What to Expect from Ravnica Remastered

Ravnica Remastered is upon us, the latest ‘remastered’ bringing together the best of 13 expansion sets from the hugely popular plane of Ravnica, known as the ‘City of Guilds’, spanning more than 16 years. This is the latest in a line of ‘remastered’ sets which, after years of being digital-only releases (such as Tempest Remastered), have recently come to paper with the popular Time Spiral Remastered and more recently Dominaria Remastered.

Put simply, Ravnica Remastered is a ‘best of’ reprint set, but with plenty of new and exciting variants to go alongside the reprintings of iconic and highly sought-after cards. For the uninitiated, Ravnica is a plane that’s covered in a vast city, ruled by 10 distinct guilds – one for each colour pair. These guilds make Ravnica sets incredibly fun to draft as you choose a guild with distinct mechanics, whether it’s the token loving Selesnya Conclave, the graveyard focused Golgari Swarm, or the controlling Azorius Senate.

Comprising a unique selection of cards from Ravnican history, Ravnica Remastered also brings its own unique Limited format for players to enjoy, which I can’t wait to try out. Let’s delve into what Limited and Constructed players can expect from the new set.

Anime-Inspired Cards

While the characters and cards will be recognisable – it’s a reprint set, after all – what’s new are some incredible art variants. Anime-style card art treatments are appearing more and more in Magic: The Gathering sets, including recently in Wilds of Eldraine ‘Enchanting Tales’ enchantments and, of course, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, where it worked perfectly with the set’s Japanese inspired setting.

Borderless anime cards are returning in Ravnica Remastered, providing amazing new anime looks to classic characters, from Tomik, Distinguished Advokist, to Fblthp, the Lost, and even the deadly assassin Massacre Girl. The treatment also features on non-legendary creatures, such as Birds of Paradise, and also non-creatures, like the token-player favourite Divine Visitation.

There are 30 of these beautiful designs to play with, collect, or just stare at!

Retro Frame Card

As well as embracing the newer style of anime cards, Ravnica Remastered is also treating us players to a classic look with Retro Frames returning, showing off cards in the original frame from when the game was first released. A total of 136 cards carry this retro treatment, including the powerful shock lands, such as Breeding Pool, Overgrown Tomb and Watery Grave. Lovers of nostalgia will love these retro frame treatments, with many cards in the set printed in the original frame for the first time. For fans of older formats, such as Legacy and Vintage, retro borders are a great way to add new cards to decks yet keep that old-school aesthetic.

Serialised cards and borderless Shocks

Also found within Collector Boosters are super-rare serialised cards. Just 64 cards in the set, with the retro border, have serialisations, and each has just 500 printings. Among these are the Shock Lands, which also have another unique printing in the set – they can also be found in stunning borderless full art.

Key reprints and their role in the set  

As you’d expect from 16 sets from a beloved plane, there are a lot of tasty reprints from players and collectors to sink their teeth into…

The Shock Lands

The Shock Lands – so called because they deal you two damage (much like Shock) when they enter the battlefield, are among the best dual lands in a game – behind just the original duals, and the fetch lands. A staple of almost every format they are legal in, all 10 Shock Lands, from Breeding Pool to Overgrown Tomb, see a reprint in the set, including full art and retro frame alternatives. Interestingly the Shock Lands were given names not tied to the plane of Ravnica to allow them to be printed in any set, however we’ve only seen them within Ravnica sets to date.  

Birds of Paradise

The most powerful ‘mana dork’ of all time, Birds of Paradise was an exciting reprint in the first Ravnica Set, Ravnica: City of Guilds, and makes an appearance in Ravnica Remastered, including with a new full art treatment. Tapping for any coloured mana as well as having flying (meaning it wears auras and pump-effects well), has made Birds of Paradise a staple across multiple formats and one of the game’s most iconic creatures. Pro tip: always bolt the bird!

