Color

Template:TOC right Color is a basic property of cards in Magic: The Gathering, forming the core of the game's mana system and overall strategy.

General

There are five colors, sequenced White (), Blue (), Black (), Red (), and Green (); this arrangement is called the "Color Pie" or "Color Wheel". Devised by Magic creator Richard Garfield, the color system is one of the game's most fundamental and iconic elements. It gives the game diversity in its cards, effects, and play styles, while preventing any one deck from having every tool in the game.

Each color signifies an ideological faction, whose culture defines the flavor and gameplay of its cards, as well as its relations with the other colors. Each color has its own means and motivation for doing battle in Magic, which tie into its strengths, weaknesses, and unique mechanics. Head Designer Mark Rosewater has written many articles about the color pie, both on its portrayal in-universe and its implications on the design and development of cards.

Comprehensive Rules

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 12, 2024—Outlaws of Thunder Junction)

• 105. Colors
  • 105.1. There are five colors in the Magic game: white, blue, black, red, and green.
  • 105.2. An object can be one or more of the five colors, or it can be no color at all. An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame. An object’s color or colors may also be defined by a color indicator or a characteristic-defining ability. See rule 202.2.
    • 105.2a A monocolored object is exactly one of the five colors.
    • 105.2b A multicolored object is two or more of the five colors.
    • 105.2c A colorless object has no color.
  • 105.3. Effects may change an object’s color or give a color to a colorless object. If an effect gives an object a new color, the new color replaces all previous colors the object had (unless the effect said the object became that color “in addition” to its other colors). Effects may also make a colored object become colorless.
  • 105.4. If a player is asked to choose a color, they must choose one of the five colors. “Multicolored” is not a color. Neither is “colorless.”
  • 105.5. If an effect refers to a color pair, it means exactly two of the five colors. There are ten color pairs: white and blue, white and black, blue and black, blue and red, black and red, black and green, red and green, red and white, green and white, and green and blue.

Representation and meaning

Each of the five colors represents a set of beliefs and principles, giving identity to Magic's characters and organizations. A color's philosophy explains how it sees the world, what objectives it hopes to realize, and what resources & tactics a color has at its disposal. This dictates which card types and abilities thematically fit within a color, allowing the game's flavor to connect with and even define its functionality. The basic concepts related to each color are:

• White : Peace, law, structured, selflessness, equality
• Blue : Knowledge, deceit, cautious, deliberate, perfecting
• Black : Power, self-interest, death, sacrifice, uninhibited
• Red : Freedom, emotion, active, impulsive, destructive
• Green : Nature, wildlife, connected, spiritual, tradition

The colors form the cornerstone of Magic's mana system. Each color's way of thinking and acting are reflected via cards of that color having access to exclusive abilities and an affinity for certain aspects of play. But these are balanced by natural vulnerabilities, in that a color may lack a given skill set or have trouble handling certain problems. A player can offset these weaknesses by adding cards of another color, but this versatility comes at the expense of a consistent mana base.

The Color Pie

The "Color Wheel"

The color pie is portrayed as a circular pattern, clockwise in order: White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green. The back of each Magic card depicts the color wheel in the form of round colored gems. Adjacent colors in the wheel will be relatively similar in ideology and are known as allied colors (e.g. White's allies are Green & Blue). In contrast, colors on opposite sides have radically conflicting views and are called enemy colors (e.g. White's enemies are Black & Red).

While a Set may occasionally feature enemy colors working together, a color is much more likely to work with its allies and against its enemies, more so if two allied colors join together against their shared enemy. Most blocks feature at least one cycle of Hoser cards, typically with abilities that negatively affect one or both of a color's enemies. For example, this cycle from Coldsnap later reprinted in 10th Edition: Luminesce, Flashfreeze, Deathmark, Cryoclasm, and Karplusan Strider. In contrast, very rarely will cards in a color have effects detrimental to an ally (i.e. Glissa's Courier).

