Magic the Gathering - Mages of the Guild - Selesnya Guildmage VS Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage

by  ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Selesyna is an interesting guild, with some very powerful and aggressive creatures. The green/white guild has seen quite a power boost since its return in the Return to Ravnica block. Today on Mages of the Guild, we’ll see how the newer guildmage stacks up to the older one. First, we take a look at our old friend, Commander token-lover favorite,  Selesnya Guildmage.

While Selesnya Guildmage’s abilities do not at first appear to be incredible powerful, in the right deck, they are definitely relevant. There’s a reason he’s been reprinted in both the Commander 2011 and Commander 2013 products, as well as in Archenemy and Modern Masters 2015.

Any deck that runs a bunch of little creatures can benefit from having this Elf Wizard around. The first ability for 3G (3 colorless, 1 Green) puts a 1/1 green Saproling creature token into play. This is a mediocre, but usable mana-sink in Commander for sure. It’s sub-par for Constructed purposes, though. The second ability for 3W (3 colorless, 1 White) gives all creatures you control +1/+1 until end of turn. This is the stronger of the two abilities by far.

In a deck that can swarm the field with creatures, this is a fine addition. It’s not a fantastic card by today’s Constructed standards. But it still has a home in anything that runs a ton of tokens, especially ones based around producing lots of Saprolings.

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Return to Ravnica brought Selesnya players great creatures like  Loxodon Smiter  and  Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice. The new guildmage, though,  Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, is a bit underwhelming.

The first ability for 4GW (4 colorless, 1 Green, 1 White) simply puts a 3/3 green Centaur creature token onto the battlefield. That’s very pricey token generation. The second ability for 2GW (2 colorless, Green, White) allows you to Populate, or put a token onto the battlefield that’s a copy of another creature token you control. That ability is slightly better. With Voice of Resurgence running around as of Dragon’s Maze, the Populate mechanic can be quite relevant.

It’s a tough call here between these two, that each have their place in Commander decks, but  Selesnya Guildmage  is a bit better simply for being able to pump creatures for a turn. Neither is highly Constructed playable, but Selesnya Guildmage wins by a bit here. Despite the Populate ability with the  Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage, the original Ravnica guildmage is just a tad more versatile.

Winner:  Selesnya Guildmage, by a bit

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