avacyn Restored
Last used	Doctor Who
Reminder Text	Soulbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
Storm Scale	9
Statistics	24 cards 16.7% 29.2% 4.2% 16.7% 33.3%
Scryfall Search
keyword:"Soulbond"

Soulbond is a keyword mechanic introduced in Avacyn Restored. Soulbond pairs up your creatures with each other.

Description

When a creature with Soulbond enters the battlefield, it can choose another unpaired creature under your control. The creatures are considered paired with each other. The player may also choose not to pair with another creature, and then choose to pair with another creature under your control when that creature enters the battlefield. Usually, the creature with Soulbond as well as its pair gain abilities or advantages when paired up. There are also other cards which look for paired up creatures.

Creatures can not become members of multiple pairs. However, if two creatures with Soulbond pair up, they each provide their benefits to each other. Thematically, the mechanic has similarities with the overly complicated banding.

History

Soulbond was reprised in the Innistrad: Crimson Vow Commander Decks. It also appeared as a one-off on Donna Noble from Doctor Who.

Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Soulbond

A keyword ability that makes creatures better by pairing them together. See rule 702.95, “Soulbond.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

• 702.95. Soulbond
  • 702.95a Soulbond is a keyword that represents two triggered abilities. “Soulbond” means “When this creature enters the battlefield, if you control both this creature and another creature and both are unpaired, you may pair this creature with another unpaired creature you control for as long as both remain creatures on the battlefield under your control” and “Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, if you control both that creature and this one and both are unpaired, you may pair that creature with this creature for as long as both remain creatures on the battlefield under your control.”
  • 702.95b A creature becomes “paired” with another as the result of a soulbond ability. Abilities may refer to a paired creature, the creature another creature is paired with, or whether a creature is paired. An “unpaired” creature is one that is not paired.
  • 702.95c When the soulbond ability resolves, if either object that would be paired is no longer a creature, no longer on the battlefield, or no longer under the control of the player who controls the soulbond ability, neither object becomes paired.
  • 702.95d A creature can be paired with only one other creature.
  • 702.95e A paired creature becomes unpaired if any of the following occur: another player gains control of it or the creature it’s paired with; it or the creature it’s paired with stops being a creature; or it or the creature it’s paired with leaves the battlefield.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)

Paired

A term that describes a creature that’s been affected by a soulbond ability. See rule 702.95, “Soulbond.”

Rulings

• Two paired creatures are still individual creatures in every way: they attack and block individually, they are targeted and affected by spells or abilities individually, and they change zones individually. If two paired creatures are attacking, blocking one of them has no effect on the other, for example.
• Neither soulbond ability targets any creature.
• You must control another unpaired creature at the moment a creature with soulbond enters the battlefield or the soulbond ability won't trigger at all. However, the creature that pairs with the creature with soulbond isn't chosen until the soulbond ability resolves.
• If the pair is broken, the bonuses and abilities granted to the creatures immediately disappear. If the bonus included an increase to toughness, this may cause a creature to have damage marked on it equal to or greater than its toughness. If that happens, the creature is destroyed.
• If becoming unpaired causes a creature to no longer have an activated ability, instances of that ability that have already been activated and are on the stack are unaffected.
• Certain keywords granted to paired creatures are only relevant at a specific time, usually during combat, so becoming unpaired and no longer having that ability may have no effect on the current turn. For example, if a creature with reach blocks a flying creature and then loses reach, the creature with flying will still be blocked.
• A creature with soulbond may grant an ability to itself and the creature it's paired with that includes the text "this creature." In such abilities, "this creature" refers only to the creature that has that ability, not the creature it's paired with.
• If a creature with soulbond is paired with another creature with soulbond, each of them will receive both bonuses.
• If you control multiple unpaired creatures with soulbond and another creature enters the battlefield, each soulbond ability will trigger. Soulbond abilities that try to resolve after you pair the creature will have no effect.
• If a paired creature with soulbond loses soulbond, it and the creature it's paired with remain paired.

Examples

Example

Wingcrafter
Creature - Human Wizard
1/1
Soulbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
As long as Wingcrafter is paired with another creature, both creatures have flying.

Trivia

• Soulbond has the distinction of generating the most questions sent in to Wizards of the Coast by Judges at a prerelease.