Bond of Agony

Sorcery

As an additional cost to play Bond of Agony, pay X life.

Each other player loses X life.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (42)

DroThaShow on Freedom Through Death

1 month ago

YourNeighborhoodGhost: Bond of Agony would be a good add if only I didn't have to pay life in addition to the mana. Good suggestion though!

YourNeighborhoodGhost on Freedom Through Death

1 month ago

Bond of Agony maybe

Kjartan on 101% Mono Black Burn

4 months ago

Balaam__ When things go well, you should absolutely be ahead on life, but not ahead on mana. You need to have a lot of lands in play for Bond of Agony to compare on power-level with your cheaper burn spells. You need 4 lands for it to just rival Sovereign's Bite, and that's with the life-gain reversed. You need 5 lands in play for it to do something your other cards can't.

That said, even with Syphon Life to discard excess lands, I do get that there are scenarios on rare occasions where you end up with 5-6 or 7 lands on the battlefield, and a healthy life-total to boot.

If you want specifically an X spell for this scenario, may I instead suggest Profane Command. It's even more budget friendly than Bond of Agony and it's a much safer path to victory. It causes 1 less point of life loss under normal circumstances, but with a Death Cultist in your graveyard, it can have the exact same effect but without paying any life cast it. On top of that, it's just extremely flexible. You can play it for three mana just to ping for one and get a Serrated Scorpion back, or use it to alpha-strike through a board of blockers.

Balaam__ on 101% Mono Black Burn

4 months ago

Thanks for the input, Kjartan. Most appreciated. Always looking to improve whatever I’m building, so I take everything under advisement.

I guess I should begin by acknowledging this is not meant for any competitive play, not by any stretch of the imagination. Just a fun thought experiment that turned into something better than anticipated. I think some of your points are valid—it’s been awhile since I’ve looked at this one, and the mana base does seem to be a little stingy. Could probably do with an overhaul, as many new sets/cards have arrived since.

That said, I disagree about Bond of Agony. It’s proven itself to be a decent finisher. When all goes to plan and this is playing like a normal red burn deck, you should always be a point or two ahead of your opponent’s life total making the investment lethal for them while you squeak by. Things don’t always go to plan though, and should your life total be less than your rivals’ or if the spell gets countered, well…

Kjartan on 101% Mono Black Burn

4 months ago

Even though you probably have one of the best shells for it, Bond of Agony looks pretty bad.

Red burn decks usually don't play Fireball or any of its superior versions, even though they are way better than Bond of Agony

You have 18 lands, meaning you scale very slowly into a range where Bond can deal any more damage than your other spells, and once you get there, 5 mana + pay 4 life to cause a 4 point life loss? That seems just awful. And it's especially bad since you have Syphon Life which means you'll just be discarding additional lands when you hit your curve stopper unless you're sitting with Bond of Agony in hand.

If you want some late-game potential, I would look into adding a single B/R source to flashback Bump in the Night because the opportunity cost of doing to is so low. Alternatively, consider Sword-Point Diplomacy as a card that can pull you ahead in stale-mate against another deck that didn't quite manage to do its thing.

seizan8 on Who needs life anyway

8 months ago

Beacon of Immortality und Sun Droplet ?

Exsanguinate, Debt to the Deathless und Gary find i scho chli scammy. Hatred wer funny. Bond of Agony shiint mer au meh flavorful. Für alternate win cons wür i eher Triskaidekaphobia, Near-Death Experience, Angel's Grace und Wall of Blood spiele. isch chli interessanter als 1 charte wo eifach all gegner killt...

wallisface on GIMMICK AGONY

1 year ago

You have no way to pay the outrageous mana requirements for Bond of Agony to “insta kill”.

For example, if you were wanting to cast Bond of Agony where X=5, the casting cost is {5}{B} and 5 life, with each other player then losing 5 life. If you’re wanting to cast this spell where X=20, i don’t see how you’re ever getting the mana for that.

SithDragon33 on The Price of Power | Rowan EDH

1 year ago

Azoth2099 thanks for the feedback! Swapped Bond of Agony for Dark Tutelage. The various tutors are certainly better for the deck, and I'd definitely include them in a fully streamlined list.