Individualism within each Color

The Magic books provide readers and players with greater insight and perspective on characters that represent a certain color or color combination at the personal level. When pulled apart from their kin, individuals can be shown to have traits in common with their color or guild, but toned down to a smaller, more 'realistic' scale.

For example, White as a group works toward peace, harmony, and unity. But for White as a lone soldier or citizen, these goals may be considered "too large" for their everyday life. A White organization may believe in order and ethics, enforcing its beliefs through government, religion, and other large-scale institutions. However, a White individual may mirror this on a smaller scale, such as preferring his or her family eat together at the dinner table, putting value in dining etiquette and proper manners. A White group can outcast a troublemaker, but an individual has little to no power to do so on his or her own. (Example: Gaze of Justice)

However, there are some guidelines and some rules for determining the identity of a character. First, there are five flexible traits, visible in characters of all colors but primarily represented in one color:

• Organization (White)
• Curiosity (Blue)
• Self-concern (Black)
• Emotion (Red)
• Instinct (Green)

An organized character is not automatically White. A character that values organization, however, may be. For reference, Black/Red has shown signs of organization in such cases as the mathematically designed destruction of Void and the efficiently-costed, targeted destruction of Terminate. Green/White has shown self-concern in the form of life gain (Heroes' Reunion), but that does not make Green/White selfish — that would be comparable to saying that a person is selfish for brushing his or her teeth. Instinct is unavoidable in all forms of non-artificial life, as even vampires must feed to sate their natural hunger. Wizards cannot learn on an empty stomach and even they are drawn to sexual partners — it is as nature wills, but that does not make them Green. It is the value of these traits that defines a character to a color, not the presence of them. That said, their presence should not be taken into heavy consideration.

Second, influence must be taken into account. If the character spends a great deal of time around Black characters, he or she will likely do some things that can be considered selfish or outright Black. This does not make them Black, as they may have been suffering under peer pressure, they may have lost or may be losing sight of morality, he or she may not be entirely aware of what they're doing, or they could perhaps be in the process of reconsidering his or her own views and making a shift into or toward the color. Influences also come from bloodline, race, and occupation. If the character is a Goblin in the Azorius Senate, he or she may be Blue/White, but will likely have a Red influence that will surface in his or her actions, words, responses, or thoughts. Typically, when an opposing influence surfaces, it serves only to dilute the character's other colors. For example, a Black/Red character with a White influence would be a much more toned-down version of a Black/Red character.

White

Flavor

White puts value in the group, the community, and its civilization as a whole. White believes that suffering is a by-product of individuals not prioritizing the good of the group. White's ultimate goal is peace — a world where there is no unnecessary suffering, a world where life is as good as it can be for each individual, a world where everyone gets along and no one seeks to disturb the bonds of unity that White had worked so long to forge. To govern and protect its community, White makes use of and puts value in a number of broad concepts; morality (ethics, grace, truth), order (law, discipline, duty), uniformity (conformity, religion), and structure (government, planning, reason). White is a color commonly associated with good and justice, but if left unchecked or if everyone is not working toward the same unified goal, White can become authoritarian, inflexible, and capable of sacrificing a small group for the sake of a larger one. Everything necessary to preserve the laws, rules, and governance that White created.

Mechanics

• Damage prevention and life gain: White is a protector first; it has many cards that prevent damage to itself and/or its creatures ("healing"). In addition, White places great emphasis on the continuity of life, and endurance. It can restore life to a player, allowing that player to shake off the attacks of the opponent. To contrast, whereas Green life gain cards always have life gain as the main effect, there are White cards whose principal effect is not life gain but have that as an added bonus, making White the best choice for keeping up a life total while fighting off the opponent. Note the keyword ability lifelink, primary in White. Examples: Healing Salve, Angel of Salvation, Ancestor's Chosen, Reverse Damage.

• Total protection: White is an inherently defensive color, various protective mechanics supports defensive strategies. White's protective abilities ranging from universal protection abilities (colors or creature types), defensive combat abilities (flanking, exalted) and global creature boosting. Examples: Bathe in Light, Spare from Evil, Benalish Cavalry, Aven Squire, Glorious Anthem.

