You can read the first half of Ari’s Dragon’s Maze Limited set review here.

Rakdos

Main Set

1	+2/+1 Deviant Glee
2	1/1 Flying, Lifelink Daggerdrome Imp	1/1–>2/2 Regenerate Grim Roustabout	2/1–>3/2 Gore-House Chainwalker	+2/+2 Pursuit of Flight	2/1 Haste Rakdos Shred-Freak	1/4–>4/1 Frostburn Weird
3	2/3–>3/4 Dead Reveler	2/1 Swampwalk, Scavenge Sewer Shambler	0/4 Defender Lobber Crew	2/2–>3/3 First Strike Splatter Thug	2/1 Viashino Racketeer
4	4/4 Defender? Ogre Jailbreaker	0/4 Shade Perilous Shadow	5/2 Cobblebrute
5	2/6 Catacomb Slug	5/4 Golgari Longlegs	4/3 Batterhorn	5/3–>6/4 Spawn of Rix Maadi
6	5/4 Haste Tenement Crasher
7	5/5 Scavenge Terrus Wurm

 

Removal: 6	Launch Party	Stab Wound	Annihilating Fire	Electrickery	Explosive Impact	Auger Spree
Trick: 2	Dynacharge	Traitorous Instinct
Other: 1	Mind Rot

 

Weak Set

1	—
2	1/2 Flying Basilica Screecher	2/2 Gutter Skulk	1/2 Bomber Corps	2/1 Skinbrand Goblin	+3/+0 Madcap Skills
3	1/4 Defender Corpse Blockade	2/2 Slate Street Ruffian	2/2 “Unblockable” Deathcult Rogue	3/4 Ember Beast	2/3–>4/3 Warmind Infantry
4	2/3 Flying Balustrade Spy	3/2 Syndicate Enforcer	5/1 Scorchwalker
5	3/4 Horror of the Dim	4/4 Towering Thunderfist

 

Removal: 6	Death’s Approach	Devour Flesh	Grisly Spectacle	Massive Raid	Mugging	Pit Fight
Trick: 5	Shadow Slice	Act of Treason	Furious Resistance	Scorchwalker	Skinbrand Goblin
Other: 1	Midnight Recovery

What it was good at: Brawling hard.

What it was bad at: Winning a game where your attacks became bad.

Unlike some guilds, the loss of a pack of the guild mechanic really helps Rakdos. The worst part of most Rakdos decks in RTR Draft was that your clunky draws had no real way to gain traction and swing the game around. All of your unleash creatures are balanced for their +1/+1 countered side and are bad at blocking even if you let them. The less unleash creatures you have, the better.

That is assuming that your options are actually good to begin with. Your creatures in pack 2 are not great. The removal is fine, but the bodies aren’t sized to stand up to 3/3s. That said, not a lot of Gatecrash is, but most of the other color combinations can take advantage of evasion or 1/4s. Rakdos really doesn’t have much in either of these departments.

Dragon’s Maze

1	—
2	2/1 First Strike Riot Piker	1/3 Bane Alley Blackguard
3	2/3 Defender Hired Torturer	1/2 Flying–>2/3 Rakdos Drake
4	3/3 Rubblebelt Maaka	2/4 Smelt-Ward Gatekeepers	2/4 Ubul Sar Gatekeepers
5	—
6	6/3 Haste Maze Rusher	4/5 Deathtouch Maze Abomination

 

Removal: 5	Clear a Path	Punish the Enemy	Fatal Fumes	Morgue Burst	Ubul Sar Gatekeepers
Trick: 2	Rubblebelt Maaka	Weapon Surge

There’s a bunch of removal here and some solid fours, but I’m not sure the general plan meshes with the first set Rakdos plan. Expensive removal sounds more like a good splash in a green deck or maybe in a Dimir-Rakdos-Izzet all removal and card draw deck.

Morgue Burst is likely better than past analogues, but that doesn’t make it actually great. See Corpse Lunge and Dead Reckoning. There are more large creatures than in those formats, but six is also distinctly more than three.

