Dragon's Maze

Dragon's Maze
Set symbol
Symbol description	An overlap of the Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash expansion symbols
Design team	Alexis Janson (lead), Mark Rosewater, Erik Lauer, Aaron Forsythe, Shawn Main, Dan Emmons
Development team	Zac Hill (lead), Erik Lauer, Mark Globus, Mark Gottlieb, Masami Ibamoto, Sam Stoddard
Release date	May 3, 2013
Themes and mechanics	Gates, Guilds
Keywords and/or ability words	Guild keywords (see below), Fuse
Set size	156 cards (70 commons, 40 uncommons, 35 rares, 11 mythic rares)
Expansion code	DGM
Development code name	Sinker
Return to Ravnica block sets
Return to Ravnica	Gatecrash	Dragon's Maze
Magic: The Gathering chronology
Duel Decks: Sorin vs. Tibalt	Dragon's Maze	Modern Masters

Dragon's Maze is the third set in the Return to Ravnica block. It is the 61^st Magic expansion and was released on May 3, 2013.

Set details

Dragon's Maze focuses on the guild system, featuring all of the ten guilds from Ravnica, and multicolor cards.

Dragon's Maze and its boosters do not contain any basic lands; however, as a first in Magic history, the set contains reprinted nonbasic lands in the form of guild gates with the Dragon's Maze expansion symbol, and its boosters contain these guild gates, shocklands with their Return to Ravnica or Gatecrash expansion symbols, and the mythic rare Maze's End. The frequency at which these cards are found in booster packs are at the same as any other card at their respective rarities.

Dragon's Maze features Izzet planeswalker Ral Zarek (as Ral Zarek) and, as a throwback to the original Ravnica block, ten Maze Runners, or guild champions, creatures that literally run the Implicit Maze.

Flavor and storyline

Ral Zarek

“

Ten Guilds, One Destination!

”

Dragon's Maze, like the preceding Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash expansions, is set in Ravnica, a plane comprising a singular megalopolis or ecumenopolis, in which a vast and diverse variety of inhabitants co-exist.

Marketing

The "Implicit Maze" at a DGM prerelease in Spain.

Prerelease

In the prerelease Sealed Deck format, each player chooses a guild that he or she will represent among the ten guilds of Ravnica. That player will receive a "Guild Prerelease Pack" of the chosen guild, which contains four Dragon's Maze booster packs, one guild-specific booster pack, and one "secret ally" booster pack. The "secret ally" booster pack is one containing cards of a guild that shares one mana color with the chosen guild.

The draft format for Dragon's Maze reverts to the regular format of drafting the three sets in a block (i.e., in reverse order of their release; here, Dragon's Maze/Gatecrash/Return to Ravnica).

Each participant receives a guild symbol button, or "guild mark", to indicate his or her guild affiliation. In the "Implicit Maze" prerelease event, when a player wins a match during the tournament, his or her guild progresses through the Implicit Maze. Each member of the first guild to complete the Implicit Maze will receive a "Champion of the Maze" achievement code card, which he or she can redeem on the Planeswalker Points webpage for a badge and an achievement. Additionally, members of each other guild to complete the Implicit Maze after the first will receive "Maze Runner" achievement code cards to redeem.

Each prerelease participant will receive a promotional alternate-art Maze's End, which cannot be played in the sealed deck. This is in contrast to the sealed events of the Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash prereleases on two bases. Firstly, for those prereleases, each guild had its own guild promotional card. Secondly, the guild-specific promotional cards were playable in sealed decks.

In addition to this, foil Plains is awarded to every player that participates in the prerelease's "Implicit Maze".

