Temple GardenTemple Garden | Art by Rob Alexander

A city-spanning plane of existence. Ten guilds vying for dominance. Ancient evils lurking in the Undercity below. These are the hallmarks of Ravnica: City of Guilds, a set that's celebrating the 20th anniversary of its release on October 7th, 2025.

Ravnica: City of Guilds (RAV) was the brainchild of Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater and his design team, which consisted of Mike Elliot, Aaron Forsythe, Tyler Bielman, and the creator of Magic himself, Richard Garfield. Garfield was a prolific designer of many of Magic's greatest sets, including Urza's Saga, Tempest, and the Odyssey block.

After RAV, Garfield would eventually be on the design team for both the original Innistrad and, later on, the much-anticipated return to Dominaria. So, to see Richard Garfield's name on the design credits for a set like this is a huge deal.

The set came with much speculation and a ton of hype. Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) released a short animated video online and as a television spot, pitching the concept of the city-plane to those interested in the game. This video, unfortunately, is obscured by the trials of twenty years and is all but lost. That is, save for one YouTube channel's retention of it:

Even if this video has a low resolution, I'd urge you to take the time to watch through it in full. It's remarkably well-done, and a loving testament to the worldbuilding process the Ravnica team underwent to bring the City of Guilds to life.

The City of Ravnica

One of the most important aspects of this set was the establishment of the setting itself. The idea of a plane of existence that was just an over-sprawling fantasy cityscape isn't new to players of tabletop roleplaying games, but part of that is very much due to Ravnica's influence on the fantasy genre.

The gist is this: the plane of existence known as Ravnica was a more biologically diverse space, but the city bearing its name overtook it over the course of well over 10,000 years. The plane is now nothing but urban centers, tenements, shops, and apartments, with very few places for nature to call home anymore. There is even an Undercity, a location logically located underneath the new city's renovations. This Undercity houses a few different species of horrors, but it is also home to a few of the less fortunate in the city.

There are many places to read up about the history of this plane of existence, but the best first step may be to get ahold of the three novels by Cory J. Herndon: Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, and Dissension. Therein, one can find a trove of planar history. This includes the formation of Agryem, the Ghost Quarter, the emergence of the Nephilim, and the formation of the Guildpact.

The Guildpact and the Guilds of Ravnica

So, 10,000 years before the events of this set, ten essential guilds formed amid threats that promised to wipe the city out. These guilds are well-known to Magic players everywhere, if only by name for some. This magically binding contract was known formally as the Guildpact. It's one of the most important documents in Ravnican history. While we can lampshade the Ghost Quarter or the Nephilim, we need to discuss this one.

Ultimately, it kept the ten guilds of the plane at bay and in a treaty to prevent warring amongst each other, thereby forming a somewhat more utopian society than others. The guilds maintained the checks and balances of the plane for those ten millennia. Each guild fulfilled its roles well:

The Guilds of Ravnica

• The Boros Legion : Law enforcers, headed by their leader (or Parun, as the term stands), RaziaRazia.
• The Selesnya Conclave : Maintain the history of the plane and are headed by TrostaniTrostani, a group of dryads.
• The Golgari Swarm : Farmers and sanitation, headed by SavraSavra.

Guildpact

• The Orzhov Syndicate : Bankers and moneylenders, led by ObzedatObzedat, or the Ghost Council.
• The Izzet League : Scientists and mages, they also maintain the boilers of the plane. Led by Niv-Mizzet, the FiremindNiv-Mizzet, the Firemind, a draconic Parun.
• The Gruul Clans : According to the Guildpact, the Gruul were in charge of keeping the sprawl of the city of Ravnica in check. However, as they failed to do that, they largely lost their sense of purpose. BorborygmosBorborygmos, a cyclops and another Parun, leads the Gruul.

Dissension

• The Azorius Senate : Lawmakers and bureaucrats, the Azorius Senate was founded by AzorAzor, a Sphinx Planeswalker who wrote the first iteration of the Guildpact. Azor eventually disappeared, planeswalking to Ixalan to set a (failed) trap to strand Nicol BolasNicol Bolas there. and their leadership has since changed hands many times, but Grand Arbiter Augustin IVGrand Arbiter Augustin IV was their leader during Dissension.
• The Simic Combine : Doctors and biomancers whose job it is to preserve nature through its adaptation. Founded by a being known only in the lore as Simic, the leader of the Combine during the events of the original Ravnica storyline was Momir Vig, Simic VisionaryMomir Vig, Simic Visionary.
• Cult of Rakdos : A guild that consisted of construction and demolition workers, the Cult of Rakdos has since turned into an entertainment enterprise that's equal parts circus and torture chamber. Their demonic Parun, Rakdos the DefilerRakdos the Defiler, remains the guild leader of the Cult.

