Guildpact
Guildpact is the thirty-seventh Magic expansion and was released February 5, 2006, as the second set in the Ravnica block. The prerelease was on January 21, 2006.
Set details
Guildpact contains 165 black-bordered cards (55 rare, 55 uncommon, and 55 commons). Its expansion symbol is a wrought-iron design with three “branches” meant to evoke the three-guild nature of the set as well as the urban theme. Guildpact expanded on the Ravnica block themes of multicolor and hybrid, adding three new guilds to the environment: the Orzhov Syndicate (white/black), the Izzet League (blue/red) and the Gruul Clans (red/green). The set also included the first creatures with exactly four colors, the Nephilim.
Marketing
Guildpact was sold in 15-card boosters, three preconstructed theme decks and a fat pack. The decks and the fat pack contained a Pro Tour Players Card. The booster packs featured artwork from Djinn Illuminatus, Rumbling Slum, and Graven Dominator. The prerelease card was a foil alternate art Djinn Illuminatus. The release card was Gruul Guildmage. The set was accompanied by the novel of the same name by Cory Herndon. Additional art for several tokens was created for Magic Online.
Storyline
The Guildpact has kept Ravnica stable for thousands of years. But with ten guilds vying to become the dominant force on the planet, there's always a chance that things will break down. Guildpact continues the story of this massive city, and introduces players to three more guilds. The Gruul ravages the streets. Teysa leads the Orzhov Syndicate to "cleanse" them. And Agrus Kos doesn't give a damn.
Storyline sources
Savor the Flavor
Misprints
- Hypervolt Grasp was printed with a Gruul symbol as a watermark, despite being an Izzet card.
- A small number of the foil Thunderheads were printed with the letters 'y' and 'w' missing from their italics text (flavor and reminder text).
Mechanics and themes
Guildpact continued the guild model and introduced the next three two-color guilds, each with their own keyword. The introduced guilds are as follows:
To note: the Guilds are presented in the official 
order, but they were originally displayed in a different order by Wizard: Izzet League, Gruul Clans, Orzhov Syndicate.
Creature types
The following creature types are introduced in this expansion: Nephilim, Weird.
The following creature types are used in this expansion but also appear in previous sets: Advisor, Angel, Archer, Assassin, Avatar, Bat, Beast, Berserker, Centaur, Cleric, Cyclops, Djinn, Dragon, Drake, Druid, Dryad, Elemental, Elephant, Elf, Faerie, Giant, Griffin, Gargoyle, Goblin, Horror, Hydra, Illusion, Imp, Insect, Knight, Leviathan, Ogre, Phoenix, Ooze, Rogue, Sand, Shaman, Skeleton, Soldier, Spirit, Thrull, Vampire, Viashino, Vedalken, Warrior, Wizard, Wurm.
Cycles
Guildpact has four cycles:
Reprinted cards
The following cards have been reprinted from previous sets:
- Cremate — was last seen in Invasion and was an uncommon, now common.
- Savage Twister — was last seen in Mirage and fits with the savage nature of the Gruul Guild.
Notable cards
- Angel of Despair - Utility card in Legacy and Vintage Ichorid decks.
- Burning-Tree Shaman - Used in some legacy zoo variants.
- Leyline of the Void - Anti-graveyard card in Legacy and Vintage sideboards.
- Tin Street Hooligan - Legacy anti-artifact sideboards
Preconstructed decks
In Guildpact, as there are three guilds, there are only three decks, rather than the standard four theme decks; the three decks are oriented around the guilds introduced in Guildpact. The preconstructed theme decks are: