Selesnya Conclave

Lore & Background

The Selesnya Conclave was one of the five guilds featured in the first set of the Ravnica block, *Ravnica: City of Guilds*. In the storyline, the guilds had been at war for centuries, but a truce was forced when the dead began haunting the plane. Each guild agreed to specialize in two colors of magic and take on specific jobs to maintain order and stretch limited resources, with war banned entirely. The Selesnya Conclave, with its green and white colors, focused on community and nature. During the events of the novel *Ravnica*, tensions between the guilds reached a breaking point as preparations for the decamillennial celebrations—9999 years after the Guildpact was formed—were underway. The still-active House Dimir, which never agreed to the Guildpact, along with the Golgari Swarm, nearly destroyed the core of Selesnyan civilization. Key characters in the novel included Fonn Zurich, a daughter of a Wojek officer who joined the Selesnya Conclave after her father's death, and who became an elite Ledev—a paramilitary soldier defending the right of free travel. The Selesnya kept passageways clear with the Ledev, while the dark undercity was the domain of the Devkarin elves and the skies were policed by Boros angels.

In Their Own Story

In the novel *Ravnica*, Fonn Zurich, an elite Ledev of the Selesnya Conclave, guarded her priest friend as he traveled to the decimillenial celebrations. An explosion tore through the city, killing the priest and flinging Fonn into the arms of Jarad, brother of the Devkarin leader Savra. This event set off a chain of chaos, as Savra tried to take over her guild and resurrect the necromancer Svogthir, throwing all the characters into a huge war. The Selesnya Conclave, with its Ledev defenders, played a crucial role in maintaining passageways and protecting travelers amid the escalating conflict.

Reader's Guide

The Selesnya Conclave's key mechanic is Convoke, introduced in the Ravnica block. A player playing a spell with Convoke may tap some of their creatures to pay part or all of the card's mana cost. Each creature tapped reduces the cost by one mana of that creature's color, or by one colorless mana. This mechanic reflects the guild's philosophy of unity and cooperation, as creatures work together to power spells. The Conclave is one of the ten guilds of Ravnica, each representing a combination of two of Magic's five colors. Selesnya combines white and green, and its mythology is loosely derived from Slavic folklore, with character names reflecting this influence.

Did You Know?

• The Selesnya Conclave was one of the guilds emphasized in the first set of the Ravnica block, *Ravnica: City of Guilds*.
• The guild's key mechanic, Convoke, allows players to tap creatures to help pay for spells, reducing the cost by one mana of that creature's color or one colorless mana.
• In the novel *Ravnica*, the Selesnya Conclave's elite paramilitary soldiers, the Ledev, defended the right of free travel and kept passageways clear.
• The character Fonn Zurich, an elite Ledev, joined the Selesnya Conclave after her father's death and was involved in the events of the decamillennial celebrations.
• The Selesnya Conclave nearly had its core civilization destroyed by House Dimir and the Golgari Swarm during the events of the *Ravnica* novel.