The Ravnica Commander Wishlist

Editor's Note: This article was written before any spoilers were released and was kept as written. Enjoy seeing some of Cam's dreams get crushed! 

We will be Returning to Return to Ravnica really soon and if previous sets are any indication we will be getting a ton legendary creatures. For this article I thought it would be really interesting to take a look at the 40 legendary creatures from the previous Ravnica blocks and talk about what I would like to see for our new legends. We will likely be getting at least 2 legendary creatures per guild throughout the block but since we don’t really know anything about the third set who knows what will really happen. Ravnica legends are all about cycles, both in mana cost and abilities, some of which area bit stale (like Dimir always being about mill) so we will see how closely Wizards sticks to those established trends.

Azorius Senate

We got to see Azor, the founder of the Azorius, during our visit to Ixalan and while I doubt we will see him return to Ravnica I would expect us to get another Isperia as the guild leader. From the two past iterations we will probably have some sort of card advantage ability and while I hope it isn’t “flying creature” focused I would like to see something that more unique than “draw a card”. A toolbox style card where when you deal combat damage you pay mana and search for a blue or white card would be really interesting and could lead to some cool decks, think Sunforgers but on damage dealt.

       

For the other legendary I expect that we will see another Lavinia since she has had a part in the story recently as Jace’s advisor, for the rare moments when he is actually the guildpact. Since her and Jace have that connection I would love to see her act as a Sphere of Safety or Archangel of Tithes where she is protecting the Gatewatch with her abilities.  

House Dimir

Please don’t be mill based… Please don’t be mill based… Probably going to be mill based…If the Dimir guild leader is going to be mill based again I hope we see something closer to Szadek where the creature enables its own ability and acts as an alternate wincon. I would really love the ability to create token copies of creatures in our opponents’ graveyards.

For our other legend I assume it will again have something to do will mill because that is all Dimir legends can do. I would love to see a legendary Nightveil Specter where we get to exile cards from our opponents and then play them like a card advantage version on Circu or like Ashiok.

Cult of Rakdos

HEY… RIOT!!!! For the king of parties that you regret going to the next day I really love both of the previous cards. Demon tribal fits really well with Liliana’s story and the life loss theme messes really well with the aggression of the Rakdos Guild. I would love to see a more “burn” version of Rakdos perhaps with an effect where we deal damage and draw cards based on the number of demons (or creatures in general) that we control.

Next I hope that our other legend I would love to see another sacrifice based card (which would also synergize with a go wide strategy for Rakdos). Paying mana and sacrificing a creature and create two 1/1’s would really fun! I think sacrificing creatures to destroy other creatures would also be interesting.   

Gruul Clans

For new Borborygmos I want to see something that hates on Planeswalkers since Nicol Bolas is likely showing up to make sure Ravnica has a bad day. One way this hate could play out is by focusing on punishing noncreature activated abilities, similar to Harsh Mentor. If we don’t get a Borby that tries to smash Bolas I would like to see a card focus on keeping my opponents’ boards clear of creatures. Perhaps we will have an ability along the lines of “discard a card: deal X damage to all opponents and each creature you don’t control”.

Creatures, Creatures, Creatures. I would be ecstatic if Wizards just reprinted Ruric Thar. I really like Gruul that just hates on noncreature spells while playing giant creatures of its own. Another cool way to see this ability would be a mechanic where when someone casts a noncreature spell we get to do something besides deal damage, like destroy a noncreature permanent that player controls or that player has to sacrifice a permanent.

Selesnya Conclave

Rounding out the first half of our list we have the Selesnya Guild. Assuming the buy-a-box promo that was leaked is real then Convoke is returning as the guild mechanic for Selesnya and I would also expect that we will see tokens back in some form or fashion. If we are going wide to cast big spells I would love for our guild leader to give our spells convoke, like Chief Engineer or Inspiring Statuary do for improvise, or have an effect that triggers when we tap creatures.

I would really love to see our other Selesnya legend make tokens and synergize with having a big board, perhaps like Voice of Resurgence. Meme aside I really like cards that make legendary tokens like Talsimir. Another interesting possibility would be a card with convoke but if more than a certain amount of mana is played there is an additional effect but that may be too close to kicker.

Orzhov Syndicate

When I first came into playing Standard it was during RtR and wow I hated playing against Obzedat… It was a gross finisher that constantly hosed my Boros aggro deck… For the spooky ghosts I would expect that we will see a return of the enters the battlefield drain effect and some way to flicker it so that it can continue its role as a control finisher. For the sake of continuity it would be cool if they drain for 3 but that might be a bit much. With recent finishers like Nezahal and Chromium, the Mutable I hope we see the flicker effect as an activated ability closer to the original Ghost Council.

