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MTG Alignment Thread

almost 5 years

Hi, I like Magic the Gathering. There are five alignments; White [W], Blue [U], Black [B], Red [R], Green [G]. They all have their own distinct philosophies which I’ll go into further depth later on.

Post below and I’ll give you an alignment based on what I know about you and your profile.

Let me first preface that it is possible, even likely that most people will identify with multiple alignments; it's perfectly possible to embody the philosophies of 2, 3 or even all 5 alignments, although that would be terribly rare and complex. Each alignment is also inherently neutral, and just because you may identify with a colour doesn't mean that you'll follow its philosophy to its core.


WHITE

White is usually the first colour on the list, and is generally seen as the "good colour", because it is the colour of morality: it concerns itself with other people, focusing on forming a community. While white may have good intentions, calling its methods "good" can be quite erroneous. First of all, White is most concerned with the group over the individual, caring about the littlest cancer patient, and it finds that satisfying the needs of every citizen to be impractical in terms of time and resources. So, white restricts its communities, using laws and structure to do so. Individuality is seen as the origin of conflict, and is thus looked at askance by White, who will try to eliminate it to varying degrees.

White sees its philosophy as not merely superior but morally correct, White feels like it has the right and the duty to impose its philosophy on others, and willingly destroy those that oppose it. White is the colour most interested in spreading its philosophy — for lack of a better term, it’s evangelical — and depending on the society in question, it may either do so by converting other people to its cause through diplomacy, or in its more extreme actions by eliminating even nonviolent outliers that refuse to accede to its hegemony.


BLUE

Blue is a colour that is mostly focused on two things, curiosity and perfection. These two goals can be seen as inherently "good", but while Blue's attempts to improve itself and the world often benefit many, it has a general lack of interest in people and a disconnect of emotions. It can be seen as amoral, improving the world but not caring about the people as it does so.

Much like Black, it is a very individualistic colour, but unlike Black, it is not particularly selfish, as it believes that the accomplishment of its goals will improve others, which ties in with White's need to make the world better for its people. Blue tends to use science to create its perfection, however ones ideals of "perfection" may be completely different to another's; many, for example, would not willingly submit to experiments to make them "better".


BLACK

Black is far and away the colour most associated with evil. Its core philosophy is that one should only care about oneself; as the color of amorality and parasitism, it believes that it can do anything it wants, regardless of the consequences. Much like all the colours, this can go both ways, and can even be quite benevolent - at least sometimes. While some Black people are immoral, most leave other people to their business and expect to be left to theirs. Just like many White people aren't oppressive extremists and many Blue people don't vivisect people in the name of progress, many Black people are simply selfish and can feel sorry for doing some actions. Unlike White, which feels it's compelled by some universal code of conduct, Black will be nice simply because it wants to be.


RED

Red is a colour that is easy to understand, but it's also easy to completely miss its point. The colour of freedom and emotion, it is very impulsive; while certainly capable of thought, it prefers to guide itself through emotion. Paying such heed to one's own emotions is fundamentally selfish, so Red shares Black's focus on the needs of the individual above all else; hence, why a selfish, brutish villain driven only by his/her wants and needs can easily be pure Red. However, because Red is driven by emotion, it gladly embraces love, friendship, joy, compassion, and affection — Red characters can care about loved ones as much as, if not more than, themselves, not to mention the fact that being driven by how they feel might make a Red individual unwilling to take certain actions that don't feel right to them.

Just as Black is often mistaken to be evil, so is Red often taken as the "stupid color". Impulse versus reason is a common dichotomy, and Red falls into the impulse side, while Red's enemies, White and Blue, are the colors most directly associated with rationality and self-restraint. However, a person being driven by their emotions doesn't necessarily mean that they're incapable of thinking straight, and in fact, several psychological studies have shown that strong emotions lead to creative thinking (this is why the less emotional Blue is often depicted as uncreative and incapable of actually strategizing, for instance).


GREEN

Green is often simplified as caring about the environment, but in truth has quite a complex philosophy. Standing between Red and White, it shares two fundamental traits from both colours: impulsiveness (Red) and value of the community (White). It is guided by instinct, and as such is probably the colour that least values thinking (although some Green characters can think, they generally prefer to not do so). Yet, being the colour of interdependence, it seeks to form a community, caring about the other members of its "pack" or "clan" as much as for itself. And, naturally, nature's well-being is its biggest concern. It is easy to see Green as benevolent: it cares about others and it cares about the surrounding world.

However, like all colours, it has its more sinister side: its insistence in keeping the status quo means it will be opposed to not just progress for progress's sake, but progress as a whole, though evolution is, naturally, acceptable. Being driven by instinct means that Green is often irrational, and this, combined with the raw power it commands, means that a lot of damage and casualties can occur when it goes on a rampage — Green is not very good at precision.

Few people in general are pure Green, since very few human beings are purely driven by instinct, but other aspects of Green philosophy, like caring for the community and nature as well as keeping the status quo, are very common. However, many animals are fundamentally Green, as are plants in general. Remember, it's the colour of life; it's bound to be plentiful.

Fav colour?
8
Blue
4
Green
3
Black
3
Red
2
White
almost 5 years
BOROS LEGION BOROS LEGION

Edit: I'm probably not boros but I went first place at my local prerelease with a boros deck soooo....
almost 5 years
Where's my alignment, gosh darn it?
almost 5 years
me please
almost 5 years
ok
almost 5 years
hi
almost 5 years
Erm, what is this mystery? :tigger:
almost 5 years
Hi, sorry for being really late on this. I've been real busy with work these last few days.

I'll get onto the analysis stuff now (or at least try to :tigger:)
almost 5 years
hi
almost 5 years
I play MTG too. Give me an evaluation, let's see if it fits my favourite decks.
Also, answering pool based on my irl favourite color.
almost 5 years
Linxe can go kill himself, do me instead :)
deletedalmost 5 years
Yes please ! :D
deletedalmost 5 years
me please (benny / bennywinter here)
almost 5 years
Do me, but I already voted.
almost 5 years
Wendy's
almost 5 years
what restaurant are you eating at
almost 5 years
Can I order a cute girlfriend here?
almost 5 years
me