Got back into MTG around the time the newest Ravnica sets were released and took a major interest in the Guilds. The decks feel better to me with a story behind it instead of a deck that was put together. Each Guild has something it specializes in and creatures it likes. Names like Orzhov Syndicate, Azorius Senate, and Golgari Swarm really stand out. They even have a primary function in Ravnica which keeps life going etc. What's not to like?
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They can take our Mall, but they can never take our FREEDOM!
Azorious seems less stupid about Lawful Neutral now, which makes me think they're maybe potentially going to actually start being beneficial to the city. Which is good, because after Ravnica1 established all the guilds as evil and killed them and Ravnica2 brought them back with little chance of going away it'd be a hope spot if nothing changed.
The current Golgari/Simic don't seem particularly evil either.
And that's my tangentally related Ravnica thoughts.
I love Boros out of all the guilds. It might be the fact that their current Guild Master isn't a total dickwad and actually cares for the troops, at least in my opinion, or that they're the cops of the world. But I really love Orzhov just for the fact that they're the loan sharks of Ravnica.
I love Boros out of all the guilds. It might be the fact that their current Guild Master isn't a total dickwad and actually cares for the troops, at least in my opinion, or that they're the cops of the world. But I really love Orzhov just for the fact that they're the loan sharks of Ravnica.
"Decent"? You call someone so extremistic, violent and hatemongering that even other angels left the Boros for the Gateless "decent"?
The current Golgari/Simic don't seem particularly evil either.
The original Golgari weren't that bad either. The thing that stood out were their leaders but the guild as a whole was always kinda in the background feeding the poor.
As for the Simic, yes. They did an almost 180° turn. Almost, because some nasty things persist within the guild it seems.
I agree with you on Orzhov. They've got a great Ghosts, Church, & Mafia mix going for them. Their leaders are a council of evil spirits. Another things is their colors. White and Black give a good & evil vibe but with emphasis on the evil. Using angels and vampires helps with that.
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They can take our Mall, but they can never take our FREEDOM!
I agree with you on Orzhov. They've got a great Ghosts, Church, & Mafia mix going for them. Their leaders are a council of evil spirits. Another things is their colors. White and Black give a good & evil vibe but with emphasis on the evil. Using angels and vampires helps with that.
White is not good and Black not evil. The Orzhov simply happen to represent the absolute worst of both colours.
Another favorite of mine (and the one I'm currently playing) is the Golgari Swarm. One word...deathtouch. Their life & death aspect is fun to read about as well.
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They can take our Mall, but they can never take our FREEDOM!
I agree with you on Orzhov. They've got a great Ghosts, Church, & Mafia mix going for them. Their leaders are a council of evil spirits. Another things is their colors. White and Black give a good & evil vibe but with emphasis on the evil. Using angels and vampires helps with that.
White is not good and Black not evil. The Orzhov simply happen to represent the absolute worst of both colours.
It gets delightfully twisted when you consider how religion, or spirituality, can carry some psychological benefits.
I mostly play Boros (because I love the way soldiers work together to become more than the sum of their parts) but I've always had a soft spot for the Izzet. Mad scientists doing science because of science, what's not to love? Pity I can't play blue to save my life.
C'mon we all know that Azorious and Dimir are the only true guilds on Ravnica. Everybody else is just inferior and needs to be controlled. Either by laws or by more sinister means
C'mon we all know that Azorious and Dimir are the only true guilds on Ravnica. Everybody else is just inferior and needs to be controlled. Either by laws or by more sinister means
Five bucks says that's what Azor and Szadek thought when they came up with the Guild Pact.
I liked Original!Rav because it had so many different colors/characters on both sides of the good/evil dichotomy, it wasn't all cut and dried. Sure, Svogthir was evil, but he was an evil that had helped foster in the good, and wasn't totally crazy. On the other hand, Agustin was lawful stupid and ran with it straight into death's arms. It was quite fun to read.
I mostly play Boros (because I love the way soldiers work together to become more than the sum of their parts) but I've always had a soft spot for the Izzet. Mad scientists doing science because of science, what's not to love? Pity I can't play blue to save my life.
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They can take our Mall, but they can never take our FREEDOM!
C'mon we all know that Azorious and Dimir are the only true guilds on Ravnica. Everybody else is just inferior and needs to be controlled. Either by laws or by more sinister means
Five bucks says that's what Azor and Szadek thought when they came up with the Guild Pact.
I liked Original!Rav because it had so many different colors/characters on both sides of the good/evil dichotomy, it wasn't all cut and dried. Sure, Svogthir was evil, but he was an evil that had helped foster in the good, and wasn't totally crazy. On the other hand, Agustin was lawful stupid and ran with it straight into death's arms. It was quite fun to read.
Meanwhile, Agrus was awesome, Pivlic was awesome, and Her Lady Teysa Karlov was an unholy cross between Princess Azula and Phoenix Wright.
OT: Can you tell Orzhov is my guild? While the Ghost Council may be a bunch of money hungry egotists, they do have a speaker more than willing to help the City of Guilds... for a price, of course.
