#mtg colors

[lich-of-the-golgari]

Wedge Discussions

Inspo goes to @monorayjak, this was such a cool concept I wanted to build off that.

Sultai Edition

Blue: Here we are again

Black: So it would seem.

Green: What could they possibly want?

Black: Who cares? The question of what the user wants is arbitrary, what do WE want?

Green: That's not how we do things. That's not how ANYONE does things.

Blue: Oh stop bickering. Listen, we need to come up with what the user wants.

Green: Fine.

Black: Fine.

Black: What I want is to be in control of my destiny. I don't want to be beholden to anyone and anything. I am tired of life, which tries to restrict me from my ultimate goal. I want to become more powerful and control the world around me, and I don't care how I get to that point.

Blue: I guess I understand. I want mastery, perfection, knowledge, and the means to achieve them. I don't care if I have to use artificial methods, I WILL become perfect.

Green: I can understand your desire to grow, but I can't agree with either of your methods. I think the true method of becoming better is understanding the natural processes of this world, evolving as a person, and becoming stronger through our understanding of our interconnected nature.

Black: Yeah yeah, we all know green, things need to be natural and survival of the fittest, but isn't ambition and trampling on others the way to effectively grow?

Green: Not necessarily. We all are a part of an ecosystem, whether we like it or not. By trampling on all prey, we starve ourselves. By having individuals stronger than us, we are motivated to grow ever still. Being at the top of the food chain doesn't mean we succeded, it just means we have fit in our role.

Blue: Why does it have to be that way green? Not everything has to be about nature and ecosystems and all that. While we are a part of the world to some extent, if we want, we can separate ourselves from that entirely.

Black: I can't believe I'm saying this but listen to blue. With artifice and undeath, we can remove ourselves from the struggle to survive and just focus on ourselves. Why care about the natural order when we can supersede it?

Green: Because no matter how distant you are from nature, no matter how unnatural your existence, life and death exist in a seamless continuum. Even if you were to become a lich, your corpse would still decay, you would still become food for the microbes, mushrooms, and bacteria that are present around you. Even if you become artificial, the forces that power you will eventually be grown over as your power sources decay. Nothing is truly eternal, nothing will truly last forever.

Black: I mean, you are right that nothing escapes death, even undeath IS just another form of death. However, the ego can survive after death. How it's stored is irrelevant, as that can last the tests of time. Look at Yawgmoth. While Phyrexia was a disaster of plane, it did show that the ego can survive an eternity. Yawgmoth was present in the mind of all of Phyrexia.

Blue: Again, I do think that black has a point. Through innovation the mind can last forever. However, I do see green's point. Most of what we do won't be able to last. How do we achieve our goals if our goals are fundamentally separated?

Green: Well what do we value?

Black: Myself. Power above all else.

Blue: Knowledge. The pursuit of perfection through craft and thinking.

Green: Growth. The pursuit of connecting myself to the ecosystem and to fulfill my purpose in the food chain.

Blue: So we all value improvement of the self?

Black: We disagree on the methodology.

Green: So how do we unify our thoughts to become one force?

Blue: The survival of the fittest is inherently self-motivated.

Black: As is the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake.

Green: And Death is a natural part of life.

Blue: But things don't need to end at death.

Black: We all serve a vital role in our ecosystem. Without death, things can't get fertilized.

Green: And without cultivation, we become stagnant.

Blue: So it's important to find a balance

Black: And it's better that we are the ones to be in control, since we are the ones studying it.

