Last updated on March 14, 2024
Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius | Illustration by Todd Lockwood
I remember fondly returning to play MTG around the original Innistrad block, back in 2012, and hearing the buzz and cheers that the Return to Ravnica announcement provoked on social media, at gaming conventions, and on MTG-specialized sites. After all, it was the Return to Ravnica, arguably one of MTG’s most popular planes, and I had only vaguely heard the name Ravnica before. Also, it was the first of many returns. People were excited, and the set delivered, bringing awesome card designs, a nice Draft and Standard environment, and more.
Return to Ravnica is a large set with more than 250 MTG cards, and it marks the beginning of the Pioneer era. There are five Ravnican guilds available: Selesnya , Azorius , Rakdos , Golgari , and Izzet . The other five guilds were released in the next set, Gatecrash.
As is Ravnican tradition the set its own themes, mechanics, and playstyle, so if you like these color combinations, stay with me as I take you through the RTR tour!
Return to Ravnica Basic Information
Deathrite Shaman | Illustration by Steve Argyle
Set Details
| Set Symbol |  |
| Set Code | RTR |
| Number of Cards | 274 |
| Rarities | 101 commons, 80 uncommons, 53 rares, 15 mythic rares, 25 basic lands. |
| Mechanics | Detain, Populate, Unleash, Overload, Scavenge |
Important Dates
| Previews Start | September 2, 2012 |
| Full Gallery Available | September 24, 2012 |
| Prerelease Week | September 29, 2012 |
| Paper Release Date | October 5, 2012 |
| Launch Party | October 5–7, 2012 |
| Release on Magic Online | October 13, 2012 |
About the Set: The Story
Return to Ravnica’s story takes place after the events of the original Ravnica block and the dissolution of the original Guildpact. In MTG lore, it takes place after the events of Rise of Eldrazi and Innistrad. The Guildpact was an ancient magic that bound the 10 Ravnican guilds together to live in harmony, written by Azor. This pact would unleash the Supreme Verdict on the city in case the guilds fought each other for power.
In this context, Jace, Architect of Thought arrives on Ravnica looking for answers and knowledge and discovers that Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius has the same objectives. The guild system is failing, with increasing disputes for power within and among guilds.
Niv-Mizzet and Jace proceed to investigate the mystery surrounding the Implicit Maze in Ravnica, which should be challenged by a representative of each of the 10 guilds. In this moment of tension and mistrust between guilds, they’re incentivized to cooperate among themselves to achieve this goal, so the Guildpact can be restored. The story continues in the next two sets, Gatecrash and Dragon’s Maze.
Return to Ravnica Mechanics
Detain
As in all Ravnica sets, each guild receives a mechanic. Detain is the Azorius mechanic, which removes a creature's ability to attack, block, or use activated abilities until your next turn. Detain is a strong tempo mechanic. Good cards with detain for Limited are Azorius Arrester and Lyev Skyknight.
Populate
Populate is the Selesnya mechanic, and it’s easy enough to understand. When you populate, you create a token that’s a copy of a creature token you control. Most populate cards create a token before the populate trigger, so they fuel themselves, or allow you to copy a stronger token you already have on the battlefield. Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage and Trostani, Selesnya's Voice are powerful RTR cards that can populate tokens.
Unleash
Unleash is the Rakdos mechanic. When a creature with unleash ETBs, you can put a +1/+1 counter on the creature. As long as an unleash creature has a +1/+1 counter, it can’t block, regardless of whether it got that counter from unleash or elsewhere. Talk about pushing your attack. Good examples of creatures with this mechanic are Rakdos Cackler and Splatter Thug.
Overload
Overload is the Izzet mechanic. Overload can be found only on instants and sorceries, and when you overload a spell, you replace “target” with “each” in the rules text. Instead of dealing damage to target creature you don’t control, you’ll deal damage to each creature you don’t control, and so on. The best RTR card with overload is EDH staple Cyclonic Rift, and there are also cards like Mizzium Mortars and Mizzium Skin.
