#izoni

The Graveyard Gang

Did you know Golgari likes the graveyard? Read the cards carefully next time you face a golgari deck, and you might notice it. As a result, a lot of Golgari commanders like the graveyard a whole lot, and specifically creatures being in there. So I made a deck for them, a deck that can use any of its ten commanders, randomly selected before each game. And their companion, Umori, just to make deckbuilding a bit spicier. Here's the gang as a whole!

Ever wondered what one of my Commander decks might look like? Well then, it’s your lucky day! Yes, I’ve finally gotten around to making a deck profile video for my most recent deck: Izoni!

Ravnica for Goblins

Ladies of Ravnica

Dungeon Masters running a campaign in Ravnica may start to notice a trend with many of the city’s most powerful figures of authority (or notoriety); they are largely women.

Whether this an intentional choice on the part of WOTC for gender equality or purely accidental, most of Ravnica is run by the ladies. Not only do we see equal numbers of each gender represented within each race, each class, and each guild (except the Gruul Clans for some reason), but even a large number of the Guildmasters are/have been female:

Isperia, Sphinx Guildmaster of Azorius Senate

Lavinia, (acting Human Guildmaster of Azorius Senate following Isperia’s death)

Aurelia, Angel Guildmaster of Boros Legion

Feather, (former Angel Guildmaster of Boros Legion)

Razia, (Angel Founder/Parun of Boros Legion)

Vraska, (acting Medusa Guildmaster of Golgari Swarm following Jarad’s death)

Kaya, (official Human Guildmaster of Orzhov Syndicate following death of Obzedat)

Teysa, (unofficial Human Guildmaster of Orzhov Syndicate follow death of Obzedat)

Trostani, Dryad Guildmaster(s) of Selesnya Conclave

Zegana, Merfolk Guildmaster/Prime Speaker of Simic Combine

Vannifar, Hybrid Guildmaster/Prime Speaker of Simic Combine

In addition to this, every Angel and Medusa on the plane is exclusively female, with no exceptions. What does this mean for DMs plotting a Ravnica campaign? It means in all likelihood you’re going to be working on more female voices than male, so get practicing. If you are born a girl, this will be easier for you. If you’re born a guy, you’ve got some work to do. Because if you want to take a hard stance against doing female voices in your campaign, you are likely depriving your players the chance to interact with some of the coolest, most badass NPCs in all of Ravnica.

Lavinia of the Azorius Senate is an icon for the guild’s ideals, a champion for the laws of Ravnica, and steward of Jace Beleren, the Living Guildpact. Everything Jace wants to do with his nigh-limitless power as the embodiment of Ravnican Society has to pass through Lavinia first. She dictates his schedules, official commandments, and public appearances. Most importantly, Lavinia ensures that the most is made of the limited time the frequently-absent Guildpact is around. She is harsh but fair. A great choice for when the DM needs to intervene to save the players.

Judith the Scourge Diva is the Grand Dame of the Cult of Rakdos, it’s most in-demand performer, and the last word on anything that goes on backstage. She has more to do with the day-to-day goings-on than Rakdos himself, as the hedonistic demon Guildmaster rarely attends performances and often spends weeks, months, or even years in his lava pit. She does most of the work while Rakdos claims the adoration of the guild’s fanatics, cultists, and performers. Dramatic, demanding, devoted, demented, and she’s got a thing for blades & blood. She is the closest thing to a ranking member of the chaotic guild of stylized hedonism and carnage that is the Cult of Rakdos. She can be reasoned with.

Massacre Girl is currently the Azorius Senate’s number one fugitive.

Real Name: Unknown

Guild: Rakdos

Allegiance: Herself

Motive: Unknown

Crimes: Murders in every guild, including her own

Signature: High body counts, high-ranking figures, excessive violence

Perks for PCs: Instant Citywide Notoriety for taking her in/down

Drawbacks for PCs: Almost Certain Death for failing to take her in/down

Teysa Karlov, former Grand Envoy of Orzhov Syndicate, currently imprisoned for attempting to overthrow Ghost Council. Teysa is one of the few members of the Syndicate who isn’t motivated by greed or self-interest. Make no mistake, Teysa is as ambitious as they come, but her interests actually extend outside of her guild. She is one of the only high-ranking figures within her guild who actually tries to establish relationships with other guilds. It has dawned on her that the day may come when the Orzhov Syndicate might require the assistance of the other guilds, so maybe, just maybe, they should try to not have every other guild actively despise them. A groundbreaking proposal, the first step of which involved the overthrowing of the Greedy Old Men, aka the Obzedat, and establishing her as new guildmaster. Unfortunately, Grandfather Karlov outplayed her, and both Teysa and her ally Tajic of the Boros Legion were thrown in jail. Tajic was bailed out, but Teysa remains imprisoned thanks to bribes made with high-ranking officials to keep her so. In addition, to keep her from dying and achieving freedom as a ghost, she’s been fed food to magically lengthen her life in prison. All that said, Teysa is the best ally available within the Orzhov, one of the few not morally bankrupt, and knows the laws of Ravnica better than even the Azorius. A perfect choice for a prison break quest.

Emmara Tandris is one of the most well-known faces within the endless bounty that is the Selesnya Conclave. She’s a childhood friend of Jace Beleren, the Living Guildpact, and a public figure for inter-guild cooperations. This, plus the fact that she is a kind & caring individual with a special gift with animals, fey, and elementals, and the fact that Selesnya’s dryad trio Guildmaster(s) Trostani are vague at best, completely silent at worst, makes her a perfect choice for distributing missions, quests, and animal companions.

