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Ravnica

Ravnica: City of Guilds
Ravnica common expansion symbol
Released October 7, 2005
Size 306 (88 rares, 88 uncommons, 110 commons, 20 lands)
Keywords Convoke, Transmute, Dredge, Radiance
Mechanics Guild system, hybrid mana
Designers Mark Rosewater (lead), Tyler Bielman, Mike Elliott, Aaron Forsythe, and Richard Garfield
Developers Brian Schneider (lead), Aaron Forsythe, Mark L. Gottlieb, Matt Place, Paul Sottosanti, and Henry Stern
Development code Control
Expansion code RAV
First set in the Ravnica block
Ravnica Guildpact Dissension
Ninth Edition Guildpact
Kamigawa Block Time Spiral Block
Guildpact
common expansion symbol
seal of the Guildpact
Released February 3, 2006
Size 165 (55 rares, 55 uncommons, 55 commons)
Keywords Haunt, Bloodthirst, Replicate
Mechanics Color alliances
Designers Mike Elliott (lead), Aaron Forsythe, Devin Low, Brian Schneider
Developers Henry Stern (lead), Aaron Forsythe, Cormac Russell, Brian Schneider, and Mike Turian
Development code Alt
Expansion code GPT
Second set in the Ravnica block
Ravnica Guildpact Dissension
Ravnica Dissension
Kamigawa Block Time Spiral Block
Dissension
Dissension common expansion symbol
broken seal of the Guildpact
Released May 5, 2006
Size 180 (60 rares, 60 uncommons, 60 commons)
Keywords Graft, Hellbent, Forecast
Mechanics Multicolored cards, Hybrid cards, Split cards
Designers Aaron Forsythe (lead), Brandon Bozzi, Mark L. Gottlieb, and Mark Rosewater
Developers Matt Place (lead), Mark Rosewater, Brian Schneider, and Steve Warner
Development code Delete
Expansion code DIS
Third set in the Ravnica block
Ravnica Guildpact Dissension
Guildpact Coldsnap
Kamigawa Block Time Spiral Block

Ravnica is a Magic: The Gathering block that consists of three expert-level expansion sets: Ravnica: City of Guilds (October 7, 2005), Guildpact (February 3, 2006), and Dissension (May 5, 2006). Following in the tradition of other Magic blocks, Ravnica takes place in a plane of the multiverse that was previously unexplored in the game's backstory. The world of Ravnica is an ecumenopolis, a vast city that covers the entire surface of its planet, and is home to a diverse assortment of sentient races. Much power in Ravnica is held by the ten "guilds", political factions that each represent a combination of two of Magic's five colors. The mythology of Ravnica is loosely derived from Slavic folklore, and the character names reflect this. This plane was revisited in the Return to Ravnica block.

Ravnica was conceived following the success of Invasion. Invasion, released in 2000, emphasized interactions between the colors, and it was one of Magic's most popular releases ever. Magic's lead designer, Mark Rosewater, wanted to expand on the multicolor theme in a new way. Therefore, the design of Ravnica is based around ten two-color pairs, including cards in which those pairs of colors work in concert.

The Ravnica block is functionally different from Invasion block due to the interaction of the multi-colored theme. In the Invasion block, for example, the first two sets (Invasion and Planeshift) centered around friendly colors and the harmony they create when put together. The last set, Apocalypse, emphasized enemy colors and areas where the colors contrast and possibly create powerful effects. However, the Ravnica block features a limited number of color combinations (some friendly, some enemy) in every set based on what guilds are present. All the multicolor cards in Ravnica block (and many other cards) are associated with one of the ten guilds.


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