Our 8 Favorite Cards From Magic: The Gathering’s “Ravnica Allegiance” Expansion

In addition to attending my first Magic: The Gathering pre-release, this new Ravnica Allegiance set is one of the first Magic sets I have gotten to enjoy that experience with, so it holds a special place in my heart.

As I was going through the cards I bought—along with the ones sent our way by Magic creators Wizards of the Coast—figuring which ones would fit into my decks and which were just cool cards to save for a new commander set, I wanted to share some of the ones that caught my eye. I didn’t include Legendary Creatures simply because I’m biased, and they are they are my faves, so they would have been half the list.

I am very much a newbie and a casual player who mostly enjoys Commander and Morden, so I’m not coming in here as some master authority. There are lots of awesome Magic YouTube channels that have broken down the best cards in the set through years of experience as players. For me, as a baby Magic user who enjoys playing and just wants to have a good time with creatures who do cool things and crafting themed decks, here are the eight cards that really spoke to me as I was enjoying the set.

8. Wilderness Reclamation

Card Name: Wilderness Reclamation
Mana Cost: 3 Green
Converted Mana Cost: 4
Types: Enchantment
Card Text: At the beginning of your end step, untap all lands you control.
Flavor Text: “Walls crack. Buildings fall. Always the wilds return.” —Domri Rade
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Uncommon) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Uncommon
Card Number: 149
Artist: Tyler Walpole

It’s not as powerful as Seedborn Muse, but it isn’t a creature, which means it won’t be destroyed by a creature board wipe, and since it’s uncommon, it’s a much less expensive. Plus, it still does the job of freeing up land for any instants you may need to counter spells.

7. Seraph of the Scales

Card Name: Seraph of the Scales
Mana Cost: 2 White/Black
Converted Mana Cost: 4
Types: Creature — Angel
Card Text: Flying.
White: Seraph of the Scales gains vigilance until end of turn.
Black: Seraph of the Scales gains deathtouch until end of turn.
Afterlife 2 (When this creature dies, create two 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.)
Watermark: Orzhov
P/T: 4 / 3
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Mythic Rare) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Card Number: 205
Artist: Magali Villeneuve

6. Angelic Exaltation

Card Name: Angelic Exaltation
Mana Cost: 3 White
Converted Mana Cost: 4
Types: Enchantment
Card Text: Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Flavor Text: “If we cannot have peace, we will have justice.” —Aurelia
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Uncommon) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Uncommon
Card Number: 2
Artist: John Severin Brassell

5. Incubation Druid 

Card Name: Incubation Druid
Mana Cost: 1 Green
Converted Mana Cost: 2
Types: Creature — Elf Druid
Card Text: Tap: Add one mana of any type that a land you control could produce. If Incubation Druid has a +1/+1 counter on it, add three mana of that type instead.
3 Green/Green: Adapt 3. (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put three +1/+1 counters on it.)
Watermark: Simic
P/T: 0 / 2
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Rare) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Rare
Card Number: 131
Artist: Daniel Ljunggren

4. Cindervines

Card Name: Cindervines
Mana Cost: Red Green
Converted Mana Cost: 2
Types: Enchantment
Card Text: Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, Cindervines deals 1 damage to that player.
1, Sacrifice Cindervines: Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Cindervines deals 2 damage to that permanent’s controller.
Watermark: Gruul
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Rare) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Rare
Card Number: 161
Artist: Mark Behm

This is really good if you are playing against a mono-red or mono-blue deck. Most of those run spells and instants to zap you or scry, with Cindervines they can still play their reindeer games, but it’s gonna hurt.

3. Rhythm of the Wild

Card Name: Rhythm of the Wild
Mana Cost: 1 Red/Green
Converted Mana Cost: 3
Types: Enchantment
Card Text: Creature spells you control can’t be countered. Nontoken creatures you control have riot. (They enter the battlefield with your choice of a +1/+1 counter or haste.)
Flavor Text: Some view Domri’s unlikely ascent as a sign of Ilharg the Raze-Boar’s imminent return.
Watermark: Gruul
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Uncommon) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Uncommon
Card Number: 201
Artist: Tomasz Jedruszek

This is a must have for any Green player. It helps make your big creatures bigger and gets them on the board.

2. Captive Audience

Card Name: Captive Audience
Mana Cost: 5 Black/Red
Converted Mana Cost: 7
Types: Enchantment
Card Text:
Captive Audience enters the battlefield under the control of an opponent of your choice.
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one that hasn’t been chosen —
• Your life total becomes 4.
• Discard your hand.
• Each opponent creates five 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens.
Watermark: Rakdos
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Mythic Rare) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Mythic Rare
Card Number: 160
Artist: Dmitry Burmak

This is going to be the worst in Commander.

1. Mirror March

Card Name: Mirror March
Mana Cost: 5 Red
Converted Mana Cost: 6
Types: Enchantment
Card Text: Whenever a nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, flip a coin until you lose a flip. For each flip you won, create a token that’s a copy of that creature. Those tokens gain haste. Exile them at the beginning of the next end step.
Expansion: Ravnica Allegiance (Rare) Ravnica Allegiance
Rarity: Rare
Card Number: 108
Artist: Johannes Voss

Cards with coin flips are frustrating, but with Mirror March, if luck is on your side, it’ll give you a really good opportunity to create a solid board that you get to keep until the beginning of the next end step. It’s not as strong as Doubling Season, but it works well for an aggressive deck that won’t be token heavy.

What are some of your favorite cards from Raniva Allegiance? Let us know below!

(image: MTG/WotC)

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