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I don't play limited so I can't speak for that, but I'm already planning a soulbond deck for standard.  Casual of course, but that's what makes soulbond great is that it is a fun mechanic.  As compared to some of the previous mechanics of earlier sets I don't see how anyone can look at soulbond and think it's overpowered or will lead to unfun game states.


Strangely though while green is supposed to be the best color for soulbond I don't find this to be the case.  My favorite soulbond cards thus far are all the blue ones.  Elguad shieldmate will be going in several decks to come for my casual play I'm sure.  Making all my creatures hexproof is great (especially when you consider it for protecting a griselbrand in ubw renanimator or something like that).


I also really like the way tandem lookout and wingcrafter play.  The lookout is the first easy to splash card draw creature that simultaneously can give it's power to another creature and still has a 2/1 power/toughness ratio (earlier cards like scroll thief were a 1/3, neurok commando was a 2/1 shroud but there was few ways to get it past the opponents creatures easily, and cold eyed selkie required all colored mana and was a 1/1 albeit one of the better versions we've seen).   It's easy to dismiss wingcrafter until you consider that it essentially is a 1 mana flyer that makes all your other creatures evasive.  Plus he has two relevant creature types.  So, for example, being a human wizard I could use him in an old school wizard deck or I could use the human aspect to go with all the things that pair with human in the last few sets.  Such as mayor avabruk and so on.

For creature boosting wolfir silverheart is pretty amazing, but I don't see the other ones making big waves.  If for no other reason than we are pretty jaded about seeing big creatures in green by this point (woolly thoctar and leatherback baloth backlash).  Not to mention standard is overflowing with aggro creatures and power boosting effects which are very similiar, but more powerful than soulbond (the 2 color lords and the mayor for example give all their respective creature types +1/1 across the board).


Even lightning mauler looks pretty amazing.  The whole 2 mana creature that gives haste thing has been done many times, but usually it always took not attacking with that creature and a mana investment.


Maybe it's just me, but it actually feels like green is a lot weaker for soulbond overall (well excluding black anyways).  Especially considering that it's either make my guys have: double strike, draw more cards, fire breathing, hexproof and etc or just be very large.  All the same I think they will be fun to play with for sure.  I look forward to surprising my opponents with a simple play like tandem lookout/wingcrafter to draw 2 every turn.


Edit:  One thing that should be in an article though is for example what happens if multiple soulbound creatures enter play at exactly the same time.  Can you pair them up with the same creature all at once since they are unpaired or do you have to do an individual pair for each one?  Also what happens if my soulbond creature becomes something else (for example via an infinite reflection)?  Like if my soulbond creature is a wingcrafter paired with another creature and I use infinite reflection on my opponents wolfir does that mean my wingcrafter and the other creature become paired wolfirs that are 12/12 or do I need to play another creature?  I think that it would help to explain some of the nuances in the next article.  

May 13, 2012 -- 11:34PM, Senyuno wrote:

Multiple Soulbond triggers may occur, but once two are paired, it does no good to try and pair the third wheel out to one of the paired creatures: neither of them are unpaired as the text for Soulbond requires.

But even if you don't understand that, they went ahead and also released another rule that simply states a pair is two creatures. 

I see, so they happen on the stack then.  What about the second question though, what if my soulbonded creature turns into another soulbonded creature or something like that?


I didn't realize there had been rulings posted yet.  

Flowering Lumberknot looks way too much like Vigean Hydropon to me.  I know you wanted to make it situational, but it's too risky in limited and too weak for constructed.

Also, I grok'd Soulbond right away, but some people who really should have understood it are really, REALLY struggling with it.  Perhaps Paired was a bad choice of term.