Nicol Bolas's plans are taking shape, and heroes are converging on Ravnica to stop him—which means we're going back to the world of guilds as well!
We'll be spending three sets on Ravnica as we gear up for the final showdown with Bolas himself. We've got a little way to go till we get there, but now you can start preparing yourself—dig out that Izzet shirt, tune up that Golgari Commander deck, stack up your Orzhov tokens (or gold), and get ready to go back to Ravnica!
Guilds of Ravnica releases October 5, 2018, and will prominently feature the harmonious Selesnya (green-white), the militant Boros (red-white), the life-and-death-focused Golgari (black-green), the frazzled geniuses of the Izzet (blue-red), and the mystery of the Dimir (blue-black).
Ravnica Allegiance ratchets up the drama and releases January 2019, and will complete our travels through the guilds. Join the orderly Azorius (white-blue), the chaotic Rakdos (black-red), the wild Gruul (red-green), the experimental Simic (green-blue), and the devious Orzhov (white-black) as we reach the penultimate moment of the Gatewatch's story.
It wouldn't be a return to Ravnica without letting players play as their favorite guilds. Guild Kits will feature a 60-card deck flavored after your favorite guild, plus guild schwag like pins, stickers, and Spindown life counters. Play as any one of the Guilds of Ravnica guilds with the Guilds of Ravnica Guild Kits releasing on November 2, 2018. Ravnica Allegiance Guild Kits release February 2019.
And, as you might have noticed in the video, we're spending a third set on Ravnica as well—but we're not quite ready to talk about it yet. Just know that while the setting will be Ravnica, the focus will be on the culmination of the story and not the guilds.
It's going to be a wild ride as we return to one of Magic's favorite planes, and the long-boiling war with Nicol Bolas reaches its crescendo.
A bit sad that this was too rushed, but really glad it was Ravnica. Thank God it wasn't Theros, the least the game needs right now after Ixalan did okay and Dominaria did so good was another *****show.
What a disappointing Announcement Day. Three sets on Ravnica is all we really learned. No info on an upcoming Masters set, no C18 info, just a tiny bit more info on Battlebond and the new Global Series product is just a reskinned PW deck. Pretty disappointed in the overhype in czlling it Announcement Day.
Three more sets on Ravnica seems a bit excessive tbh. I’m kinda worried.
For those that drafted the previous sets and blocks on Ravnica, how did the guild think affect draft? Were there just one archetype per guild, or did they go deeper somehow?
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When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Well, confirmation that Buy-a-box promos will be unique cards like for Dominaria moving forward means I don't have to worry about playing Magic again any time soon, so that's a plus.
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Rest in RIP My Signature, I guess. 2015-2016, we hardly knew ye.
Total side note but I like how people are discussing running this over itself.
Well, it has to be said that Kolaghan is clearly better than Kolaghan. Considering what BR decks usually want and how stiff the competition in this guild is, there is no way that I would run Kolaghan over Kolaghan! Kolaghan might make it in as the sixth guild card or so. Kolaghan on the other hand ranks several places below that.
It was so funny to me when they described this as a downgrade to the original Zurgo during the Pax East panel. I was thinking if this is a downgrade, they should really "downgrade" all legendary creatures. Haha.
My deck designing is quite concise at this point:
1. Come up with deck idea
2. Realize this idea is somehow fundamentally similar to another deck I have or that is commonly played in my group
3. Decide I don't want to disassemble one of my existing decks
4. Give up and do nothing
I don't see the point of this new shroud mechanic. It's strictly worse than Hexproof. Threshold is pretty bad too, Delirium is a much better mechanic and probably easier to activate.
Otherwise this card is a pretty neat guy. Dodges removal and grows into a Primal Huntbeast. 3/5
A bit sad that this was too rushed, but really glad it was Ravnica. Thank God it wasn't Theros, the least the game needs right now after Ixalan did okay and Dominaria did so good was another *****show.
LOL.
Theros brought in a ton of new players. At Wizards, it's incredibly likely that Theros is generally regarded as one of the higher points of Magic in the past 5 years. The inevitable return to Theros will do very well, despite the personal preferences of some players.
On topic: Ravnica part 3 was entirely expected, based on the storyline direction. What we don't know yet: Will Shocklands come back?
For those that drafted the previous sets and blocks on Ravnica, how did the guild think affect draft? Were there just one archetype per guild, or did they go deeper somehow?
One archetype per guild in the RTR block, with a lot of overlap and synergy between guilds that shared a color. Also a lot of fixing, which when put together meant you had to have a REALLY good reason to not go tricolor and stay locked on a single guild. Can't speak for the original block though.
A bit sad that this was too rushed, but really glad it was Ravnica. Thank God it wasn't Theros, the least the game needs right now after Ixalan did okay and Dominaria did so good was another *****show.
LOL.
Theros brought in a ton of new players. At Wizards, it's incredibly likely that Theros is generally regarded as one of the higher points of Magic in the past 5 years. The inevitable return to Theros will do very well, despite the personal preferences of some players.
