Blue

File:Blue mana.jpg

Blue is one of the five colors of mana in Magic. It is drawn from islands and embodies the concepts of logic and technology. On the Color Pie, it is allied with white and black and is the enemy of red and green.

Flavor

Blue's philosophy, like that of each color, is determined by its world view. To Blue, the world is opportunity. Within it, hide wonders and possibilities most fantastic; the stuff of dreams. Blue is characterized by the desire to know the world's secrets and to make those possibilities real. The belief that dream can be reality - to which Blue holds fast - is belief in tabula rasa, the blank slate.

Blue believes that all things begin existence blank, without destiny or purpose. Contrast with the belief that one's life is predetermined, say, by natural ability. Rather, Blue believes the essence of a thing is given to it, that it is shaped by the storms and eddies of its existence. Those with the knowledge and willpower are masters of this: shaping and changing things at will. To them, essence is as malleable as clay.

Mastery of possibility, mastery of essence, is exactly what Blue pursues. Thus, Blue comes to prize knowledge. It is with knowledge that Blue will unlock great possibilities, and changes itself for the better. With all knowledge - omniscience - Blue can make itself perfect.

Recurring themes in Blue are illusion over reality (nurture over nature), thought over action (reason over passion), and the future over the past or present.

Blue is the enemy colour of Green and of Red. Green Blue on the viewpoint that Blue is obligated to shape the universe. Green sees that as an affront to Nature and highly presumptuous. Blue looks on Green's resistance and sees someone stuck in the past. This appears mechanically in the game where Blue tends to construct complicated board positions and uses interesting effects from nonliving sources, while Green tries to destroy those complications and substitute more basic, primal, living creatures. Blue is opposed to Red, because blue is about thinking, and red is about freedom of action. Blue wants the world to be full of thought and controlled by logic. Blue wants a world without emotions. Red is all about personal freedom. Blue sees this as a hazard to the controlled world it wants. Blue plans to destroy Red before it causes more permanent damage.

This may cause confusions in the case of cards that represent sea monsters and other water-related creatures; they exhibit green feral traits, instead of blue's attitudes.

(Please expand this if you have the info.)

Rules

The following keywords are primarily associated with the color blue:

• Morph.

The following keywords are associated with the color blue (as well as a second color):

• Flying (See also: White).

(This only currently lists recurring keyword mechanics)

Blue's mechanics primarily involve manipulating time and information. Three central mechanics that always have and always will define the color are: 1) Card drawing
2) Counterspells
3) "Return to hand" effects (informally called "bounce" effects)

Even though "draw a card" can appear on any card, Blue can draw multiple cards, unconditionally, at a cost only of mana. Contrast with Green, which has conditional card drawing; and Black, which requires some other sacrifice (usually of life). Having more cards represents information and options, those things with which Blue is primarily concerned. Since Blue can draw cards at any time regardless of its board position, this allows it to recover from any game situation if just given time (provided an answer is in the player's library), paralleling the real-world case that every problem has a solution.

Blue has the ability to counter spells, in many varied ways (see The Stack). This can be seen as the prevention of chaotic action; Blue uses its logic to deny others the ability to express ideas that aren't helpful (in Blue's opinion). Countering can also be perceived as the maintenance of the status quo, such that it can be studied more completely. Finally, it is also indicative of blue's precise understanding of magic, as it understands how spells work so thoroughly that it can interfere with them as they are being cast. Note that "counterabilities" exist - spells which counter activated or triggered abilities.

Blue can return permanents to their owners' hands. On the surface, this is mostly a delay tactic - undoing your opponent's actions to set him back, giving oneself more time to solve the problem. In a subtle way, observing whether and how one's opponent replays the card can give information about the opponent's game position. However, since these spells can be - and often are - used on one's own permanents (say, to protect them from hostile spells, or combat), the complete 'meaning' of the bounce spell has been unclear.

