Creature Bond MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 12 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost2
RarityCommon
TypeEnchantment — Aura
Abilities Enchant

Key Takeaways

  1. Creature Bond ensures draw a card upon the enchanted creature’s death, subtly tipping the game’s balance.
  2. Its requirement for creature sacrifice restricts board presence, demanding calculated deployment in matches.
  3. Brilliant when combined with effects that involve creature sacrifice, offering timely card advantage.

Text of card

If target creature is destroyed, Creature Bond does an amount of damage equal to creature's toughness to creature's controller.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Creature Bond is advantageous in the sense that it keeps your opponents vigilant. Its effect kicks in upon the enchanted creature’s demise, signaling a potential shift in the table’s balance and making it a subtle form of card advantage.

Resource Acceleration: While not a direct source of mana or resource acceleration, Creature Bond can influence board decisions that potentially lead to resource gains indirectly. Opponents may hesitate to remove the enchanted creature, allowing you to capitalize on other strategies uninterrupted.

Instant Speed: Although Creature Bond is an aura that requires sorcery speed for casting, it pairs well with creatures that can be flashed in. This combo allows for strategic plays that respect the instant speed dynamics of the game, keeping opponents guessing and your plans flexible.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Creature Bond mandates the sacrifice of the bonded creature upon its death to draw a card, removing vital board presence.

Specific Mana Cost: With its casting cost requiring blue mana, this card naturally fits only into blue or multicolored decks, potentially limiting its versatility.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Investing two mana might seem steep considering other options could provide more impactful board presence or card advantage for a similar cost.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Creature Bond offers a unique interaction with creatures in your deck that can serve across various playstyles. This enchantment becomes useful in decks that focus on creature strategies and can turn any creature into a potential source of card draw upon its demise.

Combo Potential: This card pairs excellently with effects that require you to sacrifice creatures, by turning an otherwise detrimental event into an opportunity for card draw, thus enhancing your strategy and keeping your hand filled with options.

Meta-Relevance: In a game where creatures often face removal or are used as blockers, Creature Bond ensures that their departure from the battlefield is not in vain, maintaining card advantage which is crucial in many meta environments.


How to beat

Creature Bond is a unique enchantment from the vintage roster of Magic: The Gathering cards. It showcases an ability that can be both a boon and a bane, depending on which side of the battlefield you’re on. When placed upon a creature, it has the duality of strengthening one’s army while also presenting a risk if the enchanted creature were to be destroyed.

To effectively neutralize Creature Bond, a strategy involving targeted removal spells or abilities that bypass the destruction of the creature is key. Instead of directly destroying the creature, one could leverage exile effects or cards that return the creature to its owner’s hand or shuffle it into their library, thus preventing Creature Bond from triggering its damaging effect. Cards like Unsummon or Path to Exile can be valuable tools in this scenario, offering clean solutions without incurring additional damage from the enchantment’s ability.

Overall, understanding the nuances of Creature Bond and employing the right removal techniques can ensure you outmaneuver your opponent, mitigating the risks and turning the enchantment’s potential drawback into an advantage for yourself in the game of Magic: The Gathering.


Cards like Creature Bond

Creature Bond is a unique enchantment within the pantheon of Magic: The Gathering cards. Its closest relatives are probably the likes of Lifelink and Spirit Link, enchantments that also forge a dynamic between creature outcome and player advantage. However, Creature Bond has the distinctive trigger of granting its controller life when the enchanted creature deals damage, which is unlike Lifelink and Spirit Link that rely on the creature’s health changes.

Examining other enchantments, we have Curiosity, which offers a different benefit: drawing a card when the enchanted creature deals damage to an opponent. While it doesn’t affect your life total, the advantage of card draw can be crucial in many games. Similarly, Keen Sense follows this notion but limits the card draw to when the creature deals damage to a player, providing a narrower yet still valuable effect.

An evaluation of Creature Bond and its counterparts shows that it has a distinct place within Magic: The Gathering’s array of enchantments. It emphasizes a strategic choice between life gain and other utility benefits, such as card draw or damage control, making it a versatile option depending on the deck’s overall build and the player’s style.

Lifelink - MTG Card versions
Spirit Link - MTG Card versions
Curiosity - MTG Card versions
Keen Sense - MTG Card versions
Lifelink - Magic 2010 (M10)
Spirit Link - Legends (LEG)
Curiosity - Exodus (EXO)
Keen Sense - Planar Chaos (PLC)

Cards similar to Creature Bond by color, type and mana cost

Copy Artifact - MTG Card versions
Invisibility - MTG Card versions
Power Leak - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Terrain - MTG Card versions
Stasis - MTG Card versions
Lifetap - MTG Card versions
Power Artifact - MTG Card versions
Psychic Venom - MTG Card versions
Venarian Gold - MTG Card versions
Homarid Spawning Bed - MTG Card versions
Soar - MTG Card versions
Flooded Shoreline - MTG Card versions
Dance of Many - MTG Card versions
Teferi's Veil - MTG Card versions
Legacy's Allure - MTG Card versions
Chill - MTG Card versions
Buoyancy - MTG Card versions
Mana Maze - MTG Card versions
Psionic Gift - MTG Card versions
Immobilizing Ink - MTG Card versions
Copy Artifact - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Invisibility - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Power Leak - Summer Magic / Edgar (SUM)
Phantasmal Terrain - Invasion (INV)
Stasis - 30th Anniversary Edition (30A)
Lifetap - Intl. Collectors' Edition (CEI)
Power Artifact - Antiquities (ATQ)
Psychic Venom - Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border (4BB)
Venarian Gold - Legends (LEG)
Homarid Spawning Bed - Fallen Empires (FEM)
Soar - Mirage (MIR)
Flooded Shoreline - Visions (VIS)
Dance of Many - Masters Edition III (ME3)
Teferi's Veil - Weatherlight (WTH)
Legacy's Allure - Tempest (TMP)
Chill - Tempest (TMP)
Buoyancy - Mercadian Masques (MMQ)
Mana Maze - World Championship Decks 2001 (WC01)
Psionic Gift - Odyssey (ODY)
Immobilizing Ink - Odyssey (ODY)

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Creature Bond MTG card by a specific set like Limited Edition Alpha and Limited Edition Beta, 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 Creature Bond and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Creature Bond Magic the Gathering card was released in 11 different sets between 1993-08-05 and 2022-11-28. Illustrated by Anson Maddocks.

#ReleaseNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
11993-08-05Limited Edition AlphaLEA 551993normalblackAnson Maddocks
21993-10-04Limited Edition BetaLEB 561993normalblackAnson Maddocks
31993-12-01Unlimited Edition2ED 561993normalwhiteAnson Maddocks
41993-12-10Intl. Collectors' EditionCEI 561993normalblackAnson Maddocks
51993-12-10Collectors' EditionCED 561993normalblackAnson Maddocks
61994-04-01Foreign Black BorderFBB 551993normalblackAnson Maddocks
71994-04-01Revised Edition3ED 551993normalwhiteAnson Maddocks
81994-06-21Summer Magic / EdgarSUM 551993normalwhiteAnson Maddocks
91995-04-01Fourth Edition4ED 661993normalwhiteAnson Maddocks
101995-04-01Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border4BB 661993normalblackAnson Maddocks
112022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 552015normalblackAnson Maddocks
122022-11-2830th Anniversary Edition30A 3521997normalblackAnson Maddocks

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Creature Bond has restrictions

FormatLegality
OldschoolLegal
CommanderLegal
LegacyLegal
PaupercommanderLegal
OathbreakerLegal
PauperLegal
PremodernLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
PredhLegal

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