The Structures of Prosperity [Abzan MTG Color Philosophy] 

Learn more about the colors featured in this video: White - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Kgj4Vb-Bc1g.html Green - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Wa4unbtsBtE.html Black - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PAlr1_ReQq8.html

Abzan: everyone is equal. Some people are more equal than others.

Thinking about the Roman connection you made, I'm reminded of the way that Rome didn't just spread their culture, but adopted the religions of the conquered nations by bringing them into the Roman pantheon. This helped them assimilate the locals into the Roman empire. This makes sense in Abzan, as the culture (community + tradition) of white/green can be expanded upon by the pragmatism and power-seeking nature of black.

Abzan: “The wedge of peace.” Also Abzan: The undisputed king of removal spells.

Wow! This was a DEEP discussion on this color philosophy. Abzan seems like a very complex color grouping. It's like...Selesnya thinks it has it all figured out, but then adding black to the mix opens up even more possibilities! It complicates things for Selesnya, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Black just shows that YOU CAN benefit from this harmony that green and white has created, an that you can bring those teachings to others. That last one though; "Inner Peace through Structured Self" is a very interesting angle to look at it. It's a side of black that looks more inward for self-satisfaction than outward. In a strange way, the relationship between black and selesnya is almost like this: selesnya curbs black's ambitions so that it's not so destructive or toxic and black pushes selesnya to look beyond the single circle they have created. It creates ambition through acceptance.

Dicetry: Let's make it positive. Also Dicetry: Philosophy of Conquerors.

I think one way to look at Abzan is this. You take White and Green's focus on community with Black and Green's focus on death and the other worldly, and you get finding community with the dead and otherworldly. Alternatively, you can see focus on Black and White's focus on using the law for one's advantage and White and Green's focus on community, and you get someone who manipulates the community for their own interests.

I have a player that made an Abzan Circle of Spores Druid that follows Zuggtmoy. His ambition is to bring about connection and peace through the total Fungal colonization of the world. He's not necessarily militant about it, but will opportunisticly parasitize the weak. "Fret not. Everything dies. Your addition to the collective was inevitable."

Whenever Black gets paired with a communal color like White or Green, just remember that Black can still care for others by seeing them as extensions of the self. _My_ family. _My_ guild. "You attacked me by attacking those I love."

So basically: Pros: Inner peace, structure and self-actualization, as well as a full understanding of life and death. Cons: Ultra-nationalism and colonialism. This combo can pan out in a number of different ways. Really interesting.

Abzan has one of my favourite takes on Black, White & Green's dirty little secret.

I think out of all the color combinations this is the one that resonates with me the most. Structure, order and routine in my life give me inner peace. It's one of the reasons I'm so heavily into fitness. Waking up early to complete a physical routine that betters and also challenges myself allows me to progress through the rest of the day with a since of calmness that I wouldn't have if I skipped said workout. Even some of the downsides of this combination are linked to me as well. Without blue and red there's a resistance to change within this color combination that's rather obvious. Quick and sudden changes will catch someone like myself completely off guard, and I'll have a hard time adapting. Sometimes it seems like everyone around me can easily embrace the chaos around then while I maintain a stoic exterior while slowly dying internally.

It's astounding how indepth MTG is. So hyped for jeskai.

At the end of the 3 color series you could do a "One non-MTG character for each shard/wedge" video (or videos) I really loved those segments and think they help us to connect with the concept, great video by the way

Just found this video, and as a lover of abzan, I’ve always felt if I had to boil its identity down to one word, it’s family. The idea of green whites community but it’s you because black means you have your own vested interest in this community, green blacks identity of survival with whites identity of structure. In addition white and black has redemption and corruption as two ways to look at its combined themes, while green is very much the concept of acceptance, and many state that you are meant to accept peoples faults if you are family, and while I don’t quite agree with the philosophy of that, I do think it all fits together. Tl;dr abzan is family

So do you think Abzan has the right idea! Is there a version of Abzan philosophy you could see yourself following?

Another way an Abzan society could be expressed is that they are a community of individuals. Each person brings their own unique strengths and weaknesses to the table, and it is the community that allows that person to reach that full potential by fostering each member's growth into their idealized self. No one is ever truly alone, as they have their comerades beside them who know their struggles, and can help shoulder their burdens.

Lets bow to our rhino riding treefolk overlords! Great vid, btw

First vid I just now found by you! Excellent work! I am listening to the DUNE soundtrack while watching and its a big elevation!

I’m so glad I found this channel

Loving this series!

I have an abzan deck based on the lore and it is surprisingly powerful. It was first ever commander deck that I custom built

I just have to say, I really love these videos! They are so well done and quite interesting to listen to.

