The Colours of Magic

[Big Blue]

The content of this thread is going to improve your magic skills in the same way as knowing Pi to 30 digits is going to improve your math skills or knowing the names of all nobel-prize winners is going to make you more intelligent - in other words: it is "useless knowledge" - something you can look up if you need it, but which is useless to learn, because you actually don't LEARN anything.

But from time to time somebody has to take the responsibility to archive this useless knowledge - in the form of an atlas, an encyclopedia or a dictionary.

So the idea is the following: classify all existing T1 decks into the 32 colour categories (see below). Maybe this can be of use for further reference, once it is "complete", in the form of a database or whatever. Or you can take it as a challenge to invent good decks in the missing or under developed slots.

Since this is lot of work and I even don't know all T1 decks that might exist I am asking you for your input. Oh, and since I definitely forgot some important decks (or did not know where to put them) please do not feel offended if your favourite one is among them. Finally, some of the archetypes are clearly more dominant than others (e.g. Sligh with its many variants), but this fact is not reflected in the list below. The appearance of a deck is a value free statement - it just means that this deck exists and is/has been played by at least one person. Still, I'd like to restrict the list to more or less competitive decks - not just Tier 1-2, but still (potentially) competitive enough (e.g. a Tier 3-4 deck can get a boost with a new Magic expansion, so it might be useful to know it exists).

0-Colour Decks (1):
Brown Tubbies

1-Colour Decks (5):
U: Forbiddian, Draw-Go, BBS, Landstill, Fish, Ice Zoo, U-Trix, U-Mask, U-Tubbies
W: Parfait
G: Stompy
R: Sligh, Red Stompy, Ponza, SRB
B: NetherVoid, Sui, Pox, Black Mask, Necro Tubbies, Reanimator, Black Dragon

2-Colour Decks (10):
UW: ABM, Snow WW, Counter Post
UG: Sapphire Oath, Emerald Alice, Tradewind Survival
UR: Urphidian, Counter Squee, Counter Burn, Counter Zoo
UB: OSE, Old School Tubbies, Tainted Mask
WG: Popalescence, er... ErhnamGeddon?
WR: Strawberry (or Cherry) Parfait, WW+burn+Blood Moon
WB: Balanced Pox
GR: Taiga, Land Grant Sligh, TnT redux
GB: Pernicious Void, PTFunk, The Rock
RB: umm... Miner Void? Carno-Sligh? Ponza Void? Dragon?

3-Colour Decks (10):
UWG: certain Gro-variants
UWR: Patriot, Keeper-redux
UWB: wOSE, Rector-Trix
UGR: TnT
UGB: Gro-Atog, Legion
URB: rOSE, Dragon, ICT
WGR: TaxAss, powerless Zoo?
WGB: Enchantress
WRB: umm...?
GRB: Survival variants?

4-Colour Decks (5):
UWGR: Zoo
UWGB: Trinty-Keeper
UWRB: Paragon-Keeper, wOrSE
UGRB: certain Survival decks, grOSE?
WGRB: er... who doesn't want to play U in a 4c deck in T1?

5-Colour Decks (1):
UWGRB: pre-fetch Keeper, Academy, Rainbow-Void, Rainbow-Trix

A brief mathematical appendix:

Supposing the set of colours has N members, the number of subsets is 2^N. Applying the relation 1+1=2 and expanding (1+1)^N gives a string of (N+1) natural numbers separated by N + signs (the (N+1)-th line in the Pascal triangle). The m-th number in this string corresponds to the number of possible combinations of (m-1) colours. It is just N over (m-1) in combinatorial language.

So if, say, Inquest spreads again the rumour of a sixth colour you can immediately apply this to calculate the number of new possible decks and the changed distribution of 123456-colour decks.