Cyclonic Rift

I remember planning Cyclonic Rift within Esper Control back in 2013, when Theros had just been released, as a fun bounce spell with late game potential. Back then, it was pretty much a bulk rare! Then came the emergence of Commander, and the potential of The ‘Rift went through the roof, enabling you to bounce ALL your opponents’ permanents at instant speed for just seven mana. Having just one blue mana in its cost means it’s easy to splash too. I’m amazed it’s not been banned yet in Commander, but while Cyclonic Rift is legal, it’s an auto-include for any blue deck. The new borderless anime version is sure to be highly sought-after.

Dark Confidant

For a long time, Dark Confidant was one of the most powerful creatures in the game, providing the classically dangerous combination of cards for life. Modern Jund was perhaps its most famous home, but its stock has fallen a little in recent times, due to cards like Wrenn and Six and Orcish Bowmasters making life difficult for creatures with just one toughness. The good news, however, is that Dark Confident is now an affordable card, and an exciting option for many Cubes and even Commander decks, just be careful of the top end of your mana curve – you don’t want to have to take 15 from an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn!

Pack Rat

One of the most powerful limited cards of all time, Pack Rat was a terrifying threat when dropped on turn two, creating an endless stream of rats for the rest of the game that were almost impossible to get rid of. In Standard, the Pack Rat was a key component in pushing mono black devotion to the top of the metagame. Today it’s rarely seen outside of Rat-themed commander decks, but it’s sure to have an impact on Ravnica Remastered Limited.

Guardian Project

A commander favourite, Guardian Project enables players to draw cards every time they drop a creature, providing a huge amount of card advantage on a permanent type (enchantment) that can be difficult to remove. With a gorgeous new anime alternative card, Guardian project will be among the most popular cards in the set.

Teferi, Time Raveler

Thankfully the era of Terferi taking over Standard is in the past (time-based pun intended), however Teferi, Time Raveler, or ‘Three-feri’, remains one of the most powerful Planeswalkers in the game, so powerful that MTG Arena changed its mana cost to four in its Alchemy rebalancing. It’s a removal spell, it draws cards, it lets you play at instant speed, and it’s surprisingly oppressive for your opponent, shutting down strategies that are based around specific timing, such as cascade. A fantastic reprint that’s going to see lots of play.

Bruvac, the Grandiloquent

Bruvac, the Grandiloquent is one of the most popular commanders printed in recent times due to his clear strategy – mill! At just three mana, Bruvac turns any Commander mill deck up to eleven, whether he’s leading the army, or fitting into the other 99 cards. If you’re milling, you need the Grandiloquent!

Comparing Ravnica Remastered with Other Sets

Ravnica Remastered has a relatively unique position among sets. Being a best-of reprint set, it contains more powerful and iconic cards than the average Standard-legal release, yet doesn’t carry quite the level of power (and therefore price tag) of the most premium sets, such as the ‘Masters’ range or Modern Horizons sets. This makes it pretty wallet-friendly for the average player, striking a good balance between price and reprint value.

There’s plenty for players to get excited about hiding within those boosters – whether it’s powerful cards like the Shock Lands, variants in the form of anime art, retro frames, or even the very valuable serialised versions. And if you’re looking for cross-format staples, including for your Commander decks, this is a great product to explore.

Availability and Release Date

Good news – Ravnica Remastered released on January 12 2024 globally, so is available now! You can find Draft Booster Boxes and Collector Booster Boxes here, as well as a range of singles.

The Impact of Ravnica Remastered

As a reprint set, Ravnica Remastered is going to help players get hold of highly desired cards, helping bring down the price (for now) of the Shock Lands and other staples, meaning now is a great time to get the cards you need. As such, many Commander decks are going to get a boost with powerful additions to their mana base, as well as the likes of staples like Cyclonic Rift and Guardian Project.

Looking further into the future, sales of Ravnica Remastered will dictate how many of these ‘remastered’ sets we see in the future. Innistrad Remastered is already in the diary for release in 2025, but beyond that we’ll have to see. I for one am a big fan and I’m looking forward to cracking some packs!