MtG: 15 Best Ravnica Allegiance Cards for Limited

When the new Ravnica Allegiance set sees the light of day on January 25, there will officially be ten Ravnica guilds live in Magic: The Gathering. With this new set, it's all about five of these guilds: Azorius (white-blue), Rakdos (black-red), Gruul (red-green), Simic (green-blue), and Orzhov (white-black).

Each guild offers a new gameplay mechanic, which provides players of Limited formats with clear build-around game plans. They are Addendum, Spectacle, Riot, Afterlife, and Adapt.

Of these five mechanics, Adapt, Simic's keyword, looks especially strong, which means that green-blue clearly has the chance to shine in the new meta. But, if you want to know specifically what the best Ravnica Allegiance cards are for Limited formats, then check out our selection right here.

Aeromunculus

A common 2/3 flier for three mana is an excellent deal no matter how you look at it. On top of that, it has the Adapt ability, which can allow this creature to grow in size in case you have no good way to spend four extra mana during your turn.

If you happen to have more than one copy of Aeromunculus in your deck, then it's going to guarantee sustainable attacks in the air during the early parts of the match-up. Quite often, that's all you really need to win.

Skewer the Critics

Wizards of the Coast finds various ways of reintroducing the Lightning Bolt effect in almost every set it releases. Skewer the Critics is Ravnica Allegiance's Bolt, although it is at sorcery-speed only.

Whether you need to get rid of a pesky creature or simply finish the game by bolting your opponent, Skewer the Critics will do all that. The Spectacle mechanic may not be that important in the late-game, but in the second or third turns it can provide the necessary advantage of removing a small blocker for a small mana investment.

Frenzied Arynx

Probably, you will almost never play this card with haste, as it is a much more valuable at 4/4 stats. Then, on turn six, it can really get growing using the additional ability for three extra power.

With this ability, it can usually trade for slightly more expensive blockers, and not blocking is a dangerous option when facing seven points of power. In many cases, Frenzied Arynx can just attack and not worry about anything.

This is definitely the type of card that will be difficult for many of your opponents to answer.

Senate Guildmage

A stabilizer and looter in one card — it just shows how pushed the Azorius guild is in Ravnica Allegiance.

The looting ability is especially exciting, and it's really cheap at only one blue mana. Quite often, you will have extra lands in your hand that you would want to get rid of, and that's where Senate Guildmage will make your game truly interesting.

Currently, of all 10 guildmages available in the last two Ravnica sets, this one gets the number one spot.

Frilled Mystic

If you're running a blue deck, then you most likely want to add one or two counterspells for good measure. But how about a counterspell and a creature all in one package?

The stats on the Frilled Mystic are really great even without the counter ability, but with that on top it quickly becomes a premium uncommon in Limited. Note that it counters every spell regardless of its type, which is almost unbelievable.

If you've got one of these in your deck, you are sure to surprise many opponents.

Rakdos Firewheeler

A creature with a double Shock ability is something every red player always wanted. Although this isn't purely a red card, it's still one of the most potent cards in the set.

This isn't exactly a build-around card, but if you happen to run red and black, then be sure to include this one in your deck. Draft players will especially have fun playing this card, as it matches up perfectly against the Senate Guildmage, which simply must be killed as soon as possible.

Sharktocrab

What a terrific card name! But in all seriousness, Sharktocrab is a big deal, and it's going to create some trouble in Limited, that's for sure.

Adapt provides here not only the growing stats effect, but it also activates the Icy Manipulator ability, which can potentially disable the largest blocking creature for two turns.

And, if you can find other ways of putting extra counters on Sharktocrab, then the tapping ability will just keep winning you games.

Skatewing Spy

This Rogue Mutant becomes increasingly more powerful the more Adapt creatures you have in your list. It is a clear build-around, but one that pays off incredibly well if done right.

It will fit in Simic or Temur decks that rely on a variety of Adapt creatures, as they will suddenly gain the ability to fly when this comes on board. With this kind of strategy, you can get many surprising wins, but, of course, you must have the right cards for it to happen.

Sphinx of New Prahv

This Sphinx is as straightforward as they get. Flying creatures with Vigilance for four mana are something we've seen several times before, but this one also has pseudo-evasion from the opponent's removal spells.

Of course, it doesn't make it invincible, as is the case with Hexproof, but it's still going to annoy a lot of people. While the Sphinx trades with an adapted Aeromunculus, if that Adapt hasn't been applied yet, then you are still free to attack and block with this flier.

Sunder Shaman

Sunder Shaman is easily one of the most overpowered uncommons in Ravnica Allegiance. It has a large body, and it can't be blocked by more than one creature, which will make it difficult to answer in combat.

But then comes the part that really turns Sunder Shaman into a must-have card: it destroys artifacts and enchantments every time it connects. This is just ridiculously strong, and it will cause grief for many players in both Sealed and Draft.

Galloping Lizrog

Re-using Adapt is a great feature, and this card allows you to do exactly that. It is another build-around creature that, once it hits the battlefield, will make all other creatures look really small.

If you can use it together with Skatewing Spy, then it will also gain flying, which will become a big problem for your opponent. But even if you put only two counters on it, the Lizrog will still pay its dues without compromising your gameplan.

Trollbred Guardian

Trollbred Guardian isn't as effective as Skatewing Spy, but it does give all Adapt creatures Trample, which could play a huge role in certain cases. But its biggest upside is the sheer size of this creature, which easily becomes a 7/7 with that Adapt 2 ability.

Strangely enough, WotC decided not to give this Troll any kind of self-protection, as was the case with many other Trolls in the past. But it looks like new trends are coming, including Trolls with no defense mechanisms.

Electrodominance

Flexibility is this card's main point, as it allows you to both deal damage and cast something from your hand. Whether it's going to be something big or small depends on your given situation, but, in any case, Electrodominance will have a lot to offer.

Another upside of this spell is the instant-speed, which practically gives Flash to any creature in your hand. This could turn out to be one of the most disgustingly powerful cards in the set.

Sphinx of Foresight

There is a lot of Scrying involved in this one card, but that is exactly what blue decks want — the ability to filter through a large number of cards until they get the right one.

This will also keep a lot of opposing fliers on the fence with its 4/4 stats for four mana. And, of course, you want to see this in your opening hand every time for that Scry 3 effect. But even if you get it only once, it's still a big deal.

Zegana, Utopian Speaker

The Simic guild, with all its Adapt synergies, has already proven to be really strong in this set. So, here's something to finish your whole game plan with.

Zegana is a tremendous Adapt card, which not only grows twice in size but also draws you cards. All of this for merely four mana, and with it comes a significant boost to your side of the table.

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It looks like Limited is going to be really exciting this time around.

Let us know about your favorite Limited cards from Ravnica Allegiance in the comments below, and come back soon for more Magic: The Gathering guides here at GameSkinny!