Class-ifying the Five Colors of Magic
I was teaching my newbie friend Magic when out of the blue he asked me “Can I be the barbarian?”
I replied, “umm there aren’t any classes in Magic but I guess you’d like red”, handing him the red Welcome Deck.
He liked red but he was curious about the other colors. “What’s blue, is that the wizard?,” he asked.
“Yes, that’s the closest you’re going to get to a wizard,” I replied.
“What about green, is that the druid?” he asked.
“Yes, green is the druid,” I shrugged.
“Black is the necromancer?” he asked.
“Yes, I suppose black would be the necromancer”, I sighed.
“What about white? The priest?”, he asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Boring”, he said.
While my friend’s hasty method of understanding the colors of Magic wasn’t the most accurate, what mattered is that it made sense to him. His experience of D&D and other RPGs was at least somewhat transferable to Magic, although it was like fitting square pegs in round holes.
However, it was a much better training method than what I’ve seen other new players experience. Once I saw, to my dismay, two would-be new players quit before even playing the game in the face of the firehose of the color lecture from a seasoned player.
So even if equating colors to traditional roleplaying game classes doesn’t make perfect sense in Magic (apart from the new D&D set’s class enchantments), it’s still useful for onboarding new players that like RPGs.
Without further ado, let’s dive in and explore what makes these colors tick and what traditional RPG classes they best represent. Hopefully, this will give you a sense of each color’s personality and play style.

WUBRG (pronounced “woo-berg”)
Magic: The Gathering revolves around five colors of mana: white, blue, black, red, and green. Each color embodies a unique philosophy, goal, and default strategy that shapes its characters and actions.
White MTG Cards
No one’s going to argue that white doesn’t best represent priests and paladins; it has by far the most clerics and knights, with black being the closest runner up. However, just because white = knights, does mean white = good. The colors of magic don’t fit into a clean dichotomy of good or evil, and beginners may be surprised that white is capable of being just as evil as black is.
Aside from apparent armored do-gooders on horseback, white represents order and balance, has the best life gain and removal (mostly exiling or jailing stuff), and loves taxes (Smothering Tithe) but is the worst at drawing cards. The latter is noticeably a problem in Commander, making white the worst color of the format.
White is the fun police, and if you’re having too much fun in a game of magic then white’s going to tax and exile your stuff until you wonder why you’re even playing the game anymore.

White Mindset
White prioritizes morality and asks, “What is the right thing to do?” Victory feels like purity and unity, defeat is decay or the collapse of the social structure.
Associated Traits
Words associated with white are justice, compassion, unity, tradition, discipline, altruism.
Big Five Personality Traits
- Conscientiousness (++), Agreeableness (+), Extraversion (~), Neuroticism (-), Openness (–)
Weaknesses
White can be rigid and intolerant, holding on to order even when it’s bad. Too much white is stagnation and oppressive rituals.
Blue MTG Cards
Just like in the example above, blue has probably the most wizardlike personality of the five colors, with red taking a close second. Blue likes to mess with people’s stuff with its bounce mechanic and, of course, counterspells. Rather than destroying or exiling stuff, like other colors, blue manipulates time to disrupt it or transforms it into something harmless. Blue is also the best at stealing stuff too, making it suitable for rogue enthusiasts.
While blue’s personality and desires are as deep and mysterious as the ocean, its penchant for mischief is what sets it apart from the other colors. It’s the best color for drawing cards, the best for counterspells by far, the best at stealing stuff, and the best at taking extra turns making it infamously the most annoying color in the game. Even the most seasoned players get anxious and salty about untapped islands when they’re casting a spell.
Like white, blue also polices the battlefield but instead of restoring balance and order, blue selfishly sows disorder to benefit itself. It’s arguably second only to black in terms of selfishness.

Blue Mindset
Blue asks, “What makes sense?” Victory feels like revelation and clarity, defeat is confusion and missed opportunity.
Associated Traits
Curiosity, intelligence, creativity, strategy, patience define blue.
Big Five Personality Traits
- Openness (++), Conscientiousness (+), Extraversion (), Agreeableness (), Neuroticism (-)
Weaknesses
Blue overthinks and hesitates, gets lost in theory. Too much blue disregards emotion, devalues the unquantifiable and prioritizes intellect over humanity.
Black MTG Cards
Well, if the necromancer class had to pick a color then it seems eyerollingly obvious it would be black with no questions asked. Black is the edgelord color of Magic, after all, with its fixation on the occult and morbid. Black kills creatures, it can also bring them back to life, then it can sacrifice them to kill something else.
Just like a necromancer, black likes making dead things walk again, only to fling them at living things in order to make them dead too.
Black is amazing at killing creatures and has probably the best removal for that card type in the game. However, black struggles with inanimate and ethereal things like artifacts and enchantments, having only recently acquired some new tools to kill the latter like Invoke Despair.
The big misconception is that black is evil. And while it’s easy to see why people might think that, with all the horror-themed imagery that’s abundant on its cards, the more we play the game the more we realize that black’s not doing anything wrong compared to the other colors.
Though, if selfishness is a crime then black is the worst offender – seeking greatness at any cost.