Example: For N=5 we have 2^5=32 possible subsets (including the two trivial ones, the empty set (Brown Tubbies) and the full set (Rainbow decks)). The expansion of (1+1)^5 reads
(1+1)^5=1+5+10+10+5+1
i.e. there is/are
1 deck with 0 colours (5 over 0)
5 decks with 1 colour (5 over 1)
10 decks with 2 colours (5 over 2)
10 decks with 3 colours (5 over 3)
5 decks with 4 colours (5 over 4)
1 deck with 5 colours (5 over 5)

[MoreFling]

Most likely, there are too many decks to actually ever make a decent listing.
T1 is not like T2 where you have a few listable decks, and that's what we like about it, right?  

I like the initiative, but I doubt its usefullness.

[Mon, Goblin Chief]

Some decks I feel missing:
One-Color:
W: MonoW White weenie
B: Butter Knives (Sui with expensive Creatures)

Two-Color
UG: Just the original Miracle Gro?
UB: Ub Draw Go
WB: Ying Yang (a WB Controlesque Deck without Pox)

Three-Color:
UGR: Some Zoo

Five-Color
UBGWR: Multicolor Dragon, TurboNevyn

[Big Blue]

Yes, of course.

Thank you - I will update the list after collecting more overlooked (or misplaced) decks.

[Crater Hellion]

u/g squirrelcraft
g control

[Rico Suave]

Mono-B (or whatever splashes you'd consider) Chains of Mephistopheles/Anvil.

Does ICT count?

[the Luke]

If ICT counts, then definitely include Dances With Wolves.dec (Pygmy Hippo rocks).

[OMIFUK!]

I don't know if it counts, but WRB could be choco/raspberry parfait with Blood Moon and The Abyss...

[Matt The Great]

What constitutes "playing a color"? For instance, look at the old Keeper decklist (pre-onslaught, with four CoB) - it ran two green cards off 4 CoB and 1 Emerald (and a Lotus), yet only the emerald could even be considered a 'dedicated green producer' - and the deck may have run it even then. The decklist could have justifiably not included green and had the exact same manabase (the same can be seen in Cooberp's latest Enchantress deck running Ancestral).

So my question is - what does it take to 'run a color'? Does Enchantress "run blue" for one card, which is not necessary, and for which no manabase changes have been made? Is it better to classify decks based on the cards they run, or the manabase they run? I say manabase, else you get weird things like classifying Reanimator (with Verdant Force and Irridescent Angel) as a four color deck.

[Project5]

UGW: Counter Oath
G: Army of Squirrels
GW: Army of Squirrels
GU: Army of Squirrels

I have a hunch that this list is going to get incredibly long

--Ben

[Big Blue]

Definition: A deck runs a given colour if it contains at least one card of that colour either in the deck or in the SB.

So Sui with splashed Kobolds would be BR, Keeper with 1 Sylvan has G and do forth.

Quantity is irrelevant here.

[Matt The Great]

So Reanimator with Verdant Force is a green deck?

[j_orlove]

Witness my latest creation: 5-color TnT!
(regular TnT maindeck)
(14 regular TnT SB cards)
(1 SB Japanese Sliver Queen, for good luck)

Seriously, you should at least call those "splashes".

Also, there's a big difference between, say, PT Funk and Mono-B void with enough green for just deeds.  

[xrobx]

worst idea ever.
if you're considering only tier 1/2/3 decks that are "apparently" that respective tier by the vote of one or more said people, then it would make sense to have this list; otherwise people could just list there own decks and say that are of the specified color, for example:

0-color: The Mark of Zerro
1-color: Flaming Death Bed
2-color: Tim's Shifty Eyes

those are all decks I'VE developed, and they fit into the said categories.  what makes this different from any other decks out there? How well known they are?  Exactly.  My point being you can never have use for anything, not even a database, because no matter how many decks there are out there, I could just make one more and say it's a new deck that's not on that list.


=P

[Puschkin]

Lets just suggest decks and Big Blue either puts them in or not. If you find it useless, nobody forces you to consult that list.

If there are any further objections like this, dear fellow mods, I´ll give this thread asylum in Newbie/guest if this thread is unwanted here.

