But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

Let's just get the elephant - or, Spirit, I guess - out of the room right away.

Ah, 2012. Curiosity landed on Mars. This dude named Felix Baumgartner jumped out of a plane from the stratosphere and broke the sound barrier on the way down. And a combo darling was released in a little set called Avacyn Restored.

If you know how Soulbond works, it's almost certainly because of this card. People do things like partner it with Peregrine Drake to make infinite mana or Abdel Adrian, Gorion's Ward to make a whole lot of tokens. Jerks.

Believe it or not, Soulbond actually exists on 25 cards, and there's even a card which cares about it but doesn't have it! Let's get into this ability.

O, swear not by the moon

Soulbond has the distinction of being the Keyword with the most questions to judges at a prerelease. I get it - it's a little wordy and weird. But it's pretty easy to grok. Here's how it works.

• Soulbond is a keyword, and it represents two different triggered abilities. The first triggers when the Creature with Soulbond Enters and you control another unpaired Creature. The second triggers when another Creature you control Enters and you have a Creature with Soulbond and no partner. (Comp. rules 702.95a)
• Note a couple things here. You have to control an unpaired Creature the moment the Creature with Soulbond Enters. If you don't, the ability won't trigger at all.
• On the other hand, you don't choose what to Soulbond until the ability resolves, so if between triggering and resolving you acquire a better pairing partner, you can switch.
• When either of those two abilities resolve, you choose a Creature to pair with and the two Creatures (at least one with Soulbond and both unpaired) become paired.
• Once paired, those two Creatures remain paired until they're unpaired via one of the following means:
• Another player gains control of either Creature
• Either Creature stops being a Creature
• Either Creature leaves the Battlefield for any reason

(Comp. Rules 702.95e)

Keep in mind:

• Soulbond can be interrupted by making the conditions no longer be met before the ability resolves. If you're trying to Soulbond your Hanweir Lancer and your Llanowar Elf, and I Generous Gift your Elf, the Soulbond won't happen.

A little more:

• A Creature can only be paired up with one Creature, but two Creatures with Soulbond may bond each other.
• They are still separate Creatures in every way. They attack and block alone, must be targeted separately, and they move from zone to zone independently.
• Soulbond doesn't target, so it gets around Shroud or any other ability preventing the targeting of the Creature.

For stony limits cannot hold love out

Why would you do this? Because in almost every case, both Creatures get a decent bonus.

All of these offer fairly strong abilities, especially when paired well. Imagine Breathkeeper Seraph bonded with Sakura-Tribe Elder, Doom Weaver paired to a Beanstalk Giant, or Mirage Phalanx connected to an Inferno Titan. Even Wingcrafter and Tandem Lookout can be decently strong.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

The Storm Scale rating of 9 means Soulbond is very, very unlikely to return, although it did come back in a Commander deck and in Doctor Who.

There is one card which cares about Soulbond but doesn't have it.

A 5/5 for four mana which can only do stuff if it's Soulbound. Hey, I said it was an anomaly, not interesting.

Thanks for reading.