Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast - #1068: Red-White-Black

Episode Date: September 8, 2023

This podcast is another in my three-color series. Today, I talk all about red-white-black.

I'm not pulling my driveway. We all know what that means. It's time for the drive to work at home edition. Okay, so I've been doing a series talking about the philosophy of three color pairs. So far, I did the three three color pairs that were all what we call shards or arcs, meaning they were in a row. So it's a color and two allies. But now I'm going to start doing the color and it's two enemies, what we call wedges. So today we're going to start with red, white, black. Okay, so what I've been doing for all of these is start by talking a little bit about the individual colors, then talking about the color pairs, then talking about how they work when the three of them are together. Okay, so we start with red.

Red is action through freedom. Red believes that you have to follow your, like, your internal body knows what it wants. You have a little voice that speaks to you, and it says what you need. And you just listen to your internal voice. It'll tell you what to do. It'll tell you how to be happy. It'll tell you how to live your life. you what to do. It'll tell you how to be happy. It'll tell you how to live your life. And so Red is very impulse-based. That if it's happy, it laughs. If it's sad, it cries. If it's angry, it goes and punches somebody. That it just lives in the moment. And Red's whole idea is it wants a world where everybody's capable of doing that. Where everybody can have the freedom to live the life as they want. And the way that red gets there is through action and

that red believes you, red is not about thinking things through or like, you know, be in the moment. And one of red's strengths is because it's in the moment, because it's spontaneous, it can act very fast. You know, a lot of other colors have trouble playing against red because of red's speed. Because when you don't have to think things through, you can be very fast. Now, the downside to red is it doesn't think things through. That a lot of times red will do something that might be good for it in the short run, but very bad for it in the long run. Because red doesn't tend to think long term. But red is definitely, of the five colors, the one that is, you know,

the most in tune with what it wants in the moment. Okay, white. White is peace through structure. White believes that we have enough resources that everybody can have what they need. Not necessarily what they want, but what they need. And white is like, look, if we just think about everything through the means of what do we need to do,

if we think about the community at large, that we can make sure that we can eradicate hunger, we can eradicate crime, like all the great ills of society we can get rid of because we can give everybody what they need. But in order to do that, people have to act in the good of the group. And the problem is there's lots of things to pull people in other directions. There's lots of things that will lure

people in and make them do selfish things and not think of the group. So what White does is says, okay, I'm going to make structures. I'll make civil structures like laws. I'll make moral structures like religion. I will do things that set down rules and say, this is how you're supposed to function. Because if left to their own devices, people will stray. But if you give them rules, people are good at following rules. This is illegal. This is immoral. And so the idea is white is sort of trying to lay down a path to make sure that people, even against their own sometimes selfish interests, can do what's right for everybody. Black is about power through ruthlessness.

Black says, look, I could have whatever I want. I could do whatever I want. But I have to be willing to take the steps to get there. whatever I want, but I have to be willing to take the steps to get there. You know, Black says, look, there is a lot of, there are ways to get what I want. I want to make sure that I, personally, me, have the ability, the power to do whatever I want. But in order to do that, I have to be willing to do things. And that means making use of things that other people might see as taboo, like death, for example.

Or it might mean, hey, making calculated risks. Not sort of like – Red makes a lot of reckless risks where it's just thinking – it's not thinking long term. Black makes calculated risks. Black says, okay, there's resources I can spend to get something, and black has to think that through. But black, part of the ruthlessness of black is saying, look, nothing can be off limits. If doing something will get me what I want, nothing should be off limits of what I do. Okay, red, white, black. Now, let's talk a little bit about how they get together.

Now, remember, the difference between the wedges and the shards or arcs is the wedges is a color and there's two enemies. So in every wedge, there are two enemy relationships and then one ally relationship. So because we're going to – I'm going to start talking about the enemy relationships because in the wedge, the center of the wedge is usually the enemy color. That's not always the case. We'll get to there in a little bit. Okay, so let's talk about white and red. So white-red is the conflict of order versus chaos. Well, that's a very white way to look at it.