Just some random thoughts, I´ll check back later with more input:
Stacker2 and The Funker in mono-red.
Legion Land Loss in mono green.
Bazaar based decks in varying colors.

[j_orlove]

The Funker runs like 5 colors, though.

[Crater Hellion]

wasn't funker that r/u/b artifact based deck with a little blue and black brokenness?

[Big Blue]

Matt: Exactly!
j_orlove: well, you have a point. However, each card in the deck supposedly should make some sense - I mean, I can put a Sliver Queen in ANY SB and call it 5-colour Brown Tubbies or whatever.

The problem is, as with every definition, there will be borderline examples (and pathological ones). In my first attempt I did not want to discriminate between a splash and a "real" colour (and even with such a distinction - is, say, 5 cards of one colour a splash or is it already a "true" colour; and what if I add a Sliver Queen to a deck which has only a splash of one colour by 1 card according to the definition) - this is just the good old tadpole/frog problem.

In addition, when are two decks different? Is Paragon Keeper different from my own Keeper deck? Is it a different archetype from Trinity Keeper? Etc.

Moreover, when is a deck "known"? For instance, is ABM "known"? (I'd say yes, but some might argue against it). Is ICT "known"? At what point in the history of MTG was TnT "known"?

I assumed "common sense" for the creation of this list - so I did not include my incredibly successful UWRG Ice Age (sic!) era Keeper deck, and by the same token I would not include Tim's Shifty Eyes. Probably I could define some "critical mass" in order to include a deck in the list - but by appealing to "common sense" I tried to circumvent all these subtleties mentioned previously.

What will be the use of this list? I don't want to answer with the standard reply "what is the use of a new born child?", because I am not sure either if something useful emerges from this. I can imagine that some kind of database (with links to primers where they exist and possibly some "canonical" tourney reports) could be useful, but then again in a reduced sense this already exists in the form of www.themanadrain.com.

My approach was trying to be as comprehensive as reasonably achievable.

BTW, if there is a problem with this being in the Vintag forum I have no problem if it is moved to some other place - just keep the link for a while, please

Oh, and since I will be gone for more than 1 week I won't do any changes right now, so I shall postpone this until the beginning of March.

In the meanwhile I'd appreciate either further deck suggestions or a mayority vote pointing out the pointlessness of this thread

P.S.: Not that it was something new, but it is still interesting to see the focus on U and B in T1 and the lack of certain combinations, like e.g. BR (you would expect some synergy between two friendly colours, but there seem to be more BG decks).

[BWM]

Just wondering...

When I didn't have 4 Chain Lightnings yet I replaced them with Fire/Ice in my sligh-deck...

Since Ice is blue, would that deck be considered to be UR??

[MolotDET]

Ok so how about you do it this way.

The colors of a deck can be assertained by the color/colors of the cards present in the deck and/or sideboard, if they can be logistically cast or brought into play.

so therefore in these instances...

Reanimator with no Green sources but the ability to get Verdant Force into play - yes it is B/g

or...

Parfait with Blood Moon and/or The Abyss in the maindeck or sideboard with the ability to cast them or otherwise get them into play - it is W/r or W/r/b or W/b

but in these instances...

R/G/u TnT with a Sliver Queen in the SB with no chance of actually being able to cast it or bring it into play - it is R/G/u with a suboptimal SB choice.

or...

Sligh with Fire/Ice replacing Chain Lightning (because the person doesn't own them or for a metagame call) with no hope of actually casting the Ice side of the card - it is mono Red with suboptimal maindeck choices or a metagame call.\n\n

[KazinTheGreat]

i think if you have mana sources to be able to cast  a card, then it should be considered the color. if you have a reanimator with a sliver queen (dont ask why) then i dont think its 5c reanimator. if you have sources for 5 different colors of mana (excluding moxen just put into decks for accel) then its the colors you have mana for.
WRB: umm...?
how bout PTJank? its not really good...but it used to be cool!