The full spoiler for Avacyn Restored is up, and it's loaded with new goodies to try out. As the hype dies down and some of the overpriced cards settle into place, more options will open up for budget players. However, there are some great options to explore even now. Soulbond is a particularly fun-looking new mechanic that has some powerful cards leading the way.

Pairing soulbond creatures with each other gives you twice the benefit, with each creature giving the other an extra ability. This can create some powerful combinations, like a pair of 4/4s with double strike or a 6/5 and an 8/8 with lifelink. Here's the deck I put together to take advantage of this mechanic:

"Bonding Souls"

• Creatures (30)
• 2 Wolfir Silverheart
• 4 Druid's Familiar
• 4 Nearheath Pilgrim
• 4 Nightshade Peddler
• 4 Silverblade Paladin
• 4 Trusted Forcemage
• 4 Ulvenwald Tracker
• 4 Elite Vanguard

• Spells (6)
• 4 Oblivion Ring
• 2 Mortarpod

• Lands (24)
• 10 Plains
• 8 Forest
• 2 Gavony Township
• 4 Sunpetal Grove

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Diregraf Escort
• 4 Righteous Blow
• 3 Ray of Revelation
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 2 Champion of Lambholt

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

Silverblade Paladin is arguably the best of the new soulbond cards. Double strike is extremely powerful, and granting it to another creature allows this guy to deal some extra damage as soon as it hits play. Silverblade Paladin works especially well when paired with many of the other soulbond creatures in the deck. Pairing it with Wolfir Silverheart in particular is a Timmy's dream come true.

Nightshade Peddler is another creatures that works very well with Silverblade Paladin. The combination of double strike and deathtouch makes these creatures almost unbeatable in combat, killing any creature they tangle with before the other creature has the chance to deal damage. The Peddler also works well with Mortarpod, letting you kill any creature on the board for only 2 mana. Best of all, once you sacrifice the Germ, you can do it again with any small creatures that sit in your hand due to lack of relevance.

Trusted Forcemage is essentially a 3/3 for 3, and the ability to give another creature +1/+1 as well pushes it into playable territory. A pair of 3-power creatures with lifelink is fairly good, and duo of 3/3s with double strike makes for a very fast clock.

Druid's Familiar is just a larger Trusted Forcemage, adding an extra mana in exchange for an extra power and toughness for each of the paired creatures. +2/+2 is a pretty significant boost, turning even a meager 2/1 into a dangerous 4/3.

Wolfir Silverheart is the biggest, baddest soulbound creature of all. Although 5 mana is at the very top of our curve, it's definitely not too much to ask for an 8/8—especially when that 8/8 gives another creature +4/+4 immediately, allowing it to have a major impact the turn you play it. This monster can turn even a lowly Germ token into a major threat.

Ulvenwald Tracker can repeatedly kill your opponent's smaller creatures. Since yours will be pumping each other up with soulbond, the fights should be fairly one-sided. A tiny Insectile Aberration can't hope to stand up to a Druid's Familiar, and even the great Primeval Titan falls to Wolfir Silverheart. In addition, Nightshade Peddler can pair with one of your smaller creatures, giving it the ability to fight any creature and take it down.

Elite Vanguard serves as a good turn-one threat, giving your soulbound creatures something good to pair with immediately. Nearheath Pilgrim will be more than happy to give this guy lifelink on turn two, potentially putting you far ahead by the time your opponent can do anything to stop you.

The Spells

Mortarpod not only works wonders with Nightshade Peddler, it can get rid of a creature that's no longer relevant, freeing your soulbond creature to repair with a more attractive target. There are a lot of important creatures in Standard that have only 1 toughness, so you shouldn't be lacking targets.

Oblivion Ring. What can I say about this that hasn't already been said several times over? It's a wonderful removal spell, and it will probably be in all of my decks until it rotates out of Standard. It's just that good.

The Sideboard

Diregraf Escort is an obvious Sideboard card against Zombies. It lets one of your creatures swing in unblocked, and it sits back to block anything that comes at you. Now that's teamwork.