Green: And as long as we keep to our positions

Blue: We all can get stronger

[monorayjak]

More Wedge discussions

Blue, red, and green - Perfection through knowledge, action, and growth. Blue: Perfection. The ultimate goal. Green: Why? Blue: Why what? Green: Why is perfection the goal? Blue: Because it means we exist in the best way possible. Green: And what does that mean exactly? Blue: I don’t follow. Green: What is the best way possible? Blue: Well, I don’t know right now. Green: You don’t know? Blue: Right now, yes. It requires study and complex thought. Red: Ugh, thought. Blue: Oh no I’m with you two again aren’t I? Green: Yep, we’re all back here. Red: Fuck I’m tired of dealing with this. Green: Look, how about we all just agree to work together for a few minutes so we can get this over with and move on? Red: Sure. Blue: Deal, I suppose. Green: Ok… so I want to start with asking you a question Blue. Blue: Hm? Yes? Green: Will you define perfection? Blue: I just did a moment ago, its existing in the best w- Green: Yes, that's a definition, but not the one I’m looking for. Blue: I don’t follow? Green: Ok, I want you to lay out what perfection means to you, not as in the definition, as in, what does it mean to be perfect? How do we know we have achieved it? Red: Its been far too long since I’ve seen Blue stumped like this. Ha! Blue: Ok, ok… how do we know… I… Green: Hm? Yes? Red: Spit it out! Blue: …I don’t know. Red: UGH! Green: No Red, thats a perfect answer. Blue and Red: What? Green: You don’t know… because perfection is subjective. Red: Where are you going with this Green? Blue: Subjective? How can perfection be subjective? Green: Because everyone has a concept of perfection already. Very few of them are exactly the same as one another. Blue:  I… I actually see your point. Holy shit. Red: Wait wait wait, did you just get Blue, fucking BLUE, to admit that you made a valid point they didn’t see!?!?!? Green: Yes Red, I did. It isn’t that hard really. Red: Please teach me this power. Blue: Please don’t teach them. Green: Perhaps we should move on a bit? Red: Ugh, fine. Blue: Ok, so if perfection is subjective… Green: How do we achieve it? Red: OH! I have an idea! Blue: Is it explosions? Red: NO! Green: Ok, fine, what’s the idea Red? Red: Uh… well… you see… Green: It was explosions wasn’t it. Red: Yeah. Blue: Knew it. Red: Wait, I actually think I do have something this time. Blue: Are you sure it isn’t just explosions? Red: Yes. Green: Ok, good. Let’s hear it. Red: What if we stop trying to achieve perfection through society. What if we focus on the self? Blue: Hmm, maybe that could work… Green: I could see it. Red: So… what does that mean for all of us? Blue: Well, if it’s me looking for perfection, I want to achieve mastery over skills and understand everything I can. Green: If it’s me, perfection means finding my spot in the world and being home with it. Red: For me, it’s all about understanding myself and doing what I want. Blue: Ok, so… mastery, belonging, and identity. Green: I like the sound of that in all honesty. Red: Same here. Blue: Well… in all honesty I think mastery is kind of a natural progression from understanding yourself and your role… Red: So… belonging and identity? Green: Hm, belonging and identity. I could live with that. Red: Yeah, I think I can too. Blue: So… let me ask this… Red, what is identity? Red: It’s who I am. It’s my preferences, my memories, my connections, my heart and thoughts, my emotions. It’s everything that makes me, well, me. Green: Hm that’s interesting. Blue: Ok, now Green… what is belonging? Green: Knowing you have found a home. That you are with people who care for you and who watch out for you. Being with a group you’d be willing to die for. Home. Blue: Ok… so… we want to become… Green: …the best versions… Red: …of ourselves. Blue: There isn’t one way to home and happiness and perfection. Green: There are an infinite number. Red: And everyone walks a different one. Blue: Home and Identity. I… well, I like it! Green: Agreed, Red? Red: Motion carried!...or whatever the fuck I’m supposed to say.

[monorayjak]

Lili is a great character specifically because of this. Literally every problem she has is because she goes her route, regardless of consequences.

Healers say her brother will die no matter what? Lilia takes the advice of a random guy and brews a potion to save him. He becomes a fucking lich.

Liliana needs her power and youth back? Make a deal with the literal draconic embodiment of "go fuck yourself or I'll make sure you don't live through me fucking you over" and literal demons who's entire domain are bad deals. She becomes bound to them all and has to spent literal fucking years trying to free herself.

Liliana has actually somehow found a semi-supportive friend group who, while she won't admit it to them or herself, she cares about? Use them as a means to an end to kill the demons. End up forced to fight them.

