Guilds of Ravnica


Updated 1-10-18
Guilds of Ravnica will be released this week on MTG Arena, and is time to prepare ourselves for the new limited environment, we are going to get Sealed for the first time YAY!! this is way cool as we get to try the set before prerelease! So this time there are not so many resources to share before we dive into this new block, so this time around WE must figure out and discuss by ourselves: early pick orders, archetypes and build around cards.

I took a community set review survey and the results are an interesting point to start assessing the cards, they don't seem too far away from what I have gathered till now from more profesional sources and its interesting exercise, I fully recommend to take the commons and uncommons part so you can get a picture of the most relevant part of the card pool for limited porpuses.

As we approach Thursday we are going to get lots of new sources so feel free to join the conversation and drop any good article you find out there

BASICS
Understandig the signals
Beginners guide
Basic booster draft
Sealed by Reid Duke

Survey
Commons and Uncommons
Rare and Mythic
Results

Limited Resources
Mechanics and first take
Commons and Uncommons set review
First Impressions

Heroes & Legends
This guy gives a limited review focused on guilds and I thought this is one interesting way to approach this new set coz the guilds are the archetypes you wanna try out at first glance
Boros Guild
Dimir Guild
Golgari Guild
Izzet Guild
Selesnya

Strictly Better MtG
The Ultimate Guilds of Ravnica prerelease Guide!

Articles
Channelfireball
Early Look at Guilds of Ravnica Draft
LSV Limited set review
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green

Guilds Review
Boros
Dimir
Golgari
Izzet
Selesnya

Draftism is online with GRN
Draftism

So how do you guys think this set will play out?
I think is going to be a bit slow format that might be great for skill-intensive games and funky board states.
With all the gates and lockets it seems 3 color piles are going to rule control and midrange builds, while aggro piles should stick to the 2 color
anyway, we will find out soon enough!

Happy draft!

ok so first attempt at the Izzet pile
1 x League Guildmage
2 x Beamsplitter Mage
3 x Electrostatic Field
2 x Wee Dragonauts
1 x Runaway Steam-Kin
1 x Wojek Bodyguard
2 x Crackling Drake
2 x Rubblebelt Boar
1 x Muse Drake
1 x Hellkite Whelp
1 x Maximize Altitude
1 x Maximize Velocity
1 x Dazzling Lights
1 x Radical Idea
1 x Sonic Assault
1 x Chemister's Insight
1 x Gravitic Punch
1 x Hypothesizzle
8 x Mountain
8 x Island

Low on removal but heavy on the jump start cards and the rewards for casting spells... At first glance it looks all right to me...

Talking off removal, red has just 2 removal spells on the common slot
Command the storm
Direct current
and 2 more on the uncommon
Lava Coil -to bad it is a sorcery-
and Inescapable Blaze this one is 6 cmc tho

Blue has
Capture Sphere
And I think that one is going to be huge in this deck, clearing the air for Wee Argonauts and the Drakes

Murmuring Mystic seems amazing with all those jump start cards I bet he will be huge in Dimir and Izzet
Grixis doesn't sound half bad now that I think of it...

Early top five commons and uncommons per color / this are from the Community Set Review
Looking at this cards and their power level... I think the Grixis colors have the upper hand this time around -too early I know but still- besides on the multicolor cards you have Artful Take Down, Hypothesizzle and the Izzet guild Mage... any of those are worth the splash

Black



Red


Blue


White


Green

Based on draftsim's ratings, here's an early tierlist (numbers in brackets are the Draftsim ratings for that category):

Best Rares/Mythics (>= 4.0)
1 x Doom Whisperer
1 x Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice
1 x Light of the Legion
1 x Dream Eater
1 x March of the Multitudes
1 x Vraska, Golgari Queen
1 x Assassin's Trophy
1 x Underrealm Lich
1 x Niv-Mizzet, Parun
1 x Trostani Discordant


