One of the many things that attract new players to Magic: The Gathering, is its rich dynamic of colours. Each colour in the mana spectrum represents a strategic approach, a set of abilities and, essentially, a philosophy on how to play the game.
If you’re new to Magic and just about to explore your first deck, knowing the meanings of mana colours is key when it comes to mastering this challenging game. It not only helps you with deck building, choosing cards that synergise well together, and ensure you have enough fuel to power your creatures and spells, but it can also help you understand your opponent’s strategy, and predict their next cards. This can help you to make informed decisions about your own gameplay to maximise your own impact. With this in mind, let’s take a brief look at the colours of mana, their meanings, strengths and weaknesses.
Red
Fiery red is the colour of power, passion and impulse. Red lands include scorching deserts and volcanic mountains and its creatures are aggressive. In addition to this, its spells are typically fast and furious.
The philosophy behind red is one of instinct, emotion and freedom, and it has a sense of embracing the unpredictable. Strengths of red cards include aggressive creatures, rapid attacks, disruption and direct damage spells.
It’s not all good news though. Red can also come with a few downsides such as its limited defence, vulnerability to control strategies and the lack of hand manipulation.
White
As pure as order, law and community, the lands in white feature sunlit fields and fertile plains. They symbolise cooperation and unity. With white, justice, peace, morality and sacrifice prevail, enhancing the goal to work together for the greater good. The strength of white cards include large amounts of creatures, powerful anthems that boost your creatures, protection and life gain. However, with white there are limited card draw options, and it can be slow to develop a strategy.
Blue
Control, manipulation, intellect and knowledge lend themselves well to the blue cards. Lands include islands and vast oceans, and blue decks tend to rely on clever spells and counter magic to help control the game. The strength of blue cards include evasion, countermagic, bounce and card draw. However, blue can be weak when it comes to aggressive strategies, and is relatively mana hungry.
Black
Power, ambition and death are depicted within these cards. Murky lands with swamps and graveyards reflect the darker nature of this colour where selfishness, sacrifice and power combine in its philosophy. Removal spells, graveyard manipulation and creatures that are efficient and powerful form the basis of this colour scheme. However, black can struggle against multiple creatures, as you may have to pay high life costs to make a powerful impact.
Green
As the colour of earth, nature and growth, the land cards in green include jungles and lush forests, abundant with life. With green you can summon massive creatures, ramp up the production of mana and overwhelm your opponents with resilience and power. However, it tends to be vulnerable to creatures from the air, and can struggle against construct control strategies. Plus, like anything natural, growth may be slow.
And players build decks with one, two or even three colours.
Now we’ve explained the colours in Magic: The Gathering, you might have a better idea of what colour appeals to you most. If not, why not delve deeper into the philosophies, strengths and weaknesses of each colour. This will help you build decks that reflect the way that you want to play the game as well as the type of player you wish to be.
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