Ray of Revelation is like Naturalize on steroids against some decks, specifically those relying on Honor of the Pure and Intangible Virtue. Taking out two of the opponent’s precious anthems is absolutely devastating, and it can be nearly impossible to recover from.

Celestial Purge is a classic sideboard card against black and red decks, permanently dealing with any threat for only 2 mana. If Oblivion Ring is great, you can imagine how amazing this is against decks playing these colors.

Righteous Blow is an excellent tool for fighting Insectile Aberrations. It neatly cuts one out of the air for only a single mana, leaving you plenty of room to cast other spells. It can also serve as fast removal to keep decks such as RDW from killing you too quickly.

Champion of Lambholt is a great tool for fighting tokens. Play a single creature after this hits play, and suddenly those Lingering Souls tokens look rather unimpressive. With another creature or two, even most midsized blockers won't be able to stop your onslaught.

Playtesting

R/G Aggro – Game 1

I won the roll and kept a hand of two Plains, a Forest, Sunpetal Grove, Oblivion Ring, Druid's Familiar, and Silverblade Paladin. I opened with Sunpetal Grove, and my opponent started off with Rootbound Crag.

I drew Trusted Forcemage and swung for 1. I played a land, cast Silverblade Paladin, and passed the turn without pairing it. My opponent played a Forest, cast Huntmaster of the Fells, and passed the turn.

I drew Mortarpod, cast Druid's Familiar, and paired it with Silverblade Paladin. I attacked with the Paladin, and my opponent blocked with his Wolf token. I passed the turn. My opponent played a land and cast Thrun, the Last Troll. He ended his turn.

I drew a Plains, played it, and cast Mortarpod. I paired the Germ with Nightshade Peddler, then sacrificed it to kill the Huntmaster. I cast Oblivion Ring, exiling Birds of Paradise, and I attacked with everything. Thrun was forced to chump-block one of the 4/4s, and my opponent dropped to 12. I passed the turn, and he drew his card and conceded.

Sideboarding:

−2 Elite Vanguard

+2 Naturalize

R/G Aggro – Game 2

I took a mulligan and kept a hand of two Plains, a Forest, Naturalize, Ulvenwald Tracker, and Wolfir Silverheart. My opponent started off with Copperline Gorge and Llanowar Elves. I drew a Forest, played it, and cast Ulvenwald Tracker. I passed the turn.

My opponent played a Kessig Wolf Run and cast Sword of War and Peace before ending his turn. I drew Trusted Forcemage, played my Plains, and cast Naturalize on the Sword. I swung in for 1 with the Tracker and passed the turn.

My opponent played Copperline Gorge, cast Acidic Slime, and passed the turn. I drew Druid's Familiar and played my Forest. I attacked with both creatures, and Acidic Slime traded with my Ulvenwald Tracker. My opponent took 3 from Trusted Forcemage, and I cast Druid's Familiar, pairing it with the Forcemage and making them both 5/5s. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a Forest and passed the turn. I drew Mortarpod, played it, and sacrificed the token to kill a Llanowar Elves. I then attacked with my 5/5s. The second Llanowar Elves blocked one, and my opponent dropped to 12. I passed the turn.

My opponent played a Rootbound Crag and cast Huntmaster of the Fells, gaining 2 life and making a Wolf token before passing the turn. I drew Sunpetal Grove, played my Gavony Township, and attacked with my creatures. My opponent blocked both with his 2/2s, and I cast Wolfir Silverheart and passed the turn.

My opponent cast Strangleroot Geist and passed the turn. I drew Silverblade Paladin and played it, pairing it with Wolfir Silverheart. I attacked with my three creatures, and my opponent blocked the 8/8 double strike. The Geist came back with a +1/+1 counter, but he took 10 damage. I passed the turn.

My opponent tapped out for Green Sun's Zenith, checked if he had any way to survive, and conceded.

Some of the cards in this deck seem bad at first glance, but they can be surprisingly powerful in actual gameplay. Even I didn't expect R/G Aggro, one of the top decks currently in Standard, to roll over so easily. The ability to make your creatures massive with soulbond gives this deck a big advantage, and it can make it almost impossible for your opponent to come out ahead in combat. If you're looking for a powerful creature deck that people won't see coming, give this one a shot.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.