Like, what I'm getting at here is that if she actually listened to other people, 98% of her problems would be nonexistent.... but she's also a mono-black character and I'm pretty sure it's like one of their core tenants to yell yolo and fuck over everybody to improve their future...

[littjara-mirrorlake]

The Color of Hope: Ambition, Necromancy, and Black Mana

Black is one of the most misunderstood colors in Magic: the Gathering, not least because it appears on the surface to be so straightforward. Look at the most iconic black cards of Magic and you'll see deals with demons, necromancy, mass destruction and cruelty and suffering–the trappings of classic fantasy evil. Even the color's symbol itself is a skull, a universal signifier of death and danger.

And in early Magic that seemed to be all it was. White was the color of Fantasy Good, black was the color of Fantasy Evil, and the rest of the colors were... fire magic? Elves? Whatever odd but intriguing skeleton affairs are implied by Time Walk?

Gradually, though, Magic deepened as both a game and a storytelling medium. The color pie grew into itself as a system of complementary philosophies, archetypes whose associated aesthetics were only part of the full picture. Their arrangement around the wheel, below, is highly deliberate; neighboring colors are said to be allies with a high degree of philosophical and mechanical overlap, while colors on opposite sides of the pie are known as enemies, more likely to disagree on fundamental levels.

Black stopped merely representing capital E Evil and became the color of striving for power; unlike its peers, black felt that nothing, least of all morality, could prevent it from seizing what it wanted. Mark Rosewater's 2015 article about black emphasized the color's focus on the self:

"Black's philosophy is very simple: There's no one better suited to look after your own interests than you... Many costs require the sacrifice of others for your own advancement. Because it puts itself first, black is always willing to make this trade. The weak must fall for the strong to thrive." -Mark Rosewater

At its worst, black is an exploitative, amoral color that prioritizes itself at the expense of all others, allowing the "weak" to fall and scorning the very idea of compassion. Rosewater writes that black is "always willing" to trade others for itself. And these can certainly be parts of black's philosophy, when taken to its worst possible extremes, but they're far from the entire story.

Over time, Magic's outlook on black gained nuance. Magic story introduced protagonists like the necromancer Liliana Vess, whose craving for immortality, seemingly exploitative nature, and demonic deals called back to the oldest portrayals of black–and yet she was not one-dimensionally evil. She underwent character development over the years, learning the value of reclaiming herself and standing beside others, and at no point did she become any less mono-black for it. Remember her; we will come back to Liliana and her story later.

In addition to the usual death and decay, black cards began to feature a theme of relentless devotion. On the plane of Eldraine where each color represents a virtue, black's is persistence, explicitly as important as any other color. On the plane of Ikoria, the love between bonder and beast pulls Winota back from the brink of death. Wherever this Oathsworn Vampire printing is set, its flavor text is quintessentially black. It's the same self-driven attitude as before, but cast in a different light: black is nothing if not persistent when it's got its heart set on something (or someone) it cares about. Nothing, least of all the grave, will keep it down. After all, black will always come back for its own.

These newer cards uncovered the true face of black as a color capable of both great love and harm (sometimes even the latter for the sake of the former), and suggested a tantalizing new thread: perhaps putting yourself and yours first isn't all that bad, necessarily. Black is a deeply protective color; it says you don't just have to accept what you're handed, it's okay even to be furious about it (hello, ally color red), but let that galvanize you to do something about it. 

Vraska, a gorgon who faces extreme discrimination on her home plane of Ravnica, triumphs by reclaiming herself, gorgon powers and all–and even more radically, loving herself. She displays traits often considered the purview of white and green, such as a love of home and a drive to elevate the oppressed, but they are all filtered through the lens of her black alignment. Vraska staunchly refuses to deny herself or her people, the Golgari Swarm, of their value. Nor does she allow law or propriety to prevent her from championing them by any means necessary–even if that means cold-blooded murder, or aligning herself with a villain like the Planeswalker Nicol Bolas.