• Small creatures (Weenies): White uses the strength of cooperation and discipline to assemble a powerful army out of small creatures. Often these creatures have abilities (banding, first strike, vigilance) that make the whole group stronger. Examples: Benalish Hero, Knight of Meadowgrain, Steadfast Guard, Veteran Armorer.

• Rules-setting and "Taxing": White values order and law, and so it has ways of restricting the actions of players so that they do not do anything which White considers unnecessary or unfair. This can be outright denial of privileges (rules), or an imposition of some form of "cost" on a regular part of game play (taxing). Rules-setting on players is commonly symmetric, while taxation is asymmetric. Examples: Rule of Law, Humility, Windborn Muse, Ghostly Prison, Land Tax.

• Artifact and enchantment destruction: Although White is attached to both these types, it sees vice in their excess. White mana has the ability to purge what is false, to take away the vestments in which wickedness hides. Recently (with the rotation of Disenchant from Standard), White is able to destroy enchantments with much less effort (less mana) than for artifacts. Examples: Demystify, Tempest of Light, Dispeller's Capsule.

• Balance and uniformity: White has a sense of honor and fair play, which is seen in its use of mass destruction effects, and other 'equality' spells. "Mass destruction" spells reduce all players to possessing no more of any resource than that of the player with the least, and oftentimes, they set that quantity to zero. In addition, White believes in making the world uniform. Differences cause individuals to dissent and dislike one another. Differences only allow for unrest. In sameness, there is fairness, and the way to consider a person justly is clearer. Examples: Wrath of God, Balance, Mirror Entity.

• Peacemaking: White is a peacemaker, the first step of maintaining peace is to avoid combat. Peacemaking can be presented by prohibiting attacking/blocking, locking down activated abilities, and converting hostility to peace. Examples: Pacifism, Recumbent Bliss, Arrest, Condemn, Swords to Plowshares, Peacekeeper.

• Combat superiority: Ultimately, White wants to create peace. It has no interest in prolonging warfare and hates to kill even its enemies. As a result, White emphasizes the need for strong, effective methods to bring an engagement to a close - or at least bring the enemies offensives, and resistance, to an end. In addition to spells which banish or utterly destroy attackers or blockers, White has creatures with abilities representing skills (e.g., "archery") that allow White's team to break up stalemates, protect each other from the enemy, and in general, facilitate the end of the hostilities. Examples: Hail of Arrows, Ballista Squad, Loxodon Mystic.

• Total defense: Above and beyond the degree to which White seeks options to expedite combat, it has every ability to stop attackers and other aggressors in their tracks. It will punish anything which causes - or even threatens to cause - pain. In this way, White magic sends a clear message, and it is that those who dare to inflict harm, will soon meet their maker. Examples: Chastise, Neck Snap, Reciprocate, Retaliate.

Blue

Flavor

Blue is the color that wants perfection and looks on the world and sees opportunity to achieve that, figuring out what you could achieve with the right education, experience, and tools. For Blue, life is one of constant discovery as you keep seeking to better yourself. This way of living requires the right attitude. You have to be open to possibilities, but also not too hasty in action. Blue is methodical and exact and recognizes that there are many forces, even some that come from within, that lead an individual astray. It is better to think one's options out carefully and select correctly than to rush to a decision. Implicitly, in that general world view, Blue believes in tabula rasa: every one of us is born a blank slate with the potential to become anything. One need only understand how, to make the change. So with this ill-formed goal before it, Blue reasons that if it is to make itself better, it must become capable of everything it could be capable of, for that is to "merely add" to its own capabilities. Blue believes it can't possibly be bad to acquire the potential for any conscious action. Thus, Blue, believing it is capable of changing anything if it understands the change, and believing it is imperative that it acquire every capability it could have, concludes that it is imperative that it understand change. As such, blue is the color most interested in technology and wants the latest and greatest version of whatever it is using. Moreover, Blue decides that it must understand everything; for truly, understanding can only improve one's effectiveness in any task. To gain understanding, Blue must acquire knowledge. Since knowledge itself will inform every other decision, Blue forms its principle goal: omniscience, the knowledge of all.

