The whole legal murder thing reminds me of the legal Dark Elf assassins guild Morag Tong from the Elder Scrolls series. As long as you have a official writ and only the target dies then it's legal.
This is such a valuable resource for running a Dungeons and Dragons game in the Ravnica setting. Half of my players only know that it's a card game, but after watching this they're talking to me about lore like they played MtG through these sets. Thank you Silver Myr.
The description you gave for the Dimir makes me wish they had a transform theme. Where they would hide themselves as guileless until fulfilling their goal and only then revealing themselves as Dimir the whole time. While the transform mechanic is mostly stuck to Innistrad to feel unique from other planes mechanically, I still think this would be a nice flavor way to show how stealthy the Dimir can actually be.
i feel like it's notable to mention in the selesnya section that they are pretty much the only guild whose wrath for defectors is explicitly outlined. i'm sure the dimir aren't any better but that's just a matter of good opsec if you're guildless and you get pulled into the selesnya you basically don't get to leave
Presently running a ravnica campaign and this inspired me to broaden my perspective. I was so hyperfocused on the guilds, but the effect they have on the guildless is such a great opportunity to worldbuild. I keenly await the next one! I want to ask if you have a release schedule but should be patient as creating an essay like this is a mammoth effort!
That's so lovely to hear thank you! I don't have a schedule atm but I'm working on part 2 now and I plan to get it out asap! It will still likely be a fair bit shorter than 1 but a bit longer than I first thought. I didn't realise there was so much good info in Agents of Artifice
This is why I love everything red related in Ravnica; the red aligned guilds never pretend to be something they are not. Boros, Gruul, Izzet, and Rakdos all are what they say they are.
I just found your channel through your comment, your little video on the Myr was awesome! I'm gonna watch "What if War of the Spark played out differently?" next
I imagine a story of Gruul hitting a Ravnica area with mostly guildless and the guildless put up such a good fight that Gruul is pushed off. Only to have Boro's come in to smother the hopes of the guildless because they are damaging a clan as 2nd rate people.
This might be late for the conversation. But I like to think the original purpose of House Dimir in the original Guildpact was similar to your analysis of the Azorious Senate, they maintain the status quo, only they were not ment to be the visible side. They could have had a secret police, sort of CIA/MI6 intelligence gathering, and securing the Guildpact and Ravnica's people through espionage, and behind the scene tipping of th scales. But much like anyone with power the guild got corrupted with what they were able to do, the resources they could alocate, and the information they could leverage in their guild's way. As someone who runs Ravnica as my main homebrew campaign this video is a must watch to take into the unrepresented side of Ravnica, as well as to further characterise the Guilds in relation not in relation to other Guilds but with those they eventually forgot to care about.
This is very entertaining, informative and very easy to listen to even as a non native english speaker. Don't even want to know how much time it took you to flesh it all out. Please keep up the great work to explore even more planes of MTG! Would be very interested in some Kamigawa lore some day in preparation to a coming neon Kamigawa set.
Thanks so much that's lovely to hear! and that's definitely something I could look at. I've got a lot of nostalgia for Kamigawa but I've never known much about the lore beyond spirits vs the material
Funny fact: Wojek and Wojak might have more in common than you think. Ravnica block is based on Slavic culture and Wojek would mean "Little Warrior" in old Polish. Wojak (the guy from the meme" is literally named after old Polish word for Warrior.`
I can’t believe how good this is. I’ve been wanting to make something like this, and I’m so glad you’ve decided to do the work lmao Thank you for this! I hope it makes it more bearable to talk to most vorthoses about Ravnica.
As far as I'm aware, the Dimir were meant to be a sort of internal secret police, having infiltrated the other guilds and ensuring that no one else tries anything.
This is great! I am just starting a D&D campaign in Ravnica and this has given me lots of ideas. Also, despite all of this, I still want to live in Ravnica! 😂
So you would rather decrease your life expectancy in half by living there just to make real life less boring I presume. I sometimes feel that way myself.
Your mention of the guildless is a good point of putting forward how important it is to be in a guild, in the books, the main character is a member of the boros and acts as a cop, and is prevented from saving an innocent guildless girl from being used as bait by a golgari because it would be considered interfering with guild business. that really underlines how screwed you are, like not joining a gang in a planet sized prison.
fantastic video, especially for someone like me who only vaguely remembers Ravnica and haven't played MTG for years! a lot of fun and quite a nostalgia trip for me. looking forward to part 2!
Light, this was an absolutely spectacular video. I cannot wait for your future videos. Your single video has rocketed you up near Rhystic Studies for my favorite Magic content. Keep it up!
@@silvermyr It's well worth the time to watch. I am glad he started making videos again, hopefully monthly. If you keep making videos I have double to look forward to!