On topic: Ravnica part 3 was entirely expected, based on the storyline direction. What we don't know yet: Will Shocklands come back?
I know that there's a vocal minority around here that loves Theros, but let's face it, it was an absolute dumpster fire: Enchantment block with zero Enchantment mechanic whatsoever, a bunch of overcosted cards, an unplayable mechanic in Bestow due to overcosting, one of the worst sets ever in Born of the Gods, one of the most boring Standard season in ages... Yeah the set might have good lore, but it was a complete disaster and what started the age of decline in Standard.
While I kinda not thrilled to be on one plane for a year (I really liked the pacing of having two planes or so a year) they've been building up to this since commander 2015 so glad to see all the storylines tie together and I did enjoy Ravnica last time. Also FEATHER PLEASE!
The guild kits found fun, I'd like to try and rebuild some of old two color decks and make them more Ravnica themed.
EDIT: I also am going to guess the third Ravnica set is going to be a very different feel mechanically from old Ravnica sets.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
A bit sad that this was too rushed, but really glad it was Ravnica. Thank God it wasn't Theros, the least the game needs right now after Ixalan did okay and Dominaria did so good was another *****show.
LOL.
Theros brought in a ton of new players. At Wizards, it's incredibly likely that Theros is generally regarded as one of the higher points of Magic in the past 5 years. The inevitable return to Theros will do very well, despite the personal preferences of some players.
On topic: Ravnica part 3 was entirely expected, based on the storyline direction. What we don't know yet: Will Shocklands come back?
I know that there's a vocal minority around here that loves Theros, but let's face it, it was an absolute dumpster fire: Enchantment block with zero Enchantment mechanic whatsoever, a bunch of overcosted cards, an unplayable mechanic in Bestow due to overcosting, one of the worst sets ever in Born of the Gods, one of the most boring Standard season in ages... Yeah the set might have good lore, but it was a complete disaster and what started the age of decline in Standard.
It had Constellation, which was an enchantment-matters mechanic, but it was only in Journey to Nyx for some reason.
Ugh, nostalgia has me pumped for this, but then I remember that Dragon's Maze was an actual set that deflates the sails a bit. If they've learned from their mistakes with the first RTR block, this could be awesome. I love the flavor and story of this plane, and the og Ravnica was the first block I played MTG in.
I don't care about shocks getting a reprint if we get a story spotlight card of Bolas stepping on Emmara Tandris.
What we don't know yet: Will Shocklands come back?
I can not possibly imagine that they won't. They are wildly popular, expected (which means that people will get whiny if they aren't in) and sell packs because of their perceived and actual value, even at their third printing. They also do not devolve Standard into a multicolored crapshow by themselves, only if they are paired with other lands that synergize too well with them, like fetchlands or checklands. Oh! I didn't even... oh no
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When I hit my 3000 post mark, I'm gone for good.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Ill argue Battle for Zendikar started the decline. But lets face the fact that magic hyperinflated during RTR that there would be an inevitable decline.
Original ravnica had a ton of very powerful (arguably, too powerful) fixing at common (bouncelands and signets) so it also drove you towards three colors in draft. But it was a weird three colors where you wanted one of the shards/wedges that included two of the guilds in the set.
Return to Ravnica was more focused on two-color drafting and each guild being a specific archetype, especially in the second set (Gatecrash) which was fairly fast and dominated by aggressive Boros decks.
The reason for 2 sets of Ravnica while Dominaria got just one is that you can't do one set's worth of Ravnica; there's no way to fit all ten guilds into a single set (they tried that and it poorly even though it was all-returning mechanics) and there's no way you can say "we're doing five of the guilds now and then in a few years when we return to ravnica again we'll do all the other five", the player base would riot. Going in for a third set is odd but my assumption is that the spring set is much more of a Bolas-themed set that happens to take place on Ravnica than a third Ravnica set.
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On average, Magic players are worse at new card evaluation than almost every other skill, except perhaps sideboarding.
Apparently Wizards got the idea that people really like unique buy-a-box promos. Could this actually be true? I thought I remember a recent Blogatog post saying that they'd heard us "loud and clear", which I assumed meant they'd gotten a lot of heat for it...
Well that was pretty lame. We really didn't learn much about anything new outside of Guild Decks and two legendaries. Ravnica was pretty easy to see coming from far away. I expected a bit more, like some info on this year's Commander decks.
It's good those two legendaries work with Partner like I hoped they would, as it wasn't too clear from their reminder text.
I like Ravnica, so this makes me pretty happy. The third set will probably be pretty different from the first two, but I guess the change won't be as drastic as between Worldwake and Rise of the Eldrazi. Maro has said multiple times that they want to preserve what the players like, so the guilds (and Ravnica as a plane) will most likely surivive Bolas's attack.
Did I miss something? Was a buy-a-box promo announced?
It's very possible that the people the Dominaria BAB promo were meant for reacted positively to it ("it" being a way to sneak an extra Commander-focused legend into a card set). I don't think mtgsalvation's reaction is very indicative in these cases.