Mechanics

• Card draw: Blue is the color of knowledge and research. As such, it is the best at expanding its mind, represented by unconditional drawing additional cards by minimum mana cost. This also comes about via card selection (i.e. the "looter" ability), which enables Blue to keep its ideas and plans relevant and up to date. Examples: Inspiration, Telling Time, Merfolk Looter.

• Counterspells: Blue is disposed to deny or reverse its opponents' actions, rather than take actions of its own. Blue's logic empowers it to prevent others from taking actions it deems foolish. The use of "countermagic" reflects Blue's understanding of magic itself: dismantling opposing spells at their fundamental level. Examples: Cancel, Mana Leak.

• Mimicry: Blue is the color of knowledge, where imitation of other cards can reflect its nature of desire to learn. Blue's mimicry effects are spell duplication and cloning. Examples: Twincast, Clone, Shape Stealer.

• "Return to hand" ("Bounce") effects: Blue is the color most adept at manipulating time. The use of bounce effects net crucial tempo for Blue, slowing its opponents long enough for a permanent solution to be found. It is an element of Blue's technological aspect: changing the environment, in precise ways, to its advantage, such as by removing an attacker or blocker, or preserving one of its own permanents. Examples: Boomerang, Evacuation.

• Tapping and untapping permanents: These effects come from Blue's tricky nature. The untapped status is necessary for certain actions, and for some of those, it is expended (the permanent becomes tapped). Due to this, Blue can slow or disrupt its opponent with tap effects, or untap its own permanents for extra and perhaps unexpected uses. Examples: Dehydration, Stasis, Twitch, Puppeteer.

• Gain control ("Stealing") effects: Blue is a controlling color. It believes it knows best how to use others' resources. It is also very practical about combat, turning its knowledge of the mind toward controlling it. Examples: Persuasion, Take Possession, Annex.

• Trickery tactics: Blue's tricky nature also reflected by various tactical skills, including library destruction (milling), power reduction and power/toughness switching. Examples: Traumatize, Meishin, the Mind Cage, Merfolk Thaumaturgist.

• Combat trickery: Besides tactical skills, trickery attributes (unblockable) or combat abilities (flying, shroud, phasing) also mostly possess or grant by blue creatures and spells. Examples: Infiltrate, Jump, Spectral Cloak, Cloak of Invisibility.

• Reality changing: Blue is the color of changing things at will. Reality changing can be reflected by changing text, color, creature and land type of the caster's choice. Examples: Mind Bend, Quickchange, Mistform Mask, Shimmering Mirage.

Black

Flavor

Black doesn't see anything as fundamentally immoral. To black, the only measure of right and wrong should be whether or not it leads to success. Black is open to opportunities and strategies rejected by others as taboo or forbidden—death, torment, infection, betrayal. Black characters will do anything to ensure their own well-being even at the expense of others; to black, anything less only allows others to do the same. Thus, black does everything possible to gain the only commodity that can secure it from weakness, and ensure its ability to get whatever it needs or wants—power.

Although if taken to extremes, black's selfishness and lack of ethical restraint can result in tragedy, at its most basic level black is not inherently evil. It has a very cynical world view, and its core philosophy is that of self-determination and release from society-imposed limitations. Black has an ally in blue, as it appreciates its subtlety and use of cold logic. Black is also allied with red, respecting its desire to do things on its own terms. However, black's disregard for other members of the group, spirituality/religion, and the sanctity of life opposes it with green and white.

Mechanics

• Creature destruction: Black sees death not as a necessary evil, but as an effective tool. This gives it a variety of effects that kill creatures, many less expensive and with fewer conditions than those available to other colors. Also, black's mass removal is more calculated than average, often selectively destroying enemies while keeping its own most valuable creatures alive (Examples: Royal Assassin, Murderous Cut, Reckless Spite, Plague Wind).

