Now that we know the five mechanics of the guilds in Ravnica Allegiance, I think it's a good time to go back and evaluate the mechanics the guilds have received over the three visits to the plane we've had. (Selesnya only got two unique mechanics but it's still up for evaluation).
So my question to you is: How would you rank the individual mechanics each guild got overall? I suggest we base the outcome on the criteria of:
- Playability
- Impact - Did it create any new deck types or influence future cards/mechanics?
- Cost vs. effect
- Appearance in competitive decks in any legal format
- Support
Azorius: Detain wins. Forecast and Addendum are entirely dependent on the specific cards printed with the effect rather than the particulars of the effect itself; I think I'd put Forecast above Addendum simply because the existing Addendum cards almost never have a real choice between main phase or instant speed cast -- for any given Addendum card, one or the other "mode" is almost always the correct route.
Dimir: Surveil and Transmute are both strong. Transmute has some deckbuilding restrictions to it, but if you've got important cards to your gameplan at cmcs equal to transmute cards, you've got extra tutors. Bonus points if the transmute cards that work for you are also playable in your deck, like Dimir House Guard in aristocrats, Drift of Phantasms in a defenders-matter deck like Arcades, or Muddle the Mixture in a control deck. Cipher is weaker, and is hindered by the actual cards with the effect getting pumped-up mana costs to compensate for how annoying its potential is.
Rakos: Spectacle wins by a landslide. Unleash isn't too bad, but unfortunately only two of the unleash creatures have haste. Hellbent is just bad.
Gruul: Riot gives you excellent choices as a player, and unlike Addendum one or the other "mode" isn't always the correct answer. Bloodrush can be a strong combat trick, although some of the actual cards are too expensive to be good. Bloodthirst found the design space to get reprinted in non-Ravnica sets. I think these three are too close to call.
Selesnya: Convoke by a landslide. Few decks care enough to want populate and make tokens worth populating.
Orzhov: Extort for multiplayer, Afterlife for aristocrats. The two are approximately equal in my eyes for a 1v1 non-aristocrats deck or a multiplayer aristocrats deck. Haunt isn't very good.
Golgari: Dredge is strong enough to have an archetype named after it. Scavenge and Undergrowth are generally meh, but some specific Undergrowth cards are good enough to see play. Unless you're building Varolz EDH, I don't think I've ever seen anyone run any Scavenge card except maybe Slitherhead.
Simic: While Adapt makes combat math and removal harder in limited (see: Grotesque Demise and Bring to Trial), Evolve can get you more value over time outside of sticking a Biomancer's Familiar. Graft is of limited value, though Llanowar Reborn is very nearly free. (Only cost is ETB tapped.)
Izzet: Overload has some of the best cards printed in Ravnica, but also has some stinkers. Jump Start was actually a lot more effective than I expected it to be, especially Radical Idea. Replicate is of limited utility, although giving spells Replicate (Djinn Illuminatus) can be very effective.
Boros: Mentor wins, with Battalion close behind. Radiance needs not only a particularly good specific Radiance card, but a specific board state to be effective.
Azorius: Definitely detain. So good in both constructed and limited. Addendum is cool, but ultimately limited. I wish they did more with forecast. It was very interesting.
Dimir: Transmute. Surveil is definitely solid, though. Tutors are always stupid good. Cipher is cool, but ultimately difficult to pull off. Kinda like haunt in Orzhov.
Rakdos: Spectacle seems solid. Unleash at least sets up interesting play decisions. Hellbent isn't a great ability. I hate not having cards in hand.
Gruul: Bloodthirst always felt awful to me, because of the tension of trying to break through a stalemate to get the bigger creature. Never would get exactly what you wanted. I think Riot takes this one, Honestly.
Selesnya: Convoke, definitely convoke.
Orzhov: Extort. Love it. Haunt was interesting to use, but difficult to deal with. The effects are really useful if you can time it. Afterlife is...obvious? Good for limited.
Golgari: Dredge, dredge, dredge, dredge. I prefer undergrowth to scavenge, as scavenge plays against the graveyard re-use the Golgari already established in the original Ravnica.
Simic: Evolve is solid. I personally liked graft in its ability to shift the +1/+1 counters, as there was some interesting effects that could happen. Adapt is kinda meh. Wish they had reprinted Evolve.
Izzet: Overload was almost entirely useful in the cards. I think it even is solid from Vorthos point of view. I enjoy replicate moreso than jump-start.
Boros: Mentor is definitely good. Battalion came out wonderfully, but would've liked to see it more like battlecry. I don't think they needed both. Radiance could have been so, so interesting.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Proud Owner of: Extremeicon's Hamster-balled soul Istanbul's Soul, Bidder of Myself votan's Linux-loving Soul grappler12's Poop-smithing Soul Sir Blakely's Fencing Soul CraZedMiKe's Soul Transferred Back at His Request HAWKEYE 7's Calvin and Hobbes Loving Soul Tanthalas' Greek Alliance Soul Avatar of Kokusho's Island-Hating Soul Salubrious' Rather-Belatedly Added Soul
DCI Advanced Organizer
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So my question to you is: How would you rank the individual mechanics each guild got overall? I suggest we base the outcome on the criteria of:
- Playability
- Impact - Did it create any new deck types or influence future cards/mechanics?
