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Color

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Color is a basic property of objects and mana in Magic: The Gathering, forming the core of the game's flavor and overall strategy. There are five colors: white (White mana), blue (Blue mana), black (Black mana), red (Red mana), and green (Green mana). Colorless (Colorless mana) is not a color, but rather the absence of color. Each of the five colors has its own suite of mechanics, philosophical underpinnings, and basic land type. A card's color is usually determined by its mana cost; every card is either monocolored (one color), multicolored (two or more colors), or colorless (no colors).[1]

The color wheel.

The colors' flavor and mechanical definitions are collectively known as the color pie[2] or (less commonly) the color wheel.[3] The term color wheel can also refer to the visual representation of the colors arranged in a circle.[4]

Devised by Magic creator Richard Garfield, the color system is one of the game's most fundamental and iconic elements.[5] It adds a diversity of play styles, while preventing any one deck from accessing every tool in the game.[6] A team of designers known as the Council of Colors is responsible for maintaining the color pie's continuity between sets. Head Designer Mark Rosewater has made safeguarding the color pie one of his career goals[7] and has written about the topic extensively.[8]

Representation

Every color has an associated mana symbol. In the Comprehensive Rules, these symbols are treated as single-letter abbreviations enclosed in braces.[1] The letters can also be used as shorthand for the colors—for example, "U" as a shorthand for blue.[9]

Color Symbol CR
White   {W}
Blue   {U}
Black   {B}
Red   {R}
Green   {G}

The standard card back shows the five colors arranged in a circle. White is at the top, followed by blue, black, red, and green (clockwise). This arrangement is called the color wheel[4] (although that term is also used as a synonym for color pie[3]). It places allied colors next to each other[4] and enemy colors opposite each other.[10] The sequence of colors starting with white and moving clockwise is called WUBRG order and is used for sorting card codes[11] and collector numbers.[12]

Rules

See also: Mana cost § Rules

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (April 17, 2026—Secrets of Strixhaven)

Color
1. A characteristic of an object. See rule 105, “Colors,” and rule 202, “Mana Cost and Color.”
2. An attribute mana may have. See rule 106, “Mana.”

From the Comprehensive Rules (April 17, 2026—Secrets of Strixhaven)

  • 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.

Mana

Further information: Mana and Mana cost

Mana is the game's fundamental resource; it is used cast spells, activate abilities, and pay other costs. Every mana is either one of the five colors or colorless ( ). The five basic land types each produce mana of a different color: Plains produce  , Islands  , Swamps  , Mountains  , and Forests  .

Generic mana symbols (e.g.,  ,  ,  ) indicate costs that can be paid by any type of mana, while color symbols indicate costs that can only be paid with that color of mana. For example, Mild-Mannered Librarian's ability has an activation cost of   : it requires four total mana to activate, at least one of which must be green.[a]

The mana symbols in a card's upper-right corner are its mana cost, which must be paid to cast that card. This functions like other costs, and it also determines the card's color. For example, Negate (  ) is blue, while Ashroot Animist (   ) is red and green. Cards with no colored mana symbols in their mana costs, such as Banner of Kinship ( ) and Glaring Fleshraker (  ), are colorless.[1]

Color pie

 
The philosophical color pie, as communicated to artists in a 2005 style guide.[13]

The color pie is the overlap between colors' flavor and function.[14] Each color represents a set of beliefs and principles (flavor),[15] and cards of each color are limited to a specific set of effects and mechanics (function).[16]

A color's philosophy explains how it sees the world, what objectives it hopes to realize, and what resources and tactics it has access to.[17]

Color Philosophy[14] Related concepts
  White Peace through structure Morality, law, selflessness, equality[17]
  Blue Perfection through knowledge Logic, caution, subtlety, deceit[18]
  Black Power through opportunity Self-interest, amorality, death, sacrifice[19]
  Red Freedom through action Emotion, impulse, passion, destruction[20]
  Green Growth through acceptance Destiny, nature, spirituality, tradition[21]

Flavor helps to define functionality.[22] For example, white creature removal is usually temporary or conditional, playing into white's sense of morality.[23] However, an ability cannot be justified on flavor alone.[24][25] The mechanical color pie is strictly defined and mostly unchanging: colors have access to the abilities that they've had for most of the game's history.