Other signature mechanics of Blue include "stealing" (gaining control of opponent's cards or effects) and copying (duplicating effects, mimicry, cloning). Note that even these tactics are closely related to Blue's desire to learn. By mimicking its enemies (and in multiplayer games, allies), Blue ensures that it knows at least what others know. Thieving the magic of others is educational in the same way. Note that Blue's kind of thievery has its own flavor (Red and Black also steal). Blue sees itself as the sage guardian of others, confiscating those things which they use irresponsibly. (See Confiscate). On other occasions, the theft is more like domination from superior comprehension - Blue can commandeer spells and machines because it knows more about them. Living creatures can be controlled by Blue also, by persuasion, hypnosis, one of the processes above, or any other method that isn't overtly torturous (Blue likes preserving its resources for the long term).

Interactions with other colors

Agreements

In White, Blue sees a color with discipline, forethought, and a genuine desire to make the world better. Each color respects authority (though they define it differently), and are alike in their regard for continuity and stability in approaching their ends. The colors share a disregard of the experience of life, seeing it as a distraction, and commonly an obstacle, to the more important objective of "acting appropriately" (with respect to logic or ethics). White and Blue can cooperate in a world of peaceful studiousness.

In Black, Blue sees rationality and straightforwardness. Black doesn't imagine the world as being different than it is. It accepts the disgusting truths without wasting (too many) resources denying them, or angrily breaking stuff in accepting them. Rather, Black gets right on determining what to make of the situation. Blue also shares with Black the view of self-determination. Both colors affirm, as a matter beyond all dissuasion, that one forges one's own life. An alliance of Blue and Black comes from a mutual usefulness, where the lack of trust bothers neither color the slightest.

In Red, Blue sees a color that wants to explore. Red explores life, taking in experiences, passionately seeking out new ones. Blue is also an explorer; it explores the realm of theory, seeking out knowledge with its experiments. Red enjoys change, and Blue is always changing (itself or others). The two colors are common in their regard for what is new, and alike in their distaste for those barriers that keep them from investigating it. Blue and Red can form a partnership of exploration, colluding in their discoveries and assisting each other in destroying barriers to their wanderlust.

In Green, Blue sees a color that has a deep sense of global good and an encouraging stance toward growth. Green wants a world where all things are free from restraint, to grow into their roles in life. Blue shares Green's distaste of those who pursue personal good with a disregard for outward destructiveness (or inward destructiveness). Both colors desire to make more of what is, while being careful in the sense that, it is not really good to make one thing "better" if it results in the entire system in which it exists, breaking down. When Green and Blue collaborate in their efforts to rid the world of its ailments and promote the betterment of the big picture, they shall both content with the knowledge that all things have fulfilled their most perfect roles, and that no better world is than this.

Disagreements

In White, Blue sees a color of fatal rigidity. White is far too stringent on its policy of right and wrong. Blue doesn't see anything wrong with its deceptions in principle. And some things just have to be done for research. White wants for uniformity so much, it will persecute ideas simply for being unpopular. That kind of rigidity is discomforting for Blue - innovator and philosopher. When White finds something it doesn't want in its world, it, and the society under it, will turn full force against the likes of Blue.

In Black, Blue sees a color of vicious decay. Black is so distrusting, it would do anything just to add a little insurance to its own survival. This goes too far for Blue, as soon as Black considers things like genocide - things that destroy whole swaths of potential and possibility just for the sake of putting teeth behind a threat. Black reckons with great forces beyond its control, hungry for power and disregarding the risk for great loss. Blue must be wary of Black accessing great power, just as anyone should be wary when Armageddon becomes a distinctly possible future.

In Red, Blue sees a very foolish, dangerous color. Red cares nothing for Blue's patient thought and slow progress. Red wants to act on its emotions 'now, now, and now.' This short-sighted behaviour is very dangerous, as exemplified in the flavor text of the Mirrodin printing of Shatter: "Days of planning, weeks of building, months of perfecting, seconds of smashing." Red doesn't give Blue the time of day to reason out their differences, and so to protect the world from itself, Blue must stop Red.

In Green, Blue sees a color of stubborn ignorance. Blue wants to change the world, but Green would do anything to keep it the same. No amount of technical papers or empirical findings will sway Green from this incomprehensible dogma. Further, Green insults Blue by saying the world is perfect as it is, and nothing can escape its inherent nature. Everything Blue makes, Green unmakes, brutal and unthinking, wielding the untamed wilds with no regard for what is trampled underneath. Green is a malignant growth on the world, and Blue intends to prune it.