What MTG sets take place in Ravnica?

Introduction to Ravnica in MTG

For anyone that has played Magic The Gathering, I’m sure you will be very familiar with Ravnica, both the plane and the city. For any of you that are unfamiliar with Ravnica, think of a 15th century Eastern European city. Lots of ancient stonework adorns both halls of grandeur and slums alike. Ravnica is one of the most storied cities in the MTG landscape and is certainly one of the most popular amongst players. There are multiple guilds within the metropolis and each one resonates with its players. The city is rich with lore and you could easily lose yourself for hours reading up on the narratives of its inhabitants.

Because of this, Ravnica has been the setting for many different sets in Magic The Gathering, and we are going to take a look at all of those sets today.

Ravnica: City of Guilds - The Original Set

You may have heard the phrase; “The original, and still the best”, and this is what many people think when it comes to Magic The Gathering’s 2005 release; City of Guilds. It set the scene and gave us a stellar introduction to the city of Ravnica, allowing us to meet four of its guilds and the city's varied inhabitants.

Not only was it our first foray into Ravnica, this set probably has more playable cards than all the others put together! Players and fans could not have asked for a better introduction to this city. With this new setting, came new levels of power and the ‘power creep’ was evident in City of Guilds. We were introduced to new land cycles in Shock and Bounce lands. These shock lands will be forever remembered by players of this original Ravnica set and were hugely impactful upon their release.

Despite this being the beginning of many new things (new plane, new cards, new mechanics, new power levels), most fans see it as the perfect introduction and it certainly set the tone for the following sets.

Guildpact - Expanding the Guilds

Guildpact had the unfortunate honour of following City of Guilds, which was always going to be a big ask! For many fans, Guildpact did not quite live up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessor. Despite the hardships it faced, Guildpact did introduce us to some pretty memorable cards, including the Nephilim, the first 4 colour cards ever.

Guildpact also introduced us to 3 new guilds. These were Gruul Clans, the Orzhov Syndicate and Izzet League. The set follows the theme of introducing the guilds and building the storyline of Ravnica. The Guildpact has helped to keep Ravnica stable but with 10 separate guilds vying for power, things are bound to get out of control at some point. The most notable card from the set is probably Leyline of the Void, which stopped cards going into your opponent's graveyard, instead exiling them.

Dissension - The Final Act of the Original Block

Dissension was released in May 2006 and was the final chapter in the original Ravnica series. Again, many players didn’t enjoy it as much as City of Guilds, and this is the problem with making the original set so perfect! Dissension did introduce us to the final few guilds though. These were the Azorius Senate (white/blue), Cult of Rakdos (black/red) and Simic Combine (green/blue).

The storyline for Dissension shows the city plunged into chaos, with guilds fighting each other and monsters ravaging the city streets. However, it is soon uncovered that the whole thing was masterminded by Szadek and House Dimir. He is arrested and exposed for his crimes.

Dissension is viewed as being a brilliant set which brought us many great cards including Protean Hulk, Utopia Sprawl and Spell Snare, to name a few. We were introduced to more shock and bounce lands and Dissension built on the “protection” ability of cards by introducing protection from monocoloured and protection from multicoloured.  

Return to Ravnica - A Modern Revisit

Following Dissension, we left Ravnica for quite a while and didn’t come back until Return to Ravnica in 2012. This was a much welcomed return for players and this set brought with it lots of nostalgia and excitement. Importantly, it also brought with it lots of playable cards!

As with the original Ravnica set, Return to Ravnica focuses on the guilds and multicoloured cards. The set was split with Gatecrash, the next set, and so featured what many classed as strange counts of cards. Because the set features 5 guilds instead of 3 or 4, it has way more uncommon cards than usual. It also has extra basic lands (25 instead of 20), mainly thanks to Gatecrash not featuring any. Of course, the return also brought along a return of an old favourite, shock lands.

Return to Ravnica’s storyline builds on the events following the breakup of the Guildpact and how the guilds are no longer governed by their pacts and each struggle for control of the plane. There were several reprinted cards in the set, as well as a whole heap of brand new cards which immediately saw play. These include Imperial Armor, Abrupt Decay and Rest in Peace. Ask anyone who plays Magic the Gathering and they will tell you that Return to Ravnica was one of the best sets ever.

Gatecrash - Aggressive Play and Guild Dynamics

Gatecrash, even the name suggests some angry and aggressive actions, and the set certainly lived up to that. Gatecrash was built around a quick and aggressive playstyle and the cards in it ensured that was the theme. Released in February 2013, Gatecrash continued to build on the warring guilds as we returned to Ravnica. It featured the other 5 guilds that were not in Return to Ravnica and it was a huge set, despite not containing any basic lands.