Top Uncommons / solid Rares (3.9-3.2)
1 x Status/Statue
1 x Price of Fame
1 x Conclave Tribunal
1 x Izoni, Thousand-Eyed
1 x Lava Coil
1 x Dawn of Hope
1 x Legion Warboss
1 x Find/Finality
1 x Integrity/Intervention
1 x Justice Strike
1 x Tajic, Legion's Edge
1 x Pelt Collector
1 x Ral, Izzet Viceroy
1 x Emmara, Soul of the Accord
1 x Swiftblade Vindicator
1 x Assure/Assemble
1 x Chamber Sentry
1 x Bounty of Might
1 x Nightveil Predator
1 x Venerated Loxodon
1 x Crackling Drake
1 x Etrata, the Silencer
1 x Nullhide Ferox
1 x Golgari Findbroker
1 x Knight of Autumn
1 x Conclave Cavalier
1 x Thief of Sanity
1 x Response Resurgence
1 x Deafening Clarion
1 x Truefire Captain


The part with the top 6 Commons (3.1-2.8)
1 x Deadly Visit
1 x Midnight Reaper
1 x Lazav, the Multifarious
1 x Boros Challenger
1 x Ritual of Soot
1 x Rampaging Monument
1 x Luminous Bonds
1 x Chemister's Insight
1 x Artful Takedown
1 x Beast Whisperer
1 x Expansion/Explosion
1 x Affectionate Indrik
1 x Connive/Concoct
1 x Hatchery Spider
1 x Charnel Troll
1 x Rosemane Centaur
1 x Hypothesizzle
1 x Arclight Phoenix
1 x Swarm Guildmage
1 x House Guildmage
1 x League Guildmage
1 x Legion Guildmage
1 x Glowspore Shaman
1 x Wee Dragonauts
1 x Kraul Harpooner
1 x Dead Weight


Good playable (2.7-2.5)
1 x District Guide
1 x Command the Storm
1 x Inescapable Blaze
1 x Conclave Guildmage
1 x Ledev Champion
1 x Discovery/Dispersal
1 x Roc Charger
1 x Citywide Bust
1 x Plaguecrafter
1 x Camaraderie
1 x Hired Poisoner
1 x Capture Sphere
1 x Firemind's Research
1 x Quasiduplicate
1 x Arboretum Elemental
1 x Unexplained Disappearance
1 x Sunhome Stalwart
1 x Chromatic Lantern
1 x Goblin Cratermaker
1 x Notion Rain
1 x Invert/Invent
1 x Erratic Cyclops
1 x Citywatch Sphinx
1 x Skyknight Legionnaire
1 x Watcher in the Mist
1 x Dimir Spybug
1 x Siege Wurm
1 x Risk Factor
1 x Flower/Flourish
1 x Inspiring Unicorn
1 x Prey Upon
1 x Severed Strands
1 x Kraul Swarm
1 x Demotion
1 x Murmuring Mystic
1 x Healer's Hawk
1 x Direct Current
1 x Nightveil Sprite
1 x Darkblade Agent
1 x Blood Operative
1 x Swathcutter Giant
1 x Loxodon Restorer
1 x Sprouting Renewal
1 x Beacon Bolt
1 x Undercity Uprising
1 x Flight of Equenauts
1 x Experimental Frenzy
1 x Undercity Necrolisk
1 x Selective Snare
1 x Collar the Culprit


The part with the lands (2.4-2.3)
1 x Sacred Foundry
1 x Watery Grave
1 x Temple Garden
1 x Overgrown Tomb
1 x Steam Vents
1 x Dimir Informant
1 x Runaway Steam-Kin
1 x Ionize
1 x Garrison Sergeant
1 x Hunted Witness
1 x Disinformation Campaign
1 x Piston-Fist Cyclops
1 x Parhelion Patrol
1 x Join Shields
1 x Gird for Battle
1 x Gatekeeper Gargoyle
1 x Drowned Secrets
1 x Hellkite Whelp
1 x Spinal Centipede
1 x Burglar Rat
1 x Righteous Blow
1 x Selesnya Guildgate
1 x Boros Guildgate
1 x Izzet Guildgate
1 x Dimir Guildgate
1 x Golgari Guildgate
1 x Thought Erasure
1 x Necrotic Wound
1 x Guild Summit
1 x Whispering Snitch
1 x Vivid Revival
1 x Guildmages' Forum
1 x Molderhulk
1 x Gruesome Menagerie
1 x Centaur Peacemaker
1 x Thoughtbound Phantasm
1 x Ochran Assassin
1 x Circuitous Route
1 x Lotleth Giant
1 x Book Devourer
1 x Worldsoul Colossus
1 x Haazda Marshal
1 x Erstwhile Trooper
1 x Might of the Masses
1 x Wild Ceratok
1 x Ironshell Beetle
1 x Smelt-Ward Minotaur
1 x Cosmotronic Wave
1 x Douser of Lights
1 x Sworn Companions
1 x Intrusive Packbeast


