Magic Psychology

[jcb193]

I know this is a concept that has been discussed for almost 20 years, but I was unable to find anything on it.

Has anyone ever done a psychological study on the colors magic players choose, and why (obviously moreso for casual players).  

Example:
1.) Are red players more likely to have been bullies or bullied?
2.) Do blue players have issues with insecurity or OCD controlish tendencies?
3.) Are black players more entrepreneurial, or more likely to cheat on taxes?
4.) Are green players more equitable or peaceful?
5.) Are white players more apt to go for a job with benefits or a pension, or stay in a more conservative line of work?

Obviously these are abstract examples, and not to offend, but merely to illustrate the point.

I know we've all talked about these concepts at some point in our magic lives, but wondering if there is actually anything that's been done professionaly (more substantial than a 10 question poll)?  I know many people on this forum will say "I simply play whatever card is best," but I think a majority of us have a preferred style or color choice, or at least did when we first started playing.

[brokenbacon]

Well, for me I'm a relatively insecure/controlling person at times, and Blue is for sure my favorite color in Magic. I guess I relish the ability to just say "No." Don't worry, I'm not an asshat about it (I promise!) - it's just kind of refreshing sometimes.
That aside, I just love the blowout ability Blue has in Vintage. It truly makes Yawgmoth's Will the nuttiest card in the game, and that's kind of why I play Blue - to resolve absolutely crazy spells and cackle maniacally.
For what it's worth though I score as a White mage on the "What color are you?" quiz you can take online (the one with the moral-based questions).

[TheWhiteDragon]

As you can see from my signature, I'm obviously a black mage at heart.  But, being competitive and wanting to win above most everything else, I play blue - it is a black tendency to crave absolute power and dominance, but WotC made blue the overwhelming pie color to do that, so I run a lot of blue.  I also run workshops at times because the fundamental cards - mana producers - are insanely powerful for shops.  In shops I also run red for welder/shaman.  I prefer red/green/white as my colors of choice for sb (balance, plow, claim, grudge, bolt, reb, pyroclasm) because they have a flat out great suite of options to destroy things.  My favorite single card is oath (green) because it can cheaply (even faster than tinker which I love and play) conjure up the biggest badasses in the game and just win.  So I play mostly blue, love green's best stuff, sb with red white and green, and ONLY play DT/Vamp from black (occassionaly thoughtseize/duress, rarely yawg will/confidant, never rituals/tendrils).  So while my nature is of a black mage, I find it the least appealing color to use except to tutor for the cards of non-black nature.  Ironic.

[honestabe]

rarely yawg will

WTF?

[TheWhiteDragon]

Yawg will is unplayable in workshop...It is only good in decks with A) rituals, which I don't play, since i don't play tendrils/storm decks, or B) black lotus, which is a 1-of.  In a deck that is controlling or storm combo (tendrils/tezzeret), yawg will is great.  In other decks, without lotus helping, you can only cast one 1cc spell and 1 land drop for 3 mana.  A 2cc spell like time walk costs 5 mana.  If you want to get off an ancestral and time walk, that's 6 mana....in which case you might as well just cast yawg bargain.  Don't get me wrong, in a storm deck or a grave filler deck or a deck that plays a late game that goes until turn 16, then yawg will is busted.  I play decks like oath, hermit, shops, (sometimes noble fish) etc., that tend to establish the win within the first 3 turns...yawgwill without drawing lotus is highly underwhelming here and noxious revival or even regrowth is often better bang for the buck that early in those types of decks.

Being a black mage, I don't just want to kill my opponent...I want to kill them NOW, on TURN 1!!!  Yawg will is not great in those styles, barring storm decks/ANT (which are too easily disrupted for my tastes.

[honestabe]

Sure, in "King James" style Oath decks, Regrowth was better than Yawg's, but has that type of deck even been viable within the past 2 years?  Idk, playing black without Yawg's seems just wrong to me.

Also, MWS bugged on me, I'm not a dick

[T00L]

I like winning. I'll play whatever deck is going to give me the best ability to win a tournament. I've definitely played mono red before or a green deck if that was the best deck at the time. I don't see what realistic bearing color has on someones personality.

[TopSecret]

I think more than just play style the whole fantasy flavor of the cards is important too.

I've met a lot of people that play decks they feel are representative of their personality. And the colors often match up in more casual circles.

Once the spike mentality comes in, it all gets thrown out the window of course.