Promotional cards

Other promotional cards are:

• Launch promo: Breaking/Entering
• Game Day: full-art Trostani's Summoner
• Game Day (Top 8): full-art Melek, Izzet Paragon
• Dragon's Maze League: Bird creature token
• Buy-a-Box: Render Silent

• 

  DGM League promotional Bird creature token card

• 

  DGM release-weekend promotional card Breaking//Entering

• 

  DGM prerelease promotional card Maze's End

• 

  DGM Game Day (Top 8) promotional card Melek, Izzet Paragon

• 

  DGM prerelease promotional card Plains for "Implicit Maze" participants

• 

  DGM Buy-a-Box promotional card Render Silent

• 

  DGM Game Day promotional card Trostani's Summoner

• 

  DGM Elemental creature token with "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control." produced by Voice of Resurgence

Token cards

The only Dragon's Maze token card is:

1. */* Elemental creature token with "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control." produced by Voice of Resurgence

Critical reception

Dragon's Maze received mixed reception, but it was by and large panned by Magic writers and/or professional and/or competitive players. However, a few cards in the set were notably regarded as powerful and potentially tournament-playable. These include Notion Thief, a innocuous card draw hoser; Voice of Resurgence, a competitively costed threat against control decks

Limited "bombs" for Dragon's Maze included Ral Zarek, Lavinia of the Tenth, Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, and Dragonshift and proved potent at the expansion's prerelease events.

Themes and mechanics

See also: Return to Ravnica#Themes and mechanics and Gatecrash#Themes and mechanics.

Like the preceding sets, Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash, Dragon's Maze features the bicolored guilds of Ravnica. Each guild has its own keyword or ability word.

The expansion also features two cycles of split cards and a new mechanic exclusive to these cards called Fuse. Fuse allows players to play both halves of a split card with the keyword ability as one spell by paying both halves' mana costs. Split cards with Fuse also have a new card layout, with the boxes containing the name and type line forming arrows that point medially, towards to midline of the card. In addition to this, each split card with Fuse has a separate text box containing the Fuse mechanic and its reminder text that spans the bottom of both halves.

Other themes and mechanics include:

• Defender
• Enchantments
  • Auras
• Gates

• In addition to the reprinting of the ten Gate nonbasic lands, Dragon's Maze features Maze's End, a nonbasic land that works synergistically with Gates. Not only can it search for Gate cards and puts them onto the battlefield, Maze's End can win players the game if they have 10 or more differently named Gates under their control.

• Guildless

Creature types

No novel creature types were introduced in this expansion.

The following creature types that are not new to Magic are used in this expansion:

• Advisor
• Beast
• Berserker
• Bird
• Cat
• Cleric
• Cyclops
• Demon
• Drake
• Druid
• Elemental
• Elf
• Fish
• Frog
• Giant
• Goblin
• Gorgon
• Hound
• Human
• Hydra
• Insect
• Knight
• Merfolk
• Minotaur
• Mutant
• Ogre
• Plant
• Rogue
• Shaman
• Shapeshifter
• Skeleton
• Soldier
• Sphinx
• Spirit
• Thrull
• Troll
• Vampire
• Vedalken
• Viashino
• Warrior
• Weird
• Wizard
• Zombie

Cycles

Whereas Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash have 5-card guild cycles that, if and when considered together, form 10-card guild mega cycles, Dragon's Maze has 10-card guild cycles, with one card per guild, as well as 5-card cycles, with one card per color.

Cycle name	Description and notes	White card(s)	Blue card(s)	Black card(s)	Red card(s)	Green card(s)
Gatekeepers	Each of these common 2/4 Soldier creatures cost C and an "enter the battlefield" triggered ability that triggers if its controller controls two Gates when it comes into play.	Sunspire Gatekeepers	Opal Lake Gatekeepers	Ubul Sar Gatekeepers	Smelt-Ward Gatekeepers	Saruli Gatekeepers
Maze Elementals	Each of these common Elemental creatures cost C and has two static abilities, one of which is a on-color combat keyword and another that confers that combat word to multicolor creatures its controller controls.	Maze Sentinel	Maze Glider	Maze Abomination	Maze Rusher	Maze Behemoth
Fuse spells (rare)	Each of these rare split cards has two differently multicolored halves, with each half sharing one color with the other half, and the Fuse mechanic. Regarding the combination of the guilds on these cards, as various that satisfy the aforementioned design criterion are permissible, each guild is represented only once and each Return to Ravnica guild is paired with a Gatecrash guild	Ready/Willing (/)	Beck/Call (/)	Breaking/Entering (/)	Catch/Release (/)	Flesh/Blood (/)