Filler (2.2-2.0)
1 x Sinister Sabotage
1 x Barging Sergeant
1 x Hammer Dropper
1 x Goblin Electromancer
1 x Sumala Woodshaper
1 x Bounty Agent
1 x Blade Instructor
1 x Gateway Plaza
1 x Disdainful Stroke
1 x Goblin Banneret
1 x Wojek Bodyguard
1 x Enhanced Surveillance
1 x Ledev Guardian
1 x Beamsplitter Mage
1 x Generous Stray
1 x Vernadi Shieldmate
1 x Pitiless Gorgon
1 x Vigorspore Wurm
1 x Pack's Favor
1 x Hitchclaw Recluse
1 x Sure Strike
1 x Rubblebelt Boar
1 x Ornery Goblin
1 x Fire Urchin
1 x Pilfering Imp
1 x Bartizan Bats
1 x Vedalken Mesmerist
1 x Muse Drake
1 x Leapfrog
1 x Skyline Scout
1 x Radical Idea
1 x Moodmark Painter
1 x Fresh-Faced Recruit
1 x Whisper Agent
1 x Golgari Raiders
1 x Mission Briefing
1 x Chance for Glory
1 x Kraul Foragers
1 x Rhizome Lurcher
1 x Electrostatic Field
1 x Street Riot
1 x Gravitic Punch
1 x Fearless Halberdier
1 x Veiled Shade
1 x Child of Night
1 x Wishcoin Crab
1 x Tenth District Guard
1 x Take Heart
1 x Devkarin Dissident
1 x Narcomoeba
1 x Sonic Assault
1 x Wary Okapi
1 x Izzet Locket
1 x Selesnya Locket
1 x Golgari Locket
1 x Dimir Locket
1 x Boros Locket
1 x Passwall Adept
1 x Omnispell Adept
1 x Wand of Vertebrae
1 x Divine Visitation
1 x Mnemonic Betrayal
1 x Urban Utopia
1 x Wall of Mist
1 x Dazzling Lights
1 x Candlelight Vigil


Bad filler or unplayable (<2)
1 x Mausoleum Secrets
1 x Glaive of the Guildpact
1 x Maximize Velocity
1 x Goblin Locksmith
1 x Grappling Sundew
1 x Crushing Canopy
1 x Torch Courier
1 x Maximize Altitude
1 x Never Happened
1 x Thousand-Year Storm
1 x Silent Dart
1 x Portcullis Vine
1 x Mephitic Vapors
1 x Crush Contraband
1 x Barrier of Bones
1 x Devious Cover-Up
1 x Maniacal Rage
1 x Pause for Reflection
1 x Vicious Rumors
1 x Creeping Chill
1 x Unmoored Ego

//Deck from draftsim.com
1 Boros Challenger
2 Fresh-Faced Recruit
1 Fire Urchin
1 Sunhome Stalwart
3 Skyknight Legionnaire
1 Blade Instructor
2 Hammer Dropper
1 Rubblebelt Boar
1 Garrison Sergeant
3 Barging Sergeant
2 Take Heart
1 Sure Strike
3 Boros Locket
1 Cosmotronic Wave
4 Boros Guildgate
1 Gateway Plaza
6 Mountain
6 Plains

Dimir, Izzet and Grixis are way easier to build, I still can´t build a Mentor or a Convoke deck...
Mentor is really hard to build... but maybe the bots on draftism just suck

The bots suck. I'm getting Hypothesizzle in the last 5 picks of packs. And lockets and gates are way underdrafted

Always nice to have a guide to go on. Just wish WOTC had the cards in Gatherer once the full spoiler went up. It's just sloppy that they don't.

3 colours may be best like running dimir and golari together.

Looking at that list I'd say glowspore shaman seems overrated. Guildmage forum is probably underrated and fire urchin is most likely underrated, I need to look at it more. Golgari raider being filler feels a little too generous too.