Unless, of course, you start arguing that the best colors are always blue and black and those are inherently the spike colors because magic is, when played competitively, a game of control, knowledge, numbers, and seeking power and domination over an opponent.
That would explain why magic is now more popular than ever since more colors have become viable to represent non-blue/black players.

[Demonic Attorney]

I like winning. I'll play whatever deck is going to give me the best ability to win a tournament. I've definitely played mono red before or a green deck if that was the best deck at the time. I don't see what realistic bearing color has on someones personality.

Now I get it! The quality of Stefan's posts is inversely correlated with the quality of the thread in which they appear.

[mikekilljoy]

Honestly, there is no color = personality matrix. If  that was the case, everyone I know would have multiple personalities with no dominate one. I think the style of deck is more important than the color.

[Norm4eva]

There's probably factors to this sort of thing beyond color, though.  Like, what's your pet deck?  What's your favorite competitive deck?  Do you tend to play more combo, control, aggro, prison?  Some amalgamation of the four?  Do you play to win?  Do you play to play?  Do you sleeve your cards or are they just cardboard and ink to you?  Etc..

[Soapbot]

For a long time red was my favorite color. Mainly because it had so much crap. I mean it literally got the lion's share of garbage cards. From unplayable dragons, to 7 drops that make 1 creature unblockable. Even now it gets cards that are just rehashes
of old better cards.
I liked red cause it wasn't ALL powerful, but a color I rooted for to breakthrough with it's potential and focus. So I played red alot as an underdog color. I guess I felt like an underdog in real life, so if I could win with red deck/cards, then it would translate to my real life and I could overcome any obstacle. So winning with red was satisfying. Even In vintage I try to splash red to play welder's, chewer's, grudges, wheel of fortune in combo, recoup in gifts. Just to give my decks that hint of red. One of my all time favorite cards is Red Elemental Blast, because its like the weakest color in the game blatanly standing up to the strongest color, like King Leonidas and the 300. "No we can't draw 3 cards, no we can't counter for free, but FUCK...YOU'RE.....TINKER!!!"  ---Spartan voice

But as I evolved into a deeper person, the color stayed stagnant, much to my dismay WOTC keeps giving red the shaft on diversity, while the other colors are flourishing in different directions. Especially green which is really evolving into a versitle color. The best red cards to come out in awhile are
Jaya, and Chaos Warp. So Although I play blue and black mostly, Red has a special place in my heart. I always look at the red cards first when the spoilers come out.....and I'm usually dissapointed ,

Personally, and not to offend anyone, but I think people who play mono-green are dumb. It's brainless and easy, also doesn't challenge itself

People usually play blue because its's good, and stopping someone during thier own turn or bluffing like you can is just ridiculous.

I hope everyone osts shares very thoroughly on this thread I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts

[Nefarias]

I like winning. I'll play whatever deck is going to give me the best ability to win a tournament. I've definitely played mono red before or a green deck if that was the best deck at the time. I don't see what realistic bearing color has on someones personality.

Now I get it! The quality of Stefan's posts is inversely correlated with the quality of the thread in which they appear.

I lol'd

[jcb193]

I like winning. I'll play whatever deck is going to give me the best ability to win a tournament. I've definitely played mono red before or a green deck if that was the best deck at the time. I don't see what realistic bearing color has on someones personality.

Now I get it! The quality of Stefan's posts is inversely correlated with the quality of the thread in which they appear.

Sorry to have wasted your valuable time with a thread that you deem intellectually worthless, that also happens to be in the "Vintage Community Discussion" thread, Demonic Attorney.  I've respected your posts for almost ten years now, but this is a pretty offensive comment to a thread starter.  Luckily, I don't personally care, and it was amusing.  But definitely not the type of comment that would foster further casual discussions on the manadrain.com (something this site seems to have lost).

The purpose of this thread was merely for fun and interactivity.  I don't play tournament magic anymore, and only play Highlander a few times a year.  I noticed myself playing highlander decks that were much more Johnny than Spike, which made me wonder if there was any influence on my color (playstyle) preferences on the deck choices I used to make back in the day.  I rarely EVER played black or red (even when mono decks were viable in T1), and I found that interesting.  Does that make me a law abiding, liberal who pays their taxes?  I have no idea.  But I would venture to say that personality and color HAS to have some sort of effect on deck choice for many magic players- casual, draft, or tournament level.

There's a place for the elitist, high level, Vintage discussions.  It's not the "community forum."