"[Vraska] thought of Mazirek, of the kraul, of the rest of the Ochran assassins and the malignant Jarad who reigned with casual ruin over the most downtrodden of the downtrodden. She remembered her years of isolation, and the heinous cruelty of the Azorius, and how no group deserved to suffer as much as those who would subjugate her own. Eliminating that hell was all she ever wanted." -The Talented Captain Vraska, Alison Luhrs

Like Vraska, black loves fierce and hard, willing to break any taboo for the sake of those it cares about. And it whispers, the entire way through, you are enough. You deserve better. No matter what others may say or do, you are enough.

"If I am to be met with disrespect, then I must first love myself with a fierceness no fool can take away." -Vraska in Pride of the Kraul, Alison Luhrs

Even black's "ruthlessness" isn't as fundamentally cruel as it appears, centering a passion for problem-solving (shared by its other ally blue) instead of a blunt disregard for others.

"People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means 'mean.' It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it." -K. A. Applegate

All of this comes together to make a black a color not of evil but of strength, integrity, and persistence. And that's all well and good, but I'm going to take it even further and put forward a new proposition: that black is the color of hope.

Of the nine mono-black Magic cards with "hope" in their names, all but Liliana portray black as an instrument of hope's destruction. This is, once again, black's flaw taken to its extreme–crushing others to achieve its own ends–but neglects black's own relationship with hope.

Black, more than any other color, requires hope to stay alive.

For black to persist, it must believe in a light at the end of the tunnel, a future in which its goals are realized. As long as it does, it will endure any hardship, walk through fire, and turn reality itself upside down on its way there. Primal, desperate ambition is the engine of hope that burns at the heart of black, keeping it always one step ahead of stagnation. Bitter and stubborn, black believes tomorrow will come because there is no other choice. After all, for black to relinquish hope is to let itself wither, regress, and die–an unacceptable outcome. 

Thus, it is monumentally difficult to strip black of hope. That only makes it all the more crushing when it happens, when black contends with the idea that there is nothing it can do.

Black's deepest, darkest fear is helplessness.

Like any mono-black character, Liliana Vess is driven at her core by a seething, desperate hope. When Liliana first unlocks her necromantic power, it is out of a sheer refusal to allow her ill brother Josu to die, even when the esis root that would cure him is destroyed by enemy witches in an undead-raising ritual. She defies her previous training as a healer, which taught her only to take the safe path, in favor of a higher-risk and higher-reward approach: stealing life from the witches themselves to restore power to the esis root she needs. It is her knowledge that her brother needs her, and her sheer stubborn will to succeed, which allows her to defeat the witches against steep odds.

"Six foes, and Liliana stood alone. But Josu's life depended on her, and the power blossoming within her was more than enough." -Liliana's Origin: The Fourth Pact, James Wyatt

Tragically, however, Liliana's attempted cure goes horrifically wrong, transforming Josu into an undead being plagued by eternal suffering. In his pain, Josu attacks Liliana. For a while Liliana holds out hope, finding the power to fight back while she determinedly searches for a spell to reverse the harm she's done. It is when she realizes this isn't possible that her strength falters.

"All this time, she had believed… that she could turn the power of death to the service of life and health. That a healer should use every tool at her disposal. But Josu was the result, a horrible fusion of life and death, and all her spells meant to manipulate the life force of the living could do nothing to harm the dead." -The Fourth Pact

Liliana learns that even her own dark magic, fueled by determination, cannot solve the problem she's created. She discovers the hard limit of her willpower, and the despair of this discovery is what causes her Planeswalker spark to ignite.

At this time Planeswalkers are as gods, immortal and near-omnipotent. Liliana spends decades enjoying this affirmation of her capability before the Mending strips her and all her peers of their power, reducing them once again to mortal mages.

"Then the Multiverse reshaped itself, robbing her—and every other Planeswalker—of the godlike power they once had wielded. Some called it the Mending, as if something broken had been repaired, but to Liliana, it seemed the opposite. It broke her beyond any hope of repair." -The Fourth Pact

Once again, it is Liliana's fear of helplessness and her refusal to accept it that drives her to push beyond the bounds of propriety–this time, to make a pact with Nicol Bolas and four demons to maintain her immortality. It is not enough for her merely to delay death; she requires the security of knowing she is fully beyond its reach, that she will never be helpless before it again as she was with Josu.

