Battlebond

Battlebond is the first-ever Two-Headed Giant-focused Magic booster set. It was released on June 8, 2018. Battlebond was the Innovation Product for 2018, and was designed to be drafted.

Set details
Forge an Unbreakable Bond in Battle Battlebond is inspired by sports and e-sports. The set contains 254 unique cards (5 Basic Lands, 101 Commons, 80 Uncommons, 53 Rares, 15 Mythic Rares); 85 of those cards are new and will all immediately be legal in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. Returning favorites from throughout Magic 's history (many with new art) round out the set and cultivate an environment of two-on-two combat and sport. The Battlebond set is designed to be drafted with players who will make groups of two players for Two-Headed Giant multiplayer games. The expansion symbol depicts two connected figures in front of a diamond shape, and is a silhouette of the Spire Garden towers. Battlebond is printed worldwide on Japanese multi-ply card stock.

To facilitate the draft environment, R&D skimped on the weaker power level cards normally found at common and also increased the number of common artifacts above the normal rate. Apart from draft, Battlebond can also be played Sealed. Most of the unique mechanics — the main selling point of the play experience — are indifferent to the format, so long as it's Two-Headed Giant. Partnered pairs will always show up together in booster packs. If you open a foil partner, the other partner will also be foil. Some cards appearing in the set were designed with Commander, Cube, and other formats in mind.

Collector numbers for this set starts with the partners in rarity order, followed by the other new cards in WUBRG, and finishing with the reprints in WUBRG.

Promos
There are twenty-two promos (the eleven partnered pairs); both planeswalkers with alternate art (numbered #255/254 and #256/254) and all with foil treatment. They come in two-card packs.

Flavor
Welcome to Battlebond, where competitors battle in pairs. Recruit a trusted partner and fight shoulder-to-shoulder, hand-in-hand, or back-to-back for glory and the roar of the crowd! Forge an unbreakable bond with your combat companion and claim your place in the pantheon of champions! All new cards in Battlebond depict the environment of Valor's Reach, an area on the plane of Kylem, where combat is fought two-on-two. And like any good spectator sport, the goal isn't just to win, but to look good doing it. Style points count.

Marketing
Battlebond is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card). Like other draft related sets, it features horizontal art on the booster packs. They have artwork depicting key characters Will and Rowan Kenrith, Zndrsplt and Okaun, and art from the card Lore Weaver. The set is also sold in Booster Battle Packs containing six boosters.

Tokens / Emblems
Battlebond features six token and two emblems:
 * 1) 1/1 Spirit creature with Flying, for Doomed Traveler.
 * 2) 1/1 Warrior creature, for Blaring Recruiter, Najeela, the Blade-Blossom, Regna, the Redeemer and Take Up Arms.
 * 3) 2/2 Zombie creature, for Doomed Dissenter and Noosegraf Mob</c>.
 * 4) 5/5 Zombie Giant creature, for Quest for the Gravelord</c>.
 * 5) 3/3 Beast creature, for  Beast Within</c>
 * 6) 1/1 Myr artifact creature, for Genesis Chamber</c>.
 * 7) Emblem for Will Kenrith</c>
 * 8) Emblem for Rowan Kenrith</c>

Rules for limited play
For Battlebond, Sealed uses six packs and Draft uses four packs.

Draft

 * Each team of two will receive four Battlebond booster packs to start the draft.
 * Teams will open one booster and pick two cards from the pack before passing the booster pack to the next team on their left. This continues with teams taking two cards from the packs being passed around until there are no cards left to pick.
 * Pack rotation remains left (clockwise) for the first pack, right (counter clockwise) for the second, left for the third, and right for the fourth pack.
 * The team builds two 40- card decks from the cards that they have drafted one deck for each player.
 * Teams play single game matches.

Sealed

 * Each team of two receives six Battlebond booster packs.
 * The team builds two 40- card decks from the six booster packs one deck for each player.
 * The remaining unused cards will create a shared sideboard.
 * Teams play single game matches.

Themes and mechanics
Battlebond has "twos" all throughout the art, flavor text, and world of Kylem.

The new mechanics in Battlebond elevate the promise of Two-Headed Giant to its full potential.
 * Assist lets another player pay the generic mana cost of your spell, this way helping you to cast it.
 * Partner with [name] is a variant of the Partner ability. It limits the ability to certain card pairs in the set. There are eleven of these pairs. They can be used as co-commanders (if legendary), and allow for the following: "When this creature enters the battlefield, target player may put [name] into their hand from their library, then shuffle." Note that not all the partners in Battlebond are legendary. The ones that aren't can't be commanders.
 * Support, last seen in Oath of the Gatewatch, is a returning mechanic.

The set also introduces a new term: "your team". Any card that refers to "your team" refers to you or a teammate. If you're not playing a team game, "your team" just means "you."

Card types
Battlebond introduces the Azra creature type, and the Will and Rowan planeswalker types.

The set has a significant Warrior-tribal theme. The Warrior archetype is centered in black and red with a good amount in white. Blue and green have some Warrior rewards at uncommon, as well as some common Warriors. While reprints still have their old artwork, all the new Warriors in Battlebond have glowing weapons as a visual cue.

