Guilds of Ravnica coming soon?

Mburn7

NinjaE said:

What planeswalkers (and what color combinations for them) can we expect from the new set?

There's a new GB Vraska (sacrifice and destruction focused) and a new UR Ral (spell focused) in the paper set.  I would assume we get those here, plus possibly one other one (since we usually get 3 new walkers every set)

NinjaE

Thanks @Mburn7 !

Laeuftbeidir

Mburn7 said:

Grixis197 said:

FindingHeart8 said:

I spent all my crystals on the Eldrazi planeswalker, never going to use him, but I'm thinking I can probably get all those crystals back (and more) before they release a new set worth spending them on

I bought Nissa, not Eldrazi he ain’t that good tell me does he still not have green if you use him other events?

He works the same as Karn in other events (or so I'm told).  Number of colors is node dependent.

That being said I think his mana gains are too low to be useful anyway, especially with how expensive Eldrazi cards are.

Nissa, on the other hand, is quite fun to use.  I'd get her if I wasn't waiting to get Vivien when she comes out

I

 plan to use him with a karn deck I use that regularly wins in <5 turns.. In this context, his mana is superior. But thats it.

"plan" = after I leveled him. He's currently at priority 3, will likely be leveled next year (assuming we don't get too many new walkers)

Tilwin90

Mburn7 said:

NinjaE said:

What planeswalkers (and what color combinations for them) can we expect from the new set?

There's a new GB Vraska (sacrifice and destruction focused) and a new UR Ral (spell focused) in the paper set.  I would assume we get those here, plus possibly one other one (since we usually get 3 new walkers every set)

Interesting observation @Mburn7
Though I doubt they will be deviating from the standard printed planeswalkers. Let's take a peek:

- Origins: Nissa, Liliana, Chandra, Jace, Gideon (same as paper, for a total of whooping 5 per set)
- BFZ Block - a weird total of 7, caused by OGW
      - BFZ: Gideon2, Kiora, Ob Nixilis (same as paper)
      - OGW: Koth + Tezz1 + Ajani2 + Sarkhan1 (instead of Nissa/Chandra in paper - this deviation here is surprising, no doubt. I don't know Hibernium history so I don't actually know the real order in which they released walkers)
- SOI Block - paper went for the more than usual number of PWs and upped it to 6
     - SOI: Jace2, Arlinn, Nahiri, Sorin (same as paper)
     - EMN: Liliana2 (same as paper, Tamiyo missing)
- KLD Block - paper once again went with slightly more PWs for a total of 6
    - KLD: Chandra2, Nissa2, Dovin, Saheeli (same as paper)
    - AER: Tezz2, Ajani2 (same as paper)
- AMK Block - here we get a slight deviation, and I have my theory for it
    - AMK: Liliana3, Gideon3, Nissa3 (same as paper)
    - HOU: Samut, Bolas1, Elspeth - here we have a deviation, initially Elspeth was printed (supposedly in place of Bolas), after Octagon came to be they released Bolas1 too, leading to one more PW than in paper magic
- IXN Block - Octagon stuck to what was released in paper
    - IXN: Jace3, Vraska, Huatli1 (same as paper)
    - RIX: Huatli2, Angrath (same as paper)
- DOM: Jaya, Teferi, Karn (what's surprising here about sticking to paper is actually finding a way to make Karn work)
- M19 - it's yet unknown what to expect from the new core sets, but having six walkers instead of the regular 5 in a coreset is not unprecedented (see 2013) - no deviations from paper magic yet again

For paper GRN it has been confirmed that there will be 5 walkers in the two sets (2 in the first set, 3 in the second set). All of them are in the colors of Bolas aligned guilds, so we have confirmation that there will be no GW, UB or RW walkers released in the upcoming set. 

If we follow Octagon's pattern, it seems highly likely that we will get only Ral and Vraska as official walkers for GRN set. If they choose to compensate with new walkers they will most likely do it via supplementary sets,  now that the "duels" format is out.

madwren

Tilwin90 said:

Mburn7 said:

NinjaE said:

What planeswalkers (and what color combinations for them) can we expect from the new set?

