Table of Contents

Decoding the Spectrum: All Colors in Magic: The Gathering

At its heart, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is a game of strategy and resource management built around the concept of five core colors of mana: White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green. These colors represent distinct philosophies, playstyles, and mechanical themes. When people ask, “What are all the colors called in MTG?”, the straightforward answer is these five, and the numerous combinations that arise when you combine them. However, the color system in MTG is more nuanced, encompassing not just the base colors but also multicolored cards and even colorless options. Understanding the color pie and the different color combinations is paramount to mastering the game.

The Five Core Colors

Each of the five colors in MTG possesses a unique identity:

White

White embodies order, structure, and protection. It’s often associated with lifegain, small creatures with vigilance or lifelink, board wipes, and enchantment-based strategies. White seeks to create an even playing field and is excellent at controlling the game’s pace. The color emphasizes unity and often appears in decks that want to stall, then overwhelm with a coordinated force.

Blue

Blue champions knowledge, manipulation, and control. It’s the color of card draw, counterspells, evasive creatures, tempo plays and bouncing permanents to control the board state. Blue decks aim to outwit opponents, gaining an advantage through careful planning and reactive spells. It is a powerful tool for controlling the flow of the game.

Black

Black represents power, ambition, and sacrifice. This color deals in powerful creatures and spells, removal, discard spells, death and ressurection based effects. Black is adept at disrupting opponents’ plans while building its own game plan using any means necessary. The color often comes with a cost, requiring some form of life loss or resource sacrifice.

Red

Red embraces chaos, aggression, and direct damage. This color revolves around fast creatures, direct damage spells, land destruction, and an “all-in” strategy. Red decks are the most focused on dealing direct damage and overwhelming opponents before they can build up their defenses. Red epitomizes impulsive, high-risk strategies.

Green

Green signifies growth, nature, and strength. It’s the color of large creatures, ramp, artifact and enchantment removal, and creature-based strategies. Green decks leverage resource acceleration to develop powerful board states, relying on the strength of big creatures to win the game.

Beyond the Base: Multicolored Combinations

While the five core colors are the foundation of MTG, many cards feature combinations of these colors. Multicolored cards leverage the strengths of multiple colors to produce unique effects. Here are the known 3 color combinations in MTG, each with it’s own name.

The 3-Color Combinations (Shards & Wedges)

There are 10 recognized three-color combinations, sometimes known as Shards or Wedges:

Abzan (White/Black/Green): Known for resilience, value, and slow attrition-based strategies.
Bant (White/Blue/Green): Emphasizes card advantage, tempo, and board control through value creatures.
Esper (White/Blue/Black): Focuses on control, manipulation, and combo strategies.
Grixis (Blue/Black/Red): Typically uses aggressive tempo, control and discard with a focus on spells.
Jeskai (White/Blue/Red): Leans on efficient creatures, counterspells, and direct damage.
Jund (Black/Red/Green): Often uses aggressive creatures, sacrifice and resource denial.
Mardu (White/Black/Red): Favors aggressive creatures, direct removal, and board control via powerful sorceries.
Naya (White/Red/Green): Focuses on big creatures, going wide and overwhelming opponents.
Temur (Green/Blue/Red): Emphasizes tempo and large creatures with card draw.
Sultai (Black/Green/Blue): Utilizes graveyard strategies, powerful creatures and control elements.

Two-Color Combinations (Guilds)

There are 10 recognized two-color combinations, each with their own name:

Azorius (White/Blue): Known for control, counterspells, and tempo-based strategies.
Dimir (Blue/Black): Focuses on control, disruption, and graveyard strategies.
Rakdos (Black/Red): Aggressive, creature-based strategies with disruption and direct damage.
Gruul (Red/Green): Known for powerful creature-based strategies that overwhelm opponents with speed.
Selesnya (White/Green): Emphasizes going wide and big value creatures.
Orzhov (White/Black): Often focused on life gain/drain, token generation, and control.
Izzet (Blue/Red): Utilizes spells, card draw, and direct damage.
Golgari (Black/Green): A slow, resilient graveyard and value-based strategy.
Simic (Green/Blue): Focuses on resource acceleration, tempo, and powerful value creatures.
Boros (White/Red): Aggressive, damage-focused decks using creatures and direct damage spells.

