Changes: Guildpact

Guildpact
Set Information
Set symbol
Design	Mike Elliott (lead); Aaron Forsythe; Devin Low; Brian Schneider
Development	Henry Stern (lead); Aaron Forsythe; Cormac Russell; Brian Schneider; Mike Turian
Art direction	Jeremy Cranford
Release date	February 3, 2006
Themes and mechanics	Guild System,; Hybrid mana,; Multicolored cards
Keywords/ability words	Bloodthirst,; Haunt,; Replicate
Set size	165; (55 commons, 55 uncommons, 55 rares)
Expansion code	GPT
Development codename	Alt
Ravnica block
Magic: The Gathering Chronology

Revision as of 18:09, 18 May 2018

For other uses, see Guildpact (disambiguation).

Guildpact is the thirty-seventh Magic expansion and was released February 5, 2006 as the second set in the Ravnica block. The prerelease was on January 21, 2006.^[3]^[4]

Set details

Guildpact contains 165 black-bordered cards (55 rare, 55 uncommon, and 55 commons). Its expansion symbol is wrought-iron design with three “branches” meant to evoke the three-guild nature of the set as well as the urban theme.^[5] Guildpact expanded on the Ravnica block themes of multicolor and hybrid, adding three new guilds to the environment: the Orzhov Syndicate (white/black), the Izzet League (blue/red) and the Gruul Clans (red/green).^[6]^[7] The set also included the first creatures with exactly four colors, the Nephilim.^[8]

Marketing

Guildpact was sold in 15-card boosters, three preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack.^[9] The decks and the fat pack contained a Pro Tour Players Card. The booster packs featured artwork from Djinn Illuminatus, Rumbling Slum and Graven Dominator. The prerelease card was a foil alternate art Djinn Illuminatus.^[10] The release card was Gruul Guildmage. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name by Cory Herndon. Additional art for several tokens was created for Magic Online.^[11]

Storyline

Main article: Guildpact (novel)

The Guildpact has kept Ravnica stable for thousands of years. But with ten guilds vying to become the dominant force on the planet, there's always a chance that things will break down. Guildpact continues the story of this massive city, and introduces players to three more guilds.^[12] The Gruul ravages the streets. Teysa leads the Orzhov Syndicate to "cleanse" them. And Agrus Kos doesn't give a damn.^[13]

Misprints

Hypervolt Graspwas printed with a Gruul symbol as watermark, despite being an Izzet card.
A small number of the foil Thunderheads were printed with the letters 'y' and 'w' missing from their italics text (flavor and reminder text).

Mechanics and themes

Guildpact continued the guild model and introduced the next three two-color guilds, each with their own keyword. The introduced guilds are as follows:

Guild	Legendary guild members	Keyword or ability word	Notes
Izzet League	Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind	Replicate	Replicate works by putting copies of a given instant or sorcery onto the stack for each time you pay the Replicate cost.^[14]
Gruul Clans	Borborygmos	Bloodthirst	Bloodthirst works by putting a number of +1/+1 counters on a permanent as it enters the battlefield, if an opponent has been dealt damage that turn.^[15]
Orzhov Syndicate	Ghost Council of Orzhova	Haunt	Haunt returns a card from a graveyard "haunting" another permanent. When that permanent is put into a graveyard, a triggered ability of the haunting card is put on the stack.^[16]^[17]

Creature types

The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Nephilim, Weird.

The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Advisor, Angel, Archer, Assassin, Avatar, Bat, Beast, Berserker, Centaur, Cleric, Cyclops, Djinn, Dragon, Drake, Druid, Dryad, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Giant, Griffin, Gargoyle, Goblin, Horror, Hydra, Illusion, Imp, Insect, Knight, Leviathan, Ogre, Phoenix, Ooze, Rogue, Sand^[18], Shaman, Skeleton, Soldier, Spirit, Thrull, Vampire, Viashino, Vedalken, Warrior, Wizard, Wurm.