Storywise this is one of the slots I am very curious about. In Family Values things don’t work out well for Teysa and with the Commander product we were introduced to Karlov. I think it would seem weird for use to get a “Ghost Council” and a singular member of the Council as a card it could be possible. If we get a Teysa we will likely see a way of removing creatures, creating spirits, and while Wizards has moved away from protection we might see some sort of effect similar to it. I would loved to see deathtouch on Teysa and when she destroys a creature she creates a spirit. Another cool option for Teysa could be a card that when she is killed in combat she becomes a spirit token but we will see!

Izzet League

Niv-Mizzet is #1 and I would be shocked to see anything else in the guild leader card slot, though some people are theorizing that we will see a revolt in the guild. Like I said with Borborygmos I really want to see Niv-Mizzet battle against Bolas, and Planeswalkers in general and that works well with how he has been designed in the past. I hope we see the damage/draw effect of Niv-Mizzet tied to mana rather than tapping but I hope Wizards takes these two effects into a completely different direction than what we are used to.

Now we are entering the Planeswalker portion of the list. Up until recently Wizards had Planeswalkers exist outside of cycles but with Narset Transcendent during Dragons of Tarkir, and what will happen with the Golgari in a second, that likely has changed. So with that in mind I think there is a solid chance we see a new Ral Zarek in this slot. If Ral Zarek does return I hope we see “take an extra turn” somewhere on the card and that we don’t see coin flipping. If we get Planeswalkers in place of legendary creatures I would love for them to be playable as commanders but I don’t think Wizards would put that line of text on standard legal Planeswalkers. (I started writing this before PAX West and an wrapping it up after. We got Ral Zarek previewed there but I am leaving my original impressions in because I still think the thoughts are interesting)

Golgari Swarm

When Ixalan’s story ended, Jarad is captured by Nicol Bolas so that Vraska can kill him and take over the guild, meaning this slot pretty much has to be a Planeswalker not a creature. If a new Vraska is in this slot and she follows the trend for all the guild leaders we would have a first black-border Planeswalker with four color pits in its mana cost and I think we could see a Vraska that just cost BBGG. Vraska, Relic Seeker is one of my favorite Planeswalker cards of all time and I really hope that we will see her return with a similar template.

Not really sure if we will see Varolz return or if we will have another throwback to the Commander product with Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest. In general this card needs to reward you for there being creatures in your graveyard. I have this is sacrifice synergies closer to Savra or Mazirek. A combo of Varolz and Mazirek with where you sacrifice other creatures to put +1/+1 counters on your creatures.  

Boros Legion

I really want use to see Wizard give us an angel Planewalker and I really hope the ad for Guilds of Ravnica is a Boros angel joining the Gatewatch. Wizards has said in the past that angels can’t have sparks because they are beings made of pure mana but Karn is a Golem that has had multiple peoples sparks given to him. If we see a creature in this slot I would expect that it will have flying, vigilance, haste, and an effect focused on combat. I would really like to see an effect that untaps our creatures and gives them indestructible until our next turn, like a combination of Avacyn and Frontline Medic.  

Tajic might not be in the best shape, for the same lore reasons we talked about with Teysa, and last we knew he was chilling in the Orzhov dungeon. I would love to see a battalion-like ability for this slot and I really want to see it pump all of our creatures, rather than just Tajic. It might be too much to ask but I would love it to give all creatures +3/+3. From a Commander perspective I would really like a card that deals with R/W’s card advantage weakness. A Mentor of the Meek effect in the Command Zone would be a way of helping out those decks.      

Simic Combine

Here we are at the end of our list and we transition from what is considered the worst color combo in Commander to what is considered the best. Assuming this guild sticks with a similar theme then I would expect all of these legendaries to interact with counters and draw cards. I would love to see a Zegana like effect where it gets +1/+1 counters for something really random like different creature types, though that would be busted in with changelings.

While I doubt that we would see it I would love for a new Vorel that interacts with counters on any permanent, namely Planeswalkers. It would also be interesting to see a legendary take on Chasm Skulker in this slot as it would synergize with the major themes for Simic. To make Chasm Skulker green they could make the tokens a little bigger or give them trample and leave a lot of the rest of the card the same.

Final Thought