Return to Ravnica Event decks Intro packs

For other uses, see Ravnica (disambiguation).

Return to Ravnica is the first set in the Return to Ravnica block. It is the 59th Magic expansion and was released on October 5, 2012.[2][3]

Set details [ edit ]

Return to Ravnica contains 274 cards (25 basic lands, 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares), including randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set. As was the case with the original Ravnica block, Return to Ravnica focuses on the guild system and multicolor cards.[4][5] Five guilds — the Azorius Senate, Golgari Swarm, Izzet League, Cult of Rakdos, and Selesnya Conclave — are featured in Return to Ravnica; the other five guilds appear in the following expansion, Gatecrash.[6] Because R&D had to fit in five guilds, rather than four, the set contained more uncommon cards than usual.[7] It is is unknown what the expansion symbol of this is set is meant to represent, though some people think it is a stylized Orzhov Mitre, a nib of a fountain pen or a gate.

As Gatecrash would not feature any basic lands, despite being a large expansion, Return to Ravnica featured 25 basic lands, 5 more than the usual 20.[8] For the first time basic lands were printed in an expert expansion with reused artwork: one of each basic land type featured artwork previously used in the Ravnica block.[9] Return to Ravnica also marked the return of the shock lands.[10]

Richard Whitters was the Return to Ravnica Lead Concept Artist. He, alongside Aleksi Briclot, Pete Mohrbacher, Wayne Reynolds, Sam Burley, Jeremy Jarvis, created the Return to Ravnica motif sheets and style guide.[11]

Flavor and storyline [ edit ]

“ Choose Your Guild ”

As the name of the expansion implies, Return to Ravnica is set in Ravnica, a plane comprising a singular megalopolis or ecumenopolis,[12] in which a vast and diverse variety of inhabitants co-exist.[13][14][15] Once, the law of city and plane of Ravnica was dictated by the Guildpact and was controlled in relative harmony by the ten guilds, each of which representing a color pairing of the five colors of Magic. In Dissension, however, the Guildpact had been broken.[16] Faced with a magical code that is built into the very foundations of the city-world itself, Jace Beleren marches into the numinous depths of Ravnica's underbelly in search of the promise of powerful magic. Once buried in past, the code resurfaces as Ravnica's power-hungry mage guilds, unbound by the Guildpact that had once maintained order, struggle for control of the plane.

Magic Story [ edit ]

Main article: Magic Story

Marketing [ edit ]

Jace and Niv-Mizzet

Return to Ravnica 6-card booster 6-card booster

Return to Ravnica was sold in 16-card boosters, 6-card boosters, five intro packs, two event decks and a fat pack. As a first for an expert-level set, it also featured a Booster Battle Pack.[17] The 16-card boosters featured artwork from Korozda Guildmage, New Prahv Guildmage, Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius, Rix Maadi Guildmage and Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage.[18] The small booster featured artwork from Vraska the Unseen.

An early preview picture of the set showed Niv-Mizzet, the leader of the Izzet League, adjacent to planeswalker Jace Beleren.[2] Wizards of the Coast created a "Choose Your Guild" interactive quiz and Planeswalker Points Web page for the expansion, allowing Magic players to choose their guild. At the expansion's prerelease events on September 29–30, 2012, players chose their guild;[19][20] a choice that affected gameplay, as, in addition to receiving five Return to Ravnica boosters, players received a guild-specific sticker, an acceptance letter from their guild leader,[21] a spindown life counter, a promotional prerelease card, an achievement/challenge card, and an additional guild-specific booster.[22][23] The launch party was October 5–7, 2012 [24] and Game Day was October 27–28, 2012.

In September 2012, Mark Rosewater confirmed that Magic novels would return as e-books, with Doug Beyer writing them.[25] On November 28, 2012, Doug Beyer introduced the novel written for Return to Ravnica as The Secretist, with the first part being available from then onwards as an e-book.[26] The novel is centered around Jace Beleren.

In addition to interactive online activities and promotional cards, after widespread interest expressed on the part of the people on Twitter, Wizards of the Coast paired up with licensing partner Araca to produce guild t-shirts[27] and baseball caps.[28]

Promotional cards [ edit ]

For the first time, there were five promotional prerelease cards, with the card received dependent on the guild chosen. Another novel feature of the Return to Ravnica prerelease was the fact that the card could be played in decks at the prerelease itself, unlike previous promotional prerelease cards,[20] were:

These cards were also available in the intro packs as foils, albeit without the alternate art and prerelease date.[29]

Other alternate-art promotional cards were:[30]

Tokens [ edit ]

The sixteenth card in the boosters is a token creature card. Although there are advertising cards on them, one of which featuring Gideon Jura on its front face, there are no "Tips & Tricks" cards associated with Return to Ravnica.[31]

The Return to Ravnica tokens, in the order in which they are listed, are:[32]

Themes and mechanics [ edit ]

Return to Ravnica revisits five of the ten Ravnica block bicolored guilds, each of which with its own keyword or ability word that is similar but not identical to the original one.[34][35][36] As a returning mechanic, the set also featured hybrid mana.[37] Development focused efforts on building a 'slow' and 'fast' strategy into each guild.[38]

To note: the Guilds are presented in the official order, but they were originally displayed alphabetically by Wizard: Azorius Senate, Golgari Swarm, Izzet League, Cult of Rakdos, Selesnya Conclave.

Other themes and mechanics include:

Defender

Enchantments [41] Land auras

Gates

Creature types [ edit ]

No novel creature types were introduced in this expansion.

Cycles [ edit ]

Guild cycles [ edit ]

For cycles that are part of the guild mega cycles, see Return to Ravnica block#Mega cycles.

Guild cycles in Return to Ravnica each comprise of five members, one for each guild featured in the expansion. Along with many of the Gatecrash guild cycles, many of the Return to Ravnica guild cycles form Return to Ravnica block mega cycles.

Pairs [ edit ]

Return to Ravnica has one mirrored pair and one matched pair.

Mirrored pairs [ edit ]

Mirrored Pairs Description Downsize

Dynacharge

Monocolored spells that cost M and have Overload

Matched pairs [ edit ]

Matched Pairs Description Chemister's Trick

Teleportal

Multicolored non-permanent spells costing

Although Rakdos's Return and Sphinx's Revelation are an apparent mirrored pair, with their similar, but opposite, effects and similar, but non-identical, casting costs, Mark Rosewater has stated they are not in fact a mirrored pair, neither intentionally nor unintentionally, on multiple occasions.[43][44] Furthermore, the sphinx referred to in Sphinx's Revelation is not, or at least not necessarily, Isperia, the guildmaster of the Azorius Senate in the Return to Ravnica block.[45] Rosewater has, however, said that Magic players, being who they are, will invariably think that the two cards are a mirrored pair, and that they are what people see them to be; either a mirrored pair or not.[46]

Reprinted cards [ edit ]

The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets and included in Return to Ravnica:

Functional reprints [ edit ]

Strictly better [ edit ]

Strictly worse [ edit ]

Notable cards [ edit ]

Preconstructed decks [ edit ]

Intro packs [ edit ]

Return to Ravnica has five bicolored guild-centric intro packs.[29]

Event decks [ edit ]

Return to Ravnica has two bicolored event decks.[48][49]

Event

deck name Colors included Creep and Conquer B G Wrack and Rage B R

Gallery [ edit ]

Notes [ edit ]