This is a really thought-provoking angle to take Vorthos content and you are providing a very engaging voice for it. There's always room for more well-researched and literate MtG video essays.
James, with my little knowledge of the MTG realm this vid was still fantastic. So happy to see it doing well and people showing love. Looking forward to the next one!
When you get right down to it, with how little it would take to re-skin Ravnica as a cyberpunk dystopia...or a real-world dystopia in the wake of late-stage capitalism...it's subtly horrifying just how much the playerbase embraces it without really realizing what a reprehensible environment it is.
So true, the guilds are so well drawn they make good stand ins for the bloated self serving institution of your choice. Highlighting all the exploitation that props up Ravnica was part of why I wanted to make this series
It's a shame so many people think capitalism is somehow equivilent to the government causing and mandating poor treatment of people it doesn't deem desireable. The corporations in the real world are the way they are due to the government enabling them, both via the companies funding the 'elected' officials to create unjust laws. A perverse inscentive that wouldn't be there if the government did its job. The government, and the guildpact. Have created the second class purely by its own action. And not by the fault of capitalism. A capitalistic system is a guildless system of individuality that allows for free choice and use of services. Very clearly Ravnica is not that.
Was scrolling for new Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica for this year and stumbled upon this gem of a study you're doing. Liking, subbing and commenting for the algorithm.
God I hope you know I ran a game of ravnica recently and made my players watch both your videos to get a sense of the world and how the guilds act and their ideology and how the people are affected by this. Two players played as guildless and were determined to better the people.
1:02:00 I do find it interesting that after three blocks - and a foray into Ixalan - we STILL don't know who the Simic parun is. Should we return, in addition to FINALLY leaving the main city, hopefully we'll finally find out.
@@silvermyr Still doesn't tell us anything of relevance. The play of the Guildpact's founding portrayed Azor as a human - at least by way of the actor - and we didn't get confirmation of sphinxdom until Rivals of Ixalan.
A little late, but the city of Ravnica doesn't cover the entire though it does cover a lot. There are parts of the plane that used to be home to other elder dragons before niv mizzet killed them. Ravnica proper has (as far as we know) ten districts with the city only being the ninth and tenth districts. The utvara reclamation zone although controlled by the sylesnea was originally a massive open land an first lair of niv. He later burned the whole thing to the ground to kill a rival dragon and the wilds reclaimed the area (hence the name). Orzhov has only a small colony in the area and is the only man made structures.
Another thing is that idk if it was like this in the first set, but the majority of people on ravnica are actually in guilds, with the guilds having different levels of members. Rakdos and Izzet being the most important as the izzet would be your trade school jobs like engineers, plumbers, and electricians. Rakdos members are the main labor force as well as entertainers, being accredited with making the super massive tunnels in the undercity and terraforming the mountains that used to be on the plane. PS Orzhov makes the slaves no Rakdos, when rakdos slaves are referred to it means their own members being sold out for hard labor.
Amazing video. Only got into MTG last year, so still picking up information about the lore. This was educational and a pleasure to watch to boot. Subscribed!
I love this series. I knew nothing about the setting going into a Ravnica D&D campaign so my friends were p surprised when I rocked up to the first session with a PhD in Ravnican class analysis. I would not be having as much fun if I hadn't watched this. Keep up the good work!
The algorithm led me here, yes, but also it was the first thing i thought of when i got my hands on the guilds of ravnica cards, all the flavor text made it sound like everyday was a struggle to not die
I think the Dimir were originally conceived as a kind of control function of the Guildpact. Like an internal investigations unit. They exist kind of outside the normal guild infrastructure (except in their function as couriers and messengers, but that's obviously only a front for spywork) and have the capacity to infiltrate all other guilds, which you'd think would be a breach of the pact but apparently isn't for them, and if necessary eliminate dangerous individuals. They horde information because originally they were investigators, searching for loophole abuses in the other guilds. In that way they are a kind of dark mirror to the Azorius, which are the front facing control element of the pact. Which is even reflected in their colour identity, would you look at that. The Black here originally stood for their function as sappers, undermining other's efforts, rather than a truly selfish desire for power as it does now. But like all the other guilds they became corrupted and strayed from their intended function in maintaining Ravnican society until they became the very thing they were created to fight against.
This might have been added to their identity later, but when it comes to the Gruul, they were originally tasked with maintaining the natural lands of the plane. But with the city having extended to fill the entire world, they have to tear down city areas in order to meet their intended purpose of maintaining nature. Also might have been omitted for a monetization purposes, but Rakdos also operate the city's brothels. So with all that free soup, it's not just the Golgari keeping the city fed.
