Guild's Strenghts, Weaknesses, and "Play-styles"?
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Posted on March 28, 2013, 4:21 p.m. by Taytora
Hey guys! Since I didn't start playing MTG until after the release of Gatecrash, I'm still quite new and learning about the different guilds. I'm starting to think about which guild I would like to play for the Dragon's Maze release (also, I am just curious in general as well). As such, I was wondering if people would help educate me about the guilds -essentially their strengths, weaknesses, play-styles, and/or whatever else you think it useful or interesting. Thank you!
pumpkinsword says... #3
I disagree with the Golgari description. They are the Golgari Swarm after all. It's not about beefing up one or two creatures. It's about swarming the battlefield with creatures, many with cool graveyard interactions. Lotleth Troll , Dreg Mangler , Slitherhead , and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord are some examples. The idea is that something can still be useful after it has died. Cards that go well with this are Gravecrawler and Geralf's Messenger . I do agree with the removal bit though: Abrupt Decay , Ultimate Price , Tragic Slip , etc.
March 28, 2013 4:58 p.m.
Let's split them into aggressive, midrange, and control tendencies first.
Aggressive - Boros, Gruul, Rakdos
Midrange - Selesnya, Golgari, Simic
Control - Azorius, Izzet, Dimir, Orzhov
There's a little bleed for some of these guilds. Let's go one by one now.
Boros - Cheap, fast, aggressive creatures. Boros likes to overwhelm with numbers, playing into their Battalion mechanic's theme, but this means they often can't get past a large threat in the mid-game.
Gruul - Large creatures that hit hard with good P/T-to-mana ratios. Gruul likes to stick an unbeatable threat and bash with it, augmenting it with Bloodrush. They can get blown out by spot removal.
Rakdos - Fast creatures with high power coupled with direct damage spells. Lots of removal so that blocking is never a consideration, which helps the Unleash mechanic. Still can't get past big threats with their small creatures.
Selesnya - A blend of going big and going numerous, Selesnya likes to make multiple large threats that can block and attack through anything. They can play a very long game with the Populate mechanic. Selesnya is at times slow and requires certain powerful cards to achieve success (such as Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
).
Golgari - The kings of card advantage through creatures, Golgari likes to play efficient threats early and then HUGE threats late. They support that strategy with the Scavenge mechanic to make any creature a very large threat. Probably the guild most vulnerable to spot removal.
Simic - The ultimate guild of versatility, Simic is on the boundary between aggro and midrange. Their cheap Evolve creatures can end a game extremely quickly, but they can also play a good mid-game by keeping the team at a large size for board stalls. Mana curve is of utmost importance here, because not getting cards in the proper sequence can allow the opponent to force you to be reactive instead of the other way around.
Azorius - Stop you early, fly over you late. Azorius likes to slow the game down early with stalling cards and then play numerous evasive threats while continuing to control the battlefield. Detain is a multipurpose mechanic in this way, stalling enemy attacks and increasing evasion. Azorius has trouble dealing with swarms of aggressive creatures and can often find it hard to end a game after stalling.
Izzet - Definitely the cleverest guild, Izzet attacks opponents on multiple axes until deciding the best way to win. Izzet has numerous spells of all sorts, ranging from removal to combat tricks to counterspells, making them unpredictable, and Overload makes those spells even better. Izzet is often weak to opponents who find a way to protect their large threats, as burn can't kill them and tricks can't beat them.
Dimir - Dimir is a difficult guild to understand. It has two primary ways to win, milling or evasive creatures. However, there is a limited supply of both of those cards, making it difficult to draft or build. Dimir can bury you with card advantage by keeping your creatures dead and hitting with creatures with Cipher spells, gaining insurmountable card advantage in the mid- and late-game. Dimir has trouble finding enough quality playables to have a coherent strategy, but can be devastating when they do.
Orzhov - Orzhov is all about incremental advantage. They will take control of the board state with cheap, efficient creatures and spells before using Extort to drain all your life away. Orzhov is probably the easiest guild to play because it centers on having a core of creatures with Extort and backing it up with removal. It turns out playing efficient creatures backed by removal is probably the best Limited format strategy since the beginning of time. Orzhov is susceptible to being beaten down in the early game before getting their engine running.
Well, that was a lot wordier than I thought it would be.
March 28, 2013 4:58 p.m.
mtg_deckmaster says... #5
Alright, are you prepared for an essay? Here is my opinion on the top 5 guilds for a prerelease, ranked best to worst.