Colors are defined by weaknesses as much as strengths. Red, for example, cannot remove enchantments.[2] A player can offset these weaknesses by adding cards of different colors to their decks, but this versatility comes at the expense of a consistent mana base. The color pie therefore encourages playing as many colors as possible, while the mana system encourages playing as few as possible.[26] This helps make Magic a dynamic game where no one strategy is dominant.[6]

Head Designer Mark Rosewater has written extensively about the color pie via his blog,[27] weekly column, and podcast. His coverage includes both the philosophical and the mechanical aspects of the color pie.[8]

Allies and enemies

Main articles: Allied color and Enemy color

Each color has two allies and two enemies among the other four colors. On the color wheel, allies are adjacent, and enemies are opposite each other. For example, white is allies with green and blue, and enemies with black and red.

The five enemy color pairs represent fundamental philosophical conflicts:[10]

  •   The good of the group vs.   the good of the individual
  •   Head vs.   heart
  •   Free will vs.   destiny
  •   Freedom vs.   security
  •   Nature vs.   nurture

Allied color pairs don't agree on everything, but each pair shares one major area of philosophical overlap: restraint (  ), choice (  ), individualism (  ), intuition (  ), and responsibility (  ).[4]

Color bleed

See also: List of color pie breaks

Cards sometimes use effects outside of their core mechanical color pie, a phenomenon known as color bleed. This can help to give worlds a unique feel, open up new flavor and design space, and generate excitement in a set. However, color bleed comes with risks; too much blurring of colors' mechanical identities can upset the balance between the color pie and the mana system. And even when color bleed doesn't damage the game, it can still confuse players about the color pie. For this reason, R&D sets limits on what types of color bleed are acceptable and in what quantities.

Sometimes color bleed is subtle; for example, blue and red are the least graveyard-focused colors, but they can still get a high volume of graveyard interaction in sets like Innistrad with a graveyard theme. On the other end of the spectrum are cards with effects completely outside their normal color pie. Bends are considered acceptable in small doses where they make sense, while breaks undermine a color's weakness and are therefore considered design mistakes. Adanto Vanguard is a color-pie bend: white doesn't normally pay life, but paying life doesn't undercut any of white's weaknesses. Hornet Sting is a break, undermining green's weakness of relying on its own creatures to kill opponents' creatures.[28]

The set Planar Chaos reimagined the color pie as part of its "alternate reality" theme. It aimed to significantly alter the colors' mechanical implementations while staying true to the overall flavor and play patterns.[2] This theme proved difficult to communicate to players, and Planar Chaos is now considered a mistake.[29]

Evolution

The mechanical color pie is not completely fixed, but changes over time in response to the needs of the game. Effects previously established in one color can be added, or moved entirely, to a different color; brand-new effects are sometimes created and tied to specific colors;[14] and similar effects can be merged into one color.[30]

The biggest shift happened in the late '90s, when Mark Rosewater spearheaded an effort to consolidate and define the color pie.[14] At the time, both blue and black had an outsized number of effects, so some of their mechanics were redistributed among green, white, and red. Some changes were also made for flavor reasons, such as efficient artifact destruction being moved from white (Disenchant) to green (Naturalize) to emphasize green's conflict with blue regarding technological progress.[31] Since this cleanup project, the core mechanical identities of the colors have stayed mostly consistent, and R&D has made only small tweaks.

The growing popularity of Commander prompted some changes. The original color pie was tuned for a 20-life, two-player game; in the 40-life Commander format, red and white were inherently disadvantaged by their lack of card advantage. The Council of Colors looked for ways to bridge this gap without undermining either color's weaknesses in two-player games. Red was given impulsive draw, and white was given a conditional card draw with a once-per-turn restriction.

Other changes have been made in response to requests from Play Design, who try to balance the colors for Limited and Constructed play. Examples include adding vigilance to blue and allowing black to destroy enchantments.[14]

Cards can retroactively become breaks due to shifts in the color pie. For example, Mesa Enchantress is now considered a color pie break because it lacks a "once per turn" restriction, a necessary condition for white card draw under the contemporary color pie.[32][33]

White mana White

Main article: White
“     Peace through Structure     ”

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 has worked so long to forge. To govern and protect its community, white makes use of and puts value in several broad concepts: morality (ethics, grace, truth), order (law, discipline, duty), uniformity (conformity, religion), and structure (government, planning, reason). More than every other color, white believes there is clear good and evil in the world, and it is not too hard to distinguish them.