The idea is white looks at red and says, I'm trying to create an orderly society where people do the right thing. They think about the group. Red is reckless. Red just does whatever it wants. If people are just driven by their impulses, they're not going to think about the group. They're just going to think about themselves. And it will create utter chaos. It will create anarchy. So white looks at red and says red is the color of anarchy. It is just the color that is going to, you know, if left unchecked, it is a

great danger to white's whole goal. Well, red looks at white and says, hey, I want to be free. I want to do what I want to do. I want people to have the ability to live their life. White creates all these arbitrary rules and, you know, tries to keep red from doing what it wants. So red looks at white and sees, like, fascism. You know, it's like, you are not letting me live the life I want to live. So red and white really sort of argue about, like, at the core of it. So both with red and black and white, white at the core talks about sort of the good of the group. And red and black very much have a quality of,

like, it's not that, we'll get to black in a second, it's not that red inherently is more about individuals. Red is very passionate. Red is loyal. You know, red can act because of other people. But fundamentally, Red's motivation is it wants each person to act in, you know, to be, to think through their own lens rather than the lens of the group.

Meaning, what will make me personally happy? And maybe what makes me happy makes my friends happy or my loved ones happy. But it might make other people not happy. You know, White really is sort of like, you have to think of everybody, not, you know, but red also is sort of like, hey, I'm living my life. I'm trying to do what I want to do.

You know, if I try to follow everybody, then I'm going to be restricted and not sort of get to be what I want. And red wants to live in a world where, you know, red wants to embrace the idea that a little bit of anarchy is not so bad, that people living the way they want to live in a world where, you know, Red wants to embrace the idea that a little bit of anarchy is not so bad. That people living the way they want to live. The worst thing for Red is living in a world in which you're restricted from doing what you want.

You know what I'm saying? That is the worst thing for Red. You know, so the interesting thing whenever you look at conflicts is each one kind of sees the worst in the other. And that the other one's philosophy undermines what they care about. That's why there's a conflict. Okay, white and black's a little more directly the good of the group versus the good of the individual. So white looks at black and says, hey, I'm trying to do what's good for, I'm trying to

do what's good for the group, but black's philosophy is, I'm going to do whatever it takes to get what I want. That it is, you know, black is selfish, as white perceives it. Black is selfish and that, you know, those selfish means will just undermine everything white is trying to do. You know, if you preach to people that just think about yourself and don't think about others, it undermines everything white wants. And white fundamentally looks at black and sees, and once again, this is in white's viewpoint, not black's,

white believes in the concept of morality, that there is an inherent right and wrong. And white looks at black and says, you are wrong. You know, I am moral. You are immoral. And says that, you know, that the things that black exposes, you know, white looks at red and sees red as reckless, but white looks at black and sees black as immoral

and that there is a fundamental, like, in some ways the difference between white-red and white-black is red sort of doesn't follow civil laws. Black doesn't follow moral laws. That's kind of the difference between the two. Now, black looks at white and says, hey, I'm trying to get what I need to get. I'm trying to live in this world. And that white is just putting arbitrage, like black believes in amorality. Black doesn't think

morality is even a thing, you know, and black looks at white and says, you're just creating things. You're making things that don't even exist to make people's lives harder. Now, black very much is like, look, I want to live in a world where each person, you know, more of a meritocracy is how black likes to think of it. I want to live in a world where each person, you know, has the ability on their own to thrive. But hey, if I thrive because I put the work in and somebody else doesn't, you know, hey, shouldn't I get more than them? Why are we all getting the same things if we're doing different amounts of work? And so black is like, hey, I want a society. I want a world in which, you know, what you do matters. That, you know, that white wants to live in a world in which everybody gets the same thing regardless of what they do. What's the

motivation? What makes you, you know, black really likes to say, look, I'm trying to live in the world that exists. The idea that just, let's just take basic human concepts, you know, like the idea that selfishness just pretend it doesn't exist. Just pretend that people, you know, who else is going to look out for you if not you? You know, and Black really sort of says, hey, I'm not saying that you necessarily have to hurt other people, but I'm saying if there's a choice between you getting what you need and not, hey, that's the path you should go. a bit, white is sort of making, he sees white, black sees white as very controlling.

That white is just sort of, white wants what white wants. And white's not willing to admit. Like black looks at white and says, you know what? I think you have your own selfish interests. You have your things that you want. And you're like, well, this is more important than what other people, you know. And that the whole idea of, well,

I want a system where everybody gets the same. You know, that's you taking what you want and applying it to other people. So black and white go back and forth. I mean, the other thing about the colors is there's a lot of like component pieces of it. White is light, black is dark, stuff like that. Okay, now let's talk about black and red. So black and red are the one ally color in this wedge. black and red. So black and red are the one ally color in this wedge. So the way I like to look at allies is they have a shared enemy. So black and red have the shared enemy of white. White is very much about let's do what's right for everybody, even if

that means individually people aren't, you know, in the world that white lives in, everybody's treated equal. So the floor is much higher, right? You can't be that bad off. You're not going to be starving. There's not crime. You know, white is trying to raise the floor, as you say. But in raising the floor, white lowers the ceiling, meaning, you know, what can you dream of?

