Ravnica block fat packs featured specially designed life counters with artwork from the sets instead of the spindown life counters normally found in fat packs.
Themes and mechanics
Themes
Thematically, the Ravnica block was multicolor-centered and, thus, was the spiritual successor to the Invasion block of 2000–2001. The Ravnica block was the first block to introduce the "guild model", wherein a number of guilds, each of which with its own cards and abilities and/or keywords, would be as introduced in an expansion and be as developed and complex as they would be (until returning to the plane with Return to Ravnica block), rather than the traditional model of expansions, wherein abilities and/or keywords would be introduced in the first of usually three expansions and then progressively increase in complexity throughout the block. Four guilds (Boros, Dimir, Golgari, Selesnya) were introduced in City of Guilds, three more (Gruul, Izzet, Orzhov) were introduced in Guildpact, and the final three (Azorius, Rakdos, Simic) debuted in Dissension.
Mechanics
The keywords introduced in the Ravnica block are:[4][5]
In addition to these 10 keywords, the Ravnica block was the first block to feature hybrid mana costs and hybrid cards. Each of Ravnica's 10 guilds featured three hybrid cards, one at each level of rarity as of then; common, uncommon, and rare.
Mega cycles
Ravnica block features 11 10-card guild mega cycles,[6][7] with one card per guild, and one 20-card guild mega cycle (the "imbalanced gold card" cycle) distributed across Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, and Dissension.
Each of these monocolored permanents has an activated ability that use their guild's other mana symbol. Elves of Deep Shadow is the only spell of this cycle that doesn't have mana as an activation cost.
Each of these mono-colored spells does something extra if you use its guild's other color to pay its mana costs. Those in Ravnica are spells with additional effects, those in Guildpact are creatures that gain enter-the-battlefield abilities, and those in Dissension are creatures with enter-the-battlefield abilities that are sacrificed unless paid for with the other color. [8]
Each of these uncommon 2/2 creatures costs two hybrid mana of its guild's colors and each has two abilities, each of which requires mana of one of the guild's colors. They form vertical cycle with common and rare hybrid spells.
Each of these cards are one of 2 gold cards for every guild (Golgari has 3 cards) that have 2 of one color and only 1 of the other, with rarity varying.
Each of these legendary multicolor creatures rewarded players for playing with cards of their two colors, often doubly so for using multicolor cards. Isperia and Kraj are different, but this is clearly the result of their effects and cost having been swapped with those of their respective guildmaster at some point.
These legendary multicolor creatures, almost all of which cost a certain amount of colorless mana plus two mana each of their respective colors, produced powerful effects thematically tied to their respective colors.
When each of these common nonbasic dual lands enters the battlefield tapped, its controller returns a land they control to its owner's hand. Each of these lands can tap to produce two mana, one of each of the its associate guild's colors. Each card's artwork was illustrated by John Avon.
Each of these uncommon nonbasic dual lands taps for and has an activated ability costing mana of the associated guild's colors for a thematically related effect. Each card (all illustrated by Martina Pilcerova) represents the associated guild's headquarters within Ravnica.
Each of these rare nonbasic dual lands has two basic land types and enter the battlefield tapped unless its controller pays 2 life. Each card's artwork was illustrated by Rob Alexander.