Guild cycles

Cycle name	Azorius card(s)	Boros card(s)	Dimir card(s)	Golgari card(s)	Gruul card(s)	Izzet card(s)	Orzhov card(s)	Rakdos card(s)	Selesnya card(s)	Simic card(s)
"Lieutenants"	Jelenn Sphinx	Blaze Commando	Haunter of Nightveil	Korozda Gorgon	Feral Animist	Fluxcharger	Maw of the Obzedat	Carnage Gladiator	Bronzebeak Moa	Species Gorger
Description and notes: Each of these uncommon creatures has an ability or abilities that "lend themselves to certain styles of play". According to DailyMTG.com writer Zac Hill, the "Lieutenants" were designed to encourage drafters to pursue a specific strategy rather than just picking generally powerful cards. While Hill did not name the cards in the cycle, there is little doubt about which of the one or two uncommon creatures for a particular color pair is part of the cycle.
"Maze Runners"	Lavinia of the Tenth	Tajic, Blade of the Legion	Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker	Varloz, the Scar-Striped	Ruric Thar, the Unbowed	Melek, Izzet Paragon	Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts	Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch	Emmara Tandris	Vorel of the Hull Clade
Description and notes: Each of these rare legendary creatures represents the "Maze Runner" of its respective guild.
Fuse spells (uncommon)	Protect/Serve	Wear/Tear	Far/Away	Down/Dirty	Armed/Dangerous	Turn/Burn	Profit/Loss	Toil/Trouble	Alive/Well	Give/Take
Description and notes: Each of these uncommon split cards has two monocolored halves, with each half of a different color from the other, and the Fuse mechanic.
Cluestones	Azorius Cluestone	Boros Cluestone	Dimir Cluestone	Golgari Cluestone	Gruul Cluestone	Izzet Cluestone	Orzhov Cluestone	Rakdos Cluestone	Selesnya Cluestone	Simic Cluestone
Description and notes: Each of these common artifacts costs , has one mana ability that taps for either of its guild's respective colors, and has one activated ability costing one of each of its guild's respective colors, , and its sacrifice to draw a card. Each Cluestone is illustrated by Raoul Vitale.
Guildgates	Azorius Guildgate	Boros Guildgate	Dimir Guildgate	Golgari Guildgate	Gruul Guildgate	Izzet Guildgate	Orzhov Guildgate	Rakdos Guildgate	Selesnya Guildgate	Simic Guildgate
Description and notes: Each of these common nonbasic lands with the Gate subtype enters the battlefield tapped and can be tapped for one mana of its respective guild's colors.

Pairs

Matched pairs

Dragon's Maze has no matched pairs.

Mirrored pairs

Dragon's Maze has no mirrored pairs.

Reprinted cards

Card	Introduced in	Featured in	Notes
Guildgates	Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash
Feral Animist	Guildpact
Putrefy	Ravnica: City of Guilds
Wind Drake	Portal	Tempest, 6th Edition, Starter 1999, 7th Edition, 8th Edition, 9th Edition, Magic 2010, Magic 2013

Note about Shocklands

As the shocklands that appear in Dragon's Maze boosters feature a Return to Ravnica or Gatecrash expansion symbol, they are technically not reprints.

Preconstructed decks

Intro packs

Dragon's Maze has five bicolored guild-centric intro packs.

Intro pack name	Colors included					Foil rare
	White	Blue	Black	Red	Green
Azorius Authority	□	■				Lavinia of the Tenth
Orzhov Power	□		■			Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts
Rakdos Revelry			■	■		Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
Gruul Siege				■	■	Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
Simic Domination		■			■	Vorel of the Hull Clade

Event deck

Dragon's Maze has one event deck and is the first expansion set to feature only one event deck.

Event deck name	Colors included
	White	Blue	Black	Red	Green
Strength of Selesneya	□		■		■
-

External links

• Dragon's Maze product information page — Wizards of the Coast
• Guilds of Ravnica — Wizards of the Coast

Contributors

Andrew8281, Chaosof99, Circeus, Cyron, DrMrStark, GeoMike, Hunter61, InThePeachGarden, Istreddify, Jarad, Kraken Chowder 101, Magic Mage, Miraika, PMiller2010, Quisling, Sho, Spheniscine, Spike, Stanleychapel2001, SyntheticDreamer, Syphon, Weeeooojr, Wynthyst