Wow thanks for the wonderful video :) I’m about to run a Ravnica D&D game and this was really helpful. Off to watch part 2! And maybe read those novels…
Oh boy, I remember reading the books of the first Ravnica block and being delighted at Agrus Kos being the main character, since my favorite color combo was (and still is) R/W. But man, did Kos' dubious morals not register with me back then. I guess that's a testament to teenage ignorance? Then again, nothing in Ravnica was ever moral or just, so I guess he fit in just right.
i LOVE this lore-dense video! you are amazing :D keep going, you deserve it! I would love a series about the Weatherlight and the Urza Block - like lore :D
I really like the different perceptions of "nature" of the Green factions and how they are contrasted: The Gruul believe that nature and civilisation can't coexist, that they are opposing forces and for one to flourish the other must yield its place in the world. The Selesnya believe that civilisation can adapt to nature and coexist with it, but that civilisation is the one that should reform itself to accommodate nature. The Simic believe that nature can adapt to civilisation and become integrated with it the same way technology is, but in the process nature has to be reshaped (even if their idea of "adapted to civilisation" appears to include a lot more uncontrollable genetically enhanced monstrosities than seems logical). But then there's the Golgari, who don't even see a distinction between nature and civilisation at all. The dark back alleys of the surface are just as much of a hunting ground for them as the fungus jungles of the underground. Their job of recycling waste is literally just an aspect of the ecosystem they inhabit. Absolutely fascinating, this is the best part of Ravnica worldbuilding.
Incredible video and channel. I hope to see more in the future. Mtg has great lore, but very badly told more often than not. This was very comprehensive and very entertaining, which is more than the war of the spark novel xD
8:11 Also, something John Jackson Miller (a frequent writer for Star Wars) said in an interview that the most fatal words for worldbuilding are "always" and "never", and that's even more true when writing for a collaborative setting. If you don't make absolute statements like that, it gives you room to after making a rule, saying "Ah and here's the very rare exception" if you need to. So if wizards want to introduce "the last wild place on Ravnica" they have that option without doing a full retcon. Edit: Does anyone have a working link to the hometown pride article? It still shows up on Google, but goes to a 404 page. The wiki also hasn't archived it.
Thank you for going into ravnica... it is very under talked about in a dnd aspect. Ps you are woefully under subscribed to and heres to a boom In your popularity
i didnt start playing magic until the latest return to ravnica, so thank you so much for this incredible insight into the flavor that made everyone fall in love with it in the first place!! as an incredibly poor person this helped me understand why orzhov has always been my favorite guild, lol.
Ended up watching the entire video. Awesome work! Really interesting and your jokes/funny bits all landed well. I feel like you're channel's really gonna blow up if you keep at it.
I really enjoy the art and story of the original Ravnica and other planes (Dominaria) over the more modern versions we get nowadays and this video just helped reinforce that. People say that MtG is more popular than ever these days, but I personally remember back then, in my early teens, that MtG was much, much more popular in my city as a whole, as well as my neighborhood. Almost all kids and adults are playing with each other without any problem and you could find MtG boosters on newsstands. I brought a lot of original Ravnica, Mirrodin and Time Spiral boosters, tournament packs and theme decks at the time on newsstands or the multiple LGS's. These days it seems like every LGS is close and is super rare to find anyone to play. So yes, I hold some nostalgia for that time.
Hot take: Ravnica is the best DnD-MtG Crossover and one of the best DnD 5e settings. While the lore in the DnD book is outdated by now, and even was at the time of release, the mechanics are what matters and they obviously resolve around the guilds. Since the guilds have been implemented as backgrounds (aka your regular job), any class can be of any guild. In order to fit any class into any guild, each guild gives spellcasters access to a guild spell list that they interact with as if they were class spells. Thus even a Selesnya Wizard can cast nature spells, you don't need to be a druid. Meanwhile the Rakdos Paladin has access to fire magic. They attempted similar mechanics with Strixhaven and Eberron (a DnD setting in this case that was published shortly after Ravnica, iirc), but kind of failed to balance those properly, as they gave classes access to healing that seriously shouldn't be able to. Nobody needs a Wizard who is able to cast infinite healing spells.
Crazy how few subs you have dude! Obvious that a ton of work and thought went into such a long and informative video. Keep putting the good work out there and I’m sure you’re subs will climb!!!
Mate!? I could listen to you ramble with a passion about anything MtG related topic. I recently found this channel and I wholeheartedly cherish its content. I love hearing anything about myrs also. If you were to do episodes like this about all planes, I would watch them on repeat for the rest of my life. I love the storytelling punch you bring to the rather bland presentation Wistards brings to their universe.
From what I remember, the Dimir where outlined in the guild pact as having to be a secret. As in per the guild pact, their identity could not be exposed. When their leader got arrested and its existence made public, the guild pact broke. From what I remembered at least. The guildless would have been an interesting point of entry for Nicol Bolas into Ravnica. Instead of infiltrating the guilds, each infiltrator would come to the guildless and propose them a possibility to replace the guilds. Have the Azorious actually care for justice, the Gruul actual freedom, the orzhov stop their predatory practices, the sonic open clinics. Bringing the disenfranchised and oppressed into a rebellion a rise against the guilds, would have actually made it interesting seeing the planeswalkers infiltrated into leader, and given the other walkers a moral connumdrum.
