Beyond the Norm: Announcing Ravnica Allegiance Mechanics

With Ravnica Allegiance just around the corner, it’s time for us here at Wizards to preview the guild mechanics for the set!

Azorius

With Teferi in the format, we couldn’t lean too hard into its control identity. Luckily, Dovin Baan taking over the Azorius guild gave us a perfect opportunity to bring back a fan favorite: energy!

That’s right, this January, you’ll get to see what happens when the lawmakers of the Azorius Senate get all doped up on some of that sweet, sweet Kaladesh juice. Take a look at just one of the cards that will be shaping Standard in the months to come:

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Rogue Lawmaker

1WU

3/2

When Rogue Lawmaker enters the battlefield, draw a card and you get EE (two energy counters).

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After extensive testing, we’ve determined that this card will be a fair and balanced addition to Standard. But what to do with all this free energy? Fear not! You may have noticed some thopters flying around in Hallowed Fountain’s new art. Well, those thopters had to come from somewhere…

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Whirler of New Prahv

1WU

2/3

When Whirler of New Prahv enters the battlefield, you get EEE (three energy counters).

EEE: Create a 1/1 Thopter artifact creature token with flying.

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We wanted to meet expectations re: energy with these designs, but we also wanted to stretch into some new territory.

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Dovin Baan, Tyrant

7WU

3

+1: You get E (one energy counter).

-2: Target creature gets -1/-0.

-8: Tap up to two target creatures. They don’t untap during their controller’s next untap step.

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That’s right, Dovin Baan makes energy! After his last design nearly broke the format, we needed to tone him down just a little bit. Don’t worry, Dovin will still be tearing it up in Standard (and maybe Legacy???), but he won’t be as broken as last time.

Gruul

We did a bunch of market research asking players what the first words they thought of were when thinking of each guild. For Gruul, the answer was overwhelmingly, “Not Gruul? Then die!” As such, we decided to lean into this identity for the Gruul by caring about watermarks for the first time in black-bordered Magic! The new mechanic is literally called, Not Gruul? Then Die! Here are some of the cards you can put into a Gruul deck in a little over a month’s time!

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Gruul Warrior

2GG

3/3

When Gruul Warrior enters the battlefield, it fights target creature you don’t control.

Not Gruul? Then Die – If the targeted creature does not have a Gruul watermark, Gruul Warrior gains deathtouch until end of turn.

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Gruul Lightning

XR

Sorcery

Gruul Lightning deals X damage to target creature.

Not Gruul? Then Die – If the targeted creature does not have have a Gruul watermark, Grull Lightning deals ten times X damage instead.

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Of course, Gruul wouldn’t be Gruul (and would then have to die) without fan favorites Domri Rade and Borborygmos!

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Domri Rade, the Most Gruul

1RG

3

+1: Create a 2/2 Red and Green Gruul creature token with a Gruul watermark

-2: Reveal the top five cards of your library. Put all cards with the Gruul watermark revealed this way into your hand and the rest into the graveyard.

-7: You get an emblem with, “Creatures you control have Gruul watermarks. Creatures you don’t control do not have Gruul watermarks. Creatures with Gruul watermarks have first strike, deathtouch, and trample. Creatures without Gruul watermarks lose all abilities.”

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Borborygmos, Super Mega Angry and Super Mega Gruul

4RRGG

10/10

When Borborygmos enters the battlefield, it deals 10 damage to each creature without a Gruul watermark.

Discard a card with a Gruul watermark: Borborygmos deals 10 damage to each creature without a Gruul watermark.

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Orzhov

We heard how disliked Extort was last time around, so we’ve decided to go back to Orzhov’s roots with a new take on the Haunt mechanic. Did players complain last time that Haunt was too complex? That nobody understood how to play with it? That it was weird how it did different things for spells and creatures? Sure, all those things might be true, but players are a lot smarter now. Furthermore, this was really the only way we could come up with to capture the flavor of ghosts battling ghosts, but being unable to be harmed by humans (except Kaya, of course). We really hold players’ hands this time around, too. Each pack will now include a roll-out Ghost Battlefield and Ghost Yarn. The new mechanic, Orzhaunt, requires setting up a second battlefield (a new zone called the Dead Zone) to put Ghosts in, but those Ghosts also are still Orzhaunting creatures on the real battlefield. We promise it’s simple once you play it a couple times!  Here is the new take on the mechanic!

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Ghostie Boi

WB

1/1

Orzhaunt – (When Ghostie Boi dies, create a token that is a copy of Ghostie Boi, except it is a Ghost. Ghosts cannot block or be blocked by non-Ghosts. They cannot be targeted by non-Ghost spells or abilities. They cannot leave the battlefield due to the effect of a non-Ghost spell or ability. Also, choose a creature or land for this Ghost to Orzhaunt.)

When Ghostie Boi is dealt damage, or the creature or land it haunts is tapped or dealt damage, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.

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Not too bad, right? Take a look at some others:

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 Orzhov Fiend

1BB

3/2

Orzhaunt – (When Orzhov Fiend dies, create a token that is a copy of Orzhov Fiend, except it is a Ghost. Ghosts cannot block or be blocked by non-Ghosts. They cannot be targeted by non-Ghost spells or abilities. They cannot leave the battlefield due to the effect of a non-Ghost spell or ability. Also, choose a non-hand zone to Orzhaunt.)