White is a color commonly associated with fairness and justice. If left unchecked or if everyone is not working toward the same unified goal, white can become totalitarian, 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 has created. White can convince people to work together in a way no other color can, but white must be ever vigilant that it does not become the very evil it hopes to eradicate from the world. Withal, white is stereotyped as being the "vanilla" or boring color, yet each white character or society embodies but one iteration of a panoply of conflicting political and economic views about the best way to pragmatically actualize white's ideals; the struggle within and between white characters and societies to uphold their interpretations of white's principles is what makes the color so interesting. What all white-aligned beings have in common is a belief in the power of social organization and the common good.

White has an ally in green, which appreciates white's defense of life and tradition, and in blue, which understands white's need for science and progress. However, red's belief in anarchy and freedom puts it at odds with white's goal of supporting institutions, and white's altruism puts it directly at odds with black's egoism.

White mechanics include:

  • 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. In 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 a 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.
  • 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 an outright denial of privileges (rules) or imposition of some form of "cost" on a regular part of gameplay (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 can purge what is false, to take away the vestments in which wickedness hides. Recently (with the rotation of Disenchant from Standard), white can 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.
  • 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 that 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 generally, 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 that 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 mana Blue

Main article: Blue
“     Perfection through Knowledge     ”

Blue is the color that wants perfection and looks at the world and sees opportunity to achieve that: figuring out what one could achieve with the right education, experience, and tools. For blue, life is a constant discovery as one keeps seeking to better oneself. This requires one to be open to possibilities, but also not be too hasty to act. Blue is methodical and exact and recognizes that there are many forces, even some that come from within, that lead an individual astray: better to think one's options out carefully and select correctly than to rush. Consequently, blue is, at times, excessively patient in the face of adversaries, but blue regards this as a virtue rather than a vice.

Implicit in its world-view, blue believes in tabula rasa: every one of us is born a blank slate with the potential to become anything; one needs only understand the how to make the change. Blue then reasons that if it is to make itself better, it must acquire the knowledge necessary to become capable of everything it could be capable of to discern the potential for any conscious action. Conceiving itself capable of changing anything if it both understands the change and knows how to achieve every capability it could have, blue concludes that it must also control change itself. As such, blue is the color most interested in technology and wants the latest and greatest version of whatever it is using. Moreover, blue believes in logic, as it is the only tool that blue regards as being truly objective: Blue has little use for sentimentality. Beyond its devotion to logic and direction of change, blue seeks to understand everything; for truly, comprehension can only improve one's effectiveness in any task. Since acquiring knowledge will inform every other decision, blue thusly forms its ultimate goal: omniscience, the knowledge of all.

Blue is allied with white, which shares its desire to promote civilization, and black, which shares its value of individualistic self-improvement. Blue is opposed to green, which it regards as savage and afraid of progress, and red, which it regards as insane and destructive to itself and everything else.

Blue mechanics include:

  • Card draw: Blue is the color of knowledge and research. As such, it is the best at expanding its mind, represented by the unconditional drawing of additional cards at a 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: Counterspell, 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 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 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.

Black mana Black

Main article: Black
“     Power through Opportunity     ”

Black believes that the only measure of right and wrong should be whether or not an approach leads to success: amorality, rather than morality or immorality. Unnecessary suffering, in black's view, is the result of a counterproductive approach, yet in different circumstances, the same approach could be the right one. Black knows the value of selfishness, so it is open to opportunities and strategies rejected by others as taboo or forbidden—undeath, torment, infection, betrayal. Black-aligned characters will ensure their 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, even omnipotence. The only thing black values more than its own life is its own will, as it sees the self as that which is most precious to all beings.