Cycles

For cycles that are part of the guild mega cycles, see Ravnica block#Mega cycles.
^[19]

Guildpact has four cycles:

Leylines: Leyline of the Meek, Leyline of Singularity, Leyline of the Void, Leyline of Lightning, and Leyline of Lifeforce — Each of these rare enchantments costs plus 2 mana of the appropriate color. Each can start the game in play at the beginning if it is in a player's opening hand.^[20]^[21]
Magemarks: Guardian's Magemark, Infiltrator's Magemark, Necromancer's Magemark, Fencer's Magemark, and Beastmaster's Magemark — Each of these common auras, costing plus one mana of the appropriate color, has "Enchant creature" and "Creatures you control that are enchanted get +1/+1." All but Guardian's Magemark grant an additional boon to other enchanted creatures: For instance, Fencer's Magemark grants first strike to all other enchanted creatures under the control of the same player as the enchanted creature.^[22]
Nephilim: Yore-Tiller Nephilim, Glint-Eye Nephilim, Dune-Brood Nephilim, Ink-Treader Nephilim, and Witch-Maw Nephilim — Each of these rare creatures costs 4 mana of separate colors. For example, Ink-Treader Nephilim costs , excluding black. Each nephilim has a powerful and unique ability.
Rusalkas: Martyred Rusalka, Drowned Rusalka, Plagued Rusalka, Scorched Rusalka, and Starved Rusalka — Each of these 1/1 uncommon spirit creatures, costing one colored mana, has an activated ability with the cost of one mana of her color and the sacrifice of a creature. A rusalka is a female ghost from Slavic mythology, often associated with water.

Reprinted cards

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets:

Cremate — was last seen in Invasion and was a uncommon, now common.
Savage Twister — was last seen in Mirage and fits with the savage nature of the Gruul Guild.^[23]

Notable cards

Angel of Despair - Utility card in Legacy and Vintage Ichorid decks.
Burning-Tree Shaman - Used in some legacy zoo variants.
Leyline of the Void - Anti-graveyard card in Legacy and Vintage sideboards.
Tin Street Hooligan - Legacy anti-artifact sideboards

Preconstructed decks

Main article: Guildpact/Theme decks

In Guildpact, as there are three guilds, there are only three decks, rather than the standard four theme decks; the three decks are oriented around the guilds introduced in Guildpact. The preconstructed theme decks are:

Theme deck name	Colors Included
Theme deck name
Code of the Orzhov	W		B
Gruul Wilding				R	G
Izzet Gizmometry		U		R

References

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External links

Guildpact product information page — Wizards of the Coast

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@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 ===Storyline===
 {{Main|Guildpact (novel)}}
-The [[Guildpact (spell)|Guildpact]] has kept [[Ravnica]] stable for thousands of years. But with [[Guilds of Ravnica|ten guilds]] vying to become the dominant force on the planet, there's always a chance that things will break down. ''Guildpact'' continues the story of this massive city, and introduces players to three more guilds.<ref>{{NewRef|feature/signing-guildpact-2006-01-09|Signing Onto the Guildpact|[[Rei Nakazawa]]|January 09, 2006}}</ref> The [[Gruul]] ravages the streets. [[Teysa]] leads the [[Orzhov Syndicate]] to "cleanse" them. And [[Agrus Kos]] doesn't give a damn.<ref>{{NewRef|feature/italicized-world-guildpact-2006-02-13|The Italicized World of Guildpact|[[Doug Beyer]]|February 13, 2006}}</ref>
+The [[Guildpact (spell)|Guildpact]] has kept [[Ravnica]] stable for thousands of years. But with [[Ravnican guilds|ten guilds]] vying to become the dominant force on the planet, there's always a chance that things will break down. ''Guildpact'' continues the story of this massive city, and introduces players to three more guilds.<ref>{{NewRef|feature/signing-guildpact-2006-01-09|Signing Onto the Guildpact|[[Rei Nakazawa]]|January 09, 2006}}</ref> The [[Gruul]] ravages the streets. [[Teysa]] leads the [[Orzhov Syndicate]] to "cleanse" them. And [[Agrus Kos]] doesn't give a damn.<ref>{{NewRef|feature/italicized-world-guildpact-2006-02-13|The Italicized World of Guildpact|[[Doug Beyer]]|February 13, 2006}}</ref>
 ===Misprints===
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 ==Mechanics and themes==
-''Guildpact'' continued the guild model and introduced the next three two-color [[Guilds of Ravnica|guild]]s, each with their own [[keyword]]. The introduced guilds are as follows:
+''Guildpact'' continued the guild model and introduced the next three two-color [[Ravnican guilds|guild]]s, each with their own [[keyword]]. The introduced guilds are as follows:
 {| class="wikitable"