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RTR

Return to Ravnica (RTR) is the first set in the Return to Ravnica block following the Innistrad block.

Ravnica: the metropolis of the Multiverse. Though the Guildpact spell has been broken, the ten guilds live on in this city-covered plane. Featuring Five of them in this set - the Azorius Senate, Golgari Swarm, Izzet League, Cult of Rakdos, and Selesnya Conclave.

Event Information[]

Prereleases: September 29–30, 2012

Release Date: October 5, 2012

Launch Weekend: October 5–7, 2012

Magic Online Release: October 15, 2012

Game Day: October 27–28, 2012

Set Contents[]

Rarities[]

  • 15 Mythic Rare
  • 53 Rare
  • 80 Uncommon
  • 101 Common
  • 25 Basic Lands

274 total

Mechanics[]

Multicolored: Gold and Hybrid

The Azorius Senate: Detain - When you detain an opposing permanent, until your next turn, that permanent's activated abilities can't be activated and (if it's a creature) it can't attack or block.

The Izzet League: Overload - The overload mechanic lets them power up their instants and sorceries to huge proportions by taking every instance of "target" in their rules text and replacing it with "each."

The Cult of Rakdos: Unleash - You can choose to have a creature with unleash enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter it. As long as it has one or more +1/+1 counters on it, it can't block—no matter how it got +1/+1 counters.

The Golgari Swarm: Scavenge - You can activate the scavenge ability of a creature card in your graveyard any time you could cast a sorcery by exiling it and paying its scavenge cost. That lets you put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the scavenged creature's power onto a target creature.

The Selesnya Conclave: Populate - The populate mechanic puts a copy of one of your creature tokens onto the battlefield.

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

Fat Pack[]

  • Nine 15-card Return to Ravnica booster packs
  • A pack of 80 Return to Ravnica basic land
  • A card box featuring Jace and Niv-Mizzet
  • Two deck boxes
  • The Return to Ravnica Player's Guide, which contains a visual encyclopedia of every card in the set, plus play tips and story background information
  • A learn-to-play insert
  • An exclusive Return to Ravnica Spindown Life Counter

Intro Decks[]

  • Azorius Advance
  • Izzet Ingenuity
  • Rakdos Raid
  • Golgari Growth
  • Selesnya Surge

Event Decks[]

  • Wrack and Rage - Rakdos
  • Creep and Conquer - Golgari

Comments on the set[]

Return to Ravnica features a return of the hybrid mana cost as well as the famous "dual shock lands" from the original Ravnica block. The set also features many cycles of cards that are aligned with certain guilds:

Charms - Last featured in the Shards of Alara block, "Charms" are special cards with multiple "modes" or effects, of which the caster may only choose one of these given effects upon resolution. Each guild in Return to Ravnica 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 Return to Ravnica are, Selesnya Charm, Azorius Charm, Izzet Charm, Golgari Charm, and Rakdos Charm.

Uncounterable Spells - Certain spells that are of the guild's colors, cannot be countered, are rare and have a potent effect. Those cards are Supreme Verdict(Azorius), Counterflux(Izzet), Slaughter Games(Rakdos), Abrupt Decay(Golgari) And Loxodon Smiter(Selesnya)

Guildgates - Lands that come into play tapped but are different in two ways: firstly, they produce mana of a guilds color (i.e.: A Rakdos Guildgate produces either a red or a black mana) and secondly, they have the sub-type Gate. There are certain cards in Return that interact with Guildgates. Ogre Jailbreaker is a creature card that has defender but loses it when there is a Gate on its owners side of the battlefield. Guild Leaders - The masters of their respective guild are powerful creatures tied to their guilds thematically and gameplay wise. The five guild leaders are: Rakdos, Lord of Riots; Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius; Trostani, Selesnya's Voice; Isperia, Supreme Judge; and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord.

Guildmage - 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.

Uncommon Onedrops - A cycle of hybrid, guildcolored Creatures with an effect that support the guild thematically. Those cards are Judge's Familiar(Azorius), Blistercoil Weird(Izzet), Rakdos Cackler(Rakdos), Slitherhead(Golgari) And Dryad Militant(Selesnya)

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