Last NPC I’ll mention is Vraska, of the Golgari Swarm. Vraska is the Planeswalker Medusa Assassin Pirate Queen of the Undercity. Think of something cooler than that, I dare you. It doesn’t exist.

*Edit: More Kickass Female NPCs!

Etrata, the Silencer. That name alone should inspire fear. Not just a vampire, not just an assassin, she’s more of an urban legend Boros soldiers tell each other about when they get stuck on overnight guard duty and want to spook their buddy. Lacking the tedious mind games of most House Dimir operatives, Etrata is an old-school killer for hire. She cares neither for politics, nor influence, nor subtlety. Your name shows up in her book, you’re gonna die tonight. She’s the only Dimir agent capable of actually challenging Lazav for his position of Guildmaster. What it will come down to is this; is he smarter than she is deadly? Etrata is great because her exploits are much easier to track than other Dimir. If someone is dead from a vampire bite in a locked room, they’ve just had a visit from Etrata.

Izoni, Thousand-Eyed should honestly have been the Golgari Guildmaster. Not only is she infinitely more interesting and distinctive than the run-of-the-mill Lich Jarad Vod Savo, but she embodies the Swarm in a way Jarad just doesn’t. Scuttling by your feet, buzzing around the air, lurking wherever death can be found; Izoni and her ever-present insect swarms have presence. Jarad, on the other hand, has a bow, very little personality, and the only real accomplishment he’s had as Guildmaster is surviving assassination attempts. Which, let’s be honest, for the Golgari, is just par for the course. Izoni has room to grow, to expand, and she’s exactly the sort of cackling, nasty, power-hungry dark witch players like to fight. Except she somehow makes being covered in bugs hot.

GBHFDHJ ILU2!!!!

I- in love?

im always in love tbh im licherally made out of it

L- longest relationship?

UMM like 4 yrs ig?? after that uhhhh wow the one im in lol so a yr n 4 months!! wild!!

Y- your last hug?

One does not earn the moniker "Thousand-Eyed" by letting things slip by. In the ruins and dark alleys of Ravnica's Undercity, every bug is another potential set of eyes for her to keep track of those going through Golgari land. Which is why she noticed an anomaly immediately.

A hooded woman exploring the broken down ruins of Korozda wouldn't be a cause for alarm. It had almost become a familiar sight, after it was brought up to the surface. But this was no surface explorer carefully mapping their way: it was a local. One she quickly recognized.

The most noticeable thing, at first, was the lack of any signs of allegiance. In the wake of the invasion, the Swarm had broken down into my factions and each was quick to establish their own symbols to identify their presence. None of which the stranger carried on her. And then Izoni was able to get a look of her face. She looked human, but the height and facial structure were eerily familiar. The kind of details a cheap disguise wouldn't cover, particularly if there were more important things to hide.

So she followed and, at the right time, she struck.

She pushed her target against a wall, a knife on her throat and making sure her sight was blocked before calling on her swarm to follow. A tidal wave of insects and arachnids spread around them, covering the walls and the ground, their chittering and buzzing drowning all sound.

"You have a lot of gall, to return here" she says her knife digging into flesh "Give me a reason I shouldn't just kill you right now and feed you to my pets?"

A moment of silence, followed by a sigh, "I can't. Or at least if our roles were reversed, nothing would convince me."

In the blink of an eye the magical disguise is unmade, revealing distinctively organic scales and head tendrils.

"For what it's worth" Vraska says, eyes locked to the wall in front of her "I did not come here for a fight, Izoni."

"Oh? So what is this? A scouting mission? Doing some groundwork for the next invasion you will bring from beyond the Blind Eternities?" she asks, her pets increasing in loudness with her anger.

Through their eyes, she can see Vraska grimace and close her eyes.

"That wasn't me. As soon as I could, I fought the phyresis."

"How comforting. I'm sure the Simic would be interested in how you did it, even. Now, why are you here?" she insists, even as her mind connects some dots. Vraska had been the best of the Ochran. With access to disguise magic, if she'd wanted to go unnoticed, she'd have done it.

So she… Had let Izoni find her. This was a trap-

"I wanted to talk to you," Vraska replies, bringing her thoughts to a halt "how are the Golgari?"

"You… You came for ME. And that is your question?" she asks incredulously, her anger only growing when the answer is a nod.

"It will take generations for us to recover from all the deaths and compleations. Generations more for us to be a proper guild again" she says, her anger winning out against the knowledge she should not be talking to the gorgon any longer "millenia of knowledge is gone for good, there are literal species of Kraul that you helped eradicate. You want to know how the Golgari are? We are broken. We are a nest you covered in phyrexian oil and set on fire."

As she rants, she see Vraska is deliberately holding back any reaction. It only makes her angrier.

"Thank you," Vraska says once she is done, in a tone Izoni might even call meek "One last question… Do you have any hope? For the Golgari?"

Izoni sneers in response. She almost wants to say no, because that is how she feels sometimes. But she is nothing if not prideful.

"The Golgari are dead" she says "but death has never stopped us, and that isn't about to change now"

"Good" Vraska answers, before taking a deep breath "take care of them, Izoni. Be better than me or Jarad. You won't have to worry about me again."

Then she nods and everything goes wrong.

Izoni feels an attack against her mind only a moment before it breaks through, using her own magic to disperse her swarm. Her thoughts grow cloudy.

"You won't remember we were here" Vraska says, finally able to turn and look her in the eyes "Good luck. Goodbye Izoni… Goodbye Ravnica."