Izzet

Main Set

1
2	2/1–>3/2 Gore-House Chainwalker	+2/+2 Pursuit of Flight	2/1 Haster Rakdos Shred-Freak	1/4–>4/1 Frostburn Weird	2/1 Crosstown Courier	0/4 Doorkeeper	2/2 Goblin Electromancer
3	0/4 Lobber Crew	2/2–>3/3 First Strike Splatter Thug	2/1 Viashino Racketeer	2/2 Stealer of Secrets	2/X Flying Tower Drake	2/2 Flying Vassal Soul
4	5/2 Cobblebrute	2/2 Flying Runewing
5	4/3 Batterhorn	1/4 Bounce Voidwielder
6	3/3 Flying Detain Isperia’s Skywatch

 

Removal: 6	Annihilating Fire	Electrickery	Explosive Impact	Cancel	Paralyzing Grasp	Essence Backlash
Trick: 7	Dynacharge	Traitorous Instinct	Downsize	Inaction Injunction	Mizzium Skin	Voidwielder	Chemister’s Trick
Other: 2	Inspiration	Dispel

 

Weak Set

1	0/1 + Flying Cloudfin Raptor
2	1/2 Bomber Corps	2/1 Skinbrand Goblin	+3/+0 Madcap Skills	1/3 Frilled Oculus	1/2–>2/1 Flying Metropolis Sprite
3	3/4 Ember Beast	2/3–>4/3 Warmind Infantry	2/3 Sage’s Row Denizen	2/2 “Unblockable” Deathcult Rogue
4	5/1 Scorchwalker	1/4+ Clinging Anemones	3/2 Unblockable Keymaster Rogue	+2/+2 Unblockable Way of the Thief
5	4/4 Towering Thunderfist	5/5 Leyline Phantom
6	—

 

Removal: 6	Massive Raid	Mugging	Pit Fight	Hands of Binding	Spell Rupture	Totally Lost
Trick: 4	Act of Treason	Furious Resistance	Scorchwalker	Skinbrand Goblin
Other: 2	Last Thoughts	Scatter Arc

What it was good at: Random aggro things or having awesome spells for a three-color deck.

What it was bad at: Winning games where your opponent did what they wanted (aggro) or making a full 40-card deck in two colors (non-aggro).

As expected, the control side of this archetype takes a hit from the aggressive pack of Gatecrash while the tempo-aggro side gets a big boost. Scorchwalker, Hands of Binding, Warmind Infantry, and Madcap Skills all fit the general game plan of this deck perfectly. You force a race and win by having all the tricks. You will lose fewer games to being randomly outclassed, which in other words is just turning the archetype into a legitimate deck.

Dragon’s Maze

1	—
2	2/1 First Strike Riot Piker	0/5 Murmuring Phantasm
3	2/2 Flying Wind Drake	1/4–>4/4 Nivix Cyclops
4	3/3 Rubblebelt Maaka	2/4 Smelt-Ward Gatekeepers	2/4 Opal Lake Gatekeepers
5	—
6	6/3 Haste Maze Rusher	3/5 Flying Maze Glider

 

Removal: 4	Clear a Path	Punish the Enemy	Runner’s Bane	Mindstatic
Trick: 2	Rubblebelt Maaka	Weapon Surge

Unlike the other sets, Dragon’s Maze just has good cards in Izzet. No fooling around with strange tricks. Just straight up solid cards. At least once you get past the two-drops, which are fairly unexciting. Notably, all three of your x/4 blockers (Nivix Cyclops and the two Gatekeepers) have great abilities, you have two of the good six-drops (Maze Rusher and Maze Glider), and you have two good removal at common (Runner’s Bane and Punish the Enemy) on top of the conditional ones (Mindstatic and Clear a Path).

The Maze cycle six-drops here are the best possible for the guild, giving you aggressive reach or a solid flying threat.

