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View Full Version : Brown Should Have Been The Sixth Color From The Start!



Clark Kant
01-30-2007, 06:48 PM
It's too late now. Adding it would be jumping the shark but...

Originally Posted by Soulflame:
As a 6th color, purple or orange/yellow are mentioned a lot, but I think brown also has its merits.

You see, when I think of a sixth color to fit, I (like the developers) would put it in between blue and black. It really *does* fit there (and only there) for a few reasons;
All the colors will have a really identifiable enemy; light vs dark, fire vs water, and nature vs.. artifice.

That would be how I would approach the 6th color; as Artifice, and work from there. It already exists in some way in current magic; colorless. This fits very well as an enemy for green, as it already has a lot of artifact destruction.

So in PC you could have moved artifacts and perhaps new (colorless) sorceries and instants to purple. The color would be about being the enemy of nature, interrupting/intervening with life cycles and such.
I could write more on this subject, but that would go too deeply in things we won't see (for a long time anyway)

Originally Posted by smily123 :
I thought about this for a little while when i was reading the article

this is the modified symbol for if there was a 6th color while i stared at this for a while i noticed something

Blacks oppisite is white (and vice versa)
Reds opposite is bue (and vise versa)
and now greens would be purple (BROWN) so that would mean at least flavorwise that purple would probably have to be mechanical because green is nature

would that mean we've had the 6th color all along? artifact?
or should it be slightly different and keep artifact in the middle

Originally posted by LightLink:

Looking at that picture made me start really thinking if it would work out, to have a sixth colour. I would want one, I think it would be interesting, but it does matter if it would work. And thinking about it, and looking at the placement of the colours on such a wheel, I think it could work easily.

Purple(BROWN) is in between black and blue. It is opposite green. White and Black are opposites, the order and group-ness to blacks anything-goes and selfishness. Blue is opposite to red, the order and intelligence to red's impulsiveness. We all know that.

Purple(BROWN) is opposite Green. That means that it should be based on artificial things. Green thinks that the world is fine, no need to change it. It sticks to what is made by nature. Purple should be the opposite...it should think that nature is too harsh, and that the world should be changed to make things better for everybody. It should put emphasis on knowledge, but not for knowledge's sake, like blue. The point is not to know things, but to make things better through technology. Which makes it a good neighbour for black, as this is rather selfish, and it is also not inherently for the group. This also makes it seem very capitalist, but industrious. Like an Ayn Rand novel.

This points one initially to the thought that artefacts are already the 6th colour. But artefacts are the products, not the producers. There are even green artefacts. Anybody could make them.

Finally, this actually puts some backing as to why they thought city could be purples land. Purple is opposite green. It wouldn't want to live in some natural place. It would build cities, because cities are obviously better to live in than some island or some crazy swamp. (this mechanically would seem to give it land destruction, as a Terra-forming kinda deal, since purple wouldn't want to live on an uncomfortable mountain, or make a city on one) So obviously, its land is a city.

That's my take on it, and I feel completely confident that the colour could be made to fit in with the rest of the colours, and not screw anything up.

Thought Criminal:

Artifact already has ties to black (fearless, etc.) and blue (Veldalkens, etc.) so it fits between them.

Black has terror, and Blue also has artifact stealing, artifact affinity, artifact tutoring, tinker.

Master Decoy:

2 colorless for a 2/2 purple creature but if you paid the cost with purple mana he has an ability like flying or vigilance. Alternatively he could have an activated ability that requires purple mana which will give him flying or vigilance until end of turn. This could extend to instants and sorceries too. Any deck could play a 2 colorless mana instant that deals two damage to target creature, but if it was paid with PP then it deals an additional two damage to another target creature.

LordofStorm:

Colorless (but not artifact) spells of all kinds with a keyword - Bleak - You cannot spend colored mana to play this.

Xenophanes:
I am saying that I think the 3 new "internally consistent" colors should have relationships among each other, while the 5 traditional colors will retain their existing relationships. These new colors will have drawbacks and advantages over the old colors. These colors can still destroy the older colors and visa versa.