Black's selfishness and lack of ethical restraint can result in tragedy if misapplied, but black is not inherently evil: egoism and pragmatic ambition are the source of much good in the world, especially when coupled with self-growth, and are the basis of individual rights. Unfortunately, the association of black with villains and anti-heroes masks the other colors' potential for tremendous evil (a misconception that their villains and anti-heroes gleefully abuse), yet black heroes often reach the highest pinnacles of self-actualization and personal growth out of all heroes: black's virtues, including self-love, self-reliance, and willingness to face the ugly side of things, are all great seeds of heroic potential. Black has a very cynical worldview, and its core philosophy is that of self-determination and release from society's imposed limitations, so when things truly go awry, a black-aligned hero capable of waking people up to reality is exactly what the world needs. This is because, beneath its wall of cynicism, black is the color that most believe can change fate against the most impossible odds—even if it must stand alone.

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 terms. However, black's disregard for other members of the group, spirituality/religion, and the sanctity of life oppose it to white and green.[19] This is ironic in green's case, as black and green agree that each alone is merely surviving and adapting to the world as it is: they just disagree upon what "the world as it is" is.

Black mechanics include:

  • Death and 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. Finally, with utter contempt for laws and morals in any form, black can occasionally destroy enchantments. Examples: Murder, Royal Assassin, Reckless Spite, Plague Wind, Shatter the Oath.
  • Culling the weak: Black has no qualms going after vulnerable targets, and its abilities can single out weaker or damaged enemies. Examples: 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. Examples: Call to the Grave, To the Slaughter.[23]
  • 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. Examples: Nether Traitor, Disturbing Plot, Grim Return.

Red mana Red

Main article: Red
“     Freedom through Action     ”

Red values freedom above all else. It wants to do what it wants when it wants, and 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 life to the fullest. Red believes that life is an adventure and 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 their life questioning the choices they have made and lives in the moment; red is spontaneous and embraces every adventure put before them. Red is often charismatic, even as its antics upturn the established order.

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. On the other hand, red may also seek to make amends: 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 tendencies differ greatly: they may exist anywhere on the spectrum between loving empathy and vile hate, plus everything in between. In general, red sees the concept of external order of any kind as pointlessly inhibiting, believing that only by embracing anarchy can everyone be free to enjoy life to the maximum with no regrets.

Red gets along well with black, who agrees with red's lack of adherence to social norms, and green, who understands the value of listening to one's inner voice. However, red does not get along with blue, who sees red's brand of creativity as extremely destructive rather than productive, nor with white, who regards red's quest for ultimate freedom as a threat to civilization. Red, for its part, feels that blue and white strip people of what makes them unique.

Red mechanics include:

  • 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 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.
  • Impulsive Draw: At its core, red wants to do whatever its heart's present desires and inspirations are right now, no matter how fleeting those feelings may be. This is no better exemplified by red's ability to exile the top card(s) of their library to cast them, but only for a limited time - a time as short but vivacious as red's perspective on life itself. Examples: Act on Impulse, Spark of Creativity, Jeska's Will.
  • 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, Chaos Warp.
  • 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 discarding. 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 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 (Threaten effects), 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 mana Green

Main article: Green
“     Growth through Acceptance     ”

Green loves the world just the way it is. This is because green is convinced that nature has gotten everything right fundamentally and that it merely needs to be allowed the time and opportunity to develop its growth into further perfection. Green tries to coexist with the ecosystem instead of trying to change it, regulate it, norm it, or take advantage of it. As such, green is the color of nature and interdependence. It believes that the truth of sentient beings is grounded in the natural order: a thing of beauty that has all the answers to life's problems as long as one listens closely enough to hear them. Green thinks that obeying our instincts is the best way to exist: that we, as part of the ecosystem, have a responsibility to protect it and to honor our natural selves. Wherever nature is lost, so are the available answers to us in the struggle to survive; so what affects one part of the ecosystem affects every part.

Green favors a simplistic way of living: being in harmony and communion with the natural world. This can lead to it being perceived as a pacifistic color, as it prefers to avoid extraneous conflict. Yet it is fierce when threatened and can be predatory and aggressive if its instincts dictate, and it may embrace change in the service of expanding nature and its cause. Green believes individuals are each born with a purpose: imprinted in their genes and interconnected with the physical and spiritual worlds. As everyone is born with unique roles, people's goal is to find what theirs are and do what they are destined to do. Each thread is woven into the web of life: we are not alone, but part of a complex system of inter-dependency. Green truly believes that every individual organism is part of this bigger picture—nature, the tapestry of life, fate, and destiny—but that individuals may get too caught up in the details to see it.