By the way, if Frostburn Weird was good, Nivix Cyclops is twice that. It blocks and hits just the same but can take down 2/4s and 3/3s, not just trade with them.

Azorius

Main Set

1	—
2	1/4–>4/1 Frostburn Weird	2/1 Crosstown Courier	0/4 Doorkeeper	2/1 Detain Azorius Arrester	1/3 Flying Concordia Pegasus	2/2 Keening Apparition
3	2/2 Stealer of Secrets	2/X Flying Tower Drake	2/2 Flying Vassal Soul	3/2 Selesnya Sentry	1/1 Flying + 1/2 Seller of Songbirds	2/3 Flying Sunspire Griffin
4	2/2 Flying Runewing	2/5 Armory Guard	1/1 Flying + Populate Eyes in the Skies	2/4 Hussar Patrol
5	1/4 Bounce Voidwielder	2/2 +2/+2 Knightly Valor
6	3/3 Flying Detain Isperia’s Skywatch

 

Removal:	Cancel	Paralyzing Grasp	Hussar Patrol	Avenging Arrow	Trostani’s Judgment
Trick:	Downsize	Inaction Injunction	Mizzium Skin	Voidwielder	Dramatic Rescue	Rootborn Defenses	Swift Justice
Other:	Inspiration	Dispel

 

Weak Set              

1	0/1 Flying Cloudfin Raptor
2	1/3 Frilled Oculus	1/2–>2/1 Flying Metropolis Sprite	3/1–>Flying Daring Skyjek	2/2 Syndic of Tithes
3	2/3 Sage’s Row Denizen	2/2 “Unblockable” Deathcult Rogue	1/4 Defender Basilica Guards	2/2 Court Street Denizen
4	1/4+ Clinging Anemones	3/2 Unblockable Keymaster Rogue	+2/+2 Unblockable Way of the Thief	3/2 Flying Assault Griffin	2/3 Zarichi Tiger
5	5/5 Leyline Phantom	2x 2/2 Knight Watch	3/5–>4/6 Nav Squad Commandos
6	—

 

Removal:	Angelic Edict	Smite	Hands of Binding	Spell Rupture	Totally Lost
Trick:	Aerial Maneuver	Shielded Passage
Other:	Last Thoughts	Scatter Arc

What it was good at: 2/4s and 2/5s blocking for days.

What it was bad at: Handling a 5/5 if you can’t race it with fliers.

I was never a real fan of aggressive Azorius decks in Return to Ravnica Draft, and Gatecrash seems to push the archetype in that direction. Armory Guard, Frostburn Weird, and Hussar Patrol were the keys to the decks I liked, and there just aren’t replacements for them in pack 2. Clinging Anemones and Basilica Guards are similar, but only one of them can push damage in. Clinging Anemones does help with the 5/5 problem if you can evolve it twice, but there aren’t many good on color 3/Xs to play there. These cards also clash with Cancel and Avenging Arrow, preventing you from playing the truly reactive control role that U/W/x leaned on in Return to Ravnica. The deck is probably fine; it just won’t be as good as it was previously.

Dragon’s Maze

1	—
2	2/2 Boros Mastiff	0/5 Murmuring Phantasm	2/2 Deputy of Acquittals
3	1/4 Haazda Snare Squad	2/2 Flying Wind Drake
4	2/4 Sunspire Gatekeepers	2/4 Opal Lake Gatekeepers
5	3/1 Flying First Strike Steeple Roc
6	3/6 Vigilance Maze Centinel

 

Removal: 1	Mindstatic
Trick: 3	Lyev Decree	Riot Control	Deputy of Acquittals

All average. Nothing outstanding. Even Deputy of Acquittals, the multicolored incentive common, is just an average body with a mediocre trick attached. If you are in Azorius, you are just trying to fill in your curve this pack. To be fair, Azorius is one of the guilds that wants guilds the most to support solid three-color decks, but that just means you want the Gatekeepers you wanted anyway because they were 2/4s.