I actually think Glowspore Shaman's and Guildmages' Forum's positions are accurate.
A 3/1 for 2 that makes sure you hit your next land drop (if necessary) and fills up your graveyard for Undergrowth and other shenanigans is really good. The one thing that stops me from taking it early is the prohibitive mana cost if you're not Golgari, but Golgari seems like the faction equipped best to possibly splash. The card's payoff is high enough that you can pick it early and speculate.
On the other hand, Ruins of Oran-Rief was quite bad in OGW draft, and I don't see how Guildmage's Forum is that much better. Paying 1 more mana for a +1/+1 counter and fixing is okay, but the rest of the time you're making your mana worse. Painted Bluffs is not a good card, this is a little better but I'd rather have Guildgates than Forum.
I agree on Fire Urchin probably being underrated a bit (think Fire Urchin vs. guildgate is a close pick); not quite sure about Golgari Raiders yet (they could be REALLY good super-lategame where they come down as a 5/5 or 6/6 Haste and are bigger than the whole board, but obviously are terrible during development. If the format is very slow, I could actually see them being underrated, if the format's fast they're unplayable period, ATM I think the format is leaning slow but not very slow, which would make filler accurate.)


That said, I do have my own gripes with the ratings as well. Here's a shortlist of some of my impressions:
-Niv-Mizzet, Parun is probably overrated a ton. He's quite powerful once resolved, but that doesn't make up for the _really_ prohibitive manacost IMO. Also, at this point in the draft I'd consider Izzet to probably be the worst guild to be in. I'd pick quite a few Uncommons over him.
-While Statue is probably splashable the moment your deck can cast Status, IMO Status/Statue is only the third best Uncommon after Price of Fame and Conclave Tribunal (I do think it's slightly better than Lava Coil, but not by much).
-Venerated Loxodon is slightly underrated IMO, though I'll have to see how it plays out. A free Verdurous Gearhulk seems great, but the creatures not being able to attack that turn is definitely a downside.
-I don't know how fast/slow the format will be, but Kraul Harpooner seems quite a bit underrated. Over-statted 2-drop (3/2 Reach) (that kills Wee Dragonauts or Roc Charger on ETB) or a sorcery speed Plummet lategame (while filling Undergrowth) give it a huge amount of applications. I think the power level here is very comparable to Deadly Visit.
-Hired Poisoner seems slightly overrated; while I do see its appeal in the earlygame, todecking it late seems bad enough that I'd be picking it a bit lower.
-Demotion seems overrated a TON. Visions of Brutality saw very little play during OGW draft, Demotion is mostly worse. Also, Boros (which is the faction to mostly be interested in it) has Maniacal Rage, which is wanted more in the hyper-aggressive decks Demotion would fit into (it's more flexible). I'd value it as bad filler.
-Parhelion Patrol seems underrated a little. Being able to mentor while being mentored on AND having evasion seems like a very important piece to the RW deck this format; and in Selesnya it'll pump enough small dudes as well.
-Wand of Vertebrae is unplayable instead of filler IMO.

Also Chromatic Lantern is probably overrated and the Lockets are probably underrated a little. I'd firstpick Lantern over a Locket, but would play any on-colour Locket over Lantern if I'm three-colour.

I understand your concerns about Niz Mizzet, but here's the counterargument: Niv Mizzet is absolutely bonkers and he wins you the game if he survives one turn. Also, while Izzet might be the weakest guild, it has a solid late game and it's also probably the most likely to be open in draft. While Dimir is certainly better in Standard, it doesn't have a ton of big payoffs. If you somehow get Niv Mizzet, you'll have arguably the second strongest finisher in the entire set and access to lots of card draw and removal in the Izzet colors. He would be really annoying to open Pack 3 in draft, but if it's Pack 1, or if its Sealed, he's a legit game changer that I honestly wouldn't mind that much waiting beyond Turn 6 to get online if necessary. He's that powerful.

I hope the MtGA bots are as bad at evaluating dual lands and lockets.
So, is this a slow 3-color format or am I doing it wrong?

