Guilds of Ravnica

Guilds of Ravnica is the 79th Magic expansion. It was released on October 5, 2018. Officially, it is not part of a block. However, it is part of a series of three that is set on the same world, unofficially called the Guilds of Ravnica block.

Set details
Guilds of Ravnica contains 259 cards (111 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, and 15 mythic rares), but there are only 254 functionally different cards since all gates have 2 common slots. Boosters may include randomly inserted premium versions of any card. The name of the set is rather similar to the Ravnica: City of Guilds, but Wizards of the Coast doesn't perceive this as a problem. The set features five of the bi-colored Ravnican guilds: Selesnya, Boros , Golgari , Izzet , and Dimir. Watermarks are used to better identify the guilds. To get a guild watermark, the card has to be two-color, optimized with two colors or use the guild keyword.

The 5 basic lands of this set are not included within the 259 cards, meaning that they won't appear in booster packs but only in the planeswalker decks and the Bundle. They're all autumnal versions of the Richard Wright basics from Ravnica: City of Guilds and are numbered from #260/259 to #264/259. Neither contained in boosters are the 8 additional planeswalker deck exclusive cards - numbered #265/259 to #272/259 - and the Buy-a-Box promo, which has the number #273/259. Each Guildgate is featured in two common slots, each with different art, much like Wastes in Oath of the Gatewatch.

Storyline
Stand With Your Guild It is autumn on Ravnica. The story occurs mostly in darkness with shadows and moodiness, similar to a film noir. The story gears up for the final showdown with Nicol Bolas. He is trying to slowly influence Ravnica and warp it to his needs. The guilds fight internally between the forces pulling them toward or away from Bolas's influence.

The cards that represent the Story Spotlights in Guilds of Ravnica  are: Thousand-Year Storm, Guild Summit , Assassin's Trophy , and Firemind's Research. The story spotlight cards no longer tell you the order they occur in.

Marketing
Guilds of Ravnica is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card), two planeswalker decks and the Guilds of Ravnica bundle. Building on how Theme Boosters for Dominaria performed, these 35-card booster packs with one rare or mythic rare card make another appearance. Of course, they are themed around the appropriate guilds and thus bi-colored. The set is also accompanied by five special guild kits, preconstructed theme decks that combine cards from every Ravnica set released so far.

The boosters feature artwork of Emmara Tandris, Ral Zarek, Vraska, Aurelia, and a Dimir spy. Every one in eight booster packs includes a code good for three packs in MTG Arena.

Events

 * Update Magic Arena: 27 September 2018 (free OpenBeta)
 * Prerelease took place on 29–30 September 2018. Prerelease packs contained 5 regular Guilds of Ravnica booster packs and one seeded booster composed entirely of cards relevant to that player's choice of guild. It also contains 1 randomized, date stamped foil promo card, drawn from any rare or mythic from the featured guild. All prerelease packs included an entry code to an MTG Arena Sealed event.
 * Local stores hosted Ravnica Weekend on November 9–11. Players could come in and play four-pack Drafts, casual Guild Kit battles, and a special preview adventure from the D&D Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica.

Promotional cards

 * Magic Open House: full-art
 * Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare belonging to the chosen guild.
 * Draft Weekend Launch promo:
 * Store Championship: full-art
 * Magic League:
 * Buy-a-Box: Impervious Greatwurm
 * FNM promos:, , and
 * Ravnica Weekend: one of ten special guild-affiliated premium foil promo basic lands. These are numbered A01/10 to A10/10.
 * Non-foil versions of these basic lands appear in the Guild Kits, where they are numbered as part of the deck.

Tokens and emblems
The sixteenth card in the boosters is a token card or an emblem, with advertisements on the back side. There are eight tokens and emblems in the set:
 * 1)  4/4 Angel creature with flying and vigilance, for Divine Visitation.
 * 2)  1/1 Soldier creature with lifelink, for Dawn of Hope, Emmara, Soul of the Accord, Haazda Marshal</c>, Hunted Witness</c>, March of the Multitudes</c>, Ledev Champion</c>, Sworn Companions</c> and Trostani Discordant</c>.
 * 3)  1/1 Bird Illusion creature with flying, for Murmuring Mystic</c>.
 * 4)  1/1 Goblin creature, for Legion Warboss</c>.
 * 5)  1/1 Insect creature, for Izoni, Thousand-Eyed</c>.
 * 6)  2/2 Elf Knight creature with vigilance, for Assemble</c>, Conclave Guildmage</c>, Conclave Cavalier</c>, and Sprouting Renewal</c>.

Mythic Edition
Guilds of Ravnica Mythic Edition is a special draft-sized booster box, exclusively sold in the U.S and Canada. It contains eight masterpieces.

Themes and mechanics
Each guild features a unique mechanic.