What can you achieve? In the world that white's trying to do, hey, your floor is higher, what can you dream of? What can you achieve? And the world that white's trying to do, hey, your floor is higher, but your ceiling's lower. And black and red are very much like, no, no, no. We want to live in a world where there's high highs. Yeah, there's low lows, but there's high highs. We want to, you know, black and red are the most hedonistic of the colors. They're the most ones that say, hey, we want to do what we want to do. We want to enjoy life. We want to, you know,

we want to live the way we want to live. We don't want somebody else telling us how to live. You know, we want to make our own decisions and make our own choices. And we want a system set up where we have the freedom to do what we want. That black and red are much more like, look, I'd rather have a system where some thrive and some don't than a system in which sort of nobody thrives. White looks at it as a system in which nobody suffers, right?

But it's looking at different things. White is like, hey, I don't want the low lows, so I'm going to make a world in which there are no low lows. And black and red are like, we want the high highs, so we want to make sure there's a world in which the high highs exist. Black and red also are the color pair that are

the most destructive. They're the most willing to sort of destroy what's ever in their way. And, you know, even like in game terms, for example, if you play a black-red deck, black-red has a lot of control elements in the sense that it just destroys everything.

And so the way black-red often wins is, I mean, like normal, like red-white, for example, is a little more of a speed sort of color, where black-red is more control in that I'm just going to blow up everything in my way, and then I'll win withwhite, for example, is a little more of a speed sort of color, where black-red is more control in that I'm just going to blow up everything in my way, and then I'll win with something. You know, if you have no creatures to block me, whatever creature I have will win. Okay, so those are the color pairs. So let's start talking about the three colors. Now, as I've explained before, the way the three-color philosophy tends

to work is one color is the ends, like what you're trying to achieve, and the other two colors tend to be support. They're the means to get there. When you're talking two-color, usually one is the ends and one is the means. When you're talking three color, usually you have to kind of have one goal. Two goals makes it hard. You need one focused goal. So there really are three different sort of ways to look at each of the three colors. If you've been listening to my series, this is what I've been saying. Okay, so let's take red, white, black. Okay, so let's start with white in the center. So if white is in the center, if white believes, you know, okay, our goal is peace. Our goal is creating a system in which everybody has what they want. Now, when you mix red and black into it, you get a much more vicious,

the idea is I need to get where I need to get, and I will use whatever means I need to get there. I want to make peace, and I will get peace at all costs. For example, when you start mixing red and black into the mix with white goals, black and red are like, okay, we're just going to remove obstacles. Oh, there's somebody that doesn't like what you're doing? Yeah, get rid of them. oh, there's somebody that doesn't like what you're doing? Yeah, get rid of them.

And that in a red, white, black sort of, white-centered, the idea is, look, in the end, I'm trying to do the right thing. I'm trying to make something that is going to be, like I'm, maybe I would say this, it's very Machiavellian for those that know that term. Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, I guess, who the idea was the ends justify the means. Meaning if you have good ends, whatever you do to get there is okay as long as your ends are noble. And so with a white-centered wedge, white is like, okay, what I want in the end is a very noble goal.

I want to end suffering. I want to the end is a very noble goal I want to end suffering I want to end crime and hunger I want to get to an ideal state but you know what maybe if I have to use the tools of those I'm stopping to get it done well that's what I need to do

and so with a white center wedge it has high lofty goals. It is, in the end, trying to do something, but it is kind of vicious in the way that it accomplishes that. Okay. Next, let's take a red set. So interestingly, we have done one wedge – well, we did one major wedge set. We did – Khans of Tarkir was a wedge set. So Mardu was the red, white, we did one major wedge set. We did Khans of Tarkir

was a wedge set. So Mardu was the red, white, black. The way that Khans of Tarkir worked was we went to Khans of Tarkir, then Sarkhan, one of the planeswalkers, Sarkhan Vol, went back in time, because the dragons had been killed off. He loves dragons.