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Level 1 Judge
"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
I am personally part of the swarm. Something about them lurking around, underneath ravnica just screams awesome to me. Also the golgari longlegs flavour text is just amazing! "Despite its enormous you can fold itself into a Tonna with startling quickness back into the undercity.":golgari:
Honestly I like all of the guilds except Rakdos, Gruul and Dimir.
Gruul because I've never been a fan of "big dumb."
Rakdos because I vehemently hate the "spikes and chains" motif so common among fantasy properties.
Dimir because I don't really find conspiracy/secret society/clandestine organizations all that interesting.
I will note though that if the Gruul still served their original purpose of preserving Ravnica's wild spaces I'd probably like them.
I am personally part of the swarm. Something about them lurking around, underneath ravnica just screams awesome to me. Also the golgari longlegs flavour text is just amazing! "Despite its enormous you can fold itself into a Tonna with startling quickness back into the undercity.":golgari:
I feel it's always been important to note that there isn't just the Rakdos or the Golgari or the Gruul. There are different factions, if you will, within the guilds with differing goals and ideals.
Sure, some of the Rakdos are sadistic killers and degenerates, but then there's also the kids that just wanted to have fun and get free cigarettes like the kids in that one TMNT movie. Some of the Gruul are defectors of other guilds that have chosen to eschew society and work to preserve what little of the natural Ravnica remains, and some only understand the words "Crush them!" and "We eat!"
The guild leaders control a lot of the image that gets portrayed, but as the first Ravnica block showed us, not even that is reliable. We didn't get cards for all of the characters that were the Golgari guild leader in the original block until the return block gave us Jarad, and that's not even counting the Kraul, which are kinda sorta allied with the Golgari, that didn't get representation until Mazirek in Commander 2015.
Vintage
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Vintage
The current Golgari/Simic don't seem particularly evil either.
And that's my tangentally related Ravnica thoughts.
"Decent"? You call someone so extremistic, violent and hatemongering that even other angels left the Boros for the Gateless "decent"?
The original Golgari weren't that bad either. The thing that stood out were their leaders but the guild as a whole was always kinda in the background feeding the poor.
As for the Simic, yes. They did an almost 180° turn. Almost, because some nasty things persist within the guild it seems.
I agree with you on Orzhov. They've got a great Ghosts, Church, & Mafia mix going for them. Their leaders are a council of evil spirits. Another things is their colors. White and Black give a good & evil vibe but with emphasis on the evil. Using angels and vampires helps with that.
Vintage
White is not good and Black not evil. The Orzhov simply happen to represent the absolute worst of both colours.
Vintage
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/1005-wtb-and-maybe-trade-for-my-wants-i-need-dredgevine
It gets delightfully twisted when you consider how religion, or spirituality, can carry some psychological benefits.
I've heard studies done during a religious service or prayers in which there is a measurable result indicating a positive mental reaction.
Vintage
Five bucks says that's what Azor and Szadek thought when they came up with the Guild Pact.
I liked Original!Rav because it had so many different colors/characters on both sides of the good/evil dichotomy, it wasn't all cut and dried. Sure, Svogthir was evil, but he was an evil that had helped foster in the good, and wasn't totally crazy. On the other hand, Agustin was lawful stupid and ran with it straight into death's arms. It was quite fun to read.
http://i.imgur.com/9cTEpLZ.jpg
Vintage
Meanwhile, Agrus was awesome, Pivlic was awesome, and Her Lady Teysa Karlov was an unholy cross between Princess Azula and Phoenix Wright.
OT: Can you tell Orzhov is my guild? While the Ghost Council may be a bunch of money hungry egotists, they do have a speaker more than willing to help the City of Guilds... for a price, of course.
"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
Gruul because I've never been a fan of "big dumb."
Rakdos because I vehemently hate the "spikes and chains" motif so common among fantasy properties.
Dimir because I don't really find conspiracy/secret society/clandestine organizations all that interesting.
I will note though that if the Gruul still served their original purpose of preserving Ravnica's wild spaces I'd probably like them.
"Those who regard the Gruul as savage simpletons underestimate the subtle power of their shamans."
Hails, fellow shepherd of the cycle!
Sure, some of the Rakdos are sadistic killers and degenerates, but then there's also the kids that just wanted to have fun and get free cigarettes like the kids in that one TMNT movie. Some of the Gruul are defectors of other guilds that have chosen to eschew society and work to preserve what little of the natural Ravnica remains, and some only understand the words "Crush them!" and "We eat!"
The guild leaders control a lot of the image that gets portrayed, but as the first Ravnica block showed us, not even that is reliable. We didn't get cards for all of the characters that were the Golgari guild leader in the original block until the return block gave us Jarad, and that's not even counting the Kraul, which are kinda sorta allied with the Golgari, that didn't get representation until Mazirek in Commander 2015.
Commander Decks
WDarien, King of KjeldorW - WYomiji, Who Bars the WayW - UIxidor, Reality SculptorU
BPhage the UntouchableB - BShirei,
Shadowborn Ap-Shizo's CaretakerB - RZirilan of the ClawR(W/U)Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper(W/U) - (2/G)Phelddagrif Politics(W/U) - (U/B)Mishra, Artificer Prodigy(U/R) - Karona, God of Voltron
It's okay if you forgot Kraul Warrior. It's not a particularly memorable card.
That doesn't make him any less sad though.