One explanation of how Dimir is able to get away with being unnoticed is that they have magic that makes them invisible, or tricks the mind into ignoring them like how your eyes always see your nose but your brain filters it out as unimportant. Both of which would fit with the blue/black magic from a lore perspective. You can wear whatever you want if you got a spell like that on you, you probably shouldn't becouse that makes you more reliant on a singular tool that might fail but you can get away with that for a while.
I'd say most of the guilds are presented less zealously in the latest block, but I don't think the Boros are all that different from their original form. In RTR they still have a fair bit of flavour text referencing their brutality and Aurelia's herself highlights how she's quicker to lead the guild to war than Razia
@@silvermyr How much quicker to go to conflict than other guilds. There's also a lot more text aboot protecting people/building ties with the local community. Aurelia Boros is good for the citizenry. Plus the dress-code is better for the Angels.
@@gabrielrussell5531 You're 100% right on angel dress code. I'm rereading all the stories for RTR atm and I'll admit I've not gotten to Gideon and Aurelia again yet so I'm not saying I don't agree with you, just that their presentation isn't super different, particularly on the cards where most people see them. But I probably agree that Aurelia's at least better than Razia and I will absolutely address changes in how the guilds treat the guildless in the later videos, especially stuff that didn't make it on to the cards.
If Wizards ever returns to this plane I would love to have a set where the guildless now have a planeswalker to rally behind ( post March of Machines) and we would have those in the guilds kind of break the color pie like an Azorious lawmaker legend now realizing there must be change which I would think is an intriguing way to re introduce the plane to a new era
![ตีสิบเดย์ [FULL] | นางเอกหมอลำเงินล้าน "อุ๋งอิ๋ง เพชรบ้านแพง" & ไฮโซสาวสุดฮอต "ลิลลี่ เหงียน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jPxQS_EgrJ4/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm just imagining a tug-o-war on Rav's Wikipedia between the Azorius recording everything and the Dimir editing everything
The whole legal murder thing reminds me of the legal Dark Elf assassins guild Morag Tong from the Elder Scrolls series. As long as you have a official writ and only the target dies then it's legal.
This is such a valuable resource for running a Dungeons and Dragons game in the Ravnica setting. Half of my players only know that it's a card game, but after watching this they're talking to me about lore like they played MtG through these sets. Thank you Silver Myr.
Dude literally was asked to do ravnica for the campaign at the game store I work at and was like yes I get to rewatch guildless.
The description you gave for the Dimir makes me wish they had a transform theme. Where they would hide themselves as guileless until fulfilling their goal and only then revealing themselves as Dimir the whole time. While the transform mechanic is mostly stuck to Innistrad to feel unique from other planes mechanically, I still think this would be a nice flavor way to show how stealthy the Dimir can actually be.
i feel like it's notable to mention in the selesnya section that they are pretty much the only guild whose wrath for defectors is explicitly outlined. i'm sure the dimir aren't any better but that's just a matter of good opsec
if you're guildless and you get pulled into the selesnya you basically don't get to leave
Presently running a ravnica campaign and this inspired me to broaden my perspective. I was so hyperfocused on the guilds, but the effect they have on the guildless is such a great opportunity to worldbuild.
I keenly await the next one! I want to ask if you have a release schedule but should be patient as creating an essay like this is a mammoth effort!
That's so lovely to hear thank you! I don't have a schedule atm but I'm working on part 2 now and I plan to get it out asap! It will still likely be a fair bit shorter than 1 but a bit longer than I first thought. I didn't realise there was so much good info in Agents of Artifice
This is why I love everything red related in Ravnica; the red aligned guilds never pretend to be something they are not. Boros, Gruul, Izzet, and Rakdos all are what they say they are.
This was fantastically done, wonderful job.
I just found your channel through your comment, your little video on the Myr was awesome! I'm gonna watch "What if War of the Spark played out differently?" next
@@silvermyr Awesome, glad you liked it!
What a lovely in-depth dive into Ravnica lore, really hope this channel will get the recognition it deserves
Watched this entire thing having never played a game like this in my life. Really great stuff.
Aw that's so lovely to hear! Really glad you liked it
I imagine a story of Gruul hitting a Ravnica area with mostly guildless and the guildless put up such a good fight that Gruul is pushed off. Only to have Boro's come in to smother the hopes of the guildless because they are damaging a clan as 2nd rate people.
