Soul Warden

Soul Warden first appeared in the 1997 Exodus expansion, designed as an efficient white creature that allowed players to gain life whenever any creature entered the battlefield. The Ninth Edition printing, released in 2005, served as one of the game's core set iterations, intended to provide newer players with accessible mechanics while maintaining the fundamental gameplay loops that defined the early years of Magic: The Gathering.

The card features artwork by Margaret Organ-Kean, who illustrated the original version. Her design emphasizes the theme of spiritual guardianship through a ethereal, cloaked figure. In the context of the 2005 core set, the art remained a nostalgic constant for longtime players, while the card itself proved to be a resilient staple in white-based control and deck-thinning strategies throughout the mid-2000s competitive environment.