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Sanguine Bond

Enchantment

Whenever you gain life, target opponent loses that much life.

CMC
5
Mana cost
{3}{B}{B}
Color identity
B
Rarity
rare
Set
Wilds of Eldraine: Enchanting Tales
Price
$6.28
EDHREC rank
#492
Buy on TCGplayer
Sanguine Bond card art
Sanguine Bond turns every life you gain into a drain trigger — at five mana it sits on the expensive side for an enchantment that does nothing the turn it lands, but the ceiling is a table-ending loop the moment Exquisite Blood hits the board. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose does the same damage-on-gain effect stapled to a creature, which is why any deck running one usually runs both.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

75.5% of decks · synergy 0.64

Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose is literally a cheaper, creature-based copy of Sanguine Bond's effect, so running both means any life gain source can close the game — tap one of Vito's activated abilities and the loop assembles itself.

02
Astarion, the Decadent

Astarion, the Decadent

82.5% of decks · synergy 0.63

Astarion, the Decadent generates life in chunks through its saga-style feed mechanic, and Sanguine Bond converts each of those chunks directly into opponent life loss, accelerating a kill that Astarion decks were already threatening.

03
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic

67.5% of decks · synergy 0.60

Oloro, Ageless Ascetic drips life every upkeep from the command zone, and Sanguine Bond ensures that passive income translates into passive drain — opponents lose life for doing nothing while you sit behind a pillow fort.

04
Frodo, Adventurous HobbitSam, Loyal Attendant

Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit // Sam, Loyal Attendant

71.8% of decks · synergy 0.59

Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit // Sam, Loyal Attendant generates incremental life gain through combat and support triggers, and Sanguine Bond turns that slow accumulation into a clock that punishes opponents for letting the hobbit sneak through uncontested.

05
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

65.6% of decks · synergy 0.54

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse already drains opponents for drawing cards, and pairing her with Sanguine Bond adds a second drain vector on every life gain trigger — two independent punishment engines running simultaneously is often more than a table can answer.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Sanguine Bond actually lives — three opponents means every trigger hits three targets simultaneously, and the Exquisite Blood loop ends the game on the spot rather than grinding out one player. In competitive 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, five mana for a symmetry-less enchantment that requires a life gain deck to function is simply too slow; dedicated life gain strategies in those formats already have more efficient payoffs. Legacy and Vintage are legal but irrelevant — nothing in those formats is interested in a five-mana do-nothing enchantment. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where Sanguine Bond sees occasional play, primarily because planeswalkers with life gain abilities can fuel it repeatedly.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If five mana is too steep, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose at two or three mana replicates the drain-on-gain effect on a creature body — you lose the enchantment resilience but gain the option to activate him as a finisher independently. Epicure of Blood is a more obscure option at the same five-mana slot with a weaker rate (one damage instead of life loss equal to life gained), but it costs pennies and covers the same role if Sanguine Bond is out of budget or already drawing too much removal.

Price Context

Current price

$6.28 mid tier

At $6.28, Sanguine Bond sits comfortably in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a real inclusion decision, cheap enough that it belongs in any life gain deck that can use it. It has been reprinted multiple times, which keeps the price grounded and means it's unlikely to spike sharply absent a new Commander precon pushing drain strategies.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.