Selesnya

Main Set

Selesnya Sentry

1	—
2	2/1 Detain Azorius Arrester	1/3 Flying Concordia Pegasus	2/2 Keening Apparition	2/2 Scavenge Drudge Beetle	0/2 Gatecreeper Vine
3	2/2 Flying Vassal Soul	3/2	1/1 Flying + 1/2 Seller of Songbirds	2/3 Flying Sunspire Griffin	0/3 Axebane Guardian	3/3 Centaur’s Herald	3/2 Stonefare Crocodile	3/3 Centaur Healer
4	2/5 Armory Guard	1/1 Flying + Populate Eyes in the Skies	3/3 Scavenge Korozda Monitor	2/4 Reach Towering Indrik
5	2/2 +2/+2 Knightly Valor	3/4 Hexproof Rubbleback Rhino	5/4 Golgari Longlegs
6	2x 3/3 Coursers’ Accord
7	6/7 Axebane Stag
8	4/4 + Populate Horncaller’s Chant

 

Removal: 3	Aerial Predation	Avenging Arrow	Trostani’s Judgment
Trick: 6	Chorus of Might	Druid’s Deliverance	Giant Growth	Common Bond	Rootborn Defenses	Swift Justice

 

Weak Set

1	—
2	2/2 Disciple of the Old Ways	2/1 Greenside Watcher	3/1–>Flying Daring Skyjek	2/2 Syndic of Tithes
3	1/3+ Reach Crocanura	3/2 Slaughterhorn	+1 Mana Verdant Haven	1/4 Defender Basilica Guards	2/2 Court Street Denizen
4	2/3+ Ivy Lane Denizen	2/4 Scab-Clan Charger	3/2 Flying Assault Griffin	2/3 Zarichi Tiger
5	6/2+ Adaptive Snapjaw	2x 2/2 Knight Watch	3/5–>4/6 Nav Squad Commandos
6	—

 

Removal: 3	Angelic Edict	Smite	Pit Fight
Trick: 5	Burst of Strength	Scab-Clan Charger	Slaughterhorn	Aerial Maneuver	Shielded Passage
Other: 3	Forced Adaptation	Wildwood Rebirth	Naturalize

What it was good at: Attacking or making all the 3/3s.

What it was bad at: Not much.

Selesnya was the best guild in Return to Ravnica, but it loses a lot on the populate angle. As I stated in my speculative article about the format, there are basically no token generators in Gatecrash. Obviously, the aggro set supports the already powerful Selesnya Aggro deck, so it’s all good. Looking at the cards, Selesnya has nearly matched power level between the two large sets. The good two-drops from Gatecrash are exactly what the archetype needed, and there are just enough tricks to fill out the necessary numbers. The removal lines up almost identically as well.

Dragon’s Maze

1	—
2	2/2–>5/5 Kraul Warrior	2/2 Boros Mastiff
3	2/1+ Battering Krasis	1/4 Haazda Snare Squad
4	2/4 Saruli Gatekeepers	2/4 Sunspire Gatekeepers	3/3 Reach Thrashing Mossdog
5	3/1 Flying First Strike Steeple Roc	4/6 Armored Wolf-Rider
6	5/4 Trample Maze Behemoth	3/6 Vigilance Maze Sentinel

                                        

Trick: 3	Lyev Decree	Riot Control	Mending Touch
Other: 1	Wake the Reflections

Similar to Azorius, there’s not much exciting here. Your multicolored common (Armored Wolf-Rider) is a vanilla five-drop, and you have no removal.

The big issue is that none of the Selesnya tricks in this set are pump spells. If the other sets imply aggression, you need those spells to push through the midgame. The complete lack of them here is a definite issue that you will have to adjust for in the later packs.

