Fastbond is one of those cards players keep asking about. Here is, in plain words, what its official text says, the rulings published by Wizards of the Coast, and the combos players actually run.
Official card text
You may play any number of lands on each of your turns. Whenever you play a land, if it wasn't the first land you played this turn, this enchantment deals 1 damage to you.
Complete guide
Fastbond is one of the most powerful mana-acceleration enchantments ever printed in Magic: The Gathering. It fundamentally alters the game's core pacing by allowing you to bypass the standard restriction of playing only one land per turn. This enables explosive starts that can overwhelm opponents before they even play their first spell.
Breaking the Land Limit
Usually, you are limited to playing one land during your turn. Fastbond grants you a special permission to play any number of lands. This means as long as it is your turn, the stack is empty, and you have priority during a main phase, you can place a land from your hand onto the battlefield. However, this power comes at a price: for every land you play after the first one each turn, Fastbond deals 1 damage to you.
Playing vs. Putting into Play
It is crucial to distinguish between 'playing' a land and 'putting' a land onto the battlefield. Fastbond only cares about the 'play a land' action. If a spell or ability tells you to 'put a land onto the battlefield,' it does not count as your land play for the turn, and Fastbond will not deal damage to you. Fastbond's damage ability is a triggered ability that uses the stack, meaning you can respond to it, but you cannot avoid the damage if you performed the action of playing the land.
Strategic Timing
You should play Fastbond when your hand is full of lands or when you have ways to return lands to your hand to reuse them. Because the damage is dealt every time you play an extra land, ensure your life total can handle the acceleration. It is often used to reach high-cost spells early or to trigger 'Landfall' abilities multiple times in a single turn.
Interaction examples
Urza's SagaWith Fastbond on the battlefield, you play your first land for the turn (perhaps a Forest). You then play Urza's Saga as your second land. Because this is your second land play, Fastbond's ability triggers and deals 1 damage to you. Urza's Saga enters with its first lore counter immediately. If you have more lands in hand, you can continue playing them, taking 1 damage for each one after the first.
Hardened ScalesYou cast Fastbond on turn one. On turn two, you play your first land (no damage). You then play a second land, taking 1 damage from Fastbond. Use the mana from those lands to cast Hardened Scales. If you play a third land to cast another spell, Fastbond deals another 1 damage to you. While Hardened Scales doesn't interact directly with the damage, Fastbond provides the mana needed to set up your board presence rapidly.
Guide written with AI from the official text and rulings. Official English text prevails.
How it works : Fastbond
Original English text — Wizards of the Coast / Scryfall
- #1· Wizards of the Coast
You take damage when you play a land using the "play a land" action. Such an action can be your regular "play a land", one enabled by Fastbond, or ones enabled through other effects.
No other card is named in this ruling.
- #2· Wizards of the Coast
You do not take damage when you "put a land onto the battlefield" through the effect of a spell or ability.
No other card is named in this ruling.
Popular combos
Real combos played by the community, sorted by popularity.
Trench Behemoth + Fastbond
- 1Activate Trench Behemoth by returning a land in the templated list from the battlefield to your hand, untapping Trench Behemoth.
- 2Play the land, triggering it and Fastbond.
- 3Resolve the land's ETB trigger, causing you to gain at least 1 life.
- 4Resolve the Fastbond trigger, dealing 1 damage to you.
- 5Repeat.
Legal formats
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Meta decks with Fastbond
No archived Top 8 deck with this card yet.