Yeah very cool, your picture at 9:37 is how I see the color pie alter, with blue being on the right of order, and red being on the left of chaos. Also very fun to look at the sub-dominant pairs of a triad as sort of like the "honor guard". Like Selesnya is the core, but then also present is Golgari and Orzhov in some capacity. And perhaps Ikoria and even Guilds/Allegiance shows us that there can be a case where the sub-dominant pair can be exalted. A Golgari+White peace, or Orzhov+green over nature. We can definitely look to the missing colors as a balanced interpretation. So Izzet of Red Blue is almost two colors in balance in the most extreme sense, very similar to Black White.

The abzan worshipped the dead..the spirit's of the dead..and came to them for advice.. sometimes the dead woukd help more after there death.. Abzan is the color of survival

I would love to see how people of these shards, wedges and dualities would interact with each other. Like Abzan and Mardu. Could those two coexist? Would one fall under the other? Or would they try to destroy each other?

I haven’t seen the whole video but I’m so exited to see Abzan!

I feel like the balance through structure a lot like the samurai bushido, meditate, respect the order and your superiors

In other words, "This is the Way."

In this combination Green and White dominate but I can see a scenario where Black and White or Black and Green dominate. It's interesting to see how a trio could work in three ways or even four if you could somehow get them to work in perfect harmony with neither 5th dominating. I wonder how they work......

Wow. This video is so cool. This is the first wedge video released. However as I go through it now, I am about halfway through. I already went through Sultai and Jeskai. Later I can do Temur and Mardu. In the middle I have black. This black is paired with the enemy color of white. It is tricky to put together. They have a big difference in black being individual and white being communal. I tend to think of the greedy ruthless order of the Orizhov guild of Ravnica. The Tarkir videos show another side. The two wedges to have both colors are Abzan and Mardu. Both are tribal in nature. I can see how tribal can work as a mix. One cares only for thier narrow social group. It is bigger than the black caring for the self. Yet it is smaller than the white people caring for everybody regardless of group. When I think of a tribal people, I think of the Republicans in my courntry of the United States. I am not a fan, but I will try not to rant too much about them here. It is funny that the pictures of the Abzan khan included elephants. Elephants are the mascots of the party. Is that a coincidence? Maybe. I am not sure. Republans only care about Americans. More specifically they only care about the elites in America. Once I think of it, the Orizhov guild on Ravnica are actually really similar to Republicans as well. Republicans claim to be all Christian, and they may even have thier own churches. However this isn't like a regular religion where they have charity to the poor and taboos against greed and gluttony. Instead the Republicans are really into capitalism. The big companies have an oppressive rule over the poor. They drain out the money making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Yeah it is not pretty. It is a mix of following personal goals at the expense of others plus a tight oppressive rule. The rule of corperations is not put in check by the actual US government. The other pair of opposites is golgari colors of green and black. Green is about life, while black is about death. They go together to form a circle of life. Abzan mixes both pairs together. The allied colors are white and green. This is Selesnya. This guild is relativly peceful and exceptiong. The black comes in. It creates a cruelty and oppression against those outside the group. My favorite part of this video is the one that shows a whole world view. It brings a whole new level of advanced color philosophy. I am trying to come up with similar models for other wedges. It fascinates me. Abzan has a wider view of the world complete with spiritual realms. Green is the middle world of the mundane and the earth. Black is the underworld of the dark and dead. White is the upper world of the light and heavin. The unity in tribalism is most like Orzhov. The tribalism is very much an Orizhov thing. There is a little green added. It forsm unity. The tribe is like and ecosystem. Oneness with the cycle is most like Golgari. Golgari is good at dealing with the cycle of life and death. White is added in. There is a new spiritual realms. There is a divine heavenly realm. Inner peace through structured self is most like Selsnya. I don't think of Selesnya as balanced. I just think of it as being on the side of acceptence, nature and community. One is grounded in structure to keep the tribe together. One has firm daily rituals. Yet there is some black. One is pleased with personal accomplishments throughout the day.

great video and waiting for sultai

Abzan the color that made the nightmare of Seige rhino.

I dont know why but this speaks so much to me. I tried Izzet, in particular firkaag and while it was good it just didn't click for me when i made my deck into an artifact tokenator, then i tried Grixis which was supposed to be izzet but better but i found myself stumbling with combos and while it was good and i will work on it, something about the frodo precon i bought just goes ham, there's a tranquility with Abzan and its strategies while it does not outright brute force something with red or outmaneuver somethign with blue, definitely has those options. I like how adding green (the color of nature/growth) adds to the contrasting colors of black (death) and white (life) and in return gives it unparalleled removal of things that may get in its way. Also as if on theme while it can overpower it enemies i like how Abzan can be strong when it is slow, methodical even in its approach to creep up onto domination.

