Nov 203 min read

Magic: The Gathering – The Colour Series - Blue Cards

Magic: The Gathering is an incredibly popular game enjoyed all over the world. Central to the game is its colour pie, which represents the mana colours of the game; Red, White, Blue, Green and Black. For those starting out in the game, learning what each colour represents, and its style of play is an essential part of developing a mature game play.

What does Blue represent?

Blue is known as the colour of:

· Knowledge

· Willpower and Control

· Artifice

· Trickery and Illusion

· “Magic”

· Elements of air and water

· Time magic

The colour of blue is defined by intellectualism and knowledge. It has the ability to manipulate and draw cards, one of the most powerful things that can be done in competitive Magic. Historically, this has made blue the strongest colour. The association to learning gives the naming convention “tutors,” and this refers to spells which can take your choice of card from a deck on cue.

The famous weakness of blue is that enemy creatures cannot be destroyed completely. However, there are a number of non-lethal ways in which it can deal with this, it can still counter before they enter play.

Trickery and illusion allow blue to create copies of spells and cards or disrupt attacks from enemies by reducing the power they have. Time magic can be used to return the cards of enemies to their hand, thus forcing them to pay again. They can take multiple turns in a row thanks to powerful spells.

Why might you play Blue cards?

Those who opt for blue prefer a more interactive form of Magic, and they want a significant advantage. Blue has a better ability to control which cards it might draw and in an average game will “see” more of the deck. In broad terms, this gives the players a better chance to decide their own fate. The blue deck does require a degree of foresight and patience and those who choose blue should do some research on other decks. There should also be careful planning on when best to use counterspells.

Aggressive decks

These do exist and they bring a distinct blue element to a typical creature beatdown. Many of the cheaper blue creatures are difficult to block so “tempo-decks” - i.e. cards that are in general less powerful but cheaper - are needed to flip the standard control deck. This is a case of quick, small attacks to enable blue’s predominant forces to come into play.

Midrange decks

These decks trade off threats in order to draw out any opposing interaction, whilst not running themselves down. In the long game the versatility of counterspells gives reassurance that blue players will not be blown out with the ability to steal the best card of an opponent in midrange battles.

Control decks

These come in many sizes and shapes, and the blue card-selection and all-purpose counterspell offers the best chance when it comes to preparing defences.

Combo decks

These can play 2 speeds, and this is often something that revolves around artifacts. Cantrips, cheap efficient card-selection spells, can be used as well as tutors to create the perfect game-winning strategy. Blue can also play combo-control, which means instead of stalling for time until a single giant creature is drawn, you can defend yourself until it is possible to cast a hidden combo for an instant win.

What’s your favourite colour? Do you prefer the knowledge and artifice of blue, or maybe the ambition and fear of black?

Let us know in the comments below.