This might be late for the conversation. But I like to think the original purpose of House Dimir in the original Guildpact was similar to your analysis of the Azorious Senate, they maintain the status quo, only they were not ment to be the visible side. They could have had a secret police, sort of CIA/MI6 intelligence gathering, and securing the Guildpact and Ravnica's people through espionage, and behind the scene tipping of th scales. But much like anyone with power the guild got corrupted with what they were able to do, the resources they could alocate, and the information they could leverage in their guild's way.
As someone who runs Ravnica as my main homebrew campaign this video is a must watch to take into the unrepresented side of Ravnica, as well as to further characterise the Guilds in relation not in relation to other Guilds but with those they eventually forgot to care about.
This is very entertaining, informative and very easy to listen to even as a non native english speaker. Don't even want to know how much time it took you to flesh it all out. Please keep up the great work to explore even more planes of MTG!
Would be very interested in some Kamigawa lore some day in preparation to a coming neon Kamigawa set.
Thanks so much that's lovely to hear! and that's definitely something I could look at. I've got a lot of nostalgia for Kamigawa but I've never known much about the lore beyond spirits vs the material
This is a great analysis of a little talked about aspect of Ravnica, really makes me want to run a game in the setting
Funny fact: Wojek and Wojak might have more in common than you think.
Ravnica block is based on Slavic culture and Wojek would mean "Little Warrior" in old Polish. Wojak (the guy from the meme" is literally named after old Polish word for Warrior.`
I can’t believe how good this is. I’ve been wanting to make something like this, and I’m so glad you’ve decided to do the work lmao
Thank you for this! I hope it makes it more bearable to talk to most vorthoses about Ravnica.
As far as I'm aware, the Dimir were meant to be a sort of internal secret police, having infiltrated the other guilds and ensuring that no one else tries anything.
Lol the CIA
This is great! I am just starting a D&D campaign in Ravnica and this has given me lots of ideas.
Also, despite all of this, I still want to live in Ravnica! 😂
Ah lovely, cheers! Tbh 'm glad someone still wants to
So you would rather decrease your life expectancy in half by living there just to make real life less boring I presume.
I sometimes feel that way myself.
@@benji-menji Exactly! But then I am a Rakdos player 😈
Your mention of the guildless is a good point of putting forward how important it is to be in a guild, in the books, the main character is a member of the boros and acts as a cop, and is prevented from saving an innocent guildless girl from being used as bait by a golgari because it would be considered interfering with guild business. that really underlines how screwed you are, like not joining a gang in a planet sized prison.
Well done James! Very informative and very easy to listen to.
Thanks so much man!
The guildless should all group up so they don't get pushed around so much. Like they could make a union or something.
There has to be a word for something like that. Although I'll buy _Unions of Ravnica_ when that's out
Like... a guild?
@@MrFForger
Azorius: Wait, that's illeagal! Or if it is not, we'll just get the other 9 guilds to make it illegal.
Ravnica: Uprising
Or, dare I say... A GUILD?
fantastic video, especially for someone like me who only vaguely remembers Ravnica and haven't played MTG for years! a lot of fun and quite a nostalgia trip for me. looking forward to part 2!
Light, this was an absolutely spectacular video. I cannot wait for your future videos. Your single video has rocketed you up near Rhystic Studies for my favorite Magic content. Keep it up!
Such high praise, thank you so much! I love Rhystic Studies, I'm gonna watch the new Kaldheim one with lunch
@@silvermyr It's well worth the time to watch. I am glad he started making videos again, hopefully monthly. If you keep making videos I have double to look forward to!
This is a really thought-provoking angle to take Vorthos content and you are providing a very engaging voice for it. There's always room for more well-researched and literate MtG video essays.
dude brilliant!
James, with my little knowledge of the MTG realm this vid was still fantastic. So happy to see it doing well and people showing love. Looking forward to the next one!
Damn this is good content ! And that's your first video ?!
It is and thank you!
I loved this! It was an excellent, enjoyable journey into the streets of Ravnica.
you do you, you're a natural at presenting and this style of video! quite professional, full stop. also for a first video, wow. Keep it up. :)
For a yugioh player who started playing magic for less then a year and dont know anything about the lore this video is pure gold
The Selesnya Conclave is where ild imagine I would find myself, yet Coalhauler Swine hakuna matataing around is a viiiiibe
Six parts and a movie!
Came because of the myr, stayed because of the fascinating content
When you get right down to it, with how little it would take to re-skin Ravnica as a cyberpunk dystopia...or a real-world dystopia in the wake of late-stage capitalism...it's subtly horrifying just how much the playerbase embraces it without really realizing what a reprehensible environment it is.
So true, the guilds are so well drawn they make good stand ins for the bloated self serving institution of your choice. Highlighting all the exploitation that props up Ravnica was part of why I wanted to make this series
Literally selling your soul as collateral for a loan, if anything that is a bit too on the nose.
