How Color Changes Everything in Magic the Gathering 

I just want to thank Kiln for allowing me to use their amazing Pixel art for this video. Check out there Twitter for more great artwork like this. Kiln - twitter.com/ThePixelSlime1

Amonkhet gave us White zombies, which had the usually Black aligned hordes that cared only for preying on the living into eternal servants focused on taking care of the living, switching from something like Gravecrawler to Fan Bearer.

Fantastic Discertation! I like how Ravnica enemy pairings create such rich flavor for their guilds, like Izzet Red/Blue, Boros White/Red. Those vids led me down this rabbit hole to here. :)

I also feel like the Merfolk of Ixalan are a group that has been displaced from their position as the primary culture on the continent of Ixalan, therefore the traditionalist aspects of green are based around the need to preserve their culture and heritage.

Love these creature type deep dive videos, would love to see more

While I agree with most of what you said through the video, I'll point out your view of black angels don't really fit with Kaldheim ones in particular, even though you especifically mentioned then. The Valkyries work in pairs, one white aligned (a 'sheperd') and a black one (a 'reaper'). They share the same goal, and usually agree with each other without much discussion about the fate of the mortals theiy are judging, as they care only they judgment is fair. The only diference between then is the sheperds take thouse who died honorably to Starheim, and Reapers kill the cowardly and take then to Istfell. Their dinamic makes then more of a two color tribe than individuals of enemy colors, like the giants of the same plane.

Greetings! Preiss algorithm gods! I love white vampires and black elfs. They are interesting reimmagine of known rases.

Dragons shifting to white from white.

Some more examples I can think of, some of which you alluded to in there: Elves - Green > Black Elementals - Blue > Red or Green Dwarves - Red > White Zombies - Black > White Vampires - Black > White It’s interesting to think also of tribes for which support is found in a wedge rather than shard: Mardu > Vampires, Angels, Knights Abzan > Humans Temur > Elementals Jeskai > Spirits, Monks (for obvious reasons)

I love this direction of analysis, but you missed out on your discussion of green merfolk: you noticed the warriors and the scouts, but not the shaman! Green merfolk are unselfish and in tune with nature; moreso than the explorers and scholars of blue, who seek knowledge or treasure, green mers seek to preserve natural places and respect the magics that flow there. Thus, they've turned their Arcane talents towards shamanism, instead of wizardry! Otherwise, great video!

While I agree with most of what you said through the video, I'll point out your view of black angels don't really fit with Kaldheim ones in particular, even though you especifically mentioned then. The Valkyries work in pairs, one white aligned (a 'sheperd') and a black one (a 'reaper'). They share the same goal, and usually agree with each other without much discussion about the fate of the mortals theiy are judging, as they care only they judgment is fair. The only diference between then is the sheperds take thouse who died honorably to Starheim, and Reapers kill the cowardly and take then to Istfell. Their dinamic makes then more of a two color tribe than individuals of enemy colors, like the giants of the same plane.

While I understand your choice of comparing white and black angels, I always have found the differences between white and red angels more interesting. Or maybe I just have a thing for seeing a being so coded as calm and serene just loose its s$!t all over the battlefield.

Honestly, makes me wonder what a white or green alligned demon would look like.

Hell yeah. I said this in the vampire video, but a vampire who is white red without black would be interesting

Elves (green): racist Elves (black): extremely racist

You mentioned elves, I'd like an analysis on Lorwyn elves going GB, but on a different way than traidiyional "golgari"; and then for Shadowmoor when to GW, but on a different way than traidiyional "selesnya"

Wow. This is an interesting thought experiment. I can get the angel part. White is for regular godly angels. Black is for fallen angels. I can get merfolk. They are mainly blue. The green ones of Ixilan make sense in context. The merfolk are trying to protect the Immortal Sun from other races. This protection of something old is something that green would do. It is all about preserving the old ways. The giant one is really wierd. I did have an Izzet Giant deck when Kaldheim came out. Giants are traditionally depicted as being dumb. SO blue is a strange choice. Blue creatures tend to be intellectual and smart. Manybe the blue giants are there to fit a water and storm easthetic. I can come up with more examples. One is vampires. There is already a video about them on the channel. Vampires are usually black. It fits in terms of a horror aesthetic and in term of philosophy. When vampires suck blood, they get what they want at the expense of thier victim. That is like how black philosophy focuses on self interest. Vampires also fit in the allied color of red. The vampires of Innistrad have both colors in a Rakdos pair. Red fits with the blood that vampires drink. It also fits vampires having passion and chaos. They want to feed, and there isn'r much stopping them. I guess if I could describe Rakdos in one word, it would be self indulgence. The big color break is the vampires of Ixilan. They can be white. This is wierd. In traditional media, vampires are weak against sunlight and holy objects. However in Ixilan not so much. The vampire are very religious. They have a grand goal of conquering Ixilan and gaining the immortal sun. These vampires go in Orizhov colors. Vampires don't just care about themself any more. They care about thier in group. They are still vicious to the outgroup. Elves can have a color pie brieak. I think this makes sense. There are different kinds of elves. They go in Azban colors. Green is for the wood elves. They are all about caring about nature. White is for the light elves. They are really refined and spiritual. Black is for the dark elves. They are the most mysterious kind of elves. In D&D at least, t dark elves are mean. I am used to the variety of elves. MTG elves are usually the wood kind. Sometimes there are sets with a lot of dark elves. Kaldheim is a good example. I had a Golgari elf deck during the Kaldheim expansion. Dark elves may seem like a big color pie break. There are also white elf cards. The examples I can think of are elvs that belong to Selesny in Ravnica. Dwarves can be another break. They are typically red. However they can also be white. I think it can fit. Red is for dwarves that are passionate and eager to fight. White is good for bringing out control. There is a goodness to the motives of the dwarf. There are white dwarves in Kaladesh and Kaldheim. I gues most enemy color pair in Kaldhein has creatures with color breakes. Golgari has elves. Izzet has giants. Orizhov ad angels. Boros has dwarves. Simic has shapeshifters. Shapshifters are so rare that I am not sure what thier regual color would be.

