Keywords in Guilds of Ravnica

Guilds of Ravnica releases on the 5th of October and finally some cards of the brand new set have been spoiled. After Ravnica and Return to Ravnica, this is the third time we can enjoy a great format, which is all about Guilds. Ravnica is known for its great constructed cards like , , and, of course, the Shocklands. But, in addition, many magic players would agree that it was the best draft format of all time. Playing with cards like Jace, Architect of Thought or Sphinx's Revelation from Return to Ravnica was a blast and playing limited was no less amazing. There is no reason why we should not be looking forward to Guilds of Ravnica and while there have only been 40 cards spoiled at the time of writing, the keywords of each Guild are known already. In this article, I will share my thoughts on the different new keywords of each Guild.

Keywords of Ravnica

Convoke

The keyword of Selesnya is the only one we've seen already. Convoke cards benefit from multiple creatures in play and the best way to abuse Convoke is with tokens. In the past, I can't remember a standard deck having much success which focused on cards with Convoke. I guess the main issue with this strategy is that you need a lot of creatures in play to abuse Convoke and then you are just too vulnerable to mass removal. Also tapping your creatures to cast Convoke spells is a disadvantage because you're giving up attackers or blockers for that turn. I think a Convoke card can only be interesting for constructed if the card is good on its own and Convoke functions more like a bonus. This is true for , which is a decent play for 4 mana, but having to option to play it for less mana is great. Another way to push Convoke cards are creatures which benefit from tapping such as . Overall I think Convoke is more important as a draft archetype than an important keyword for standard, but it is also a bit early to say that.

Mentor

It is no surprise that the keyword of Boros is all about attacking. If you are building your sealed or draft deck, you should make sure that you've got enough creatures in your deck, which have less power than the creature with Mentor. Otherwise, you can't get value in form of the +1+1 counter. I think that there will be a new aggressive red deck in standard which plays some creatures with Mentor such as together with small creatures and burn. The new Goblin reminds me of , which was a very good card in Standard and it also sees play in Modern here and there. I would not be surprised if Legion Warboss plays a big role in the new Standard format because it procures value immediately once the opponent has no instant removal ready and can take over a game quickly if it is unanswered.

Surveil

Well, the Dimir's keyword is pretty much Scry, but better. Scry has always been a good effect in Magic: The Gathering and many cards with Scry have seen play in constructed. Surveil is clearly an upgrade to Scry because having the choice to put the top card of your deck into your graveyard instead on the bottom of your library is powerful when abusing graveyard strategies. The other two new keywords - Jump-Start and Undergrowth – also benefit from Surveil. and look promising for Standard, just because they have Surveil. I remember that Dissolve saw play in standard, so there is no reason Sinister Sabotage should not and Thought Erasure could be a pretty good sideboard card. In Limited, surveil could even be more powerful, since at some point of the game putting lands in your graveyard with surveil is like drawing cards. could easily be the best common since it is unconditional removal with Surveil 2. Surveil looks like the best keyword for constructed and I am sure we will see some cards with Surveil in the upcoming Standard format.

Jump-Start

The new keyword of Izzet is Jump-start. Jump-start functions basically like Flashback, but with the additional cost of discarding a card. Discarding a card can be a huge cost, but sometimes it also can be no cost at all if you have useless cards in your hand. Discarding a card with Jump-Start to Jump-start can be a nice, too. Cards like Direct Current are definitely good spells in limited because you can just kill a small creature and at some point you can get rid of excessive lands to kill another creature. You can also just kill a bigger creature if you have 6 mana and are willing to discard a card. I love keywords like Jump-start because cards with such keywords give you more options and therefore, make games more interesting. The combination of Surveil and Jump-start will be an interesting one and will definitely come up in Limited and hopefully also in Standard.

Undergrowth

Golgari's keyword is Undergrowth. I doubt that Undergrowth is a very good ability for constructed, at least for Standard. Filling your graveyard with spells is easy with removal and cantrips, but filling your graveyard with creatures is much more difficult. The best way to get creatures in your graveyard is to mill yourself but usually you need spells in your deck to do so. Spells with Undergrowth like are strong then, but every spell in your deck means less creatures. Finding the right balance here can be problematic. I'm guessing that they only way Undergrowth becomes a powerful effect in Standard is if there are good creatures which mill yourself with etb abilities and creatures with undergrowth that take advantage of said milling. Up until now, there are only two cards spoiled with Undergrowth. We have , which can be a decent limited card and does not need tons of creatures in your graveyard to work and Necrotic Wound, which can be absolutely nuts when you can exile a creature for just one mana. I am unsure if Necrotic Wound will see play in the upcoming standard format because it really needs a good setup, otherwise it's a dead card in your hand. Maybe Modern is the right format for Necrotic Wound, for example in decks like R/B Bridgevine or Hollow One.

Conclusion

The first impression of Guilds of Ravnica is not one of disappointment. Keywords like Undergrowth, Mentor or Convoke clearly influence the way you build your limited or constructed decks. Jump-start and Surveil look quite powerful and you should keep an eye on upcoming cards with those keywords because they can have a huge impact on constructed, especially on Standard. See you next time when I will discuss more cards from Guilds of Ravnica!

Thanks for reading

Christian Seibold

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily Cardmarket.