• Culling the weak: Black has no qualms going after vulnerable targets, and its abilities can single out weaker or damaged enemies (Wretched Banquet, Final-Sting Faerie). It can also force opponents to sacrifice creatures, making them abandon their own weakest members. Once lesser creatures are dealt with, forced sacrifice can also eliminate threats that have abilities—such as hexproof or indestructible—that are resistant to black's direct removal (Call to the Grave, To the Slaughter).

• Malaise: Black can use disease and suffering to debilitate creatures, potentially leaving them too weak to survive. Instead of inflicting damage to creatures, it will often give them -N/-N, reducing their power and toughness. Mechanically, this lets black get around effects that would prevent or replace damage. Similarly, where red would deal damage to players, black's abilities typically cause direct loss of life (Grasp of Darkness, Death's Approach, Mutilate, Wicked Akuba).

• Parasitism: Black method of gaining life is to leech it from others, using effects that drain health from creatures and players. Additionally, many of its creatures—particularly vampires—have lifelink, feeding off of their victims (Consume Spirit, Consuming Vapors, Gifted Aetherborn).

• Cloak & dagger: Where others see underhanded tactics, black sees advantages in combat. It employs deathtouch, using poisons and necrotic effects to kill creatures that would have an edge in a direct assault. Black also uses darkness and apprehension to circumvent enemy creatures with evasion abilities such as flying, fear, and menace (Fetid Imp, Razortooth Rats, Graf Harvest).

• Necromancy: Black has no compassion for the dead, and will raise an army of zombies and other undead to serve beyond the grave. Black can also return fallen creatures from the graveyard to its hand, and can even reanimate them directly to the battlefield (Nether Traitor, Disturbing Plot, Grim Return).

• Card advantage: Black's connections to the occult gives it alternate means to pay for power, trading its own life for mana-efficient card draw (Read the Bones, Dark Confidant). Conversely, black's ability to cause mental trauma in others lets it force players to discard cards (Hypnotic Specter, Gruesome Discovery).

• Faustian Bargain: Black will enter into agreements with demons and other beings like itself—power-hungry and self-serving. These give it access to some of Magic's best card search, or tutors (Sidisi, Undead Vizier; Demonic Consultation). These are strong but dangerous accomplices, however, with drawbacks that can destroy their summoner if not managed carefully (Lord of the Pit, Phyrexian Negator, Immortal Coil).

Red

Flavor

Above all else, Red values freedom. It wants to do what it wants, when it wants, to whom it wants, and nobody can tell it otherwise. In summary, Red thinks that all you have to do is listen to your heart and simply act accordingly, letting your emotions guide you. Red loves life much more than any other color and so it believes that all people must live to its fullest. Red believes that life is an adventure, that it would be much more fun if everyone stopped caring about rules, laws, and personal appearances and just spent their time indulging their desires through experience. Red doesn't live its life questioning choices it has made, and lives in the moment; Red is spontaneous and embraces every adventure put before it. Red is the color of immediate action and immediate gratification. If it wants something, it will act on its impulses and take it, regardless of the consequences. Red embraces relationships and knows passion and loyalty and camaraderie and lust. When Red bonds with another, it bonds strongly and fiercely. To outsiders, Red might seem a bit chaotic; that's only because others can't see what's in red's heart. Red sees order of any kind as pointlessly inhibiting, believing that only through embracing anarchy could everyone really be free to enjoy life to the fullest with no regrets.

Mechanics

• Direct damage (Burn): Red favors direct action. It doesn't waste time looking for ways 'around' a problem -- it blasts a path clean through. When the obstacle is a physical thing, Red employs this solution literally, throwing fire, rocks, or anything else at the problem until it goes away. Examples: Shock, Pyroclasm, Char, Fireball, Barbed Lightning.

• Artifact and land destruction: Red's use of destruction goes to a deep philosophical origin, although it is frequently explained as unthinking glee. Briefly put, order arises from tradition, which occurs when some things are constant or expected. Chaos is the counter to order because chaos is change - unsettling change. When everything is changing, people are free, because there is no tie to "the way things were." Since Red wants freedom, it uses chaos. Destruction is clearly a force of chaos; it changes the world by removing something from it. Additionally, since Red is in every other respect a short-term thinker, the disruption effect of destroying your opponent's resources before they are used can be quite valuable. Examples: Shattering Spree, Manic Vandal, Volcanic Awakening.