The expansion also features split cards. Each one focuses on a single guild, with a smallish hybrid mana effect as one half and a bigger, multicolor mana effect as the other. The art of the rares focuses on the two major characters (legendary creatures or planeswalkers) in that guild, one personality per side. The card halves have alliterative names, starting with the same three letters.

Cycles
Guilds of Ravnica has twelve cycles, two of which are reprints and one of which is printed twice within the set.

Pairs
Guilds of Ravnica has one mirrored pair.

Reprinted cards

 * Child of Night</c>, first printed in Magic 2010, last seen in Core Set 2019.
 * Chromatic Lantern</c>, first printed in Return to Ravnica, last seen in Commander 2016.
 * Crushing Canopy</c>, first printed in Ixalan.
 * <c>Dead Weight</c>, first printed in Innistrad, last seen in Shadows over Innistrad.
 * <c>Disdainful Stroke</c>, first printed in Khans of Tarkir, last seen in Commander Anthology Volume II.
 * <c>Goblin Electromancer</c>, first printed in Return to Ravnica, last seen in Duel Decks: Mind vs. Might.
 * <c>Hitchclaw Recluse</c>, first printed in Magic Origins.
 * <c>Ironshell Beetle</c>, first printed in Judgment.
 * <c>Luminous Bonds</c>, first printed in Rivals of Ixalan, last seen in Core Set 2019.
 * <c>Maniacal Rage</c>, first printed in Exodus, last seen in Conflux.
 * <c>Might of the Masses</c>, first printed in Rise of the Eldrazi, last seen in Magic Origins.
 * <c>Narcomoeba</c>, first printed in Future Sight, last seen in Modern Masters.
 * <c>Prey Upon</c>, first printed in Innistrad, last seen in Aether Revolt.
 * <c>Righteous Blow</c>, first printed in Avacyn Restored.
 * <c>Skyknight Legionnaire</c>, first printed in Ravnica: City of Guilds, last seen in Modern Masters 2017.
 * <c>Siege Wurm</c>, first printed in Ravnica: City of Guilds, last seen in Magic 2015.
 * <c>Sure Strike</c>, first printed in Battle for Zendikar, last seen in Core Set 2019.
 * <c>Wall of Mist</c>, first printed in Core Set 2019.
 * <c>Wee Dragonauts</c>, first printed in Guildpact, last seen in Eternal Masters.
 * Guildgates, first appearing in the Return to Ravnica block.
 * Shocklands, first appearing in the original Ravnica block.

Functional reprints

 * <c>Bartizan Bats</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Carrion Screecher</c> from Hour of Devastation and <c>Vampire Revenant</c> from Rivals of Ixalan, except for creature types.
 * <c>Fearless Halberdier</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Goblin Cavaliers</c> from Starter 1999 and <c>Goblin Roughrider</c> from Worldwake, except for creature types.
 * <c>Gateway Plaza</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Rupture Spire</c> from Conflux and <c>Transguild Promenade</c> from Return to Ravnica, except for subtype.
 * <c>Hired Poisoner</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Typhoid Rats</c> from Innistrad and <c>Pharika's Chosen</c> from Journey into Nyx, except for creature types.
 * <c>Ornery Goblin</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Ashmouth Hound</c> from Innistrad, except for creature types.
 * <c>Spinal Centipede</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Lawless Broker</c> from Kaladesh, except for creature types.
 * <c>Sworn Companions</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Queen's Commission</c> from Ixalan, except for creature types of the tokens they produce.
 * <c>Wary Okapi</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Woodland Patrol</c> from Eldritch Moon, except for creature types.
 * <c>Wild Ceratok</c> is a functional reprint of <c>Broodhunter Wurm</c> from Battle for Zendikar, <c>Golden Bear</c> from Portal Second Age, <c>Nettle Swine</c> from Avacyn Restored, and <c>Order of the Sacred Bell</c> from Champions of Kamigawa except for creature types.

Preconstructed decks


Guilds of Ravnica features two planeswalker decks:

Guilds of Ravnica features five Guild Kits:

Notable cards

 * <c>Impervious Greatwurm</c> is the highest-power black bordered non-token creature in Magic history.
 * <c>March of the Multitudes</c> is a Selesnya cost spell completing an unintentional mega-mega cycle for each guild: the X spell cycle. Every other guild already has at least one from the previous Ravnica sets.
 * <c>Invert // Invent</c> required day-one errata: as printed, Invert's effect lasts indefinitely, where it should last until end of turn.
 * <c>Thousand-Year Storm</c> essentially gives Storm to other cards.
 * <c>Etrata, the Silencer</c> and <c>Vraska, Golgari Queen</c> are alternate-win cards.
 * <c>Chance for Glory</c> is an alternate-loss card.
 * <c>Midnight Reaper</c>'s illustration calls to mind a famous scene in The Lord Of the Rings movie.
 * <c>Collar the Culprit</c> and <c>Citywide Bust</c> are two related pictures illustrated by Victor Adame Minguez creating a mini story.