"Holding death at arm's length for whatever years are left to me? No, that's not enough. I want to be free of its shadow." -Liliana in The Fourth Pact

Black isn't like its enemy colors white and green, which are superficially associated far more often with hope. Unlike white, it doesn't believe that conviction, justice, and community will bring about rightness. Unlike green, it doesn't trust in the wisdom of the world or the natural order. Black believes that nothing will change unless you make it change; ultimately, black's self is the only one it can trust to bring about the world it needs. In addition, black lacks its enemies' idealism. Instead, it strives to be a pragmatic realist, making a final assessment of defeat all the more definite and crushing.

While white and green are more amenable to finding hope and holding it aloft as a banner, black claws hope desperately to its chest with shredded, bloody fingernails. Every ounce of hope black has, it tore by itself from the clutches of an uncaring world.

Ironically for such a self-driven color, black's fierce hope is the greatest asset it can provide to others–on its own terms, of course. It was Liliana who turned the tide of battle against the Eldrazi titan Emrakul, defiant in the face of cosmic despair. And when Nicol Bolas made his bid to return to godhood, using Liliana's necromancy to command his undead hordes, Liliana finally turned against him. In reclaiming her power, so too did she use it to free her fellow Planeswalkers from Bolas' assault. Her fear of helplessness no longer shackled her to him; agency and autonomy were hers at last.

The triumph of black, its moment of ultimate victory, is the hard-won fulfillment of its hope.

"Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." -Dylan Thomas

An aetherborn, railing against the shortness of their natural lifespan, constructs a new body for themself with their own bare hands. An artificer's grief over her lost companion causes her to push invention to its limits. A young girl who loves her brother calls on the darkest of powers to save him. As it turns out, necromancy–that original thematic keystone of black–is only one of black's many, many refusals to let go of love and hope once it has them, even in the face of the ultimate end.

Time and time again, black–in love with life, ablaze with hope–looks the Grim Reaper in the eye and tells it: "Not today."

[tshortik]

I love you messy artstyle i love you visible brush strokes I love you textures and rough edges I love you imperfections I love you roughness and colour blobs I love you scratchy sketches and bold stylisation and dirt and imperfections I love you ugly and raw emotion!!!!! ❤️

[melonmortis]

Oh this diva

[lurks-no-more]

The MTG color wheel is a really good idea, with lots of possibilities. I'm a little suprrised that, given WotC owns both Magic and D&D, they haven't done more with it in the latter.

I wish more people used Magic the Gathering's Color Pie instead of D&D's alignment all of the time.

Like, saying a character embodies the selfishness and impulsivenes of Red Black offers more depth than Chaotic Evil

[flabbergastedpigeon]

The gang's all here!!! Which Phyrexia Pal is your fave?

Planning on making these into a stickers (and maybe even a sticker sheet idk) to decorate my deck boxes with, so this is a lowkey interest check to see if anyone else would want these lil guys too!

[shiko-man]

I saw some art in a kind of trading card style and I couldn't help but mock up some rough dungeon meshi mtg cards! I know the party mechanic would fit pretty well here but I was already halfway done by the time I realized lol and also I don't play with that mechanic so idrk how it works!!!

[core-augur]

New Phyrexia Miku

[peoplegettingreallymadatcards]

[monorayjak]

Trying to figure out how I would flesh out wedge identities, so decided to take a page from MaRo's book and have them talk to one another. First up.