Golgari

Main Set

1	+2/+1 Deviant Glee
2	2/2 Scavenge Drudge Beetle	0/2 Gatecreeper Vine	1/1 Flying Daggerdrome Imp	1/1–>2/2 Regen Grim Roustabout		2/1 Haste Rakdos Shred-Freak
3	0/3 Axebane Guardian	3/3 Centaur’s Herald	3/2 Stonefare Crocodile	2/3–>3/4 Dead Reveler	2/1 Swampwalk Scavenge Sewer Shambler	1/4 Defender Reach Trestle Troll
4	3/3 Scavenge Korozda Monitor	2/4 Reach Towering Indrik	4/4 Defender? Ogre Jailbreaker	0/4 Shade Perilous Shadow	2/2 Deathtouch Sluiceway Scorpion
5	3/4 Hexproof Rubbleback Rhino	5/4 Golgari Longlegs	2/6 Catacomb Slug
6	—
7	6/7 Axebane Stag	5/5 Scavenge Terrus Wurm
8	4/4 + Populate Horncaller’s Chant

 

Removal: 3	Aerial Predation	Launch Party	Stab Wound
Trick: 3	Chorus of Might	Druid’s Deliverance	Giant Growth
Other: 2	Mind Rot	Grisly Salvage

 

Weak Set

1	—
2	2/2 Disciple of the Old Ways	2/1 Greenside Watcher	1/2 Basilica Screecher	2/2 Gutter Skulk
3	1/3+ Reach Crocanura	3/2 Slaughterhorn	+1 Mana Verdant Haven	1/4 Defender Corpse Blockade	2/2 Slate Street Ruffian
4	2/3+ Ivy Lane Denizen	2/4 Scab-Clan Charger	2/3 Flying Balustrade Spy	3/2 Syndicate Enforcer
5	6/2+ Adaptive Snapjaw	3/4 Horror of the Dim
6

 

Removal: 4	Pit Fight	Death’s Approach	Devour Flesh	Grisly Spectacle
Trick: 4	Burst of Strength	Scab-Clan Charger	Slaughterhorn	Shadow Slice
Other: 4	Forced Adaptation	Wildwood Rebirth	Naturalize	Midnight Recovery

What it was good at: Gaining lot of marginal value.

What it was bad at: Mana efficiency.

Golgari gets some much-needed removal from the Gatecrash cards, but the rest of the set is quite bad for it. Just a bunch of mediocre bodies taking the spot of the semi-solid ones it tried to lean on in single set draft. More so than any other guild, Golgari is leaning on its third color to fill in the gaps.

Dragon’s Maze

1	—
2	2/2–>5/5 Kraul Warrior	1/3 Bane Alley Blackguard
3	2/1+ Battering Krasis	1/2 Flying–>2/3 Rakdos Drake	2/3 Defender Hired Torturer
4	2/4 Saruli Gatekeepers	3/3 Reach Thrashing Mossdog	2/4 Ubul Sar Gatekeepers
5	—
6	5/4 Trample Maze Behemoth	4/5 Deathtouch Maze Abomination

 

Removal: 3	Drown in Filth	Fatal Fumes	Ubul Sar Gatekeepers
Trick: 1	Mending Touch

Golgari is shockingly solid in the third pack, but it’s mostly just the fact that black is quite good and green is reasonable. Drown in Filth is on average slightly less than -2/-2 for the first copy, so it’s not anything to write home about until you hit multiples or other interactions.

General Observations

There’s a big mismatch between the cards in Gatecrash and Return to Ravnica, as you would expect when one has a standard size of 2/3 and the other a standard size of 3/3. Dragon’s Maze has an even larger standard size of 2/4 due to the Gatekeepers. Be aware of this when making picks between creatures and tricks. Be sure that your small guys can hold up in the inevitable fights.

Due to the two common cycles in Dragon’s Maze, the four and six slots will be fairly well stocked in most decks. Adjust picks accordingly.

Boros, Selesnya, and Gruul have the most balanced power between the first two sets. Naya is probably the deepest trio in the format.

The Dragon’s Maze commons are fairly flat across the colors. I expect that past the good uncommons and removal people will be taking lots of Guildgates and Cluestones. There are only a few truly color pair defining cards to pick up, whereas fixing gives you a lot of options moving into the later packs.