Cycles
Battlebond has seven cycles, one of which is a double cycle:

Pairs
Battlebond has three mirrored pairs.

Common to Uncommon

 * Aim High</c>
 * Battle-Rattle Shaman</c>
 * Dinrova Horror</c>
 * Dragon Breath</c>
 * Fertilid</c>
 * Karametra's Favor</c>
 * Loyal Pegasus</c>
 * Peregrine Drake</c>
 * Pulse of Murasa</c>
 * Solemn Offering</c>
 * <c>Trumpet Blast</c>

Rare to Mythic

 * <c>Doubling Season</c>
 * <c>Land Tax</c>
 * <c>Mycosynth Lattice</c>
 * <c>True-Name Nemesis</c>

Rare to Uncommon

 * <c>Angel of Retribution</c>
 * <c>Feral Hydra</c>

Uncommon to Common

 * <c>Peace Strider</c>
 * <c>Pierce Strider</c>
 * <c>Riptide Crab</c>
 * <c>Royal Trooper</c>
 * <c>Stone Golem</c>
 * <c>Urborg Drake</c>

Notable cards

 * <c>Doubling Season</c> a much asked for reprint that doesn't fit well in a Standard environment with Planeswalkers.
 * <c>Land Tax</c> Another notable reprint
 * <c>True-Name Nemesis</c> Another reprint. Available for the first time in foil.
 * <c>Brightling</c> a continuation of the mega-mega cycle started with <c>Morphling</c> (Urza's Saga), <c>Torchling</c> (Planar Chaos), <c>Thornling</c> (Conflux), and <c>Aetherling</c> (Dragon's Maze).
 * <c>Will Kenrith</c> and <c>Rowan Kenrith</c> are the first Planeswalkers outside of the Commander series who may be used as commander.

New cards
• <c>Will Kenrith</c>

• <c>Rowan Kenrith</c>

• <c>Regna, the Redeemer</c>

• <c>Krav, the Unredeemed</c>

• <c>Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom</c>

• <c>Okaun, Eye of Chaos</c>

• <c>Virtus the Veiled</c>

• <c>Gorm the Great</c>

• <c>Khorvath Brightflame</c>

• <c>Sylvia Brightspear</c>

• <c>Pir, Imaginative Rascal</c>

• <c>Toothy, Imaginary Friend</c>

• <c>Blaring Recruiter</c>

• <c>Blaring Captain</c>

• <c>Chakram Retriever</c>

• <c>Chakram Slinger</c>

• <c>Soulblade Corrupter</c>

• <c>Soulblade Renewer</c>

• <c>Impetuous Protege</c>

• <c>Proud Mentor</c>

• <c>Ley Weaver</c>

• <c>Lore Weaver</c>

• <c>Arena Rector</c>

• <c>Aurora Champion</c>

• <c>Brightling</c>

• <c>Bring Down</c>

• <c>Dwarven Lightsmith</c>

• <c>Jubilant Mascot</c>

• <c>Play of the Game</c>

• <c>Regna's Sanction</c>

• <c>Skystreamer</c>

• <c>Together Forever</c>

• <c>Fumble</c>

• <c>Game Plan</c>

• <c>Huddle Up</c>

• <c>Nimbus Champion</c>

• <c>Out of Bounds</c>

• <c>Saltwater Stalwart</c>

• <c>Soaring Show-Off</c>

• <c>Spellseeker</c>

• <c>Spellweaver Duo</c>

• <c>Zndrsplt's Judgment</c>

• <c>Archfiend of Despair</c>

• <c>Bloodborn Scoundrels</c>

• <c>Fan Favorite</c>

• <c>Gang Up</c>

• <c>Inner Demon</c>

• <c>Mindblade Render</c>

• <c>Sickle Dancer</c>

• <c>Stunning Reversal</c>

• <c>Thrasher Brute</c>

• <c>Thrilling Encore</c>

• <c>Virtus's Maneuver</c>

• <c>Azra Bladeseeker</c>

• <c>Bonus Round</c>

• <c>Bull-Rush Bruiser</c>

• <c>Cheering Fanatic</c>

• <c>Khorvath's Fury</c>

• <c>Lava-Field Overlord</c>

• <c>Magma Hellion</c>

• <c>Najeela, the Blade-Blossom</c>

• <c>Stadium Vendors</c>

• <c>Stolen Strategy</c>

• <c>Bramble Sovereign</c>

• <c>Charging Binox</c>

• <c>Combo Attack</c>

• <c>The Crowd Goes Wild</c>

• <c>Decorated Champion</c>

• <c>Generous Patron</c>

• <c>Grothama, All-Devouring</c>

• <c>Jungle Wayfinder</c>

• <c>Pir's Whim</c>

• <c>Archon of Valor's Reach</c>

• <c>Azra Oddsmaker</c>

• <c>Last One Standing</c>

• <c>Rushblade Commander</c>

• <c>Vampire Charmseeker</c>

• <c>Sentinel Tower</c>

• <c>Victory Chimes</c>

• <c>Bountiful Promenade</c>

• <c>Luxury Suite</c>

• <c>Morphic Pool</c>

• <c>Sea of Clouds</c>

• <c>Spire Garden</c>