Polluted Bonds

Enchantment

Whenever a land enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, that player loses 2 life and you gain 2 life.

Legality

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

Discussion (49)

Asder on Kaervek, the Enchantress

17 hours ago

I'm not sure how many of these are pet cards that you wanna play no matter what, but if you're taking suggestions, there's quite a few staples you could be playing over stuff like Raiding Party. Phyrexian Arena and Black Market Connections are the first that come to mind, but you could totally to some boardwipes in the form of The Meathook Massacre and Spiteful Banditry. Curse of Opulence is always a fun way to get some politics started. Painful Quandary is a card I always consider running when im in black.

I'm just going to quick fire some more: Blood Moon No Mercy Sunbird's Invocation Powerbalance Unholy Annex / Ritual Chamber Polluted Bonds Oubliette Grave Betrayal Possibility Storm Necrodominance Burning Earth Hopeless Nightmare Case of the Stashed Skeleton Smoke

Sorry if thats too much lol

NV_1980 on Krav partner token/lifegain

1 week ago

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the general idea of this deck is to generate tokens and benefit from that by gaining (or draining) life and by saccing some of them through Krav so you can draw cards. So anything that's not helping towards that, can prolly be axed. In my opinion, this would be cards like:

• Abstruse Appropriation: stealing creatures is fun, but this spell really makes it rather expensive. First you pay 4 to remove something and then the removed creature's mana cost to steal it. If you keep it for removal purposes, it's much better to replace with something that's cheaper to cast, like Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares.
• Command the Dreadhorde: I get why you'd include this, considering the deck's theme, but there are better ways to steal opposing creatures. If you're THAT horny for what's in opposing graveyards, use Grave Betrayal; at least it won't cost you any life and it's an enchantment so it can be used until someone manages to zap it.
• Debt to the Deathless: you don't need this. The deck already contains plenty of ways to deprive the opposition of their lifepoints AND plenty of ways for you to gain life. This just seems expensive to me.
• Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip: honestly, wtf is this doing in here? Not saying this isn't a fun card, but considering its costs and the fact that your deck doesn't do anything with making your creatures unblockable, this seems a waste of a slot to me.
• Emeria's Call  ^Flip: have some doubts about this one. I get it, but are Angel tokens so important that you're willing to spend 7 mana on a spell that saves your tokens from destruction? There are cheaper ways to do this (but then you don't get Angels), like Make a Stand, Rootborn Defenses or Unbreakable Formation.
• Glasswing Grace  ^Flip: it's a nice boost for a single creature, but it doesn't add to the deck's theme.
• Increasing Devotion: not bad but it's also relatively expensive to cast for what you get in return. Matter of taste I suppose; personally I'd leave it out (the deck has plenty of (cheaper) token-generation already).
• Polluted Bonds: strong drain, but not of a kind that's in-theme with the rest of the deck.
• The Regalia: it's an ok ramping mechanism. I'd replace it with a cheaper-to-cast mana rock though, which saves you some time. Jet Medallion, Orzhov Signet, Pearl Medallion, Talisman of Hierarchy ... whichever works.

So aside from all the above, you can cut four lands (or replace them with cheap-to-cast mana rocks to increase resource availability). Good luck.

RiotRunner789 on Getting Freaky - Build Mono …

5 months ago

Suture Priest and other white cards from the Phyrexian sets have a black vibe to them.

Ankh of Mishra is similiar to Polluted Bonds.

Blind Obedience and other white sides of Orzhov cards feel a little black.

Specifically for your commander though, I'd ignore the above except for Blind Obedience. I'd consider consider the sword of x and y cards that have black such as Sword of Light and Shadow. Look through equipment cards that both lean into the voltron theme/commander synergy while also playing into blacks themes such as life as a resource and punishing opponents (discard/life loss).

I wouldn't go to far off into the woods (away from commander theme) which would possibly make the deck too janky to be playable. I'll browse EDHREC and post on your list some equipment that stand out that I didn't already mention or allude to.

griffstick on Teysa, Ghostly instigator

3 years ago

Polluted Bonds is solid lifegain.