Scavenge
Scavenge N is the Golgari mechanic, and of course, it has to do with the graveyard. While a creature with scavenge N is in the graveyard, you can pay the scavenge cost, exile it, and put N +1/+1 counters on a creature that’s on the battlefield. An example of an RTR card with scavenge is Deadbridge Goliath, which saw some Constructed play based on its size.
Return to Ravnica Card Gallery
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
Multicolor
Colorless
Lands
Notable Cards
The Shock Lands
First printed in the original Ravnica block, shock lands are in high demand for Constructed play in formats like Modern and Pioneer, so WotC usually reprints them in Ravnica formats. These have been reprinted in Return to Ravnica, Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Remastered, and more. They're lands that can come into play untapped by paying 2 life, so they see play in aggressive and control decks alike.
The Guild Leaders
These five guild leaders saw some play in Standard and still see play in EDH, with different deck styles. Trostani, Selesnya's Voice can gain some life and populate tokens, while Rakdos, Lord of Riots wants you to deal damage to your opponents and ramp out powerful spells, and so on.
Cyclonic Rift
Cyclonic Rift became a blue EDH staple and one of the most sought-after cards in the format. Even after being reprinted in Ravnica Remastered and Commander Masters, the price of the card remains stable. This card is good on offense and defense, allowing you to keep your board intact while messing with everyone else’s.
Pack Rat
Extremely powerful in Limited, Pack Rat saw plenty of Standard play in the black devotion era. Part rat typal incentive, part discard outlet, Pack Rat allows you to turn undesired cards in your hand into rats, and it’s difficult to stamp out without sweepers.
Deathrite Shaman
Banned in Modern and Legacy, Deathrite Shaman, or DRS, is one of the best 1-drops ever printed. A card that can fix your mana, gain you some life against aggro, and make your opponents lose life while also hating the graveyard is very versatile.
Abrupt Decay
Abrupt Decay is a flexible removal spell that can’t be countered. Eternal formats like Vintage and Legacy frequently play various permanents that need to be dealt with and this card hits most of them. The restriction of mana value 3 or less isn’t usually a problem, as there are plenty of cheap targets around.
Supreme Verdict
Supreme Verdict is one of the best 4-mana wrath effects, especially due to the “can’t be countered” clause. It’s a staple of control decks, and one of the best tools to fight against aggro- or tempo-based creature decks.
Sphinx’s Revelation
Extremely powerful when it was released, Sphinx's Revelation was a staple of control decks for a very long time. Gaining life and drawing cards is equally good against aggro and control strategies, and it can be done at instant speed.
Chromatic Lantern
Chromatic Lantern‘s a staple EDH mana rock, allowing your lands to generate mana of any color. It sees play in most 3+ color EDH decks.
Rest in Peace
Rest in Peace is a solid graveyard hate sideboard card, and it sees play in Pioneer, Modern, Legacy, and EDH. While Rest in Peace is in play, the graveyard zone doesn’t exist, and decks based around graveyard synergies should deal with this 2-mana enchantment or play a fair game.
Utvara Hellkite
Utvara Hellkite is a big dragon played in EDH dragon typal decks. It offers you a big advantage just by being in play. Making a 6/6 dragon each time one of your dragons attack is no joke.
Worldspine Wurm
Initially deemed too clunky and expensive to see play, Worldspine Wurm has found its way into many decks, especially decks that need you to reveal a card from your hand to get a benefit – Nourishing Shoal can get you 11 life. Worldspine Wurm is also an important part of decks that want to cheat or polymorph creatures into play, mainly in Pioneer.
Available Products
Return to Ravnica Booster Pack
This is your regular booster, or Draft Booster as we used to call it. You’ll get a basic land, 10 commons, three uncommons, a rare or mythic rare card, and a token/promotional card.
Return to Ravnica 6-card Booster Pack
These 6-card Booster Packs come with five cards, a basic land, and a promotional card. It’s not guaranteed that you’ll get a rare or mythic, unlike regular booster packs.
Return to Ravnica Fat Pack
Return to Ravnica Fat Packs are boxes that come with nine 16-card Booster packs, a spindown life counter, and RTR basic lands.