The set also features 2 planeswalkers, one returning and one new. Gideon, Champion of Justice was already well established and Domri Rade was new. While many fans were a bit disappointed with the storytelling and narrative element of Gatecrash, the amount of playable cards more than made up for it.

Boros Reckoner, Enter the Infinite and Blind Obedience were all released in this set and saw tons of play in competitive decks. There were also some combos that were too powerful and were eventually banned. Sylvan Primordial was banned from commander format and Balustrade Spy and Undercity Informer were both banned from Pioneer format in 2021.

Dragon's Maze - The Guild Contest

Dragon’s Maze had a totally different storyline to its predecessors and was seen as a fairly weak set upon its release. The story pits all 10 guilds against each other in a gameshow style contest set in the Dragon’s Maze. Perhaps it was the step away from the usual storylines that swayed people away from this set.

Or perhaps it was the lack of depth that the set offered. The best card in the set was Voice of Resurgence, which has stood the test of time since its release in 2013. We had some 2 colour commander options and also legendary champions to fit into our decks. Dragon’s Maze booster packs did not feature any basic lands, but you could, in theory, open all 10 shock lands in a single pack.  

Guilds of Ravnica - The Third Visit

We had a 5 year gap between Dragon’s Maze and Guilds of Ravnica and the latter was the first set from the third Ravnica block (unofficially). Released in October 2018, Guilds of Ravnica returned us to the story that we all knew before. It contained 5 guilds and had them going about their business, just like many of the earliest Ravnica based sets.

There were a lot of playable cards released in this set and it is well known for producing many staples of multiple formats. Like many of the sets before it, it didn’t quite have it all. It had the brilliant cards and great depth but lacked pretty badly in the storytelling aspect, although I’m sure most players would rather have it that way round! Some of the most notable cards from the set include Arclight Phoenix, Thousand Year Storm and Chance For Glory.

Ravnica Allegiance - Before the Storm

Following on from the previous set, Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance tells the stories of the 5 other guilds and is the calm before the storm. It is the peace before the chaos and the penultimate moment before Nicol Bolas unleashes his master plan upon the guilds. Ravnica Allegiance was a brilliant set for players and gifted us with lots of powerful cards, some a little too powerful that have since found themselves on the banlist. Wilderness Reclamation and Growth Spiral both found themselves headed to the banlist in 2020.

There were even other cards that people expected to be banned alongside the other 2 cards, mainly due to their similarities and play alongside them, however they escaped the ban for now. Rakdos had a new mechanic called Spectacle, which allowed it some interesting combos and made it extremely efficient.    

War of the Spark - The Climactic Battle

War of the Spark, released in 2019, was the final masterpiece in the Ravnica story and brought together all 10 guilds in their fight to destroy Nicol Bolas and the undead army. Narratively, this was one of the best sets ever as it brings a full on planeswalker beatdown to Ravnica. It was the perfect way to tie up all the character arcs and storylines that had been running since the very first Ravnica set. War of the Spark was almost worthy of a full blown cinematic film!

Despite its unbeatable storyline, War of the Spark was somewhat lacking in the depth of cards department. Being a huge battle with all of the planeswalkers, it was only right that there was a planeswalker in every booster pack. There were so many planeswalker cards that some were moved into the uncommon slot in packs for the first time ever. As you would expect though, with this many powerful cards and abilities, some would end up on the ban list. You wouldn’t be wrong, as Teferi, Time Raveler, Karn, The Great Creator and Narset, Parter Of Veils all found themselves hit with the ban hammer. Overall, War of the Spark was one of the most exciting sets and certainly one of the best sets from Ravnica.

Ravnica Remastered - A Nostalgic Reprint

Ravnica Remastered is our most recent Ravnica set and it was released in 2024 and contains cards from all of the Ravnica sets and blocks. That comprises a total of 13 sets over 16 years. The game designers were able to fit all 10 guilds into the set and even managed to squeeze in 26 of the 29 guild mechanics. As you would expect, the set is huge and contains 291 regular cards. The set features all the best Guildgates and shock lands from all of the Ravnica blocks

Has the Curtain Closed on Ravnica?

The storyline for Ravnica has been nicely closed off in War of the Spark and it was brilliant to revisit all its finest cards in Ravnica Remastered, which could easily have been called Ravnica Greatest Hits! It seems unlikely that we will have any more Ravnica sets, although the plane is such a fan favourite that they could revisit it again at some point.

You can find loads of singles and all the cards you need for your decks from the Ravnica blocks on our website at Magic Madhouse as well as loads of sealed products from Ravnica Remastered.