Rakdos (B/R). I think Rakdos is #1 because it is the guild that punishes your opponent for slow draws and playing slow. It has big creatures for little mana and is lightning fast. When playing with Rakdos, the first thing to build a good deck is STAY ON CURVE!! A few 1 drops, a little more 2 drops, the most 3 drops and lower numbers in 4 and 5 drop slots. Its weakness is the late game. Either you win fast or play on turn 10 with a 2/2, facing a 5/5 or worse. Look for discard, burn and fast dudes. Plus, if you pick Rakdos, you will have the highest chance of getting another good guild, a guild that shares a color from the opposite set.
Boros (W/R). Boros is my second pick because it is insanely fast, and like Rakdos, loves punishing slow gameplay. It is also important to stay on curve with Boros. Look for burn, fast dudes and big bombs (i.e. Aurelia, the Warleader and/or Aurelia's Fury ). The only reason Boros isn't #1 is because it does not have a very good chance of getting a good guild from the opposite set.
Orzhov (W/B). Coming in at #3 is Orzhov. Orzhov is one of the tougher guilds to play, but if done right, it can murder everything. The mechanic (extort) is by far the best in both sets (but not my personal favorite, unleash takes the cake for that). Extort makes 1 drops not so useless in the late game and opposing life loss very easy. Again, to make it work, you gotta stay on curve. It must be consistent. (Here's a tip I wish I knew when I went to the Ravnica prerelease: Quality is always better than quantity. What you lack in power, you can make up for in consistency. If a bomb is out of color, don't use it.) Look for removal, life loss and extorters. Orzhov clocks in at #3 because it doesn't have a very good chance at getting a good guild.
Selesnya (W/G). #4 is Selesnya. When playing Selesnya, don't actually look for the mechanic!! Think of populate as an added bonus to whatever cards you get. If you build a sealed deck around populate, you are more likely than not gonna be disappointed. Look for dudes like Centaur Healer , Dryad Militant and Fencing Ace . You want a low curve and a large amount of creatures. Populate is really a filler mechanic for the deck if you need more cards. Look for life gain, big creatures and ramp. It is better than #5 because of the ability to possibly get a good opposite guild.
Simic (U/G). Simic comes in at #5 on my top 5 list due to a few minor reasons. Keep in mind, though, that these are (in my opinion) the top 5 best guilds to pick at the prerelease. Simic's mechanic, evolve, is what you want to build your deck around. It is certainly a powerhouse mechanic and could outrace Boros if done right. The only reason why its last is because it is probably the 2nd toughest guild to build around (beaten out only by the Golgari). Simic is the guild that you HAVE to have a perfect mana curve with. To build a good deck, you need an above-average pool and a possible good 3rd color. Look for small to medium creatures with high P/T, ramp, and card draw. It also does not have a very good chance of getting a good opposite guild.
Well, I hope that wasn't too painful. If I were you, I would pick Rakdos, because it easy to build, fast and goes good with any third color. This was just my opinion on the guilds, and I hope this helped a little. =)
March 28, 2013 5:14 p.m.
dorminjake says... #6
I've been playing a ton of limited for both RTR and GTC, so I'll attempt a ten-guild overview:
Return to Ravnica guilds:
Azorius (blue-white) - wins by stalling the opponent with Detain (Azorius Arrester ) and bounce effects (Dramatic Rescue ) and attacking with tons of flying creatures like Lyev Skyknight . With as much evasion as your flying and unblockable creatures have, enchantments like Knightly Valor and Ethereal Armor can be very effective at killing your opponent quickly. Azorius excels as a tempo deck: slowing your opponent down while you race in for the kill.
Selesnya (white-green) - builds up a large army of tokens (Call of the Conclave , Eyes in the Skies ), uses Populate to make it even bigger, and crushes the opponent under a surge of 3/3 Centaurs, 2/2 Knights, 1/1 Birds, etc. Selesnya is all about overwhelming your opponent with numbers, but has access to really large creatures (Risen Sanctuary , Slime Molding ) to fall back on if numbers fail. It's really hard for an opponent to catch up with you once you get Populate going.
Golgari (green-black) - the graveyard guild, Golgari is really good at generating an advantage by reusing spent resources. For example: use a Sluiceway Scorpion to block one of your opponent's dangerous creatures, then Scavenge the dead scorpion onto your Daggerdrome Imp to turn it into a much bigger threat. While Golgari is capable of killing your opponent quickly with Dreg Mangler s and such, the guild usually favors a somewhat slower approach, using your large green creatures and black removal spells to beat people down.