There's a new GB Vraska (sacrifice and destruction focused) and a new UR Ral (spell focused) in the paper set.  I would assume we get those here, plus possibly one other one (since we usually get 3 new walkers every set)

Interesting observation @Mburn7
Though I doubt they will be deviating from the standard printed planeswalkers. Let's take a peek:

- Origins: Nissa, Liliana, Chandra, Jace, Gideon (same as paper, for a total of whooping 5 per set)
- BFZ Block - a weird total of 7, caused by OGW
      - BFZ: Gideon2, Kiora, Ob Nixilis (same as paper)
      - OGW: Koth + Tezz1 + Ajani2 + Sarkhan1 (instead of Nissa/Chandra in paper - this deviation here is surprising, no doubt. I don't know Hibernium history so I don't actually know the real order in which they released walkers)

Two comments on your great list:

1. Just a typo, but OGW released Ajani 1, not Ajani 2 (you correctly list A2 under AER)

2. The OGW releases were likely because they wanted to build a critical mass of unique planeswalkers beyond the original five mono-colored ones. The allure of new content and all that. The prospect of another Chandra and another Nissa was a lot less exciting than bringing new characters/planeswalkers into the game. Please note Garruk also arrived early on as well, available as an event prize, though I can't recall if he was pre-OGW or not.

khurram

Actually all those PWs i.e. Aj1, koth tezz1 etc were released during BFZ and not OGW

Brigby

So there actually are going to be some slight changes to Standard following 3.0, and we'll be including that information in the Pre-Release Notes we plan on posting tomorrow.

madwren

That makes me a little nervous. Glad to see the notes coming!

wereotter

Tilwin90 said:

For paper GRN it has been confirmed that there will be 5 walkers in the two sets (2 in the first set, 3 in the second set). All of them are in the colors of Bolas aligned guilds, so we have confirmation that there will be no GW, UB or RW walkers released in the upcoming set. 

By this we mean Guilds that are allied with him, though not strictly in his color identity. We’ve got the green-black Vraska and the red-blue Ral. Common speculation. Is next set will include a white-blue, white-black, and red-green Walker so as to evenly split the colors as Wizards is keen to do.

If I had to go a step further, my money is on another Dovin, a Kaya, and Domri. Also there was leaked art showing Tamiyo on Ravnica, but I don’t see her allying with Bolas, so likely she will be in the third set. 

Thuran

Seems odd that azorious would allign with bolas, as the mist likely candidate to take over power of that guild is Lavinia, jace's secretary.

Of those missing, the most likely to ally with bolas are; Rakdos (duh), orzhov (just offer them a little cash),  and Domri and friends (street riot already mentions domri rade  wanting to start a fight)

That said, simic could also be easier to convince, as orzhov would be just as likely to want to keep things the way they are, and simic do tend to cause a lot of trouble, besides, eternals aren't exactly good news for orzhov and their ghost friends, since they cannot really control them.

Mburn7

Thuran said:

Seems odd that azorious would allign with bolas, as the mist likely candidate to take over power of that guild is Lavinia, jace's secretary.

Of those missing, the most likely to ally with bolas are; Rakdos (duh), orzhov (just offer them a little cash),  and Domri and friends (street riot already mentions domri rade  wanting to start a fight)

That said, simic could also be easier to convince, as orzhov would be just as likely to want to keep things the way they are, and simic do tend to cause a lot of trouble, besides, eternals aren't exactly good news for orzhov and their ghost friends, since they cannot really control them.

The reason everyone is assuming Azorious, Orzhov, and Gruul is because that would give Bolas 2 of every color under his control (all things balanced, as they should be)

The assumption is Domri leading the Gruul (because duh), Kaya being hired to assassinate the Obzedat (or threaten to kill them at least) and take over the Orzhov, and Dovin being brought in to run the Azorious.

Personally I have trouble believing the Dovin part too, and still think that there might just be some new UW walker that shows up.  But logically it makes most sense for Azorious to be Bolas-controlled.

Elektrophorus

Thuran said:

Seems odd that azorious would allign with bolas, as the mist likely candidate to take over power of that guild is Lavinia, jace's secretary.

Of those missing, the most likely to ally with bolas are; Rakdos (duh), orzhov (just offer them a little cash),  and Domri and friends (street riot already mentions domri rade  wanting to start a fight)

That said, simic could also be easier to convince, as orzhov would be just as likely to want to keep things the way they are, and simic do tend to cause a lot of trouble, besides, eternals aren't exactly good news for orzhov and their ghost friends, since they cannot really control them.