This means that a Purple 'distruction spell' whatever that may be will still destroy a Red permanent, just as a green distruction spell would have. Additionally, purple creatures could still be blocked by the normal color creatures. They do not ignore each other. They just don't balance with the other colors. They balance with the 3 new colors.

ok... here is a Generalized way of thinking about it.

Current 5 Color Symmetry:
White - Order, Life Gain, Efficient Weenies
Blue - Flying, Counterspells, Water, Card Draw
Green - Trample, Fatties, Mana Accel
Red - Haste, Burn, Chaotic Events
Black - Discard, Death, Life Loss

3 Color Symmetry:
Purple - Mystic World
Yellow - Energy World
Brown - Physical World

Why add these 3? To add variety. Are they necessary? No.

I am only providing a method in which I think WotC could introduce a new color (by adding a set of new colors) that would not destroy the value of existing cards.

Of course they could do a one time thing with purple, but I really think that would sell as gimmic. Adding a block with a set of new colors that supplement, but not replace existing colors would be a nice addition to the game even if it is for only one set.

My take:

It SHOULD have been opposite green, all about the artificial, industry, technology, urbanization and using it to reshape the world. It's land should have been City.

Red vs. Blue - Blue Elemental Blast vs. Red Elemental Blast

White vs. Black - White Knight vs. Black Knight

Green vs. ????

Good mechanic:

1A Terraform - Target land is a city. This effect doesn't end at end of turn.

1A Deforest - Target forest is a city. You gain control of it.

It should be have equipment that it could graft onto opposing creatures to steal them, and/or enhance them.

Mishra's Factory, Mishra's Workshop, City of Traitors - these would all be brown lands, ie. Artifact lands.

In Six Color Magic, Creature Abilities...
white has first strike
blue would have illusion - mechanistically the same as shadow is today
black has fear
green has trample
red has haste
brown has regenerate/reconstruct - you rebuild artifacts from their broken debris with a little mana investment.
Hell, if it was done over from scratch, it would be nice if mana was called something different for each color.

Brown mana would be called electrictity, and it's land type - Power Plant. Blues mana could be called wisdom/knowledge, etc. Card drawing should never have been restricted to blue however. All colors should be able to use their strenghts to draw cards.

Complete_Jank
01-30-2007, 08:09 PM
Interesting, but what about the back of the cards?

My friend told me you ripped his thread off and started one just like it.

I don't know what having those days of unoriginality is like.


But thank you for the nice read.

Clark Kant
01-30-2007, 08:47 PM
Is this what you're accusing me of ripping this thread off of.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=11337852#post11337852

Note the edit I just made at the end that says - Clark.

Are you seriously accusing of having ripped this thread off of myself? Fast Warrior was my wizards log in back when I first registered if you still haven't figured it out.

What is there even to rip off. It's a just a bunch of quotes of people's responses to the Wizards article and everyone was credited for their quotes.

Next time, if you're going to make an accusation, try and make sure you're not jumping the gun by atleast pming the person beforehand before accusing them.

Leftconsin
01-30-2007, 10:11 PM
You are right. That kind of gimmick is jumping the shark, and doing so now is just too late. But, I disagree about placement. I always saw artifacts as neutral in the color scheme. Probably because they don't cost color. Although, it is handy for the idea that what would be the enemy colors all sport the most artifact removal.

In the end I doubt it will ever happen except in one set where they decide to break some 'Instants, Sorceries, and Enchantments can not be artifacts too' rule. It will receive mixed results, never be used again, and 5 years later people new to the game will get really confused and ask a bunch of questions on the Wizards boards about them.

Clark Kant
01-30-2007, 10:35 PM
Honestly, I'm just using the term artifact to describe this color because Artifacts are by defination unnatural, manmade devices. You could call them machines if you want.

I think that if Magic was done over again, colorless permanents should have been called something other tahn artifacts

Atwa
02-01-2007, 01:15 PM
I feel very confortable with the 5 colours as it is, and I would ready hate it to see a sixth colour, however I can see the logic of having a 6 colour colourwheel where each colour has it's own true archenemy.