Cards that cost XAA (where A is any one color) are harder to cast than cards that cost XAB. There’s a slight mathematic edge, but a lot of it has to do with just what hands you want to keep.

Some quick Gate math: You can expect around sixteen Guildgates per draft or two per player. If you really want to turn on your Gatekeepers, you will have to fight for it.

Primary Archetypes

W/R/x Aggro

The defining aspect here is going to be early mana to support your aggressive spread. Not to say you are all-in aggro, but you are definitely planning on attacking with these decks. You need a certain number of Guildgates but should avoid Cluestones since your goal is likely going to be having all three colors by turn 3. Transguild Promenade and Prophetic Prism are similarly dropped down on the pick order because they are just too clunky.

Keep in mind that you need ways to break through. In W/B/R, this means taking removal and cards with extort. In WGR, this means pump spells. Note the analogous functions: pump spells should be valued similarly to removal, especially the good ones like Common Bond and Slaughterhorn.

In W/B/R, you’re aiming for good black pack 1 as well as Guildgates, chaining into a very strong pack 2, and trying to round out fixing and some removal pack 3. This means that W/x Guildgates should be valued higher than non-white ones in Dragon’s Maze. Under similar logic, you should value red Guildgates in W/G/R.

Of the two, I think W/B/R will have better mana because its pack 3 Gate lines up best with its gold spells in that it doesn’t really need the Rakdos gold spells. Auger Spree is nice, but the gold cards you are relying on early are the Boros and Orzhov ones. Compare to Centaur Healer in W/G/R.

U/x/x Control

These decks will be similar in nature to the W/U/R deck from Return to Ravnica draft: blockers, removal, card draw. While the last of these is in a bit of short supply, there are enough ways to generate card advantage that it should be manageable.

In terms of fixing, you won’t be reliant on Guildgates but will want them to turn on Gatekeepers if you have them. Pack 1 Guildgates will be less valuable since it’s hard to preemptively assess how many you will need without seeing your Gatekeeper count. Cluestones will inevitably circle around later and are exactly what you want because they’re both fixing and ramp that let you do multiple things a turn and even later on you will always be able to cash it in for a card.

Of the color combinations, I like W/U/B and U/B/R a lot. W/U/R has the issue of Boros not being a great control guild to stake your entire second pack on while pack 3 really supports a control deck in those colors. There may be a slightly more aggressive W/U/R deck, but exactly where that falls remains to be seen.

As for white versus red, Orzhov is definitely the deeper guild than Izzet in its pack, but red is much better in pack 1. Where you end up is likely conditional on what comes your way early.

Green Ramp

This deck is going to be quite fluid between three and five colors.

Two tricolor combos that I think are quite solid are G/U/R and G/U/B. G/U/R provides card draw to offset your dedicated ramp slots costing cards, while G/U/B gives you mill to enable Drown in Filth and provide marginal advantage with Scavenge. Blue also gives you Maze Glider, the best of the cycle to ramp into. Flying is clearly the best ability of the five, and the 3/5 body associated with it is also perfectly sized for a format of 2/2 fliers and 3/3 ground guys.

Aside from those, I expect most of your color decisions will just be a mix of what fixing and awesome splash cards come your way. Any of the five color fixers should be a top priority, while Guildgates and Cluestones are just kind of there if you figure out what you are trying to splash. You can grab them over marginal playables as they are probably useful, but taking them over a powerful splash card is probably wrong early on.

Overall, I want to compare this format to the original Ravnica, but it will definitely be more combat based and less about raw card advantage. Basically, like Ravnica with half a decade of development on Magic. I don’t think it will be as fun as Innistrad, but I’ll still have a blast.

My guild is House Dimir. It’s all about information. I want it, and they shouldn’t have it. Thoughtseize, Vendilion Clique, and Gitaxian Probe are some of my favorite cards. Even when I’m playing aggro, it’s all about knowing how far I need to go before my reach kicks in and forces them to guess.