Hello again Magic: the Gathering players. The very much anticipated second set in the Return to Ravnica block has now been officially released. Gatecrash has hit store shelves in multiple languages around the world on February 1, 2013. The five Guilds featured in this large set are the red / white aligned Boros, with their new mechanic 'Battalion', red / green Gruul with 'Bloodrush', black / blue Dimir with 'Cipher', green / blue Simic with 'Evolve', and the black / white Orzhov with 'Extort'. This set is quite simply amazing with something in it for just about everyone. Considering the 249 cards in this set, whether you play standard, pauper, cube, or EDH / Commander, we're certain you will find a card which will rock your game. We want to showcase some of our favorite cards in this new set and really don't know where to start. For now however here are just a few which have certainly got our attention here at MTG Mint Card.

First up - Boros Charm. This red-white two-drop uncommon is an instant spell providing three excellent abilities. Your options are four damage to your opponent, giving your permanents indestructibility until end of turn or giving target creature double strike until end of turn. Next up - Blind Obedience. This two drop enchantment for a colorless and a white will certainly mess up your opponent's tempo as their creatures and artifacts will have to enter the battlefield tapped. This is an excellent defense against an opponent who favors haste in their strategy and having the Orzhov 'extort' mechanic will help grind their life total down. Next up - Ghor-Clan Rampager. This four-drop uncommon Gruul creature provides a 4/4 beast with trample. The truly impressive (or scary thing if you are facing the business end of this) is the two-mana (red and green) bloodrush ability to sneak in extra damage or deliver a slick combat trick. Next up - Crypt Ghast. This rare four-drop (three colorless and one black) spirit with the Orzhov extort mechanic is certain to make waves across multiple formats. This spirit might not have flying but certainly delivers the juice by having all of your swamps cough up one more black mana. Drop this on turn four, then play a swamp on turn five will give you the potential of having a whopping ten mana. Lastly, the cool / crazy Simic one-drop - Experiment One. We think a lot of players will underestimate this 'human ooze' creature when it gets dropped on the gametable as it will be only a meager 1/1. Whether you include this in a deck with the Simic evolve mechanic or in a stompy Gruul deck, expect this creature to grow into a huge threat. The regenerate ability is also just icing on the cake here. Until next time, happy gaming everyone!