2 x Child of Night
2 x Plaguecrafter
2 x Ochran Assassin
1 x Whisper Agent
1 x Sumala Woodshaper
1 x Rosemane Centaur
1 x Kraul Foragers
2 x Affectionate Indrik
2 x Vigorspore Wurm
1 x Molderhulk
1 x Status Statue
1 x Assassin's Trophy
1 x Severed Strands
2 x Golgari Locket
1 x Selesnya Locket
1 x Conclave Tribunal
1 x Undercity Uprising
1 x Selesnya Guildgate 2
1 x Selesnya Guildgate 1
1 x Overgrown Tomb
7 x Swamp
4 x Forest
3 x Plains

Nah there is bound to be a lot of 3 colour decks with gates and lockets; sultai, naya, grixis, jeskai and abzan are all viable with sultai and grixis maybe having the most synergy followed by naya.
The others, like the guilds themselves, would be rather forced, more difficult to pull together and inadvisable.

5 colour gates may also be fringe but I wouldn't aim for it, just maybe if its starts to come together.

5-colour green does seem possible with Circuitous Route, District Guide, Chromatic Lantern and enough Gates. Given how colour-intensive the really good cards are, I'd much prefer to be 2-colour splashing a third (maybe a fourth).
In that regard, the format seems a lot like KTK, only that in KTK 3-colour was the norm and the cards were less colour-intensive (also Morph was a thing).

@Modulo why do you think Izzet is the worst guild? I think is one of the better ones, I don't think Boros -aka the Aggro deck at first glance- is consistent or fast enough to bend the meta around him, thus giving space for the more midrange controlish builds to shine. Izzet and Dimir have solid flyers on blue and some of the jump start cards in red /izzet are removal so that could be huge in limited.
I think Grixis and Sultai look pretty sexy, Abzan might be great changing tactics from the Convoke, early game to Undergrowth late game.

Three reasons:
1) Overall card quality. It feels like the Izzet cards are always a nudge below their counterparts out of other guilds. Out of the best Rares/Mythics according to Draftsim, only Niv-Mizzet is even playable in Izzet, and I already stated my reservatios about him. Izzet is the only guild without access to either Status/Statue, Price of Fame or Conclave Tribunal; their best removal spell is Lava Coil. Both of their split cards are jank. Many of their Rares and Mythics (Ionize, Firemind's Research, Thousand-Year Storm) are jank. I'll give that Hypothesizzle is sweet and that they have the best Guildmage IMO, but overall Izzet offers a hot, steaming pile of garbo.

2) Their mechanic is supported the least. Out of the Jump-Start cards, only Chemister's Insight and Quasiduplicate strike me as good (and Quasiduplicate is questionable in a deck that wants to be rather spell-heavy). Direct Current and maybe Radical Idea are sort of playable, the other Jumpstarters absolutely stink for Limited unless you're hyper-aggressive (which Izzet does not have the creatures for). Also, while there is some support for spells-matter, it's not enough to push it over the edge of the other mechanics, who have a LOT better enablers.

3) The "split personality". Looking at the Izzet cards, most of them are either hyper-aggressive or hyper-durdle, and there's not much in between. When drafting Izzet, you have to decide on one direction at some point; which means that half of the cards in your colours are just not good for you; and that's not a place you want to be in. The other guilds don't share this problem as most of their cards contribute to whatever gameplan they chase after.

I don't think there is one hyper-aggressive Izzet pile, to be honest, I think the Izzet pile is a tempo pile with flyers and GY value, jump start should work great with the surveil blue cards Dazzling lights and Unexplained Disappearance should shine in this deck.

Hypotezzizle has a ton of value, Direct Current and Beacon Bolt are both clunky but recurrent removal in Limited should be huge and you also got Capture Sphere in blue.

The spells matter thing... that doesn't look consistent enough, and you should not go there without Murmuring Mystic IMO.

In matters of the worst guild, I think the Golgari pile offers the most clunky gameplan.

Golgari might be clunky, but green and black both have good creatures.

Ok so first Sealed went like crap 2-3 I built one horrendous Boros stuff that came short every time, second Sealed went 7-2!! with a sultai pile that was an absolute blast to play.



The Snitch overperformed quite a lot keeping me alive vs some boros piles, and Vraska... is freaking great... she is quite useful in the late game turning dead lands into fresh cards, the pile is pretty much what I thought was going to be one awesome Sultai deck so I´m quite happy.

... and never again I spend gems on packs... is far better to go for sealed... damit!!