- Includes 9 booster packs, 80 basic lands, 2 deck boxes, a card box, a player's guide and a life counter
Return to Ravnica Booster Battle Pack
A Return to Ravnica Booster Battle Pack is a product intended for two players to open and play. There are two 22-card decks made of random cards aligned with a certain Ravnica guild, and there are two 16-card Booster packs. Each player opens their 22-card packs and the booster, decides which cards to play with, adds some lands, and they’re set to play a game of MTG with new cards.
![Magic The Gathering Return to Ravnica Booster Battle Pack [2X 22-Card Decks, 2X Booster Packs, Guide & Rules]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kdauQaK2L._SL160_.jpg)
- Includes 2x 22-Card Decks, 2x Booster Packs, Guide & Rules
Return to Ravnica Booster Box
An RTR Booster Box comes with 36 Draft Boosters, each with 16 cards. It's the main way to get the product in bulk, whether you’re a collector, card seller, or enthusiast Limited player.
- Officially Licensed
- Featuring Magic: The Gathering
- Sealed Box
- 36 Booster Packs per Box
- Ages 13+
Return to Ravnica Intro Decks
Return to Ravnica has five 2-color Intro Decks, one themed after each guild:
- Azorius Advance is a flying/tempo deck with Archon of the Triumvirate as the main card and win condition. It’s focused on detaining your opponent's creatures while attacking in the air with your own.
- Rakdos Raid is an aggressive deck focused on dealing damage and the unleash mechanic. Stealing your opponent’s creatures for a turn with cards like Traitorous Instinct can be a path to win, too. Carnival Hellsteed packs a punch as a 5/4 haste card that can be unleashed as a 6/5 hasty attacker.
- Selesnya Surge is a go-wide deck that shows off the populate mechanic. Cards like Seller of Songbirds and Call of the Conclave help you to create tokens to populate later. Grove of the Guardian is a land that can produce a big token later in the game, and you can also use win conditions like Wayfaring Temple and Risen Sanctuary.
- Izzet Ingenuity is your typical deck that combines creatures and some instants/sorceries to give you an advantage. Goblin Electromancer makes the spells cheaper, and there are some powerful overload instants and sorceries in the deck. Hypersonic Dragon is the main rare and win condition.
- Golgari Growth is a typical midrange deck that uses the graveyard as a future resource with the scavenge creatures, and it uses cards like Treasured Find. Corpsejack Menace synergizes with the scavenge mechanic, allowing you to put double counters on your creatures. Late in the game, you’ll be using your mana to scavenge your fallen creatures and produce powerful attackers.
- Includes a 60-card deck and one 15-card booster pack
Return to Ravnica Event Decks
Event decks are more suitable to play a Standard event at the FNM level. These are the two Event Decks from RTR:
- Golgari: Creep and Conquer is a midrange deck with powerful cards that saw Standard play like Vampire Nighthawk, Thragtusk, and Wolfir Silverheart. There’s a little sacrifice theme going on with cards like Korozda Guildmage, Slitherhead, and Tragic Slip.
- Rakdos: Wrack and Rage is a aggressive deck, counting on 1- and 2-drops like Stromkirk Noble, Rakdos Cackler, and Rakdos Shred-Freak, paired with good burn spells like Searing Spear and Pillar of Flame.
- Includes a 60-card deck and a 15-card sideboard
Wrap Up
Pack Rat | Illustration by Kev Walker
Return to Ravnica was a huge success. It was an elegantly designed set, with a huge impact on Constructed formats and a nice and balanced Limited environment. Although MTG has seen huge power creep these days, especially from 2018 forward, many cards from this set manage to stay relevant and see play in formats like Pioneer, Modern, EDH, and Legacy. WotC managed to execute well on all five guilds, making each guild have its own theme and a distinct gameplay feel.
What are your opinions on Return to Ravnica? Were you playing MTG back then? Let me know your opinions in the comments section below or leave us a tweet on Draftsim Twitter.
Stay safe folks, choose a guild, and be sure to respect the Guildpact.
Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to make a purchase, you’ll help Draftsim continue to provide awesome free articles and apps.
Follow Draftsim for awesome articles and set updates:
Add Comment