I don't get what more people were expecting though. It's announcement day, not spoiler day. They announced new products (and showed the sort of early preview art that usually goes with those announcements). Did people think they were going to go into detail about releases ahead of the spoiler week for those releases?
Also: Theros was a really popular set with a good draft environment (especially triple Theros, which was great) that sold well and generated some fun and powerful Standard decks. Mtgsalvation's weird hate-on for Theros is an outlier that rests on mtgs' typical weird narrative of "we're mad you didn't meet our extremely specific expectations built up by speculating on the rumor mill for weeks."
A lot of people hate Theros-era Standard but not because of Theros... it was sandwiched between Pack Rat and Siege Rhino.
Apparently Wizards got the idea that people really like unique buy-a-box promos. Could this actually be true? I thought I remember a recent Blogatog post saying that they'd heard us "loud and clear", which I assumed meant they'd gotten a lot of heat for it...
For the next year we'll probably get exclusive ones, as they had these planned out long before the player base was giving criticisms about it.
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I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
Three more sets on Ravnica seems a bit excessive tbh. I’m kinda worried.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
We Return with Ravnica with 3!? ARGH~!
Heres hoping that at least the Firemane gets Feather and/or is back to their more iconic looking butterfly forme like wings (yeah, right )
Serra Stan - Angel Enthusiast - Garruk and Tyvar thirsty follower - Flavor and Art Enthusiast
LOL.
Theros brought in a ton of new players. At Wizards, it's incredibly likely that Theros is generally regarded as one of the higher points of Magic in the past 5 years. The inevitable return to Theros will do very well, despite the personal preferences of some players.
On topic: Ravnica part 3 was entirely expected, based on the storyline direction. What we don't know yet: Will Shocklands come back?
One archetype per guild in the RTR block, with a lot of overlap and synergy between guilds that shared a color. Also a lot of fixing, which when put together meant you had to have a REALLY good reason to not go tricolor and stay locked on a single guild. Can't speak for the original block though.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
Ravnica was one of the top guesses for multiple reasons, so no big surprise.
I know that there's a vocal minority around here that loves Theros, but let's face it, it was an absolute dumpster fire: Enchantment block with zero Enchantment mechanic whatsoever, a bunch of overcosted cards, an unplayable mechanic in Bestow due to overcosting, one of the worst sets ever in Born of the Gods, one of the most boring Standard season in ages... Yeah the set might have good lore, but it was a complete disaster and what started the age of decline in Standard.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
The guild kits found fun, I'd like to try and rebuild some of old two color decks and make them more Ravnica themed.
EDIT: I also am going to guess the third Ravnica set is going to be a very different feel mechanically from old Ravnica sets.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
It had Constellation, which was an enchantment-matters mechanic, but it was only in Journey to Nyx for some reason.
I don't care about shocks getting a reprint if we get a story spotlight card of Bolas stepping on Emmara Tandris.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Return to Ravnica was more focused on two-color drafting and each guild being a specific archetype, especially in the second set (Gatecrash) which was fairly fast and dominated by aggressive Boros decks.
The reason for 2 sets of Ravnica while Dominaria got just one is that you can't do one set's worth of Ravnica; there's no way to fit all ten guilds into a single set (they tried that and it poorly even though it was all-returning mechanics) and there's no way you can say "we're doing five of the guilds now and then in a few years when we return to ravnica again we'll do all the other five", the player base would riot. Going in for a third set is odd but my assumption is that the spring set is much more of a Bolas-themed set that happens to take place on Ravnica than a third Ravnica set.
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest WUR Voltron Control
Temmet, Vizier of Naktamun WU Unblockable Mirror Trickery
Ra's al Ghul (Sidar Kondo) and Face-Down Ninjas
Brudiclad, Token Engineer
Vaevictis (VV2) the Dire Lantern
Rona, Disciple of Gix
Tiana the Auror
Hallar
Ulrich the Politician
Zur the Rebel
Scorpion, Locust, Scarab, Egyptian Gods
O-Kagachi, Mathas, Mairsil
"Non-Tribal" Tribal Generals, Eggs
It's good those two legendaries work with Partner like I hoped they would, as it wasn't too clear from their reminder text.
I thought the community din't like it....
It's very possible that the people the Dominaria BAB promo were meant for reacted positively to it ("it" being a way to sneak an extra Commander-focused legend into a card set). I don't think mtgsalvation's reaction is very indicative in these cases.
I don't get what more people were expecting though. It's announcement day, not spoiler day. They announced new products (and showed the sort of early preview art that usually goes with those announcements). Did people think they were going to go into detail about releases ahead of the spoiler week for those releases?
Also: Theros was a really popular set with a good draft environment (especially triple Theros, which was great) that sold well and generated some fun and powerful Standard decks. Mtgsalvation's weird hate-on for Theros is an outlier that rests on mtgs' typical weird narrative of "we're mad you didn't meet our extremely specific expectations built up by speculating on the rumor mill for weeks."
A lot of people hate Theros-era Standard but not because of Theros... it was sandwiched between Pack Rat and Siege Rhino.
For the next year we'll probably get exclusive ones, as they had these planned out long before the player base was giving criticisms about it.