Bond of Agony MTG Card

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	1
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Sorcery
Released	2006-05-05
Set symbol
Set name	Dissension
Set code	DIS
Number	38
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Luca Zontini

Key Takeaways

Enables life total manipulation, shifting game dynamics especially when cast from a high life position.
At instant speed, it offers flexible strategic play, adapting to mana availability and critical moments.
Demands careful usage as the life paid impacts the potency, posing risks at lower life totals.

Text of card

As an additional cost to play Bond of Agony, pay X life. Each other player loses X life.

The Rakdos are unique in designing torture equipment they can operate while "suffering" alongside their victims.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Bond of Agony is unique in its potential to manipulate life totals. While it does not draw cards directly, it effectively denies resources to your opponent by equalizing life totals, especially when you’re at a life advantage. This strategic shift can produce a soft card advantage as it may render some of your opponent’s cards less effective or even useless under new life total conditions.

Resource Acceleration: This card operates as a force multiplier when you have excess mana. It can translate spare resources into direct life loss for your opponent, making it a particularly potent threat in the late game when mana is plentiful and life totals are critical. Resource acceleration comes into play when you can utilize surplus mana to drive a substantial shift in health disparity.

Instant Speed: Bond of Agony’s X cost synergizes with its ability to be cast at instant speed, offering strategic flexibility during any phase of the game. The instant nature of this card allows you to tailor the timing to the state of the game, waiting for the opportune moment to maximize its effect and apply pressure at a critical juncture, possibly even as a response to your opponent’s plays.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: While Bond of Agony allows you to significantly impact each player’s life total, it requires X life to be paid on top of its black mana cost. This can be a notable downside when your life resources are already dwindling, potentially putting you in danger of losing the game.

Specific Mana Cost: Card playability is always a key consideration, and in this case, Bond of Agony demands black mana. This specificity restricts the card’s usage to decks that generate black mana, potentially excluding it from a wide variety of multi-color decks where it might otherwise be effective.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Investing into X spells can be costly, and Bond of Agony is no exception. To make a substantial dent in your opponents’ life totals, you must be willing to pay a significant amount of life or mana, which can sometimes be impractical when compared to other cards that may damage or disrupt for a fixed, more efficient cost.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Bond of Agony offers flexibility in both casual and competitive play settings. Its X cost allows players to tailor the impact to their current mana availability, making it a useful card at various points in the game.

Combo Potential: This card can be a game-changer in combinations with life-gain strategies or effects that leverage life payment for powerful gains, such as with cards that offer benefits each time life is lost or spent.

Meta-Relevance: In an environment where games can swing with large life total changes, Bond of Agony can be a clutch card. It works well to level the playing field against opponents with high life totals or as a surprise finisher in black-centric decks that balance life loss with aggressive play.

How to Beat

Bond of Agony is a unique card in Magic: The Gathering that poses a complex challenge on the battlefield. This card allows a player to pay any amount of life when casting it, each opponent then loses that much life. It can potentially change the outcome of a game, as a strategic play can lead to a sudden life point swing.

To counter Bond of Agony, it is essential to maintain a healthy life total, as the card’s effectiveness correlates directly to the caster’s willingness to pay life. Lifegain strategies can cushion the impact, as can cards that prevent damage or life loss. Spell counters are also highly effective; by cancelling the casting of Bond of Agony, you nullify the threat entirely. Another method is to apply pressure to your opponent, forcing them to conserve life and thereby lessening the potential devastation of their Bond of Agony play.

Ultimately, it comes down to foresight and preparation. Running counterspells, damage prevention, and lifegain in your deck can mitigate the risks posed by Bond of Agony, ensuring you maintain the upper hand against such tactics. Responding to the evolving battlefield and anticipating your opponent’s moves are the keys to outlasting the life-draining grasp of Bond of Agony.

Cards like Bond of Agony

Bond of Agony stands out in the realm of life manipulation cards in Magic: The Gathering. Its unique X cost allows players to scale the damage and life loss to their current situation, echoing the flexibility of cards like Death Cloud. However, unlike Death Cloud, which affects all players by forcing card discard, creature sacrifice, and life loss, Bond of Agony specifically targets life totals while bypassing board presence and hand disruption.

Consume Spirit is another spell of similar nature, offering players the option to siphon life from opponents, but with the added benefit of being a source of life gain. While Bond of Agony solely reduces life totals, Consume Spirit injects a degree of resilience by restoring the caster’s health. Conversely, Exsanguinate provides a collective approach, extorting life from all opponents and distributing it to the caster, exemplifying a broader stroke compared to the focused capacity of Bond of Agony.

Examining these counterparts, Bond of Agony uniquely positions itself as a tactical choice for MTG enthusiasts who seek a precise tool for life total manipulation, maximizing potential impact when the caster’s life is sufficiently protected.

Cards similar to Bond of Agony by color, type and mana cost

Bloodcurdling Scream - MTG Card versions

Call to the Netherworld - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Bond of Agony MTG card by a specific set like Dissension, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Bond of Agony and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Bond of Agony has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Bond of Agony card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2006-05-01	You can choose an X that’s equal to your life total. If you do, you’ll pay that much life when the spell is cast and will lose the game before it resolves.
2006-05-01	You can’t choose an X that’s greater than your life total.
2013-04-15	You must pay both X life and . For example, if you want each other player to lose 2 life when Bond of Agony resolves, you must pay and 2 life.