Rakdos (black-red) - Unleash your creatures, kill your opponent's creatures, attack them until they are dead, and then keep attacking them. Fire, blood, explosions, disease, bone, blades, agony, entertainment, devils, carnivals, cannibals (Devour Flesh ). That's Rakdos.
Izzet (red-blue) - as the spell guild, the one most in tune with instants and sorceries, counterspells and fireballs, Izzet is a bit tricky to play. While the guild's strength is in its spellcraft and Overload, you win by playing plenty of creatures and using spells like Teleportal and Dynacharge to end your opponent in short order. Using a Pursuit of Flight to make a flying Cobblebrute is a noble and worthy strategy.
Gatecrash guilds:
Dimir (blue-black) - Dimir is kind of like Azorius in that it relies on creatures with evasion (Deathcult Rogue , Dimir Keyrune ) to win games. The difference is that while Azorius slows down its enemies' plans, Dimr is all about sabotaging things with Cipher spells. You can win with Dimir a couple of different ways: through "mill" (Paranoid Delusions , Balustrade Spy ), or through unblocked damage (Shadow Slice , etc). This is definitely more of a control guild, but can push into aggro-control mode with the right mix of cards.
Orzhov (black-white) - the "bleeder" guild, all about winning by plinking away your opponent's life total in small increments that are difficult to properly deal with. The best Orzhov decks play lots of creatures with Extort, like Kingpin's Pet and Syndic of Tithes , and cast lots of cheap removal spells like Executioner's Swing to deal with threats and Extort at the same time. Extort may look small and insignificant, but it can easily heal you up from early attacks and is quite merciless at dispatching your foes in a timely manner.
Boros (white-red) - the military guild. Build an army of cheap creatures, attack with multiple creatures at a time, receive Battalion bonuses, and before you know it your opponent is dead. Boros excels at attacking with small, efficient creatures (Wojek Halberdiers , Boros Elite ) and using combat tricks like Martial Glory to gain a tremendous amount of advantage is combat. This is about as aggro as you can get, playstyle-wise.
Gruul (red-green) - another all-in attacking guild, but one that favors size over numbers. You want to be able to pummel your opponent with a combination of large creatures and Bloodrush effects (Ghor-Clan Rampager fits both descriptions). Despite its muscle-y appearance, Gruul can be a bit of a glass cannon. Bloodrushing a Scorchwalker onto a Madcap Skills -enchanted Slaughterhorn , only to get hit with a Grisly Spectacle , is NOT A GOOD THING. But when you successfully put your fist through the table with a combo like that, and your opponent's life totally falls into the negative range? There is nothing better.
Simic (green-blue) - you ideally want your Simic deck to be relatively fast, with a good curve of creature cards with varying power/toughness to really capitalize on the Evolve mechanic. Cloudfin Raptor s, Shambleshark s, and Crocanura s are all really good cards, and pretty central to the strategy. Crowned Ceratok and Sapphire Drake are excellent ways to turn your evolvers into full-fledged killers. If you like building a large army of creatures that get steadily larger over time, Simic is definitely for you. The guild is a bit light on removal, so speed, numbers, and Evolve triggers are very important.
Hope that helps!
March 28, 2013 5:40 p.m.
Thanks for all the input guys! I truly appreciate it -looks like I've got a bit of reading/thinking to do now ;-)Feel free to keep the input coming!
Cdawg44 says... #2
Return To Ravnica Guilds:
Golgari- Black/Green, their mechanic is scavenge, they are all about beefing up 1 or 2 creatures and using removal to clear the board for them.
Izzet- Blue/Red, Izzet kind of touches on everything, from aggro, to board removal, to burn, their mechanic is "overload"
Azorious- Blue/White, focused on control and flyers. Their mechanic is "detain"
Rakdos- Black/Red, completely aggro based, their mechanic is "unleash"
Selesnya- Green/White, based on getting tokens on the field, their mechanic is "populate"
Gatecrash Guilds:
Boros- Red/White, aggro humans and angels, their mechanic is "battalion"
Dimir- Black/Blue, focused on mill and control with unblockable creatures, their mechanic is "cipher"
Orzhov- Black/White, focused on removal and life gain, their mechanic is "extort"
Simic- Blue/Green, focused on constantly growing the size of their creatures, their mechanic is "evolve"
Gruul- Green/Red, very aggro based, also has special interactions with lands, their special mechanic is "bloodrush"
March 28, 2013 4:46 p.m.