- Cost vs. effect
- Appearance in competitive decks in any legal format
- Support
Here are the mechanics each guild got:
Azorius WU
Forecast
Detain
Addendum
Dimir UB
Transmute
Cipher
Surveil
Rakdos BR
Hellbent
Unleash
Spectacle
Gruul RG
Scab-Clan Mauler
Bloodrush
Riot
Selesnya GW
Convoke
Populate
Orzhov WB
Haunt
Extort
Afterlife
Golgari BG
Dredge
Scavenge
Undergrowth
Simic GU
Graft
Evolve
Adapt
Izzet UR
Replicate
Overload
Jump-start
Boros RW
Radiance
Battalion
Blade Instructor
So how would you rank each guild's mechanics in order of strength based on the above? For example, with Dimir, I'd rank them as follows:
Transmite > Surveil > Cipher.
Let's see what you come up with!
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
My 720 Peasant Cube
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
'buster
HR Analyst. Gamer. Activist | Fearless, and forthright | Aggro-control is a mindset.
Elspeth and Jhoira rock my world.
Dimir: Surveil and Transmute are both strong. Transmute has some deckbuilding restrictions to it, but if you've got important cards to your gameplan at cmcs equal to transmute cards, you've got extra tutors. Bonus points if the transmute cards that work for you are also playable in your deck, like Dimir House Guard in aristocrats, Drift of Phantasms in a defenders-matter deck like Arcades, or Muddle the Mixture in a control deck. Cipher is weaker, and is hindered by the actual cards with the effect getting pumped-up mana costs to compensate for how annoying its potential is.
Rakos: Spectacle wins by a landslide. Unleash isn't too bad, but unfortunately only two of the unleash creatures have haste. Hellbent is just bad.
Gruul: Riot gives you excellent choices as a player, and unlike Addendum one or the other "mode" isn't always the correct answer. Bloodrush can be a strong combat trick, although some of the actual cards are too expensive to be good. Bloodthirst found the design space to get reprinted in non-Ravnica sets. I think these three are too close to call.
Selesnya: Convoke by a landslide. Few decks care enough to want populate and make tokens worth populating.
Orzhov: Extort for multiplayer, Afterlife for aristocrats. The two are approximately equal in my eyes for a 1v1 non-aristocrats deck or a multiplayer aristocrats deck. Haunt isn't very good.
Golgari: Dredge is strong enough to have an archetype named after it. Scavenge and Undergrowth are generally meh, but some specific Undergrowth cards are good enough to see play. Unless you're building Varolz EDH, I don't think I've ever seen anyone run any Scavenge card except maybe Slitherhead.
Simic: While Adapt makes combat math and removal harder in limited (see: Grotesque Demise and Bring to Trial), Evolve can get you more value over time outside of sticking a Biomancer's Familiar. Graft is of limited value, though Llanowar Reborn is very nearly free. (Only cost is ETB tapped.)
Izzet: Overload has some of the best cards printed in Ravnica, but also has some stinkers. Jump Start was actually a lot more effective than I expected it to be, especially Radical Idea. Replicate is of limited utility, although giving spells Replicate (Djinn Illuminatus) can be very effective.
Boros: Mentor wins, with Battalion close behind. Radiance needs not only a particularly good specific Radiance card, but a specific board state to be effective.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
Dimir: Transmute. Surveil is definitely solid, though. Tutors are always stupid good. Cipher is cool, but ultimately difficult to pull off. Kinda like haunt in Orzhov.
Rakdos: Spectacle seems solid. Unleash at least sets up interesting play decisions. Hellbent isn't a great ability. I hate not having cards in hand.
Gruul: Bloodthirst always felt awful to me, because of the tension of trying to break through a stalemate to get the bigger creature. Never would get exactly what you wanted. I think Riot takes this one, Honestly.
Selesnya: Convoke, definitely convoke.
Orzhov: Extort. Love it. Haunt was interesting to use, but difficult to deal with. The effects are really useful if you can time it. Afterlife is...obvious? Good for limited.
Golgari: Dredge, dredge, dredge, dredge. I prefer undergrowth to scavenge, as scavenge plays against the graveyard re-use the Golgari already established in the original Ravnica.
Simic: Evolve is solid. I personally liked graft in its ability to shift the +1/+1 counters, as there was some interesting effects that could happen. Adapt is kinda meh. Wish they had reprinted Evolve.
Izzet: Overload was almost entirely useful in the cards. I think it even is solid from Vorthos point of view. I enjoy replicate moreso than jump-start.
Boros: Mentor is definitely good. Battalion came out wonderfully, but would've liked to see it more like battlecry. I don't think they needed both. Radiance could have been so, so interesting.
Proud Owner of:
Extremeicon's Hamster-balled soul
Istanbul's Soul, Bidder of Myself
votan's Linux-loving Soul
grappler12's Poop-smithing Soul
Sir Blakely's Fencing Soul
CraZedMiKe's Soul Transferred Back at His Request
HAWKEYE 7's Calvin and Hobbes Loving Soul
Tanthalas' Greek Alliance Soul
Avatar of Kokusho's Island-Hating Soul
Salubrious' Rather-Belatedly Added Soul
DCI Advanced Organizer