Flagellum on Need help deciding on a …

3 years ago

TheoryCrafter Yeah I see the point about Mogis. It opens the doors for more draw as well as more pain. Specifically draw pain like Underworld Dreams, Spiteful Visions, Fate Unraveler etc. which will work wonders with Wheel of Fortune, Reforge the Soul and Dark Deal which I would run anyways or just against any slap happy blue deck. Just sucks that Painful Quandary, Polluted Bonds and Bloodchief Ascension have risen. Even my good ole friend from my Nekusaur days Kederekt Parasite is up to $8ish now lol.

As far as Dina goes, I originally built her with an incremental life gain build but I started retooling it more towards the aristocrat support build after realizing that 4 mana for a 1 life every upkeep trigger is not worth the spot. I see the value of pests/creature death triggers especially in the event of a board wipe.

LinkOpensChest_wav on Sol'kanar the Swamp King edh

4 years ago

I just saw this general mentioned in an article. Sick card, sick art!

Do you think Polluted Bonds would fit here?

king-saproling on Dina Lifedrain

4 years ago

You might like these: Polluted Bonds, Blood Artist, Fountain of Renewal, Lich's Mastery, Roots of Life, Falkenrath Noble, Blossoming Bogbeast, Trespasser's Curse (you can enchant yourself!)

DawnsRayofLight on ULTRA REACTIVE MONO BLACK

4 years ago

I've been playing monoblack in EDH for a while! So, I have some advice I can offer that I hope will help you out!

Land base: 35 should be enough, consider some utility lands: Maze of Ith Cabal Coffers (get it while it is cheap!) maybe some land destruction like Field of Ruin, Wasteland, Ghost Quarter, Strip Mine, etc. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx Temple of the False God Cabal Stronghold Castle Locthwain Rogue's Passage

Equipment to boost your general:

Sword of War and Peace, life gain and protection Sword of Light and Shadow, recursion and protection Sword of Hearth and Home, protection, blink your ETB kill a guy creatures, ramp Sword of Feast and Famine, expensive, but super good Lashwrithe: ouch Vorpal Sword: haha double ouch Blackblade Reforged Sword of Truth and Justice Sword of the Animist

I might try to add a few more win cons in your creature base

Vilis, Broker of Blood, draw and beat stick Razaketh, the Foulblooded, search and beat stick K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth ramp and can get big Archon of Cruelty been debating adding it to chainer

Ramp and utility suggestions

Bolas's Citadel: super good but can be rough if you aren't gaining a lot of life Caged Sun: super good ramp and works when your opponents tap Skyclave Relic: better than darksteel ingot Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools: good for draw and blockers Grief: hand control Thought-Knot Seer: hand control Ob Nixilis Reignited: stayed in my chainer deck for a while until Tevesh came along

Grim Tutor and Mastermind's Acquisition over diabolic tutor (depends on you play group if they allow a "wish board," some don't, I run acquisition but may pick up a grim tutor for groups not okay with it)

I might lose some of the instant speed removal for:

Hero's Downfall: which you are running Deadly Rollick Eat to Extinction Vraska's Contempt

Some general removal as monoblack suffers from inability to handle certain types like enchant and artifact:

Karn Liberated Ugin, the Ineffable Steel Hellkite Nevinyrral's Disk

Suggested drops:

Tattered Mummy: Not that good, more consistent ways of grinding out damage Skyclave Shade: Bloodghast is better 1x Skeletal Grimace: I get the point, but there are better cards 1x Underworld Dreams: I am iffy on this one, Painful Quandary and Polluted Bonds may be better or good additions to complement it. The entire instant pool save hero's downfall and malicious affliction, there are better killspells Expedition Map: really only useful for setting up tron or land combos Liliana, Waker of the Dead: Liliana Vess works better

The True Meaning of Death and Taxes: this is my chainer death and taxes reanimator list, check it out for suggestions, I have a lot of cards in the maybeboard I have considered and even used at one point that may spark some ideas.