And the dragons had been killed off in Tarkir. So he went back in time and just changed one little thing so that the dragons weren been killed off. He loves dragons. And the dragons had been killed off in Tarkir. So he went back in time and just changed one little thing so that the dragons weren't dead anymore. And it became dragons in Tarkir, and it radically changed things. But one of the things that changed is the factions went from three-color wedge factions

to two-color ally factions. And what that meant was that the enemy color had to be dropped out. So because we wanted continuity between Concentrarch here and Dragontrarch here, we had to center in another color. So it's interesting, the first time we did Wedge, we didn't center it in white, for example, for this blue-colored pair. We centered it in red. So let's talk a little bit about being centered in red.

So red's ends are freedom. It wants to create a system where people can do what they want. It wants to make a system where everybody, um, you're like red's utopia is the idea that like nothing is off limits that you have the freedom. Each individual has the freedom to do what they want. Now it's a, there's some messiness in that system, in that what if what I want to do and you want to do conflicts with each other? Red sees that as conflict is part of the system.

If you and I have an issue and we come to conflict, we have a conflict. We fight. You know, Red sees, like, that's how we figure it out. You know, Red has a little bit of might makes right of if two people want to do something and one person, you know, like, if you and I come in conflict, while we come in conflict we have a conflict and that's just part

of the system. Red doesn't see that as a flaw of the system. Red sees it as a key ingredient of the system. So, in a Red centered, sort of a Mardu centered thing, it is trying to make things that are a free society. And it is using white and black to push toward that. It wants to use white's rule setting as a means to enable freedom.

freedom. And the idea there is much like, for example, like, I think red in a world sort of devoid of other colors, it's a less planned out system. But in a world where you want freedom with white as one of your tools, it's a much more spelled out system. Okay, here's how you do what you want. And if you have conflicts, here's how conflicts get resolved. It becomes a lot clearer. We're in reds, in a minor red system. Yeah, conflicts lead to fighting, but it's much more open-ended. We're in a system with a little bit of white in it, there are rules set into place.

People can do what they want to do, but if they come in conflict, here's how you resolve them, here's what happens. Also, whenever you add black in as a means, a tool, black's ruthlessness very much says, okay, look, I want the freedom I want, and if things are in my way, I will just remove them.

And I think that black, the difference between red and black is, it's not that red isn't willing, obviously red will take action to stop things. But red has more boundaries than black does. You know, red does – like the morality that white talks about, red does have some feeling of that. Red believes in relationships and loyalties and, you know, while red can very much foul its emotions, that doesn't mean it doesn't see a larger relationship between people.

And so red by itself is like there are things that are more taboo for red, where black has no taboo. You know, black is like, do we need to do? And so when you mix black into the mix, it just makes it a little more harsh. When you mix black into the mix, it just makes it a little more harsh. The black just sort of, you know, when red has black added to it, there's a little bit more of, hey, I'm not going to think about the other person. I'm going to think about, I'm thinking about my goal and what I need to accomplish my goal. Okay.

Then you get to a world with a black center. So black's end goal is power, right? Black is very selfish. Black's like, I want to have all the power. In that world, it's using red and white tools. So like black using white tools is like, I'm taking the structure that I normally sort

of laugh at because I think it's harmful and I'm using it to my, like, black's like, okay, I'm fine using structure when the structure harms my enemies when things are set up in such a way that I can do what I want, but they can't do what they want. That structure can be used as a tool to

sort of dominate. And likewise, Red has a sort of ferocity and a speed to it. Like, Black is a sort of ferocity, uh, and a speed to it. Like black is a little bit more about thinking things through. Black leans a little more blue in that regard of, I want to be careful about what I'm doing. Um, the allies of blue are much more likely to think things through.

Where the enemies of blue, red, and green are much more like I'm acting on impulse or instinct. I'm just going to do what feels right. Um, so when you mix a little bit of red into black's goals, you get black being a little bit more reckless than it normally is, a little bit more willing to act in the moment. And there are good and bad

of that, but one of the good things is that it's very, you know, like, so when you see a red, white, black, they tend to be very fast. Of the three color combinations, I think red, white, black is the fastest of the ten. Red and white are the two fastest colors and black is sort of in the middle. Black and green are sort of in the middle.