White, black, and red - Order through structure, action, and opportunity. White: Order through structure means having strict rule- Red: Ha! Rules schmules White: Why must you be like this Black: Because they are. Simple as that. White: Ugh… here we go again Red: So tell me, who exactly defined what order is? Order doesn’t mean peaceful. Hell, I’d call most order not peaceful White: Order is the way the world should be organized, so that the most people gain the best access to what they have and need, its a system where everyone is allowed to live Black: No, it isn’t. White: What? What do you mean? Black: Order is how things are organized in a logical manner, yes, but they are not inherently ordered around “goodness” Red: See! Black gets it! White: Ok ok, so what do you two propose order as? Black: Easy. Order is how the world is organized. Order should be based on power. White: Power? Black: Yes. Power. The people at the top have the power, they make the rules and everyone else plays by them Red: Eh, I can see where you’re coming from black, but I don't fully agree with that. Order is how the world is organized. Order should be based around freedom White: Freedom? How? Red: Order should be based on saying “here is everything we don’t allow. If it's not written here, it's a free game.” It should show the hand everyone starts with, metaphorically speaking, and clarify what is not an option. It shouldn’t just rule out personal thoughts and motives. It's the difference between telling someone they can’t do something while they’re in the middle of it versus telling someone up front they can’t do that and allowing them to think of other options for themselves. You want the world to be even? Give everyone the same playing field. White: I can’t believe I’m actually saying this…. But that actually makes some kind of sense. Red: See! I’m not against structure, I'm against pointless structure. Whatever rules are made should be as simple and all encompassing as possible. No complicated legalese telling specifics, it should be all about giving people the information they need. Black: Ok, I want to chime in here. I can see you two agreeing on this but I want to remind you I’m also here. I think order should be used to put the powerful, me, at the top. How does that fit into your little utopia plan? White: Uh….what… what if… oh Serra I’m actually saying this and kind of meaning it. What if we base the order around power, so that the person in charge declares the base rules and others can interpret them. What if… what if we all stay together at the top and set out guidelines that others can live with. Black: How does that give us power though? Red: Oh! I get it! It gives us power because we have the ability to change the rules once we’re on top. We can stop others from taking our place by blocking the path we used to get there with new rules! Black: Hmm… interesting. I can’t believe it's actually happening… but I think we may have an agreement here. White: Holy shit that’s a first. Red: Wait we can cuss!? YOU CAN CUSS!? White: Yeah, no shit. Black: You’re both fucking idiots. Red: I hate you both, but I think that’s an agreement. Truce? White and Black: - Truce.

[memento--moray]

The "G" in LGBT stands for "Gitaxias".

Bonus sketch:

[politeheist]

Was consumed by the Guild Wars and magic thoughts this morning, so I combined the two into some custom cards

[littjara-mirrorlake]

he's got that Sultai Smolder

[windudemon]

Magic: The Gathering color combo as 16 types

here's how I would associate each MBTI type with Magic: The Gathering color combos based on their core traits:

INTP: Blue/White – Logical (Blue) and values order or principles (White).

INTJ: Blue/Black – Strategic (Blue) and individualistic, seeking control (Black).

ENTP: Blue/Red – Innovative (Blue) with a spontaneous, chaotic edge (Red).

ENTJ: Blue/Black – Ruthlessly efficient (Black) and strategic (Blue).

INFP: Green/White – Idealistic (White) with a deep connection to harmony (Green).

INFJ: Blue/White – Visionary (Blue) and driven by moral purpose (White).

ENFP: Green/Red – Free-spirited and individualistic (Red) with a connection to nature or values (Green).

ENFJ: White/Red – Charismatic (Red) with strong values and a desire to lead for a cause (White).

ISTP: Blue/Red – Analytical (Blue) with a love for action and risk (Red).

ISTJ: White/Black – Dutiful and structured (White) but pragmatic and self-reliant (Black).

ESTP: Red/Black – Bold and impulsive (Red) with a practical, self-serving edge (Black).

ESTJ: White/Red – Disciplined and organized (White) but also action-oriented and decisive (Red).

ISFP: Green/Red – Independent and passionate (Red) with a deep connection to nature and authenticity (Green).

ISFJ: White/Green – Loyal and protective (White) with a strong sense of tradition and care for others (Green).

ESFP: Red/Green – Energetic and fun-loving (Red) with a natural appreciation for life's pleasures (Green).

ESFJ: White/Green – Community-focused and caring (White) with a desire to nurture and support (Green).