Red and white understand green's desire to protect nature better than the other colors, being representative of its freedom and order, respectively, so this forms the basis of their alliance with green. On the other hand, green sees black's liberal use of death and undeath as a violation of the cycle of life and a rejection of black's role in the grand scheme, causing them to be enemies. Finally, green regards technology as both a frequent threat to nature and an often hubristic attempt to replace the natural order with an artificial one; green therefore comes into conflict with blue, which seeks to actively reshape and improve the world utilizing technology.

Green mechanics include:

  • Powerful creatures: As the color of nature and growth, green can 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 their controllers results in trample damage, and even as extreme as super trample. Lure is a passive ability to force opposing creatures to block, causing smaller creatures to be killed by the larger creatures. Examples: Endless Wurm, Rhox, Lure, Elvish Bard, Hunt Down.
  • 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.

Multicolored Multicolored

 
Mortify, a white-black card.
Main article: Multicolored

Multicolored cards are those with two or more colors. Most multicolored cards require more than one color of mana to use;[36] these are known as gold cards after the color of their frame. Hybrid cards, such as Dryad Militant, require one of two colors to play, and therefore can be used in monocolored decks. Hybrid cards use their own gradient frame.[37] Many split cards are also multicolored.[38]

Gold cards were introduced in the 1994 set Legends and have since become a staple of Magic design. Invasion was the first set structurally built around multicolored cards. It was followed by Ravnica block,[39] which introduced hybrid cards[37] and set the precedent of factionalizing multicolor sets. Alara and Tarkir blocks introduced the first three-color factions.[39]

Two- and three-color combinations tend to be named after the first faction set they appeared in:

Color combination Faction name
   White-blue Azorius
   Blue-black Dimir
   Black-red Rakdos
   Red-green Gruul
   Green-white Selesnya
   White-black Orzhov
   Blue-red Izzet
   Black-green Golgari
   Red-white Boros
   Green-blue Simic
    Green-white-blue Bant
    White-blue-black Esper
    Blue-black-red Grixis
    Black-red-green Jund
    Red-green-white Naya
    White-black-red Mardu
    Blue-red-green Temur
    Black-green-white Abzan
    Red-white-blue Jeskai
    Green-blue-black Sultai

Colorless mana Colorless

Main article: Colorless

Colorless is the state of having no color. Accordingly, it has no unifying philosophy[40] and its flavor is flexible.[41] Like the five colors, it is both a type of mana and a property of objects.[1]

There are four main categories of colorless cards:

Generic-mana cards have access to various effects, but at inefficient mana costs so that they don't warp the color pie.[42] For example, the destruction of any permanent costs a minimum of  .[43]

Development

The system of five colors predates Magic; it appeared in several earlier games designed by Richard Garfield, inspired by Lyndon Hardy's fantasy novel Master of the Five Magics.[44] When Garfield created Magic, he used the color system to differentiate cards from each other, encouraging a diversity of strategies.[45] Head Designer Mark Rosewater considers this to be part of the Golden Trifecta of innovations that made the game successful.[5]

During Magic's earliest years, cards were given colors based on intuition, without a strict system. In the late 1990s, Rosewater—then a designer—attempted to clean up and better define the mechanical color pie. This resulted in several abilities changing colors, the biggest color-pie shakeup in the game's history.[14] Around 2000, R&D made a collaborative effort (also spearheaded by Rosewater) to better understand each color's flavor.[15]

For many years, Rosewater looked at every set and gave feedback on cards he considered color pie breaks. This responsibility fell by the wayside after his promotion to Head Designer, especially as the game grew and sets were released more frequently. Some color pie breaks were printed, mostly in supplemental sets that Rosewater hadn't reviewed. This led to the creation of the Council of Colors in 2015.[7]

Council of Colors

The Council of Colors is a team of designers responsible for protecting the integrity of the color pie. Its creation was proposed by Mark Gottlieb,[7] and it is overseen by Gottlieb and Mark Rosewater.[46][47][48][49]