Colorless

Beyond the core colors and their combinations, MTG also has colorless cards. Colorless cards can be played by any deck, making them a universal option. While they often lack the distinct advantages of colored cards, they offer versatility and unique effects. This category includes:

Colorless Artifacts: Non-mana artifacts are typically colorless. They range from utility cards to powerful threats.
Colorless Lands: Lands without a color identity that add colorless mana to your pool.
Eldrazi: This creature type, which usually exists in colorless form.

What’s not a color

Multicolor is not a color in MTG, it is a descriptor that means a card is two or more colors. For example, a card that is Green and White is multicolored but it is not a color on its own. Also, Purple is not a color in MTG. It has been used as an expansion symbol for the Timeshifted cards.

Understanding the Color Pie

The “color pie” is a concept that outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each color and is crucial for understanding how colors interact. It helps ensure each color has its own unique role in the game and that no single color can do everything well.

The Importance of Color Identity

In formats like Commander, understanding your cards’ color identity is essential. A card’s color identity dictates what colors of mana you can have in your deck. For example, if your Commander is Azorius (White/Blue), you can only use White, Blue, and colorless cards in your deck.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the five primary colors in MTG?

The five primary colors are White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green.

2. What does WUBRG mean in MTG?

WUBRG is an acronym that represents the five colors of mana in order: White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green.

3. What is a colorless card in MTG?

A colorless card is a card that does not have a color identity, and therefore can fit into any deck. Colorless cards can be non-mana artifacts, colorless lands, or colorless creatures.

4. What is a multicolored card in MTG?

A multicolored card is a card that has two or more colors in its mana cost or color identity.

5. How many color combinations are possible in MTG?

There are 32 possible color combinations, including single color, dual color, triple color, four color, five color combinations as well as colorless.

6. What is Grixis in MTG?

Grixis is a three-color combination of Blue, Black, and Red.

7. What is Selesnya in MTG?

Selesnya is a two-color combination of Green and White.

8. What is the most powerful color combination in MTG?

The “most powerful” color combination often depends on the format. But combinations like Blue/Black (Dimir) tend to be very strong due to their control and combo potential.

9. Is purple a color in Magic the Gathering?

Purple is not a color in the game, but it has been used to denote a card’s rarity as part of an expansion symbol.

10. What does Naya represent in MTG?

Naya is a three-color combination of White, Red, and Green. It is known for aggressive decks built on powerful creatures.

11. What is a bleeder deck in MTG?

A bleeder deck typically refers to a White/Black deck (Orzhov) that focuses on controlling the game and slowly draining the opponent’s life total.

12. What does the symbol * / * mean in MTG?

The symbol */* on a card indicates that its power and/or toughness are variable. The value will be defined on the card’s text.

13. What is a Boros deck in MTG?

A Boros deck is a Red/White deck focused on aggressive creature and direct damage strategies.

14. What is Rakdos in MTG?

Rakdos refers to the Red/Black color combination known for sacrifice and aggressive strategies.

15. What does “color identity” mean in MTG?

Color identity refers to the color(s) of a card’s mana symbols in its mana cost, in addition to its color indicator. This is particularly important in Commander as it restricts the color options for cards you can have in your deck.

Conclusion

Understanding the color system in MTG, from the five core colors to the numerous color combinations and even colorless cards, is essential for any player. Each color and its various combinations provides a unique approach to playing the game, allowing for an endless amount of strategical deck building. By mastering the color pie and recognizing the inherent strengths and weaknesses within each color combination, players can build decks that align with their playstyle and achieve success on the battlefield. MTG’s intricate and balanced color system is part of what makes it such a captivating and enduring card game.

What is all colors called MTG?