In my opinion, it it actually least likely that Rakdos would join Bolas. Despite having similar colors (and a more “evil” tone), Rakdos the character and Rakdos the guild both oppose Bolas in terms of ideology. Bolas wants complete subjugation and power, while Rakdos revel in free will and releasing inner desires. The guildmaster controls the cultists already, and allying with Bolas only lessens his hold on his following. The Cult of Rakdos has never attemped a crusade, and now is not the time to start.

Orzhov, under the Obzedat, is somewhat likely. However, the same issue arises when we consider that the livelihood of the Church relies on human affairs. Their ability to enslave people comes from debt, not force. They are a more subtle guild, acting under the pretense of “good” or “holy” (as a religious body). Aligning with a dragon no one has heard about goes against this.

wereotter

Thuran said:

Seems odd that azorious would allign with bolas, as the mist likely candidate to take over power of that guild is Lavinia, jace's secretary.

Of those missing, the most likely to ally with bolas are; Rakdos (duh), orzhov (just offer them a little cash),  and Domri and friends (street riot already mentions domri rade  wanting to start a fight)

That said, simic could also be easier to convince, as orzhov would be just as likely to want to keep things the way they are, and simic do tend to cause a lot of trouble, besides, eternals aren't exactly good news for orzhov and their ghost friends, since they cannot really control them.

This assumes Bolas is revealing his plan to the Guilds. Remember that Vraska had no idea when she agreed to ally with Bolas that his plan was to destroy the plane. She was only told “work for me, and I’ll make sure you’re the guildmaster and the golgari finally get some respect” He delivered, but it’s a short term victory once he sends the Immortal Sun and his army of eternals onto the plane.

Teysa wants the ghost council gone so she can actually run the guild, so agreeing to work with Bolas if he has Kaya eliminate them would make sense. Dovin is a man who is shunned on his home world, and it would make sense for him to jump at the chance to lead the Azorius is Bolas offered it to him. And the Gruul have always been disgruntled with the state of affairs on the plane. They’re really the only one Bolas could say “I want to destroy the city” and have them on board. The Gruul have been trying to destroy the city for years. 

Firinmahlazer

Brigby said:

So there actually are going to be some slight changes to Standard following 3.0, and we'll be including that information in the Pre-Release Notes we plan on posting tomorrow.

Ooooooooo. I'll shut up now. 

Szamsziel

Slight - origin with broken goes to legacy, m19 with not so broken bsz and angels goes to standard (I know, I know that this is against previous statements but...everything changes. Except war.)

NinjaE

So let's see those notes!

Brigby

NinjaE said:

So let's see those notes!

Ok  3.0 Pre-Release Notes

Tilwin90

Speaking of the upcoming guilds, some things I've been looking at (for hints) in GRN:
- The fact that Dimir is not Bolas aligned means that we don't necessarily have to expect Rakdos to be Bolas aligned either. This is a nice twist I actually enjoyed in GRN and am glad to see the Dimir have more or less of a spine when it comes to external corruption.
- One major event already happens in the Azorius guild, namely Isperia getting killed by Vraska. If this is not a ploy to put someone else in power on the Azorius seat, I'm not sure what else is. This is a major hint and I think we can expect an UW Bolas-aligned planeswalker to take the leadership on the guilds of bureaucrats. (let's face it, bureaucracy is evil)
- Some GRN cards mention interesting texts on guilds (suggesting some movement outside the five that are actually in GRN):
      - Gruul - Collar the Culprit (coordinated action in districts from Gruul), Street Riot (Domri Radi stirring a revolt), Maniacal Rage
      - Azorius -  Assassin's Trophy (already presented above as major hint in Bolas direction)
   From these I strongly believe Domri Rade will be manipulated into getting Gruul on a full riot against the Boros
- Nothing points at the Orzhov unfortunately, or I couldn't find any hints in GRN. But my bets are on them, especially with Kaya being featured on the Ravnica novel cover (it's too big of a coincidence with her making an appearance and the leader of the Orzhov being a ghost council...). Would be weird to see her ruling the guild though, she doesn't seem that much of a leader... 

ALEJANDROID

NinjaE said:

So let's see those notes!

Did I missed it? or there is no Card Gallery yet?

Also it is great to see the increase in the standard sets

Brigby

ALEJANDROID said:

NinjaE said:

So let's see those notes!

Did I missed it? or there is no Card Gallery yet?

Also it is great to see the increase in the standard sets

Not yet, but we plan on sharing it later this week.