Guilds of Ravnica - Guildmage Review

[DelverMage]

Guildmage is a creature design that started way back in the Mirage set.    They were originally 1 mana 1/1 Wizards and there was one for each color.  In addition, each of them had two abilities with each ability having an activation cost of an allied color.

Those abilities were the same for each color, so the Granger Guildmage and the Shadow Guildmage, both share Red as an allied color, and both have the same Red ability.  It was a neat idea at the time, and we had a lot of fun playing with them back then.  The two I mentioned were the only ones we really found useful in constructed decks, those two also found themselves in the tournament spotlight back in the day. 

Some interesting themes here, or lack there of with the latest incarnation of Guildmage.  The abilities are color matched to the Guildmage, as they have been for all of the Ravnica era. 

The naming of the Guildmages this time is based on the type of organization that each guild is.  In the past, there was a Selesnya Guildmage, this time it is Conclave. 
Also the abilities are different on each guildmage, no shared abilities by color like the original ones did.

All five Guildmages are two mana, two color creatures with 2/2 for power and toughness, one for each of the guilds represented in Guilds of Ravnica.  That is the extent of our ability to say that all Guildmages are created equal.....  Some of these are going to be great and maybe see some competative play.  All of them, are good enough to play at Pre-release and other sealed events.  Most of them will be playable in draft. 

All of them are susceptable to removal, unless they are enhanced in some other way.  They are very flexable, if pricey, and should be used in support of your decks objectives.  They should never be relied on as key aspects of your deck for Guildmages are not hard for your opponent deal with.  They can get pesky, enough so that your opponent may well make an effort to get them out of play.  Consider that an effective use of your Guildmage, as that takes some focus away from your key spells and permanents.


Conclave Guildmage The Green ability to give trample to your whole army until the end of the run is cheap and useful.  It is also the least expensive ability activation of all the Guildmage abilities in this set.  In the mid to late game, this ability alone can close out the deal.
The White ability can be used late game, or if you have successfully ramped.  Generating 2/2 Vigilant Knight tokens is powerful.  It can help keep a stable battlefield if your opponent keeps growing.  If not, it can help you outgrow your opponent. 

Conclave Guildmage has decent abilities and can be a very supportive card in the late game.  Seleanya has a tendency to fill a battlefield, and earn out a win over time which means making it to late game is a part of the plan.  This Guildmage supports that plan well.


House Guildmage The Blue ability to prevent the next untap phase is quite narrow in its ability, as it requires the creature to be tapped at some point to be effective.  There is the possibility that using this ability on an untapped creature may cause the creature's owner to chose not to tap it, but that may be a bit of a stretch.
The Black ability is Surveil 2, which very powerful as a repeatable action every turn, in the right deck.  It will support all graveyard strategies quite well.

House Guildmage has one great ability, and one that is so narrow as to not be useful.  Using this card to take advantage of just one ability is still a viable option, it is just too bad that it doesn't truely have the flexabilty that a Guildmage typically brings to the game.


League Guildmage The Blue ability allowing you to draw a card is very nice.  It is like a baked in Jayemdae Tome.  Slightly pricey, but having the ability to use it every turn is a great option to have.
The Red ability allowing you to copy your own instants or sorceries for XR where X equals the CMC of the target spell is also nice, but quite pricey as well.  You would have to have 2 times the amount of mana for the original spell, plus an extra R, to use this ability unless you have a way to lessen the cost of the original spell.  Goblin Electromancer, for example.

League Guildmage is a flexable card with two really nice abilities, but they are a bit expensive and certainly, this Guildmage would only be of any full benefit in the mid to late game.  Playing it early basically gets you a 2/2 body, but the closer it gets to being useful, the more likely your opponent will feel the need to reach out and swat it.  That can be a nice distraction, and if they don't chose to do so, you will be able to punish them with card advantage or double spell strikes.


Legion Guildmage The Red ability is a repeatable, late game, Lightning Bolt to the dome of all your opponents.  At 6 mana, it is NOT cheap but it can be used every turn.
The White ability is useful to remove blockers or prevent creatures from becoming attackers by tapping them down.  It can be done as an instant, so timing can be everything there.  The only problem is you also have to tap the Guildmage to get the effect, so it does not work to clear its own path so well.

Legion Guildmage will be able to do a great job supporting an aggressive Boros deck.  Clearing out the path for more effective attacks, followed on later by applying 3 points of direct damage straight to your opponent.  This flexability can be great in a sealed event, and possibly draft.  There isn't anything here though that makes it a stand out card for constructed play.


Swarm Guildmage The Black ability becomes a reasonable mid to late game finishing effect.  Granting all your creatures +1/0 and giving them Menace is nothing to sneeze at.  Your opponent suddenly has half the blocking power they thought they had.
The Green ability is a nice unassuming mana sink, that on its own is not a game changer but a few activations from this start to have a real effect on the game.  Helps to counter any loss of life activation costs as well, allowing other strategies to be less dangerous to use.

I believe the Swarm Guildmage is actually good enough to see some constructed play.  It has an affordable, unassuming ability for early game, and a game shifter for your mid to late game strategy.  Any time you can apply evasion on the fly to your whole army, that is a powerful effect.  If you opponent does not pay attention to Swarm Guildmage when it hits the battlefield, there is a pretty good chance they will learn to regret that choice before the game is over.

Have fun with these Guildmages in your Pre-release, and your draft events.  They are fun cards and allow lots of flexability.  Both the Conclave and Swarm Guildmages are strong enough to be considered for more competative play.  Give them a whirl, then come back here and tell us your story.