Elgaud Shieldmate
Creature — Human Soldier
Soulbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
As long as this creature is paired with another creature, both creatures have hexproof. (They can't be the targets of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Avacyn Restored
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #20740
Elgaud Shieldmate enters the battlefield and immediately grants hexproof to a creature you control until your next turn — relevant protection, paid for by soulbond locking it to that creature permanently after. Four mana for a 2/3 that shields your best threat on the way in is passable value, but the rate is just low enough that it rarely makes the cut outside dedicated soulbond builds.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Elgaud Shieldmate is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but its home is Commander and Pauper almost exclusively. In Commander, it occupies a narrow role in soulbond-themed decks or as a budget hexproof enabler for voltron commanders who need to protect an aura stack from a targeted removal spell. In Pauper it is theoretically usable, but four mana for this body and effect doesn't compete in a format with efficient answers everywhere. Legacy, Modern, and Vintage have no reason to register Elgaud Shieldmate — the effect is too slow and the stats too unimpressive for any of those environments.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Elgaud Shieldmate is deep bulk — you'll find it in a common box or a bulk lot long before you find it on a singles list. That price isn't going anywhere; demand is too narrow to push it off the floor.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.