Guilds of Ravnica Primer

A plane ravaged by warring factions for centuries brought together under an agreement, ten guilds built from those factions now committed by the Guildpact to live peacefully side by side in order to survive. The Azorius Senate, the governmental body of Ravnica judicial system keeping everyone in check. The Boros Legion, the proclaimed peacekeepers of Ravnica set with a task to protect the Guildpact. The House Dimir, an undercity organisation that many believe to have disbanded, running the black market and lurking in the shadows. The Cult of Rakdos, a fun-loving if a bit mad group that kill for the thrill and don’t tend to ask questions. The Golgari Swarm, a guild that lives through Ravnica and I mean “lives”, they reside in the soil and make the most of Ravnicans that have come to an end, charitably put, recycling. The Gruul Clans, once the rulers of Ravnica’s wildlands now devolved to a group of brutes. The Izzet League, mad scientist would be putting it nicely, as knowledgeable as they are with machinery their hubris can sometimes get the best of them. The Orzhov Syndicate, dedicated to controlling what goes through Ravnica but House Dimir isn’t the only one that prefers being behind the curtain. The Selesnya Conclave, peace, protection and pride are crucial to them and their numbers are many if you’re paying attention. The Simic Combine, creatures are versatile and adaptable and the Simic strive to find the extent of the possibilities.

The plane of Ravnica has been through many trials and tribulations but has always pulled itself from the brink of destruction, helped in part to the Dragon’s Maze. This maze was derived by Niv-Mizzet, champions from each guild ran the maze being offered power other the other guilds but had to traverse all ten gates (one from each guild) to achieve this, possibly in an attempt to promote alliances between guilds.

Now we revisit Ravnica and not all is well. It’s not clear what ails the vibrant city plane but it is apparent that Nicol Bolas is involved. Guilds struggle to keep to their own kind, finding themselves pulled between the allure of Bolas and their duty to their guild.

Guild colour pairs

Ravnica is home to ten guilds, each a two colour pairing.

White+Blue - The Azorius Senate

White+Red - The Boros Legion

Blue+Black - The House Dimir

Blue+Red - The Cult of Rakdos

Black+Green - The Golgari Swarm

Red+Green - The Gruul Clans

Blue+Red - The Izzet League


White+Black - The Orzhov Syndicate


White+Green - The Selesnya Conclave


Blue+Green - The Simic Combine

Only five of the ten guilds will appear in Guilds of Ravnica, namely Selesnya, Dimir, Izzet, Boros and Golgari. Guilds have always come with mechanics, the same is true this time around except where there was a complete overhaul between original Ravnica and Return to Ravnica with the mechanics, in Guilds of Ravnica there are some returning and some new.

 
Guild Mechanics

Selesnya: Convoke - Convoke allows you to tap any untapped creatures you already have in play to help cast spells or creatures. Convoke is part of the mana cost so you can’t pay for half of the spell first and then tap creatures afterwards, it all happens at the same time. (Tapping creatures to help cast spells)




Dimir: Surveil X - If Surveil appears on a card it will always be accompanied by a number, Surveil 1 for example allows you to look at the top card of your library and you may choose to keep it on top of your library or put it in the graveyard. If you Surveil for anything more than 1 you may put any number of the Surveilled cards back on to of your library in any order.




Izzet: Jump-Start - Jump-Start is kind of like Flashback, you can play a card with Jump-Start from your graveyard. Where Flashback cards sometimes had different costs to cast and Flashback a card with Jump-Start will always be cast with its normal mana cost. In addition to paying the cards mana cost for a card with Jump-Start you will also have to discard a card, almost like trading in a worse card at the time for a spell in your graveyard.




Boros: Mentor - Mentor is a combat centred mechanic, meaning that it only triggers when the creature it’s on attacks. When a creature with Mentor attacks it checks to see if there are any other attacking creatures with less power, you can then put a +1/+1 counter on an attacking creature with less power than the creature with Mentor.




Golgari: Undergrowth - Undergrowth effects will cover a lot of different things but the main constant is that a card with Undergrowth will count how many creatures you have in your graveyard and adapt the effect to that many.




Aside from the mix of new and old mechanics coming back there is the welcoming back of some old friends, the Shock Lands.



The reason these lands have gained the name Shock Lands is because they are dual lands that give you the option of having them come into play tapped or untapped, to have them come into play untapped however you have to pay 2 life, or essentially Shock yourself.

Buy-a-Box promo - There are a lot of promos coming with the release of Guilds of Ravnica as there are with any set, this time around the Buy-a-Box promo is Impervious Greatwurm. This card will only be available if you buy a booster box and isn’t actually going to see printing in the set, so if you’re after a playset I guess you’re buying four booster boxes.



Lastly today, I’m going to talk about the Guilds of Ravnica prerelease. These prereleases work slightly different to a normal prerelease, usually you get a box with 6 of the set boosters in it and a promo card from that set. This time, because you get to choose which guild you would like to play, you will receive 5 set boosters, a promo and a guild specific booster. This guild booster will contain cards that are aligned with your chosen guild therefore giving you more opportunities to play with that guild.

Prereleases are a good laugh and a great way to get into Magic, so if you’re looking for something for you and your friends to do this weekend why not head down to your local game store for the Guilds of Ravnica prerelease. Ravnica is a fan favourite of the planes and always comes with some powerful and interesting cards so there’s a lot to get your teeth into as your tear into some brand new packs. If you can’t wait however there are many spoiler sites that have all of the cards from Guilds of Ravnica, why not check them out. In the meantime though, check us out on Twitter at @gcgamingtank and keep checking back to Game Changers for more gaming news and updates and if you are attending any prereleases remember, have fun.

Happy gaming guys!