Oops, That's Only Nine. Wait a Minute...

Now, you'll notice that I've only mentioned nine guilds here. There are actually ten, though hardly anyone in-world knows about the last one:

• House Dimir : The main role of House Dimir is to troubleshoot the Guildpact through attempting to break rules governed by it. Espionage, assassinations, and fraud are among the Dimir's methods of doing this, to name a few. Their Parun was the vampire SzadekSzadek, but he was deposed during the events of the first Ravnica novel. Their guild leader is presently the shapeshifter LazavLazav.

In time, the names of these ten guilds became synonymous with their color identities. For instance, people nowadays call black-red decks Rakdos decks, for the most part.

Consequently, players then desired naming conventions for three-color decks. This was a craving sated half by the Shards of Alara block, and half by the Tarkir block.

The Future of the Setting

Eventually we got two more blocks and two standalone sets on the plane of Ravnica. Return to Ravnica was exactly that across three sets. Guilds of Ravnica was a two-set setup for War of the Spark. Finally, in 2024, we got Murders at Karlov Manor.

While the seven later sets had their successes and failures, none can quite measure up to the original block's acclaim.

Gameplay Notes

Ravnica: City of Guilds introduced four major set mechanics. Radiance was the least impactful of the four and was the Boros mechanic. Current design paradigms still make extensive use of convoke, the Selesnya mechanic.

However, the other two, transmute and dredge - Dimir and Golgari, respectively - aren't used in design much today, if at all. With transmute's tutoring mechanics en masse, it slowed the game to a crawl.

But dredge is another story entirely. The design team originally thought it was too weak to see print. So, they changed it in a few different ways that are mostly still internal. What time tells us is that this was a mistake, and dredge is now viewed as exceedingly powerful.

Cards From Ravnica: City of Guilds That Matter

There are a variety of cards from Ravnica: City of Guilds that make a huge difference in multiple formats. These include cards that made an impact in Standard, as well as those that still make a difference in Modern, and Eternal formats like Legacy and Commander.

Standard

In Standard, Dark ConfidantDark Confidant and Lightning HelixLightning Helix were absolute hits. Lightning Helix, in particular, is still making waves in Standard thanks to a reprint in Murders at Karlov Manor.

Dark Confidant, the card designed by Invitational winner Bob Maher, was reprinted in Final Fantasy. Sadly, "Bob," as it was lovingly nicknamed, is not as hot nowadays. Furthermore, Congregation at DawnCongregation at Dawn, Faith's FettersFaith's Fetters, and FarseekFarseek all saw considerable Standard play at the time.

Glare of SubdualGlare of Subdual, one of the stronger cards in the Standard environment, inspired the Ghazi-Glare deck. Meanwhile, Glimpse the UnthinkableGlimpse the Unthinkable was (and is!) one of the strongest Mill archetype cards around.

Finally, WatchwolfWatchwolf, a now-humble 3/3 for , was an all-star in the format alongside cards like RemandRemand.

Outside of Standard

The Shocklands debuted with the original Ravnica set. The set only focused on four guilds, with Guildpact and Dissension completing the cycle. RAV contained Sacred FoundrySacred Foundry, Temple GardenTemple Garden, Watery GraveWatery Grave, and Overgrown TombOvergrown Tomb. In Modern and other formats (including Standard, alongside all I've already mentioned), these lands became ubiquitous.

The dredge mechanic found its way into Standard, but a few cards, including Golgari Grave-TrollGolgari Grave-Troll, were banned in Modern before the first day of the format's inception (in 2011).

The list of Modern heavy hitters from the City of Guilds is truly long.

Commander has seen far more of these cards in use than anyone could've reasonably expected back in 2005. The Shocklands and the GuildGuild SignetSignet artifacts are all good examples of cards still used today in Commander decks everywhere.

Even cards previously thoughtthought weakerweaker in formats like Standard and Modern see copiouscopious amountsamounts of Commander play!

This list is also far too long to recount fully.

The Future of the City of Guilds

Ravnica's future appearances in Magic expansions is currently unknown. Murders at Karlov Manor peppered the opinions of many current players. Therefore, we don't know what the future holds for the plane. In many ways, and to many players, it's largely passé.

Even so, players look back at 2005's Ravnica: City of Guilds and its associated block with a certain fondness.

Let's open the floor to you now, dear readers! How do you feel about Ravnica: City of Guilds as a set? If you were playing 20 years ago, do you remember your favorite gameplay stories from the expansion?

Alternatively, what's your favorite guild and why? Sound off in the comments below!