• Aggressive creatures: Red is capable of mounting a quick offensive, hoping to blitz its opponents before they have a chance to react. Unlike White, Red's creatures are focused almost entirely on the attack; little to no thought is given to blocking or endurance. Red creatures can be fast, but often at the cost of consistency, long-term resources, or harm to the controller. Examples: Ball Lightning, Jackal Pup, Goblin Cohort.

• Martial superiority: Red is the color of action, red creatures possess several aggressive fighting abilities which shows speed (first strike, double strike), prowess (flanking), aggression (haste), overwhelming (trample), blind rage (rampage), and power enhancing (firebreathing). Examples: Anaba Bodyguard, Ridgetop Raptor, Agility, Fervor, Sunrise Sovereign, Ærathi Berserker, Fatal Frenzy.

• Gambits and short-term mana acceleration: Red wants to act on its desires without delay, whatever the cost. As such, its magic can give itself sudden, potent, but short-lived boosts of energy, or create high-risk-high-reward effects. This enables Red to do powerful things quickly and easily, though they carry the risk that, if the opponent recovers, Red's resources will "burn out." Examples: Fiery Gambit, Final Fortune, Seething Song, Desperate Ritual.

• Randomness: Red is the color of chaos; it can hurt itself and others randomly. Randomness spells can be reflected through coin flips and random card discard. Examples: Tide of War, Mana Clash, Barbarian Bully, Gamble.

• Trickery: Red is the color of pranksters; Red enjoys playing tricks on its enemies and changing the effects of their magic. Blue interferes with magic, too, but it specifically controls the magic for its own long-term profit. Red is concerned more with taking control away from its enemies - forcing them to deal with the unexpected. Sometimes Red can dictate the new effect, sometimes it is random. Such trickery includes temporarily gaining control of permanents, preventing creatures from blocking ("Panic"), and changing the targets of spells, though some cards in this category are truly unique. Examples: Threaten, Stun, Reroute, Confusion in the Ranks.

Green

Flavor

Green doesn't want to change the world, it wants everybody to accept the world as it is. Green is convinced that the world already got everything right. Green tries to coexist with it instead of trying to change it, regulate it, norm it, or take advantage of it. Green is the color of nature and interdependence. It believes that the natural order is a thing of beauty and has all the answers to life's problems, that obeying the natural order alone is the best way to exist and thus favors a simplistic way of living in harmony with the rest of the world. This can often lead to it being perceived as a pacifistic color, as it does not seek to make conflict with the other colors as long as they leave it alone and do not disrespect nature. However, it is fierce when it feels threatened and can be predatory and aggressive if its instincts dictate. Green believes each individual is born with all the potential they need, that it's imprinted in its genes. That everyone has born with a role and that the goal is to recognize it and then embrace it, and thus do what they were destined to do. But that role interconnects with the web of life, and thus everyone has to learn how you fit into the larger picture. We are not alone, we are a part of a complex system full of interdependency. Green truly believes that every individual has to bother to sit back and understand the bigger picture and don't get so caught up in the details of their lives.

Mechanics

• Powerful creatures: As the color of nature and growth, green is able to field mighty creatures with ease. Although other colors have access to cheap creatures or strong creatures, Green alone has access to efficiently-costed and well-rounded creatures at any cost. Examples: Elvish Warrior, Leatherback Baloth, Verdant Force.

• Token creatures: Tying in with green's creature focus and emphasis on growth is its ability to generate large numbers of token creatures. In green, these effects are often repeatable and represent an ever-expanding community of creatures. Examples: Thallid, Centaur Glade.

• "Pump" effects: Green's philosophies of growth and strength both mean it can boost the power and toughness of its creatures, making them more effective in combat. These boosts can either be temporary, through instants and sorceries, or permanent through enchantments and +1/+1 counters. Green also has creatures that can provide a temporary boost to another creature or gain a temporary boost when blocking. Examples: Giant Growth, Thrive, Briarhorn, Giant Badger.

