I am continuing my series of reviews on the Guilds of Ravnica Guild Kits.  So far  have reviewed the Dimir and Golgari Guild Kits.  This week I will review the Selesnya guild kit.

The front of the box is another window box, this time featuring a foil alternate art of Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice.  You can see the Selesnya pin at the bottom of the box.  (This pin looks especially snazzy…The tree looks professional and eye catching.)

The back of the box has three pics that show off some of the product, and some information…and in bold…KNOW THAT YOU FIGHT WITH THE MIGHT OF LIFE UNITED!

In the story of the city-plane of Ravnica, there are ten guilds.  The Selesnya Conclave  (Green and White) are about working together for the greater good.  These cards are known to produce tokens quickly…lots of small creatures that work together to summon larger creatures or do other effects.  They also use musical terminology.  Like the word “Chorus”

The box opens and a transparent tray slides out…this is useless packaging, by the way, for all the effort that went into it.  Here’s what you see.

And here are the contents loosed.

You get, from left to right in a circle…the deck, a “pamphlet” with information and artwork about the guild, as well as the all important decklist, a Selesnya pin, a Selesnya symbol sticker, a deckbox, and the foil featured card.

Here is a closer look at the pamphlet.

I am especially fond of Tolsimir Wolfblood.  That is a pretty painting.

The inside of the pamphlet contains a poetic and flavorful description of the guild, and also the decklist.

Here is a look at Trostani.

The important word here is POPULATE.  Populate means you can copy a crature token by paying that price, one colorless, one green, and one white.  Trostani would make a great commander.  But she is going to get jammed into Atraxa commander decks.

So what other cards are there?

Here are some pics, with commentary about the most important cards.

First, the rares.

I am not real familiar with some of these cards.  I have a few of them, but have never played them competitively or causally.  But there is one standout here that I have seen across the table…Privileged Position.  Other permanents you control have HEXPROOF.

So…Black doesn’t easily get rid of enchantments…I generally play black…so guess what this means?  The person I was playing against that had this card whipped me bad!  My kill spells were useless.

I suppose I should mention Glare of Subdual and Growing Ranks.  Growing Ranks produces a copy of a token at every upkeep.  8/8 Grove of the Guardian token with Vigialance…No problem…Have two!  But it is Glare of Subdual that is backbreaking.  Your opponent works hard to build a big crature base, and other stuff.  But you can just tap your saprolings or other creatures, and tap down their big stuff in response to moving to combat…You can really frustrate some opponents this way.

Next, the tokens.  Double sided!  One side Saprolings.  The other…different other creatures.  Centaurs are sort of iconic for Green and White.

 

Next the common and uncommon creatures.

Not bad.  I have sided Dryad Militant in a few times when playing White Weenie.

The lands.  Four Selesnya Guildgates…duals that enter tapped, Selesnya Sanctuary, Duals that enter tapped AND require you to return another land to your hand, with the upside of producing one of each color when you finally get to tap it.  And last…GREEN AND White GUILD LANDS.  (Awesome.)

As I said in my last two reviews.  The wizards should have reprinted four copies of the shock lands here.  Or at least included one copy.  They wouldn’t even have broken the market.  Those lands are worth about $8.00 apiece.  And they are needed in Modern, and currently legal in Standard.

The last pics of the cards are of the other spells.

Everything here is functional.  But not outstanding.  I am a fan of the charms.  Selesnya Signet and the other signets are the best “mana rocks” generally available…(I mean Sol RIng and Black Lotus are better…arguably…Lions Eye Diamond…But those are a different game than Kitchen Table “Guild Kit”)

 

 

PLAYING THE DECK

This deck’s record at the SpartanNerd house.

Dimir Guild Kit.  (two wins)

Golgari Guild Kit (One Win)

Jace (V. Chandra) duel deck (Two Wins)

Face the Hydra challenge deck.  (One win, One loss)

Defeat a God challenge deck. (one win)

Ajani (Vs. Nicol Bolas) Duel deck.  (One win, One Loss.)

The Selesnya Deck is selling at some online stores for 50+ dollars.  And the secret is Priveledged Position.  Some people are buying this deck just for that card.  It was a much needed re-print, and was around $25…(That value has tanked because of the reprint about 50%) . And why?  You resolve that card…all those tokens you have get hexproof.  No fun for your opponents except for when they force you to sacrifice, or when they can match you in battle.  The Hydra challenge deck thing…that is what it is…it starts off with creatures before the game even begins.  But the combo of quality, efficient cratures, plus token generators, plus populate, plus convoke, plus Priveledged Position…the odds are against other casual decks winning.

But it is th las match that is of the most interest…Ajani’s deck is mostly the same colors with a splash of red.  We found this to be a terrific match-up!

SPARTANNERD’S RATING OF THE SELESNYA GUILD KIT.

This deck is amazing as a preconstructed product.  BUT…it doesn’t seem to be balanced well against the other decks in the Guild Kit series…at least the other two I own.  Which takes the fun out of that Battle Box idea, doesn’t it.

The deckbox is the same as the Dimir and Golgari boxes.  Basic card-board with a top loader design.  Nothing great, but it can hold sleeved cards plus the tokens.

I rate this one a 4/5 only because of its seeming unbalance.  It is great to get a great pre-constructed deck, though.

Do you agree or disagree with me, Hub City Geeks?  Let me know in the comments!

 

(Remember, the SpartanNerd is gauging whether or not to let SpartanNerd.Com go dark, or not.  You feedback is valuable!  So far, I think I am hanging on.)