Well, might as well start up the articles again, because rumor season never seems to end. And what are we talking about today? Guildpact. Yes, the second set in the Ravnica Block. For the most part, this set still stands in the shadows waiting to unleash its fury upon the Magic World. It lurks about mischievously, never getting too close to the light. But every once in a while, it stumbles and leaves behind various clues. I’ve collected the clues slowly, and now it’s time to share them with you.

First, let’s get to the obvious information. We know from before that Guildpact is the second set in the Ravnica Block. And here lately, second blocks have been getting pretty muscular. With Ravager in Darksteel and Umezawa’s Jitte in Betrayers of Kamigawa, I think this set might be the one that brings the power into Ravnica.

We also know that the set consists of 165 cards (55 commons, 55 uncommons, 55 rares), and is due for release on February 3, 2006. This means that we’ll have to wait for about another 2 and a half months to get our grimy paws on some boosters. That is, unless you go to the Pre-Release tournaments on January 21, 2006. Then you’ll have a couple of cards to play around with two weeks in advance. And remember to watch out on January 3, when mtg.com will start showcasing their previews.

And, in case you didn’t know, Mike Elliot is heading the design team, backed up by Aaron Forsythe, Devin Low, and Brian Schneider. Sounds like a pretty cool group to me, since 3 out of the 4 helped design the Ravnica set.

For those of you who are more interested in the storyline, the author of the Guildpact novel will be Cory J. Herndon. It is due out in January 2006, and it will cost $6.99 as usual. Continuing the tradition of its predecessor, Ravnica: City of Guilds, this book will also have a 320 page count. Here’s an excerpt about the plot that can be found on magicthegathering.com.

“One guild ravages the streets. Teysa leads another to "cleanse" them. And Agrus Kos doesn't give a damn.

But as he watches the guilds nip and tear at each other like snakes . . . something clicks.

Now his mind is clear, as are his options. A disaster grows under the city's crowded streets. He knows what he must do.”

And here’s an excerpt that we’ve had for a little longer…

“Following the devastation, there came the plague. Then, following several years and the corpses of hundreds of disease-torn Gruul, came the Syndicate, back to take the land they paid for with money from those who paid for it in blood. Only, there's one hitch - the Gruul don't want to lie down and die.”

Finally, I have some pictures of the novel’s cover. The first is what the finished product will look like when it is published on the book. The latter is just the artwork done by Todd Lockwood, without all the text in the foreground.

The Return of the Almighty List

And now what everyone’s been waiting for… The List. I think that we actually have a lot more information than we think we do, simply because of the leaks that were found during the Ravnica rumor season. For example, we’ve got concept sketches of an Izzet mage already, we know what Borborygmos will look like, etc. But I digress, so let’s get back to the list.

1. This is the expansion symbol for Guildpact, along with the set’s logo.

2. The guilds in Guildpact are The Gruul Clans, The Orzhov Syndicate, and The Izzet. In case you’ve forgotten, the Gruul are the Red and Green guild, the Orzhov are Black and White, and The Izzet mix Red with Blue. Below is a picture of the guild insignias surrounding the expansion symbol. A close-up of each guild insignia is shown underneath that picture.

The Gruul

The Orzhov

The Izzet

3. Here’s some background on each of the guilds in Guildpact. (This is quoted from Rei Nakazawa's article on MTG.com)

Gruul Clans: “We start with the guild that's not quite a guild, the Gruul Clans. While they had a purpose when the Guildpact was first signed, no one really cares what it was anymore, not even the Gruul themselves. You see, time has not treated the Gruul kindly. The other guilds have run roughshod over them, splintering the Gruul into a loose confederation of warclans. But with the savage cyclops Borborgymos leading its largest clan, they've found a new purpose: to destroy Ravnican civilization, and most especially the guilds, which they blame for their fall from grace. They're not yet a big enough threat for the other guilds to unite and destroy the Gruul once and for all, but they're getting there.”

Orzhov Syndicate: “The Orzhov Syndicate may cloak themselves in a veneer of religion, but it's all a sham. This false piety is only a smokescreen, and a means of control. Their real business is business: there's no financial dealing or trade that the Orzhov do not know about, if not outright manipulate. The Ghost Council, made up of the immortal spirits of past Orzhov leaders, make sure that nothing stands in the way of the Syndicate ruling Ravnica through gold and greed.”