I also agree in what direction the 6th colour should be taken, however I think the principle of colourless permanents should stay.

Interesting Note: I read on wizards.com, they have been woring on a sixth colour for planar chaos. The basic land type would have been City.

BeeblesofLife
02-01-2007, 01:28 PM
News flash ladies and gents! The sixth color is on the cards themselves!
Where you see the five different colored orbs right below the "magic the gathering" wording you can vaguely see the 6th color...It is in fact brown...
AND IT COVERS THE BACK OF THE WHOLE FREAKIN CARD!

Complete_Jank
02-01-2007, 03:20 PM
Is this what you're accusing me of ripping this thread off of.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=11337852#post11337852

Note the edit I just made at the end that says - Clark.

Are you seriously accusing of having ripped this thread off of myself? Fast Warrior was my wizards log in back when I first registered if you still haven't figured it out.

What is there even to rip off. It's a just a bunch of quotes of people's responses to the Wizards article and everyone was credited for their quotes.

No, that isn't what I was talking about.



Next time, if you're going to make an accusation, try and make sure you're not jumping the gun by atleast pming the person beforehand before accusing them.

http://www.starcitygames.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=296754

I'm not jumping the gun, just was making a reference to how you had posted more than one topic in a day that wasn't originally your idea, or was a rip off of someone elses idea.



But to keep this on topic the color's are set well, there are two sides to each color giving them a little more meaning rather than being so focused.

White - Holy/Blessing and Law/Protection
Blue - Water and Mystical
Black - Unholy/Cursing and Death
Red - Fire and Chaos
Green - Worldly and Life

Clark Kant
02-07-2007, 02:19 AM
Wow, had I known you guys were going to make stupid accusations, I would have checked the community board sooner and more frequently.

Read the thread you quoted, or the thread I started on Starcity for godsake.

I explained very clearly the things that were wrong with the original idea and in my reply explained clearly where I got the inspiration for the topic and why it neccesitated a new thread, one with an idea that would strengthen legacy rather than weaken it.

Fine I'll save you some work.

First of all, the list of cards that were singled out, and how they were done so, as well as the cards that weren't singled out is something that virtually no one agreed with.

But far more importantly, starting another format as the author suggested is a really really bad idea for the reasons I already explained in detail over a week ago.

Since the format would be similar to Legacy, all it would do is syphon away Legacy players without getting too much interest from other players, and you can expect it to get even less support from Wizards essentially killing it before it even started, all while actually weakening Legacy in the format.

As long as the thread insisted on singling out cards, and fractioning legacy players over two formats thus greatly weakening legacy in the process, it's not going to generate much support.

Pinder
02-07-2007, 02:37 AM
I personally enjoy the dynamics explored by having an odd number of colors rather than an even one. Although it would be clean to have each color directly across from its arch-nemesis, the fact that each color has has two allies and two enemies opens up a lot of space in terms of flavor for interpretation. The way that the colors interact now, I believe, is far more interesting than if there was just three pairs of 'color vs color'. Also, the fact that each color has two allies which are in fact enemies themselves is an interesting dynamic as well (Green is allied with White and Red, while White and Red are enemies).

Green is about primal nature, which it shares with Red, who is about impulse and chaos, which it shares with Black, who is about selfishness and personal gain, which it shares with Blue, who is about order and progress, which it shares with White, who is about caring for the community as one, which is shares with...Green.

The fact that you can trace this sort of path and explore the connections between the motivations and methods of each color and how they interact is what makes the flavor of Magic so wonderful.

Another, more specific example:

Green has artifact and enchantment removal, whereas its allies Red and White get one of each. This makes sense because of the nature of Green, and the similarities is shares with Red and White. Green likes everything natural, and rejects the use of anything unnatural, whether it be of a physical (artifact) or mystical (enchantment) nature. Greens contemplative wisdom and brute strength allow it to deal with both. Red also dislikes unnatural things, but can only deal with artifacts because, though it shares the same primal strength with green, its impulsiveness and shortsightedness prevent it from dealing with enchantments. In short, red likes to smash things, and you can't smash an enchantment. On the other side, White has the same knowledge and wisdom as (or perhaps more than) Green, enabling it to deal with Enchantments, but because of its civilized and nurturing nature, it can't deal with artifacts with the same raw, destructive power that Red or Green can.