Blue is the slowest. And so you definitely get... The other thing is that black, red, and white are the best at creature removal. And so it's just like, we'll clear anything out of our way. So black, white, red is usually... It's a little tricky to do aggro in three colors

because the mere nature of playing three colors means your mana is a little more inconsistent in early game. And if you're going to do aggro, you need consistent mana. So three color works a little bit against aggro qualities. But my point is the most aggro of them is red, white, black. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more about the essence of red, white, black. The thing that's interesting about these three colors is there is a lot of red, white, and black are the colors that like to look at,

I mean, blue does this to a certain extent, but it likes looking at sort of the nature of how things are. And the blue is a little more isolated and that blue is very much about, blue believes that there are larger ideals at play, there are larger forces at play, that blue wants to understand technology and blue's very much into the big picture of things. And green has a sort of feral nature. Green believes that, like, you know, on some level we're all just creatures. And, you know, we're going to do what we want to do. And instinctually we're born with things. And we're just following our pre-programmed thing that we're doing.

Red, white, and black are the three colors that are the most about sort of thinking of people. Now, they each think of people differently, but their actions are very much focused on thinking about how people interact with one another. Green has some sort

of symbiosis, and blue, you know, part of understanding larger structures is understanding societal stuff but blue and green are more divorced where red white and black are very much about thinking of people thinking of motivations and thinking about how people act they're the three colors so when you get them together they're very influential they're very um that each red white and black can appeal can appeal to the base nature of you. Now, they're different.

Red is like do what feels good. White is like do things you know are right. And black is like do things that are your self-interest. But each one of them – there's a draw to each one of them. Each one of these call words sort of says something that makes you the person going, ooh, like there's an attractiveness to it. Each pitches in different ways. So there is a charisma to red, white, black. That is a very raw charisma.

That when you get to a lot of times we do factions, that the red, white, black faction is very much a motivated faction with a very charismatic leader and that people will do whatever they need to do to follow their leader. That's a very red, white, black sort of faction goal. Because the very nature of the three colors is the idea of speaking to human desire in some way or another. And the funny thing about it is

that each one of them looks at it and appeals to a different aspect. Red appeals to the emotional aspect. White appeals to sort of the moral aspect. Black appeals to sort of the self-interested aspect. But each one of them sort of speaks to something that you in your heart feel like, oh, that is – I do want to act on my emotions. I do want to do what's right for other people. I do want to do what's right for other people. I do want to do what gets me what I want, you know, that each of them has this inspiring people and about sort of making

the group want to act in one regard. There are other colors that will – like green and white, for example, also sort of get a group mentality. But that's a lot more like we all have a shared interest and we'll do the same thing. But that's a lot more like we all have a shared interest and we'll do the same thing. And that white and green, for example, get a lot more into the sense of community. Like we have to think of the big picture. Red and white, red, white, black is much more like we have shared interests.

And so you are self-motivated. You want to act because what we're doing is what – we convince you that what we're doing is what you want to do. But it is much more of speaking person to person than speaking to lofty goals. White, I guess, has a little bit of lofty goals. But white mixed with red and black is a much – it's a much more personal rock charisma sort of feel. The other thing – we're almost out of time here today. The other thing about red, white, and black is that the

fact that it is the three colors that are the best at removal, that they're the best at sort of destroying things, especially creatures, makes for it allows you, it has the most reset buttons, if you will. And so it definitely can sort of build up and then destroy and build up again.

And so there's this quality, different color combinations have different access to things. And that this is the color combination that has the most aggro tools and the most creature removal and so it tends to be the aggressive one of the three color pairs like i said it's tricky doing aggression in three colors due to the the way the mana works anyway um so that is red white black. I think that it is a fun color. I've enjoyed, like, I enjoyed playing Mardu back in cons. And the other thing that's interesting is we will get to a wedge set one day where it's truly centered in the center color, the shared enemy color.

Cons was a little bit weird in the nature of how we did things. But as we do other sets, we'll get to another wedge set one day. Obviously Ikoria had a little bit of a wedge theme, but it was very light and it wasn't factioned or anything. Anyway guys, that is all the time I have today.

I can see my desk. So I hope you guys enjoyed the jaunt through red, white, black. But anyway guys, as I can see my desk. So I hope you guys enjoyed the jaunt through red, white, black. But anyway, guys, as I can see my desk, we all know what that means. It means it's the end of my drive to work. So instead of talking magic, it's time for me to be making magic. I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I will see you all next time. Bye-bye.