Position Current Previously
  Corey Bowen[49] Jackie Lee → Andrew Veen → Ari Nieh → Chris Mooney[50][51][52]
  Megan Smith[53] Ethan Fleischer → Jules Robins[49]
  Chris Mooney[49] Gavin Verhey → Corey Bowen[54]
  Ben Weitz[49] Shawn Main → Jules Robins[55][56]
  Adam Prosak[52][57] Ken Nagle → Chris Mooney → Megan Smith[49]
  Daniel Xu[49] Jules Robins → Peter Lee → Corey Bowen → Ari Nieh → Ben Weitz → Adam Prosak[50][54][58]
Colorless is the training position.[59][52]

Color matters

Some cards and mechanics care about color above and beyond the mana system. These "color matters" effects come in three main varieties: rewards for playing certain colors (e.g. Bad Moon); hosers which punish opponents for playing certain colors[6] and usually target an enemy color (e.g. Boil),[60] and color-changing effects that can manipulate the previous two categories (e.g. Sleight of Mind). Color-intensive mana costs, as in Gigantosaurus, can also encourage monocolor play without explicitly naming a color.

Limited Edition Alpha, the game's first release, contained many cards that cared about color. These are mostly cycles: the wards, Circles of Protection, cycles of enemy-color hate, lucky charms, and the color-changing laces. The set also introduced protection and landwalk, two color-hating evergreen keywords.[6]

As the game progressed, "color matters" got less emphasis. Landwalk, fear, and intimidate were removed as evergreen keywords. The focus shifted away from color hate and toward color rewards, since color hate causes significant variance: it can be devastating against the right deck and useless otherwise.[6] Color hate still appears occasionally as a way to communicate enemy conflicts to players, but in smaller numbers and at a lower power level.[61]

Rewards for playing colors have gotten more relative emphasis, although still in smaller quantity than Alpha. Some sets include a single cycle of uncommon monocolor rewards, such as the paragons in Magic 2015. Shadowmoor block used hybrid cards to expand color buildarounds into multicolor; Lorwyn Eclipsed expands on this theme with the vivid mechanic.[6]

Other colors

Non-eternal

Some acorn and silver-bordered cards introduce new colors into the game: pink (e.g., Water Gun Balloon Game), gold (Sword of Dungeons & Dragons), and any eye color (Avatar of Me) or toy color (Applejack). References to "any color" and "all colors" (such as Birds of Paradise and Transguild Courier) refer to the five normal colors plus any colors which have been specifically introduced into a game with these cards.[62]

The playtest card Chicago Loop (Unknown Event) creates an orange Bear token as a reference to the Chicago Bears.

Purple

Main article: Purple

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.[63]

Notes

  1. ↑ Less commonly, the colorless symbol   appears in costs, as in Eldrazi Displacer's ability, indicating colorless mana is required.