• Instinct attack: Green relies on instinct, which is reflected in the tactics of combat. Excess damage to creatures and its controller results as trample and even extreme as super trample. Lure is a passive ability to force opposing creatures to block, making smaller creatures to be killed by the larger creatures. Examples: Endless Wurm, Rhox, Lure, Elvish Bard, Hunt Down.

• Natural evasion: Green creates its own way to achieve evasion to prevent damage from the other colors. It has the ability to be "uncounterable" and "untargetable" (reflected by shroud and ultimately hexproof) by spells or abilities. Unique "anti-flying" tactics including dealing damage/destroying creatures with flying, removal of flying ability, punishing opponent for having flying creatures, and the keyword ability reach. Examples: Argothian Enchantress, Plated Slagwurm, Hurricane, Canopy Claws, Wing Storm, Giant Spider.

• Natural blessing: Green-aligned tribes can gain benefits from nature. Regeneration is a protective ability for survival. On the other hand, Green has offensive abilities as lethal damage from nature like deathtouch, "venom" ability, and using poison counters. Examples: Gorilla Chieftain, Acidic Slime, Venom, Thicket Basilisk, Marsh Viper

• Permanent mana acceleration: Green's focus on growth enables it to permanently expand its mana base, varying from creatures that produce mana, enchantments that generate additional mana, land tutors, and putting additional lands into play. Examples: Llanowar Elves, Overgrowth, Sylvan Ranger, Exploration.

• Mana fixing: Green's community aspect means it is the best color at creating other colors of mana, either through being able to search for other lands or through changing one color of mana into another. Examples: Birds of Paradise, Farseek, Orochi Leafcaller.

• Artifact and enchantment destruction: Green hates illusions and the artificial, seeing them as perversions of the natural world. Thus, green actively works to destroy such things. Examples: Naturalize, Viridian Shaman.

Colorless

Flavor

Colorlessness is the absence of color. Most artifacts are colorless, which are run for the most part on magic, rather than science and technology (though exceptions on planes like Kaladesh do exist). In terms of alliances artifacts can be considered neutral, though green generally dislikes artifice as a concept, while blue is more than happy to work with them extensively. However there are some colored artifacts, which have a stronger connection to their respective color.

Besides artifacts the Eldrazi tribe is also colorless. This ancient race is native to the Blind Eternities and their nature is ceaseless hunger, so they travel between planes devouring the mana and life energy until the plane's destruction. Before the complete destruction of a plane, they first destroy its color leaving behind Wastes, sources of colorless mana.

Ugin is also colorless, tied with his ancientness that gives him a transcendence over the colors. Accordingly, he has developed colorless magic like concealment magic or his Ghostfire.

Mechanics

Although colorless mana sources exist, colorless is not a color. Colorless cards either lack colored mana symbols in their cost or have an effect like devoid. The presence of the colorless mana symbol in the cost is not required; most colorless cards have entirely generic mana costs. Because generic costs don't need a specific type of mana, colorless cards can be played in decks of any color.

Colorless cards can have mechanics usually reserved for a specific color, but typically at a higher converted mana cost for a given effect. For instance, colorless equipment can grant otherwise color-exclusive effects to any deck, but with less mana efficiency than a colored aura. Artifacts can be considered a "Jack of all traits, master of none," though they too have unique strengths; in the case of equipment, it doesn't leave the battlefield with its attached creature like auras do.

As another example, haste is primary in red. Red can get a 2/2 with haste for three mana in Raging Cougar, Goblin Chariot, or Suq'Ata Lancer, the latter of which also has flanking. It can even have a 2/2 haste for just 1 red mana with Goblin Guide. Meanwhile, Arcbound Hybrid, a 2/2 artifact creature with haste, costs , albeit with the artifact-exclusive mechanic modular.

Artifacts are often indestructible, but there are a set of mechanics unique to them like modular, imprint, and sunburst. Many of these mechanics involve combining with other cards like equip, fortify, crew or living weapon.