These are, of course, broad generalizations according to the modern color pie, as white has artifact removal and red certainly has (limited) enchantment removal, but the base essence remains.

It could also be noted that Green's two enemy colors, Blue and Black, are typically very inefficient at dealing with either artifacts or enchantments.

Whew, that was a very long winded rant for what was, in my head, a very simple answer.

Clark Kant
02-07-2007, 02:57 AM
Green is about primal nature, which it shares with Red, who is about impulse and chaos, which it shares with Black, who is about selfishness and personal gain, which it shares with Blue, who is about order, which it shares with White, who is about caring for the community as one, which is shares with...Green.

You made some excellent points, and I agree that five colors is more interesting than six.

But to me, it does seem like an integral component of our personality is not assigned to any specific color where as every other component is. It's hard to explain so you'll have to humor me as I try best to explain it but I'm talking about our desire to plow forests to build cities and factories and civilization in general. It isn't a truly selfish desire nor is it a truly intellectual one. But humanity has very much been driven to replace forests and nature with cities and civilization. It's not pure blue, nor pure black, but it is something very human, very artificial and quite the opposite of green.

I didn't explain it very well, but if you get what I'm talking about, you should see just how much this intrinsic aspect of our personality has driven us over the years, enough to put in on par with any of the other personalities/desires/goals that were assigned a color. Can you think of any driving force, any important human desire/goal that falls exactly between any of the other colors as our desire for "civilization" does between blue and black?

outsideangel
02-07-2007, 03:59 AM
You made some excellent points, and I agree that five colors is more interesting than six.

But to me, it does seem like an integral component of our personality is not assigned to any specific color where as every other component is. It's hard to explain so you'll have to humor me as I try best to explain it but I'm talking about our desire to plow forests to build cities and factories and civilization in general. It isn't a truly selfish desire nor is it a truly intellectual one. But humanity has very much been driven to replace forests and nature with cities and civilization. It's not pure blue, nor pure black, but it is something very human, very artificial and quite the opposite of green.

I didn't explain it very well, but if you get what I'm talking about, you should see just how much this intrinsic aspect of our personality has driven us over the years, enough to put in on par with any of the other personalities/desires/goals that were assigned a color. Can you think of any driving force, any important human desire/goal that falls exactly between any of the other colors as our desire for "civilization" does between blue and black?

That's a blue flavor, actually. Progress is one of blue's main themes, in fact, along with invention. Both are aspects of its overarching category, intellect.

Artifacts are colorless for a reason: they represent weapons, machines, and constructs. Machines do not have ideologies, or modes of thought. Artifacts were, originally, just that: potent tools from times past that wizards uncovered and used. Like tools, and weapons, artifacts can be used by anyone, to whatever end the user desires. This is why every color can cast them. More recently, blocks like Mirrodin have done some interesting things with artifacts, like associating certain artifacts with a color (land-affinity, and the Replicas, for example) or two colors (the Ravnica signets) but for the most part, they've remained truly "colorless", or, if they are related to a color (the dual-color activation cost artifacts from Ravnica) they are still just tools that that particular color(s) uses.

I really liked Ravnica block, flavor-wise, because it highlighted, very well, that you're not supposed to look at a color alone. Idealogies are found between the colors, while the colors on their own only represent vague ideas.

Complete_Jank
02-07-2007, 05:11 PM
Green has artifact and enchantment removal, whereas its allies Red and White get one of each.

Disenchant, it is white, and has been around since the beginning.

Pinder
02-08-2007, 03:53 PM
Disenchant, it is white, and has been around since the beginning.

I know that. I was speaking strictly of the modern color pie, where Disenchant has been (rightfully) shifted to green, in the form of Naturalize. Red and White have Shatter and Demystify, respectively.

And yes, there are modern examples of white destroying artifacts, I realize. I'm just saying that it's not mainly in that color anymore.