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GTC

Gatecrash (GTC) is the second set in the Return to Ravnica block.

Tensions build on the city-world of Ravnica, where each guild plies its own agenda to outsmart and outmaneuver the others. Uncover the remaining five guilds - Orzhov, Dimir, Gruul, Boros, and Simic.

Event Information[]

Prerelease Events: January 26–27, 2013

Release Date: February 1, 2013

Launch Weekend: February 1–4, 2013

Magic Online Release: February 11, 2013

Pro Tour Gatecrash: February 15–17, 2013

Game Day: February 23–24, 2013

Set Contents[]

Rarities[]

  • 15 Mythic Rare
  • 53 Rare
  • 80 Uncommon
  • 101 Common

249 total

Mechanics[]

Multicolored: Gold and Hybrid

The Orzhov Syndicate: Extort - Whenever you cast a spell, the extort abilities of permanents you control will trigger. As the trigger resolves, you'll be given the chance to pay White Mana or Black Mana. (All extort cards, regardless of color, let you pay either color.) If you do have a spare mana to pay, each of your opponents will lose 1 life, and you'll gain that much life. Each trigger lets you pay up to one mana; you can't pump more mana into it.

The House Dimir: Cipher - As a spell you control with cipher resolves, you may exile it and choose a creature you control. The cipher card is then encoded on that creature, and whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may copy the encoded card and cast the copy without paying its mana cost. Usually, the creature's controller will be you, but if another player takes control of your creature (due to something like Act of Treason, for example), it takes the encoded spell with it to its new master.

The Gruul Clans: Bloodrush - Each bloodrush ability has a cost of paying some amount of mana and discarding the creature card. It targets an attacking creature, which means it can be activated only during combat and only targeting a creature that's currently attacking.

The Boros Legion: Battalion - A creature's battalion ability triggers when it and at least two other creatures attack. The bonus from battalion abilities varies from card to card, but the trigger is always the same.

Battalion abilities use the stack and can be responded to normally.

The Simic Combine: Evolve - Evolve is a triggered ability that triggers whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control. At the time that happens, you compare the new creature's power to the evolve creature's power and the new creature's toughness to the evolve creature's toughness. If either or both of those values is higher for the new creature, the ability triggers. (It only triggers once for each creature that enters the battlefield, even if that creature's power and toughness are both higher.)

After the ability has gone on the stack and players have a chance to respond to it, it resolves. If the new creature still has a higher power and/or toughness, you'll put a +1/+1 counter on the evolve creature.

If multiple creatures enter the battlefield at the same time—say, because they're tokens—evolve triggers separately for each, and the triggers resolve one by one.

Gates - Return to Ravnica features common "dual lands"—lands that can tap for either of two different colors of mana—called Gates.

Release Formats[]

Booster Pack[]

  • 10 Common
  • 3 Uncommon
  • 1 Rare
  • 1 Basic Land or Gate

Fat Pack[]

  • Player’s Guide with complete visual encyclopedia
  • Gatecrash card box
  • 9 Gatecrash booster packs
  • Eighty-card basic land pack
  • Special edition Spindown life counter
  • Two deck boxes

Intro Decks[]

  • Orzhov Oppression
  • Dimir Dementia
  • Gruul Goliaths
  • Simic Synthesis

Event Decks[]

  • Thrive and Thrash - Simic
  • Rally and Rout - Boros

Comments on the set[]

Wizards of the Coast confirmed that they will complete the cycle of ten Ravnica "shock lands" in Gatecrash: Sacred Foundry, Godless Shrine, Watery Grave, Breeding Pool, and Stomping Ground. The set also continues many cycles of cards that are aligned with certain guilds:

Charms - Special cards with multiple "modes" or effects, of which the caster may only choose one of these given effects upon casting. This allows for great flexibility in-game. Each guild in Gatecrash will have a charm of its own, which costs one mana of each of the guild's respective colors and has 3 possible options. The charms released in Gatecrash are Boros Charm, Gruul Charm, Simic Charm, Dimir Charm, and Orzhov Charm.

Guildgates - Lands that come into play tapped but are different in two ways: they produce mana of a guild's color (i.e. a Gruul Guildgate produces either a red or a green mana), and they have the sub-type Gate. There are certain cards in Gatecrash that interact with Guildgates.

Guild Leaders - The masters of their respective guilds are powerful creatures tied to their guilds thematically and gameplay-wise. The five guild leaders are: Aurelia, the Warleader; Borborygmos Enraged; Prime Speaker Zegana; Lazav, Dimir Mastermind; and Obzedat, Ghost Council.

Guildmages - A cycle of uncommon creatures that have effects that in one way or another interact with the Guild mechanics. Instead of being named after their particular guild (like in the original Ravnica set), they are instead named after the headquarters of their respective guild.

The cycle of uncounterable spells from Return to Ravnica was confirmed by Mark Rosewater as not returning.

Despite being a large expansion, Gatecrash does not feature any basic lands; instead, Return to Ravnica featured 25 basic lands, 5 more than the usual 20 for a large set.

Gatecrash features two planeswalkers; one, Gideon, Champion of Justice, is an established planeswalker, whilst the other, Domri Rade is a novel planeswalker.

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