It's a shame so many people think capitalism is somehow equivilent to the government causing and mandating poor treatment of people it doesn't deem desireable. The corporations in the real world are the way they are due to the government enabling them, both via the companies funding the 'elected' officials to create unjust laws. A perverse inscentive that wouldn't be there if the government did its job.
The government, and the guildpact. Have created the second class purely by its own action. And not by the fault of capitalism. A capitalistic system is a guildless system of individuality that allows for free choice and use of services. Very clearly Ravnica is not that.
Ravnica would be a terrible place to live, but it still a fascinating place to study. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion
Gruul sympathizer.... Yuck.
Anyone else here from Reddit? Shoutout to shard3482 for promoting his friend on the mtgvorthos subreddit!
Nice thanks for checking out the video, i only just recently found the mtgvorthos sub reddit and its awesome.
@@greg-su5ye You are a gem!
Your videas so inspiring! Thank you
Was scrolling for new Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica for this year and stumbled upon this gem of a study you're doing.
Liking, subbing and commenting for the algorithm.
Return to ravnica was the first booster box I ever brought. And really got into the game because of it.
God I hope you know I ran a game of ravnica recently and made my players watch both your videos to get a sense of the world and how the guilds act and their ideology and how the people are affected by this. Two players played as guildless and were determined to better the people.
1:02:00 I do find it interesting that after three blocks - and a foray into Ixalan - we STILL don't know who the Simic parun is. Should we return, in addition to FINALLY leaving the main city, hopefully we'll finally find out.
According to Corey Herndon their surname was just Simic which makes sense but also makes me laugh
@@silvermyr Still doesn't tell us anything of relevance. The play of the Guildpact's founding portrayed Azor as a human - at least by way of the actor - and we didn't get confirmation of sphinxdom until Rivals of Ixalan.
subscribed so that in a year i can say "yeah i subbed to him way back when he was at 7k"
really good content so far. quality produciton too.
A little late, but the city of Ravnica doesn't cover the entire though it does cover a lot. There are parts of the plane that used to be home to other elder dragons before niv mizzet killed them. Ravnica proper has (as far as we know) ten districts with the city only being the ninth and tenth districts. The utvara reclamation zone although controlled by the sylesnea was originally a massive open land an first lair of niv. He later burned the whole thing to the ground to kill a rival dragon and the wilds reclaimed the area (hence the name). Orzhov has only a small colony in the area and is the only man made structures.
Another thing is that idk if it was like this in the first set, but the majority of people on ravnica are actually in guilds, with the guilds having different levels of members. Rakdos and Izzet being the most important as the izzet would be your trade school jobs like engineers, plumbers, and electricians. Rakdos members are the main labor force as well as entertainers, being accredited with making the super massive tunnels in the undercity and terraforming the mountains that used to be on the plane. PS Orzhov makes the slaves no Rakdos, when rakdos slaves are referred to it means their own members being sold out for hard labor.
Looking forward to the other parts!
Awesome content. Very informative. Appreciate the good work!
0:32 no way, you got jungo too ? I loved when Jungo captain Mowom use his goshnobber to grackle some schmungos, love that card
Comment! It was nice boosting all of your videos. Great content:
Great summary!
Amazing video! :D New subscriber!
Your videos are incredibly fun to watch.
WOW!!!! this is REALLY well done!!!! Thanks for making it!!!!
Excellent video! I hope you make more videos in the future. I'm definitely subscribing.
Amazing video!!!
Amazing video. Only got into MTG last year, so still picking up information about the lore. This was educational and a pleasure to watch to boot. Subscribed!
I love this series. I knew nothing about the setting going into a Ravnica D&D campaign so my friends were p surprised when I rocked up to the first session with a PhD in Ravnican class analysis. I would not be having as much fun if I hadn't watched this. Keep up the good work!
Love this series I got into magic a lot more during the last block
The algorithm led me here, yes, but also it was the first thing i thought of when i got my hands on the guilds of ravnica cards, all the flavor text made it sound like everyday was a struggle to not die
I think the Dimir were originally conceived as a kind of control function of the Guildpact. Like an internal investigations unit. They exist kind of outside the normal guild infrastructure (except in their function as couriers and messengers, but that's obviously only a front for spywork) and have the capacity to infiltrate all other guilds, which you'd think would be a breach of the pact but apparently isn't for them, and if necessary eliminate dangerous individuals. They horde information because originally they were investigators, searching for loophole abuses in the other guilds.
In that way they are a kind of dark mirror to the Azorius, which are the front facing control element of the pact. Which is even reflected in their colour identity, would you look at that. The Black here originally stood for their function as sappers, undermining other's efforts, rather than a truly selfish desire for power as it does now.
But like all the other guilds they became corrupted and strayed from their intended function in maintaining Ravnican society until they became the very thing they were created to fight against.