Also, damn, you really did my girl Bulwark Giant dirty, huh? Red giants want to stomp you and your pony, white giants want protect and be team-mom!

Regardless of how much the prequels sucked, the second you said "Angels work in absolutes." I was overwhelmed by the physiological need to stand up and shout "Only a Sith deals in absolutes!" Now everyone else in the Denny's is staring at me.

I've always wanted red merfolk that live in volcanoes and swim in lava...

Quite a fan of this one! Feels like a resurrection of your creature type videos but through the lens of the colour pie that the channel is now fully dedicated to. And I feel that through looking at creature types in different colours, comparing and contrasting, gives perspective on the concept for the creature displayed, as whatever is left unchanged can be seen as the true core of the being.

I'd be absolutely down for more of those examples. Personal ideas include a deep dive into philosophies of prolific creatures like goblins. I'd also be interested in you talking about all the differences to a "tribe" like how Nim, Eternals, Ghouls, Mummys are still essentially zombies as well as maybe even Thrulls.

I imagine what a Selesnya Vampire looks like.

I had a dream where MtG introduced a new mechanic that allowed a card to be played for an enemy color cost. The dream focused on an Inverted (WG) Vampire. In terms of lore, I am fascinated by the idea of Vampires leaning into an Elf-like role (immortal, keepers of an ancient society, closely tied to how the world works). The colors and the fact they are vampires combine into a system that looks for people to join as history keepers and conservationists for the mortals in the community.

wurms in green and serpents in blue

For goblins, they're usually red, as they're very destructive and impulsive. But on Ravnica, you see Izzet goblins who're more methodical and have a more helpful outlet for their impulses. Boros goblins are more disciplined but their love of violence has its outlet in the Ravnican military. For more brutish and anarchistic goblins, look no further than the Gruul clans I can't remember if there were any Rakdos gobbos, but the greed and self indulgence suits them well. I do remember a mono black goblin, but it was just a zombie

Why do so many mtg content creators think speaking slowly makes their content better? 1.5x and you still sound slow. Also, apparently you've never heard of 'iconic' or 'characteristic' creatures and their rules.

comment for the algorithm

Merfolk are a grey area for me, because most marine life that falls in blue, should really be in Green. So I think merfolk can make a natural shift to green. I also think Dwarves are a better fit in white than red.

More of a curiosity than an example is phytexian praetor's. Do you feel we see a shift in paradigm with a shift in color?

Hey that’s me!!!

Great video !

Bit sad that you didn't mention the other enemy color for each type. I guess there aren't many (or any) mono-red merfolk, but there are a lot of red angels and white giants, and I would've loved to here what you had to say about those

Beautiful essay, thank you kindly ❤️ My favorite EDH deck uses Red Blue giants, so I'm a bit biased, but I respect the take you have on them I personally love the transition birds make from clerics to wizards as they trade in their white robes for blue robes, yet both colors get to keep their warriors💛

Vampires of Ixellon

Very good video. I only think you could have elaborated a little more on the commom points of each race. For example :What you said about blue and red giants could be said about almost every blue and red creatures. You focused on the different tenets of each color... But then, why both creatures are giants? What makes a giant.... a giant? Whats the intersection of "the giant concept" and each color of the pie? I guess it would be a different (and maybe harder) vídeo, but I'd like to see something like this.

Hell yeah! I was waiting for this!

I love this channel! It has completely changed how I look at not only Magic but Dungeons and Dragons as a whole. A topic that you may find interesting is analyzing the creatures priemiered in "Adventures in the Forgotten Realms." Some of the creatures seem mismatched with their colors. Most notably the chromatic dragons. Each dragon was associated with the color in their name, which makes for balanced card distribution but I don't believe they are accurate to their personalities.

Let this be a first part!

really good video mate :)