Just like last week, we’re heading back to Kamigawa to share some tips for using one of Magic‘s lesser-known mechanics.
What is Soulshift?
Soulshift is a mechanic exclusive to the Spirit tribe. It makes sense coming from Kamigawa block, where Spirits were a main part of the story and showed up in abundance.
Soulshift is an ability on Spirit creatures that triggers whenever a creature with the ability dies. When it does, you may put another Spirit with a mana value of N or less from your graveyard onto the battlefield, where N is the Spirit’s soulshift number. If a creature has multiple instances of soulshift, you get to do this for each individual instance.
You can only grab a single Spirit for each soulshift trigger; you can’t grab multiple Spirits, even if their total mana value equals the soulshift number. You also target a creature in your graveyard when the soulshift trigger goes on the stack, but you choose whether or not to return it to the battlefield when the ability resolves.
Soulshift requires a very Spirit-heavy deck, which may explain why it hasn’t made another appearance since Kamigawa. But in the right environment, soulshift can be a powerful recursive strategy, letting you stay ahead on the board even in the face of removal and mass destruction.
Looking to add some creatures with soulshift to your decks? Browse our inventory and find the ones you need!