This might have been added to their identity later, but when it comes to the Gruul, they were originally tasked with maintaining the natural lands of the plane. But with the city having extended to fill the entire world, they have to tear down city areas in order to meet their intended purpose of maintaining nature.
Also might have been omitted for a monetization purposes, but Rakdos also operate the city's brothels. So with all that free soup, it's not just the Golgari keeping the city fed.
I don’t know the guilds so thank you for laying the groundwork actually
Man I get to be in the first 500 subscribers thanks TH-cam algorithm. But seriously great job. Drafting Ravnica is what got me hooked on MTG.
I WISH this video existed back when i was doing my ravnica d&d campaign. great stuff on this channel.
How did I not find this video sooner?! Bad algorithm, keeping this hidden from me. On to part two!
Rabble rousing like this video is exactly why The Selesnya Conclave used the song of the conclave. ^^
amazing content iwith indepth reasearch about one of the best settings in the history of the game
greate work!
Wow, great article, and so strange that not that many people are subscribed here. Going to fix that rn.
My dear friend i hope you continue with your content as it is great. You have great talent keep it up.
Wow thanks for the wonderful video :) I’m about to run a Ravnica D&D game and this was really helpful. Off to watch part 2! And maybe read those novels…
Oh boy, I remember reading the books of the first Ravnica block and being delighted at Agrus Kos being the main character, since my favorite color combo was (and still is) R/W. But man, did Kos' dubious morals not register with me back then. I guess that's a testament to teenage ignorance? Then again, nothing in Ravnica was ever moral or just, so I guess he fit in just right.
i LOVE this lore-dense video! you are amazing :D keep going, you deserve it!
I would love a series about the Weatherlight and the Urza Block - like lore :D
Your humor is on point
I really like the different perceptions of "nature" of the Green factions and how they are contrasted:
The Gruul believe that nature and civilisation can't coexist, that they are opposing forces and for one to flourish the other must yield its place in the world.
The Selesnya believe that civilisation can adapt to nature and coexist with it, but that civilisation is the one that should reform itself to accommodate nature.
The Simic believe that nature can adapt to civilisation and become integrated with it the same way technology is, but in the process nature has to be reshaped (even if their idea of "adapted to civilisation" appears to include a lot more uncontrollable genetically enhanced monstrosities than seems logical).
But then there's the Golgari, who don't even see a distinction between nature and civilisation at all. The dark back alleys of the surface are just as much of a hunting ground for them as the fungus jungles of the underground. Their job of recycling waste is literally just an aspect of the ecosystem they inhabit.
Absolutely fascinating, this is the best part of Ravnica worldbuilding.
Jesus your first vid and already up there with spice8
Holy shit, cheers! Spice8rack is awesome
Man thanks, this was great. You deserve loads more attention. Very entertaining too. :D
Love to see more of your videos in the future, keep with it I believe you will get the recognition you deserve if you maintain this quality uwu
Incredible video and channel. I hope to see more in the future. Mtg has great lore, but very badly told more often than not. This was very comprehensive and very entertaining, which is more than the war of the spark novel xD
8:11 Also, something John Jackson Miller (a frequent writer for Star Wars) said in an interview that the most fatal words for worldbuilding are "always" and "never", and that's even more true when writing for a collaborative setting. If you don't make absolute statements like that, it gives you room to after making a rule, saying "Ah and here's the very rare exception" if you need to. So if wizards want to introduce "the last wild place on Ravnica" they have that option without doing a full retcon.
Edit: Does anyone have a working link to the hometown pride article? It still shows up on Google, but goes to a 404 page. The wiki also hasn't archived it.
Thank you for going into ravnica... it is very under talked about in a dnd aspect. Ps you are woefully under subscribed to and heres to a boom In your popularity
This.was.good! Gonna subscribe!!
i didnt start playing magic until the latest return to ravnica, so thank you so much for this incredible insight into the flavor that made everyone fall in love with it in the first place!! as an incredibly poor person this helped me understand why orzhov has always been my favorite guild, lol.
Ended up watching the entire video. Awesome work! Really interesting and your jokes/funny bits all landed well. I feel like you're channel's really gonna blow up if you keep at it.
I have nothing but good memories of the Dimir.
Dude you need to make some shorts and get this channel and by extension these great in-depth vids some viewership. This stuff is gold!
Thanks! I am considering stealing your idea...
I really enjoy the art and story of the original Ravnica and other planes (Dominaria) over the more modern versions we get nowadays and this video just helped reinforce that.
People say that MtG is more popular than ever these days, but I personally remember back then, in my early teens, that MtG was much, much more popular in my city as a whole, as well as my neighborhood. Almost all kids and adults are playing with each other without any problem and you could find MtG boosters on newsstands.
