An Homage to Ravnica Block's Development
Part 1: What Ravnica Did
The development team behind Ravnica was led by Brian Schneider (Aaron Forsythe was lead developer at the time) and the philosophy could be boiled down to creating a lot of choices for players, or as the team phrased it "creating a sea of tier 2 cards". While many people (myself included) appreciated this philosophy at the time, I think it is even more relevant to see the genius of it today, when we are no longer in such a situation. Ravnica Block unfortunately never got a chance at competitive block play, as the formats for that year were Extended, Standard, and Limited. Nevertheless Ravnica had a huge influence on standard (as most sets following an underpowered block* would), especially by the time Guildpact was on the scene. Yet that influence didn't obsolete Kamigawa completely.
Each guild was given potential for competitive success, though naturally some had more success than others. Boros and Selesnya were major players for most of the time they were legal in type II, though Gruul would eventually supplant Boros. Golgari and its dredge theme would become a major archtype in Extended, while Dimir cards if not its mill theme rose to power with the release of Time Spiral. Izzet created a potent deck combined with the Urzatron and Orzhov was playable with or without any help, though Ghost Dad was competitive for a time. Rakdos decks caught on when combined with Time Spiral and the Simic guild also put the Urzatron to good use. The Azorius guild had some implications for control, but Time Spiral's blue/black recipe would oust it before it had much of a chance.
Part 2: What Ravnica Avoided
Skullclamp and Arcbound Ravager. Meloku, the Clouded Mirror and Uzemawa's Jitte. Tarmogoyf. Cryptic Command. Bitterblossom. What do these cards have in common? They are significantly better than they should be, though in Magic terms that means they may only be a mana cheaper than they should be. Ravnica for the most part avoided having a card that was a "must play" for competitive magic. Loxodon Heirarch was very good; Lightning Helix was an incredible utility card. Watchwolf reset the bar on what an aggro creature could do for 2 mana. Faith's Fetters was an omni-answer that provided free life - at common! Dark Confidant was developed into one of the most amazing black creatures ever printed, but it had limitations and could not be thrown into every deck. Giant Solifuge was a beating, but had a negative popularity score from the day it was released! Remand was a frustrating counterspell, but was ultimately a tempo card. Char was a defining burn spell, providing 4 damage for 3 mana, but its drawback and the environment (lifegain everywhere) balanced it. There were an incredible amount of good cards, but they didn't provide so much advantage that you needed to play them to have a competitive deck.
In limited, block, and type II you can scan the block's worth of cards and few things stand out as being overpowered. Glare of Subdual, admittedly, was a complete bomb in limited. Dredge has proven incredible with some older (and newer) blocks supplementing it. However it is nothing like the situation we have today, which is essentially the situation Magic had been in for a long time before Ravnica - with overpowered cards being let through development to 'push' a theme or color (or by accident). Unlike the recent tribal block, where certain tribes were 'pushed' intentionally or perhaps simply underestimated by development, each guild had some success.
Compare this to Lorwyn and its tribes. Two years of Faeries along with some kithkin, merfolk, and treefolk successes. Faeries became a major player in Extended as well. Shadowmoor fared little better, bringing little with it to fight the major tribes, despite its large number of hybrid cards. It did have some standouts like Demigod of Revenge, but many of its cards were just incorporated into Lorwyn's already strong tribes. Elves were popular and incorporated into Rock variants for a time, but the namesake Elf-ball in Extended owes little to Lorwyn. I don't mean for this to turn into a rant against Lorwyn; I am simply pointing out the differences between the two philosophies. Lorwyn development wanted to make powerful, tier 1, exciting cards and lots of them. Yet even when you try to develop many tier 1 cards, the best rise to the top. A card like Bitterblossom, providing continual virtual card advantage turn after turn for a pittance of life is clearly undercosted at . It's closest existing analogs, Phyrexian Arena or Breeding Pit cost more or have additional restrictions. Even the similarly themed enchantment Goblin Assault is a mana more, despite making worse creatures (they lack evasion) and the enchantment itself not being tribal. The fact that Bitterblossom spits out creatures with two relevant creature types (one the dominant tribe of the block) makes this error stand out even more. It is palpable how great the difference is between Lorwyn and Ravnica block are when giants were clearly developed for casual players, with only one nod at competitve potential (Countryside Crusher).
Time Spiral block interacted with Ravnica and it did not immediately create any "must play" cards. It wasn't until Future Sight's Tarmogoyf that Magic returned to the familiar scene of a single overpowered card dominating mutliple formats and ultimately becoming a card you played if you were playing that color (unless you couldn't afford any). While this creature's power level was a mistake, it was designed at a higher mana cost than it was developed at (presumably because its power was not apparent at the time). This is a story repeated many times through the annals of Magic development and the fact that Ravnica block doesn't have any such story is a testament to its development teams.
Part 3: The Future of Magic?
Shards of Alara block is the latest and it is off to a good start. It seems to be trying to slow down the environment with tap lands and multiple colors vying for deck space. While it has pricey mythic rares, they are not integral to multiple deck's success. The first card that seems truly undercosted and "must-play" is a utility card (Path to Exile), an answer - not a threat. For now, it hasn't had the chance to add much to a very glutted Type II environment and it is hard to gauge how its legacy will hold up until we see the next block and M10. However I have far greater hopes of investing in Magic again in the future than I've had for the last few years.
While there are numerous factors that influence a Magic block's design and development, as well as its legacy, I wrote this after picking up some decks for the first time in a couple years and trying to identify what made Magic so much fun for me. Ravnica was hardly perfect and I'm sure I lost some hair trying to acquire sets of shocklands (though deckbuilding was certainly feasible with the 'karoos' and signets), but it was the most Magic I've bought in a long career of slinging spells and cracking boosters. Here's hoping that this year's block leads me (and others like me) back to buying and playing with new sets.
*Referring the general power level of the cards.
As for Faeries, they are basically the new Goblins.