The Eldrazi on the other hand have their very own tribal mechanics like annihilator, devoid and ingest.

Face-down cards placed by morph and manifest are also colorless.

Multicolored

Some cards are multicolored (sometimes called "gold" due to their card frame), meaning they require more than one type of mana to use. Although Invasion block, the first set prominently themed around multicolor, was a smashing success (as evidenced by a definite spike in tournament attendance), in Mark Rosewater's words, it wasn't really a mechanic they explored much. The card pool was dominated by "Chinese menu" cards, meaning they took one ability from two colors, scrunched them together on one card, and saw what happened. (the old adage of "one from column A, one from column B")

The "guild model" from Ravnica block has given way to a new era of understanding color combinations (especially two-color combinations). Mark Rosewater boldly campaigned to showcase all ten two-color combinations equally. Later the "small plane model" (shards) from Alara block and the "clan model" (wedges) from Tarkir block added a deeper understanding of the three-color combinations. Finally Commander 2016 gave an Identity to the notoriously hard to design four-color combinations.

Ravnica Guilds (Allied Colors)	Ravnica Guilds (Enemy Colors)	Alara Shards	Tarkir Clans (Wedges)	Four-color Identities
: Azorius Senate : House Dimir : Cult of Rakdos : Gruul Clans : Selesnya Conclave	: Orzhov Syndicate : Izzet League : Golgari Swarm : Boros Legion : Simic Combine	: Bant : Esper : Grixis : Jund : Naya	: Abzan Houses : Jeskai Way : Sultai Brood : Mardu Horde : Temur Frontier	: Artifice : Chaos : Aggression : Altruism : Growth

The last color combination is WUBRG (Template:WUBRG) which combines aspects from each color.

Deviations

Changes over time

Over the course of the game the Magic development team has occasionally moved mechanics already established in one color to another. This is usually for balance reasons, particularly if a color has enough tools to negate its weaknesses, or has a disproportionate amount of design space. A major mechanical shift was made around 2003; at the time, blue and black had too many mechanics at the expense of the other colors.

Change can also result from a re-examination of flavor; for instance, efficient artifact destruction was moved from white (Disenchant) to green (Naturalize) in order to better emphasize green's conflict with blue regarding technological progress. Similar effects can be merged into a color to better highlight the mechanical distinctions between colors. Conversely, effects broad in scope can be split in order to prevent widely used mechanics from being tied to a single color.

Color bleed

While the color pie is the foundation of Magic, from time to time, R&D stretches what mechanically and creativity is allowed in each color. When cards in a certain color do something that the color doesn't normally do, it is called color bleed. When the bleeding goes too far it is called a color bend or in the worst case a color break.

Un-colors

The Unhinged set features a sixth color: pink. Water Gun Balloon Game can create a pink permanent and for abilities that let you produce mana of any color, you can choose pink. However, there is no Unhinged (Basic) Land card that can produce pink mana and no cards which actually require pink mana in any form. In fact Unhinged features a lot more possible colors since Avatar of Me has the color of its players eyes so grey and brown would be possible as well.

The Unstable set uses gold as the color of a dragon token.

Sixth color

A more serious discussion of a new color took place during the design of Planar Chaos. The sixth color, purple, would have been in opposition to green, but the idea never made it past the concept stage.

Even though colorless is not a color, the appearance of the colorless mana symbol () in Oath of the Gatewatch birthed the idea of colorless as the sixth Magic color. With the expansion Kaladesh, energy () was introduced as a way to pay ability costs rather than traditional mana.

External links

General

• Wizards of the Coast. Color Pie Archive
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Enemy colors

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Artifacts (colorless)

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Mechanical implementation

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Color bleed

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Planar Chaos (Timeshifted cards)

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Color hosers

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Mono Colored

White

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Blue

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Black

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Red

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Green

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Multicolor

Allied

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Enemy

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Shards

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Wedges

• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef
• Template:NewRef

Four Colors

• Template:NewRef