The Izzet: “The Izzet are also seekers of knowledge, but their methods may be best described as "unorthodox." They pursue their research with reckless abandon, often taking on too much at once, quickly discarding old ideas for bright shiny ones that suddenly get their attention. Though they're responsible for most of the beneficial civic works on Ravnica, their behavior has also led to some spectacular and destructive failures. This reflects the personality of their guildmaster, the brilliant, but short-tempered, dragon wizard Niv-Mizzet.”

4. These are the speculated mechanics for the Gruul and Orzhov guilds.  Note: We do not know the mechanics for all three, but we have speculations on two based on rumors.

Gruul Clans - Bloodthirst X (If another player was dealt damage this turn, this creature comes into play with X +1/+1 counters on it.)

Orzhov Syndicate - Haunt (When this card comes into play choose target permanent? you control. Whenever that permanent is put into a graveyard from play, its Haunt effect is activated.)

5. Guildpact clan leaders... Borborygmos is the leader of the Gruul Clans. He is a huge Cyclops that specializes in war and carries a weapon consisting of a tree trunk with a humongous boulder on top, in the form of a primeval hammer. This is the tidbit of information that Hydrokinesis received from his source about the actual card, Borborygmos. It’s not much but it does give a general idea about how the card will be set up.

“...(Borborgymous) is going to be really freakin' big, trample, and have a supersized form of Bloodthirst...” --Hydrokinesis on www.mtgsalvation.com

The Orzhov Syndicate are supposed to be led by a group known as the Ghost Council.

Finally, The Izzet are led by the legendary dragon wizard, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind.

6. Wizards states that guild cycles with continue in Guildpact and Dissension.  This was originally discussed in Aaron Forsynthe's Latest Developments article on www.wizards.com, found here.

Based on Forsythe's comments there will be Guildmages, Guildhouses, Common lands, Signets, and Guild Artifacts.  This means that we know the following cards (note: some of them are just cards without stats.. or card text without card names.. but they will be cards).

Common Gruul Land
Land (C)
~ comes into play tapped.
When ~ comes into play, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
T: Add RG to your mana pool.

Common Izzet Land
Land (C)
~ comes into play tapped.
When ~ comes into play, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
T: Add UR to your mana pool.

Common Orhzov Land
Land (C)
~ comes into play tapped.
When ~ comes into play, return a land you control to its owner's hand.
T: Add WB to your mana pool.

Rare Gruul Dual Land
Land (R)
(T: Add R or G to your mana pool.)
As ~ comes into play, you may pay 2 life. If you don’t, ~ comes into play tapped instead.

Rare Izzet Dual Land
Land (R)
(T: Add U or R to your mana pool.)
As ~ comes into play, you may pay 2 life. If you don’t, ~ comes into play tapped instead.

Rare Orhzov Dual Land
Land (R)
(T: Add W or B to your mana pool.)
As ~ comes into play, you may pay 2 life. If you don’t, ~ comes into play tapped instead.

Gruul Guildmage - (r/g)(r/g)
Creature - ? (U)
?R: Ability?
?G: Ability?
2/2

Izzet Guildmage - (u/r)(u/r)
Creature - ? (U)
?U: Ability?
?R: Ability?
2/2

Orhzov Guildmage - (w/b)(w/b)
Creature - ? (U)
?W: Ability?
?B: Ability?
2/2

Gruul Signet - 2
Artifact (C)
1, T: Add RG to your mana pool.

Izzet Signet - 2
Artifact (C)
1, T: Add UR to your mana pool.

Orzhov Signet - 2
Artifact (C)
1, T: Add WB to your mana pool.

The above list doesn't include the two legendary creatures in each guild, the guild houses... or the guild artifacts.  However, this is a great start to the Guildpact spoiler.  [Some of this section was added by Streetz]

7. Concept sketches for possible Guildpact characters/cards.  These first two concept arts were previewed at mtg.com a while back. We can identify the first as Borborygmos, leader of the Gruul Clans. The second would most likely be the concept work for the Izzet Guildmage.