References

  1. ↑ a b c d Comprehensive Rules
  2. ↑ a b c Mark Rosewater (June 13, 2011). "The Bleed Story". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2019-09-13.
  3. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (April 14, 2019). "Can I request some interesting color pie trivia?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  4. ↑ a b c d Mark Rosewater (March 20, 2017). "Thank You for Being a Friend". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (March 11, 2024). "Looking Back, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Mark Rosewater (January 30, 2026). "#1310 - Color Matters". Drive to Work.
  7. ↑ a b c Mark Rosewater (August 26, 2024). "The Council of Colors, Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (October 11, 2021). "Let's Talk Color Pie". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 03, 2017). "What are all the one letter abbreviations used for things like colours and types etc?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  10. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (November 14, 2016). "Pie Fights". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 11, 2009). "Nuts & Bolts #1: Card Codes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 20, 2026). "#1323 - Collector Numbers". Drive to Work.
  13. ↑ Matt Cavotta (September 7, 2005). "The Magic Style Guide (Part 1)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f Mark Rosewater (December 05, 2025). "#1299 - Color Pie Evolution". Drive to Work.
  15. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater. "It's Not Easy Being Green". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. ↑ Mark Rosewater (October 18, 2021). "Mechanical Color Pie 2021". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (July 13, 2015). "The Great White Way Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 20, 2015). "True Blue Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (July 27, 2015). "In the Black Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 3, 2015). "Seeing Red Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  21. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 10, 2015). "It's Not Easy Being Green Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 18, 2003). "The Value of Pie". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (August 11, 2014). "Acts of Destruction". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 13, 2014). "Regarding Hornet Queen: Isn't it enough of a flavor win that it justifies its existence despite color pie violations?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  25. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 14, 2014). "Why do you feel this to be the case?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  26. ↑ Reid Duke (July 6, 2015). "The Basics of Mana". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2019-05-19.
  27. ↑ Mark Rosewater. "Blogoatog FAQ". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  28. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 6, 2015). "Bleeding Cool". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  29. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 06, 2014). "You're always talking about how important it is to stay true to the color pie, so do you think Planar Chaos was a mistake?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  30. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 8, 2013). "Working Your Core". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  31. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 21, 2003). "Small Changes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  32. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 28, 2021). "Do you think we'll ever see a mono white version of Argothian Enchantress?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  33. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 29, 2021). "Is Mesa Enchantress considered a break now?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  34. ↑ a b Randy Buehler (February 6, 2004). "Defining Black". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-02-28.
  35. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (November 15, 2010). "Feel the Burn". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-02-23.
  36. ↑ Cards where the number of colors > 1. Scryfall search. Scryfall (May 9, 2026).
  37. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (September 5, 2005). "City Planning, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on January 4, 2006.
  38. ↑ Cards where the cards are split. Scryfall search. Scryfall.
  39. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (September 01, 2017). "#467 - Multicolor Blocks". Drive to Work.
  40. ↑ Mark Rosewater (September 21, 2025). "Does colorless have its own identity, as a sixth color, if you will, if it's not generic?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  41. ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 09, 2015). "What is the flavor of colorless mana?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  42. ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 10, 2019). "How "in color" is Warping Wail?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  43. ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 16, 2019). "If Colorless gets to destroy any target permanent, can it also get the more restrictive "destroy target enchantment"?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  44. ↑ Extra Life Ask Wizards - Richard Garfield (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (September 21, 2016).
  45. ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 27, 2009). "Magic Design Seminar: Looking Within". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015.
  46. ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 2, 2019). "Wait maro you are not on the council of colors...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  47. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 22, 2016). "The Council of Colors". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  48. ↑ Mark Rosewater (March 21, 2020). "Here’s a recent picture of the Council.". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  49. ↑ a b c d e f g Mark Rosewater (August 26, 2024). "The Council of Colors, Revisited". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  50. ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (March 4, 2019). "You Know Who.". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  51. ↑ Ari Nieh (December 20, 2019). "I guess now is a good time to mention that I'm the new White member of the Council of Colors.". Twitter.[dead link]
  52. ↑ a b c Mark Rosewater (January 8, 2022). "Who is currently on the Council of Colors?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  53. ↑ Megan Smith (February 13, 2024). "I'm officially relinquishing my role as the Green Color Councilor and taking over as the Blue Color Councilor.". Twitter.
  54. ↑ a b Who are the current 'color ambassadors' at WotC?. Reddit (November 15, 2019).
  55. ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 03, 2017). "With Shawn Main's departure, who is the person monitoring Red?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  56. ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 23, 2017). "If Jules Robins is now Red on the Council of Colors, who is colorless?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  57. ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 13, 2024). "Who has taken up the green role?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  58. ↑ I'm interested to know, is there a representative for colorless? If not can you specify why?
  59. ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 7, 2021). "Is there a council of colors member (or something similar) for colorless?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  60. ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 18, 2002). "Enemy Mine". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  61. ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 21, 2017). "Concerning color hates cards what is the modern thought about them?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  62. ↑ Mark Rosewater (In an Un-game, how many colours is Transguild Courier?). "In an un game how many colours is transguild...". Blogatog. Tumblr.
  63. ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 30, 2014). "What color were you thinking of adding in Planar Chaos?". Blogatog. Tumblr.

External links

General

Allied colors

Enemy colors

Artifacts

Downsides

Mechanical implementation

Color bleed

Planar Chaos (Timeshifted cards)

Color hosers

Monocolored

  White

  Blue

  Black

  Red

  Green

Multicolor

General

Allied

Enemy

Wedges

Four Colors

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