I brought a lot of original Ravnica, Mirrodin and Time Spiral boosters, tournament packs and theme decks at the time on newsstands or the multiple LGS's. These days it seems like every LGS is close and is super rare to find anyone to play. So yes, I hold some nostalgia for that time.
this is dope! please tell me you painted a wall blue just to make this
It was blue before I got here, I swear. It looks way more green in person
Love the video!
The way you managed to fit a "J" sound into Orzhov is giving me a stroke, but other than that its a solid 10/10
Hot take: Ravnica is the best DnD-MtG Crossover and one of the best DnD 5e settings. While the lore in the DnD book is outdated by now, and even was at the time of release, the mechanics are what matters and they obviously resolve around the guilds. Since the guilds have been implemented as backgrounds (aka your regular job), any class can be of any guild. In order to fit any class into any guild, each guild gives spellcasters access to a guild spell list that they interact with as if they were class spells. Thus even a Selesnya Wizard can cast nature spells, you don't need to be a druid. Meanwhile the Rakdos Paladin has access to fire magic.
They attempted similar mechanics with Strixhaven and Eberron (a DnD setting in this case that was published shortly after Ravnica, iirc), but kind of failed to balance those properly, as they gave classes access to healing that seriously shouldn't be able to. Nobody needs a Wizard who is able to cast infinite healing spells.
Crazy how few subs you have dude! Obvious that a ton of work and thought went into such a long and informative video. Keep putting the good work out there and I’m sure you’re subs will climb!!!
This is really interesting. I've always enjoyed the ravnica block cause of all the cool guilds. But I never thought of people who weren't in guilds
What a thorough video! Thank you for putting so much time and thought into it!
Return to ravnica was my first set and i absolutly love ravnica. Veraska is my fav plainswalker
Mate!? I could listen to you ramble with a passion about anything MtG related topic. I recently found this channel and I wholeheartedly cherish its content. I love hearing anything about myrs also. If you were to do episodes like this about all planes, I would watch them on repeat for the rest of my life. I love the storytelling punch you bring to the rather bland presentation Wistards brings to their universe.
From what I remember, the Dimir where outlined in the guild pact as having to be a secret. As in per the guild pact, their identity could not be exposed. When their leader got arrested and its existence made public, the guild pact broke. From what I remembered at least.
The guildless would have been an interesting point of entry for Nicol Bolas into Ravnica. Instead of infiltrating the guilds, each infiltrator would come to the guildless and propose them a possibility to replace the guilds. Have the Azorious actually care for justice, the Gruul actual freedom, the orzhov stop their predatory practices, the sonic open clinics.
Bringing the disenfranchised and oppressed into a rebellion a rise against the guilds, would have actually made it interesting seeing the planeswalkers infiltrated into leader, and given the other walkers a moral connumdrum.
Bolas did incited a revolution, but wizards don't think about the guildless.
i'm literally never not thinking about the gateless movement
I run Ravnica in D&D so this is an important topic for me.
One explanation of how Dimir is able to get away with being unnoticed is that they have magic that makes them invisible, or tricks the mind into ignoring them like how your eyes always see your nose but your brain filters it out as unimportant. Both of which would fit with the blue/black magic from a lore perspective. You can wear whatever you want if you got a spell like that on you, you probably shouldn't becouse that makes you more reliant on a singular tool that might fail but you can get away with that for a while.
Came for the guild lore stayed for the head tilt
This video is so good that I needed to tell you that I liked, subscribed, turned on the bell and commented :)
I feel like you should acknowledge the differences between the Razia and Aurelia-era Boros since the newer Boros seem a lot less problematic.
I'd say most of the guilds are presented less zealously in the latest block, but I don't think the Boros are all that different from their original form. In RTR they still have a fair bit of flavour text referencing their brutality and Aurelia's herself highlights how she's quicker to lead the guild to war than Razia
@@silvermyr How much quicker to go to conflict than other guilds. There's also a lot more text aboot protecting people/building ties with the local community. Aurelia Boros is good for the citizenry. Plus the dress-code is better for the Angels.
@@gabrielrussell5531 You're 100% right on angel dress code. I'm rereading all the stories for RTR atm and I'll admit I've not gotten to Gideon and Aurelia again yet so I'm not saying I don't agree with you, just that their presentation isn't super different, particularly on the cards where most people see them. But I probably agree that Aurelia's at least better than Razia and I will absolutely address changes in how the guilds treat the guildless in the later videos, especially stuff that didn't make it on to the cards.
Been loving your videos!
If Wizards ever returns to this plane I would love to have a set where the guildless now have a planeswalker to rally behind ( post March of Machines) and we would have those in the guilds kind of break the color pie like an Azorious lawmaker legend now realizing there must be change which I would think is an intriguing way to re introduce the plane to a new era
Dice try is a great channel for people who want more on color identity