This other concept artwork is by Rob Alexander, and is probably a warrior (more specifically a Berserker) for the Gruul Clans.

8. Expect some great Guildpact artwork from Todd Lockwood. However, at this time I present to you the artwork by Todd Lockwood - Niv-Mizzet, Leader of the Izzet (below).  Wow!

9. This is another possible piece of artwork for Guildpact. It was shown in an article on mtg.com. It’s got the word, monument, in its image code, so that leads me to believe that it would most likely be an artifact, if anything.  Note: On MTG.com, they feature two versions of the art - one with the dimir insignia on it and one without. The image below is without the Dimir symbol.

10. Guildpact important dates.

January 3, 2006 – Guildpact previews start on magicthegathering.com

January 21, 2006 – Guildpact Pre-Release Tournaments

February 3, 2006 – The Release of the Guildpact Set

February 4, 2006 – Guildpact Release Tournaments

11. Additional, random information about the set.  This tiny bit of information was gathered from a source of Rancored_Elf's over at MTGSalvation. It has to do with the creature types that will be appearing in Guildpact.  To Quote (Rancored Elf @ www.mtgsalvation.com):

- There are at least eight spirits in the set, and a handful of cards that affect/create them
- There are a bunch of thrulls
- A new creature type called "weird" and another new type he forgets the name of
- Several old favorite creature types, and more of the ones which reappeared in RAV
- A phoenix! A unicorn! An angel!

12.  Also, they’ve said that Guildpact and Dissension will only have 3 different pre-cons, not the usual 4. This is because Guildpact and Dissension only contain 3 guilds each.  Wizard's confirmed this in their "Ask Wizards" column on their main site.  To quote (Brandon Bozzi on www.magicthegathering.com):

...Dissension and Guildpact will have three theme decks each - one for each guild. As you know, there are four guilds in the first set, three in the second, and three in the third. We decided that there should be a theme deck for each guild. So, both the guilds and the theme decks got four-three-three distribution. Sure, we could have stuck a non-guild theme deck in the small sets but we were afraid it would feel left out.

13. And Magic’s first four-colored cards will be making their way on stage with the release of Guildpact.  This is according to info found on www.starcitygames.com.  To quote (SCG):

The 165-card Guildpact expansion, the second set in the Ravnica block, expands on the exciting themes introduced in Ravnica: City of Guilds. The influx of powerful new gold cards continues, and players now have the tools to create new, multicolored decks with the addition of Guildpact’s three fresh guilds! With new guild leaders, three new guild-specific mechanics, and a cycle of Magic’s first four-color creatures, Guildpact has something for everyone!

14. Finally, I’d like to end with listing the cards that are rumored to be in Guildpact - based on information found on www.mtgsalvation.com. 

Killnonblue – 2U
Instant (U)
Counter target nonblue spell.

~this~ - B
Sorcery
Target player discards a card.
Haunt
When the creature ~this~ haunts is put into a graveyard, target player discards a card.

Wreak Havoc – 1RG
Sorcery (U)
Wreak Havoc can't be countered by spells or abilities.
Destroy target artifact or land.

Wow! I can’t believe I squeezed that much juice out of the little information that there currently is about Guildpact. But I think the orange has been squeezed to its limit. I’ll stop it here. I hoped you enjoyed the first major article about Guildpact. I tried to go over each of the guilds in Guildpact as best I could, while still providing artwork and information about the rest of the set.

Please join me next time as I go over the information about the next set in Ravnica, Dissension. And don’t forget to check out magicthegathering.com on January 2, 2006, in order to get your first glimpses of Guildpact cards. Well… maybe not your first glimpses, if I can help it.

Well, I’ve enjoyed writing this article, as I hope you’ve reading it. Make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for rumors about Guildpact. I’d like to give a special thanks to the staff, here at MDV, and at MTGS. And one more special thanks to Ghurhgs on the forums for helping me obtain all this information. Great job, man!

Rumors and news never stop going, so why should you? Visit the best MTG sites around to keep yourself rejuvenated. (www.magicdeckvortex.com, www.mtgsalvation.com, www.magicthegathering.com, www.rancoredelf.com, and www.starcitygames.com.)

~FIRE REIGN 2~

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.

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