After a long stressfull day, the calm collected vibe of this video was great

FIRST. Great video dicetry

Amazing stuff. Very insightful and on point!!

I really really love your series!! do you have a background in philosophy you seem very knowledgeable. I always had an issus with the Abzan (in Tarkir at least) idk why but I think they are too contradictory in their philosophy but I feel like I understand them better now

I AM ABZAN! :)

Weridly even while it lack my fave 2 colors i really like this wedge.

I'm starting to reconsider my stance on Abzan. Mainly because I don't really subscribe to its philosophy that much. But overall the video was fantastic as it did a wonderful job explaining what the combo is all about. You really outdid yourself this time, DiceTry! I can't wait to see how the next video is going to turn out, regardless of topic.

No wonder I love Nethroi so much.

Hype

Beneath the skin, we are already one.

This video has brought out all the weirdos. With the other videos people will have generic criticisms of the varying life philosophies, but in this particular comment section half of the comments are "OMG NATZEES!!! LOL!!!" without recognizing that each perspective is equally as blindsided.

I was upset because the opening was a little unflattering but the longer this video goes the more true it seems.

Green is no stranger to natural hierarchies. White ultimately believes that the community is more important than the individual. Black is all about competition and self determination. So what would happen if Selesnya was forced into extreme competition with another group? What natural hierarchies would emerge to preserve the community?

Wait. Is America just Abzan? It seems like the idealized vision of America reflects the idealized vision of Abzan, while the pessimistic view of Abzan mimics the pessimistic view of America. Idealized view: America is a place where people who join and contribute to a fair and equal society can be accepted, and we work to protect our own and their prosperity. Pessimistic view: America is a Xenophobic war engine who only takes outsiders in as second class citizens. Taking resources and territory without hesitation.

Abzan = Anprim Brought to you by Tribe Elder Ooga Booga

I'm a classicist and I kept thinking this sounds like the Romans to me too.

You are forgetting about decay in your discussion of black.

I'm thinking of China

Commenting for the algorithm.

I love wedges and i am still kinda upset they got retconed... OG tarkir forever!(especialu since wedges are most under repesented color combo ,well after 4 color but thats wholeother story)

This along with Jund are great examples of the combos bringing out the worst in each other.

Mardu!

Im more of a esper myself, but fun i suppose

So... Basically "Capricorn, the Color Philosophy."

Guys, how is this wedge tactically?

I think two characters that display Abzan real well are Vex, Laura Bailey's character in campaign 1 of Critical Role, and Caduceus Clay, Taliesin Jaffie's 2nd character in campaign 2 of Critical Role. Vex grew up with her twin brother in a society that shunned them and treated them cruelly, so she had to get by through her own abilities; we also see this in how fixated she is on the party finances. However, after finding Vox Machina in adulthood, she finally found the community that accepted her for who she was, and because of it, acted something like the party mom. Finally, of all the members of VM, Vex is arguably the kindest of the bunch, having grown up with the childhood she had, she is always the first to lend a helping hand to a random passers-by (eg, when VM is in Hell and she takes it upon herself to rescue two Aasimar slave children). Caduceus, being a Grave Domain Cleric, very much embodies your mindset of Oneness with the Cycle. He believes death is just another natural part of the journey that is life, and not one to be overlooked.

At its worst, Abzan is a wedge that exerts its power over many in service of only a few, while forcing what it deems "natural" onto that populace, leading to suffering of the masses, regardless of reason *or* the feelings of others. I find myself at odds with this color combination quite often. Yet finding harmony within oneself is important, as what good are you to everyone around you if you don't take care of yourself?

After taking that quiz, i have to say how disappointing it is that there arent better options for such tests out there.

The colour of pyramid scheme

All I can hear is: "We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us."

Edgy Selesnya

Abzan is the real face of civilization that we see on planet earth Currently. The belief in tradition and order,(White and Greens presence) where there is collective good for its citizens. however this is only possible by each individual bettering themselves first(presence of black) and lurking in the background is great inequity. the inescapable harsh reality that there will always be someone with less, because without red or blue (compassion and innovation), there is no room for taking care of the weak, or creating things that help humanity unless there is profit to be made…this is the way things should be and always have been according to Abzan. Humanity might be better if we adopted a more Bant or even Jeskai mentality.

Abzan is the color that isn't overtly racist, but prone to do racist shit.

This "enemies" and "allies" colors seem arbitrary.

I think the first half of this video was just uncritically describing fascist philosophy. All the way down to glorifying the roman empire.

All I heard was blah blah blah peace death I tap 4 for siege rhino 🦏.