Whenever Orzhov Fiend dies or the zone that it haunts has a permanent enter it, each opponent loses 2 life.

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Lots of Ghosties

1WWBB

Enchantment

Orzhaunt – (When Kaya’s Justice leaves the stack, create a 0/0 colorless Ghost creature token that is not affected by state-based effects for each creature on the battlefield that is Orzhaunting that creature. They cannot be targeted by non-Ghost spells or abilities. They cannot leave the battlefield due to the effect of a non-Ghost spell or ability.)

Whenever an Orzhaunted creature attacks, dies, or gains flying, put a +1/+1 counter on each Ghost you control.

Ghosts can’t attack or block until the creature they’re Orzhaunting dies.

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See? Nice and easy!

Rakdos

One thing we really tried to figure out this time around was how to lean into the carnival-esque elements of the Rakdos Guild. Carnivals are huge shows that everyone watches and is amazed by, so we created the new mechanic, Spectacle.

But you’ve actually seen Spectacle before, just without the ability word; it’s the Chaos Orb mechanic! Reintroducing dexterity-based cards into Magic provides for lots of memorable game moments, and introduces an entirely new skill to master when playing the game. And for you Arena players, don’t worry! A VR patch is coming soon!

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Opening Ceremony

2BR

Sorcery

Spectacle BR (You may cast Opening Ceremony from your graveyard for its Spectacle cost. If you do, flip it into the air at least one foot above the table. It must rotate at least once)

Opening Ceremony deals 2 damage to each player, creature, and planeswalker. If Opening Ceremony was cast for its Spectacle cost, it deals X damage instead, where X is the number of complete midair rotations.

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Rakdos Juggler

RRR

5/1

Spectacle R (You may cast Rakdos Juggler from your graveyard for its Spectacle cost.)

Haste

At the beginning of each end step, if Rakdos Juggler is face up, sacrifice it.

If Rakdos Juggler was cast for its Spectacle cost, flip Rakdos Juggler into the air. If it lands face down, turn it face up at the beginning of your next combat.

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Rakdos Trapeze Artist

2B

3/1

Spectacle B (You may cast Rakdos Trapeze Artist from your graveyard for its Spectacle cost.)

If Rakdos Trapeze Artist was cast for its Spectacle cost, flip it into the air whenever it attacks. If it lands on a creature or land, destroy Rakdos Trapeze Artist and that creature or land. Otherwise, Rakdos Trapeze Artist gets +2/+0 until end of turn, is unblockable, and gains, “Whenever Rakdos Trapeze Artist deals combat damage to a player, draw a card” until end of turn.

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Cardboard Spike

R

Sorcery

Deal 1 damage to target player.

Spectacle R

Flip Cardboard Spike into the air. If it hits a player in the face, deal 5 damage to that player.

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Spectacle of the Century

4RRR

Sorcery

Flip all cards in all zones into the air simultaneously. Destroy all face down cards or cards that land on the floor. Gain control of all face up creatures and lands and put all face up noncreature spells closer to you on the stack under your control. Do the same for all creatures, lands, and non-creature spells closer to your opponent.

Whenever a card hits a player, Spectacle of the Century deals 1 damage to that player.

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Simic

Every time we visit the Simic, they’re going bigger than they were before. To capture this flavor, and capitalize on the popularity of the naming convention, we’re excited to introduce MegaEvolve! The Simic love counters. They love counters so much. And here at Wizards, we don’t think we’ve successfully communicated just how much they love counters.

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Vigean Vine

G

0/0

MegaEvolve – Whenever a creature with power or toughness greater than Vigean Vine’s enters the battlefield, put a charge counter on Vigean Vine’s +1/+1 counter.

Vigean Vine enters the battlefield with one +1/+1 counter.

Remove a counter from a +1/+1 counter on Vigean Vine: copy target counter on Vigean Vine.

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Simic MegaHydra

XYZG

0/0

Simic MegaHydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters.

MegaEvolve - Each of Simic MegaHydra’s +1/+1 counters enters the battlefield with Y charge counters.

MegaMegaEvolve - Each of Simic MegaHydra’s charge counters enters the battlefield with Z Megacharge counters.

Remove a Megacharge counter from a charge counter: Each of Simic MegaHydra’s charge counters gain, “UG: This counter and each counter on this counter becomes a Blue and Green 1/1 bird frog lizard creature with flying until end of turn. While it is a creature, it is no longer a counter.”

Remove a charge counter: Create a 1/1 Blue and Green plant fish homunculus for each Megacharge counter on the removed charge counter.

Remove a +1/+1 counter: Simic MegaHydra gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each charge counter on the removed +1/+1 counter. Create a 0/2 Blue and Green plant insect hippo for each Megacharge counter on each charge counter on the removed +1/+1 counter.

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Countercounter, Now with Counters

U

Instant

Counter target spell that is countering another target spell. For each spell countered this way, put a charge counter on each +1/+1 counter on permanents you control.

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As you can see, there’s lots of design space that we’ve only just begun to tap! We can’t wait to explore it more fully next time we Return to Return to Return to Return to Ravnica!

Ryan Normandin is a grinder from Boston who has lost at the Pro Tour, in GP & SCG Top 8's, and to 7-year-olds at FNM. Despite being described as "not funny" by his best friend and "the worst Magic player ever" by Twitch chat, he cheerfully decided to blend his lack of talents together to write funny articles about Magic.