Wizards of the Coast has made its huge Magic: The Gathering Spring announcement today, revealing details about the three upcoming Magic sets after Core 2019 and two new cards from the two-headed giant set Battlebond.
In a video, Senior Game Designer Gavin Verhey, Senior Art Director Dawn Murin, and Senior Creative Designer Doug Byer revealed the names of the October and January MTG sets: Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance.
Guilds of Ravnica will feature five guilds: Selesnya (green-white), Boros (red-white), Golgari (black-green), Izzet (blue-red), and Dimir (blue-black). It will be released on October 5, 2018.
Ravnica Allegiance will feature the other five guilds: Azorius (blue-white), Rakdos (black-red), Gruul (red-green), Simic (green-blue), and Orzhov (black-white). It will be released in January 2019.
They also confirmed that the Magic set after the Ravnica Allegiance will also take place in Ravnica but they haven't revealed its name but we know that "the focus will be on the culmination of the story and not the guilds".
The story is expected to focus on the Gatewatch's epic battle against Nicol Bolas. Some fans already speculated the return to the Ravnica plane since they learned about Azor in Ixalan's story, and it looks like the recent speculations about the story Core 2019 will actually happen.
Verhey announced that every guild is getting a new mechanic but it's still too early to reveal them.
Murin discussed the new art designs for the Rakdos, Gruul, Dimir, Golgari, and Simic guilds. The members of Rakdos look like circus performers, Gruul looks like punk rockets, and Simic scientists wear lab coats and their bodies have strange mutations. This reminds me of the rich and vibrant world of Ravnica that we love.
In addition to the Ravnica announcements, the video revealed two new cards from the two-headed giant Magic set called Battlebond. Check out Pir, Imaginative Rascal, and Toothy, Imaginary Friend.
Screenshot: Wizards of the Coast/YouTube
There will be 11 pairs in the Battlebond set, and each pair will always show up in booster packs together so you and your partner can get them both. Verhey also reveal the "Partner With" ability that they have is an update to the Partner ability from the previous Commander sets so you can have Pir and Toothy at the Command Zone in your Simic Commander deck. You can check out the packaging art forBattlebondhere.
Personally, I was hoping Magic to return to another plane like Lorwyn or Kamigawa but another return to Ravnica makes sense. Magic hasn't released a multi-color-focused set recently, and the setting is the perfect place for a Gatewatch vs. Bolas showdown they've been building up to. I'm more excited to read the stories that will be set in Ravnica than learn the new mechanics but I'm sure, many players are just excited about the possible reprint of Ravnica's famous Shocklands.
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