Black Mindset
Black asks, “What’s in it for me?” Victory feels like wealth and power, defeat feels like imprisonment and decay.
Associated Traits
Ambition, autonomy, pragmatism, control define black.
Big Five Personality Traits
- Openness (+), Extraversion (), Neuroticism (), Agreeableness (-), Conscientiousness (–)
Weaknesses
Black focuses on self can lead to isolation and destructive greed. Too much black breeds distrust and chaos.
Red MTG Cards
Red has the most barbarians and dragons in the game, so you get no prizes for guessing what kind of loincloth-wearing, warpainted class this color best represents. If red doesn’t like something, it zaps, burns or smashes it. Red is a color of fiery passion and impulse; it prefers actions to words and would rather destroy an obstacle than reason with it.
That doesn’t mean to say red is unintelligent though. Just because blue, red’s enemy color, loves elaborate spellweaving and temporal manipulation doesn’t mean that red’s approach to problem-solving is less effective. Sometimes actions speak louder than words.
If blue and white—red’s enemies—seek order, red seeks anarchy.

Mindset
Red asks, “What feels good?” Victory is hot and exciting, defeat is dull and dead.
Associated Traits
Passion, courage, spontaneity, authenticity define red.
Big Five Personality Traits
- Openness (++), Extraversion (+), Agreeableness (+), Neuroticism (~), Conscientiousness (–)
Weaknesses
Red is reckless and impulsive. Too much red is chaos and short term thinking.
Green MTG Cards
Tree-hugging hippy stuff is green’s game so no one’s going to argue against it being the color of druids. Green has the fastest mana in the game making it one of the best colors in Commander, as well as being fearsome when combined with blue’s card draw and counterspells.
Despite green’s ostensible obsession with growing mana and creatures with ramp and pump spells, it also has a strong distaste for the manmade. Like red, green cares little for artifacts and prefers to smash them and enchantments alike to make way for its trampling behemoths.
While it’s tempting to label green as ‘good’, once you’ve seen enough green mages get their tendrils around your artifacts or enchantments, or accelerate their mana into fatty creature drop mode then you’ll reconsider your moral compass.

Mindset
Green asks, “What’s natural?” Victory feels calm and fertile, defeat feels disconnected and rootless.
Associated Traits
Growth, respect, stability, wisdom define green.
Big Five Personality Traits
- Agreeableness (++), Conscientiousness (+), Extraversion (+), Neuroticism (-), Openness (–))
Weaknesses
Green can resist change, falling into complacency. Overabundant green leads to passivity and fatalism.
Other classes and color combinations
What about combinations of colors? Well, we’re glad you asked:
Bard = green/white
Fighter = red/white
Monk = red/white/blue
Rogue = blue/black
Artificer = blue/white
If you’re new to Magic, be sure to check out our article on the turn mechanics of Magic the Gathering. And like always, we recommend MTG proxies for anyone who wants to turn up their gameplay.
1. Conflicts Across the Color Wheel
A useful way to understand the five colors—White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green—is by examining how each color disagrees with its direct enemy. Every color has an “opposite” on the circle, creating five major points of conflict. Below, each conflict is defined in three ways: from one color’s perspective, from its opposing color’s perspective, and from a more neutral point of view.
1.1 White vs. Black
- White’s perspective: Good vs. evil
- Black’s perspective: Individualism vs. codependency
- Neutral perspective: The good of the group vs. the good of the individual
White believes people should serve the group for the greater good, while Black believes society exists to serve individuals. From White’s viewpoint, prioritizing yourself over others is a betrayal. From Black’s perspective, you should only give your loyalty to a group that’s earned it. White sees Black as selfish; Black sees White as naive and coercive.
1.2 Black vs. Green
- Black’s perspective: Pragmatism vs. waste
- Green’s perspective: Preservation vs. exploitation
- Neutral perspective: Take it or leave it
Green wants to maintain natural balance, content to let life evolve at its own pace. Black, on the other hand, sees unclaimed potential—raw materials waiting to be utilized. Green calls it preservation; Black calls it wasteful stagnation. From Green’s perspective, Black is exploitative and shortsighted; Black sees Green as timid and slow to act.
1.3 Green vs. Blue
- Green’s perspective: Equilibrium vs. destabilization
- Blue’s perspective: Complacency vs. optimization
- Neutral perspective: Nature vs. nurture
Green believes everyone has a “niche” determined by environment and genetics; Blue believes people are blank slates who can become anything through knowledge, training, and opportunity. Green views Blue’s constant tinkering as hubris, while Blue views Green’s approach as complacent and unambitious.
1.4 Blue vs. Red
- Blue’s perspective: Clear thinking vs. short-sighted reacting
- Red’s perspective: Warm aliveness vs. cold heartlessness
- Neutral perspective: Reason vs. emotion
Blue wants to take its time, think carefully, and plan. Red believes you can waste your life in endless analysis, missing out on genuine feeling. Blue sees Red as impulsive, while Red sees Blue as detached and overthinking.
1.5 Red vs. White
- Red’s perspective: Freedom vs. constraint
- White’s perspective: Chaos vs. order
- Neutral perspective: Structure vs. flexibility
Red is suspicious of rules that box people in or force them into routines. White argues that structure and consistency enable trust and cooperation. Red sees White’s discipline as cage-like; White sees Red’s passion as dangerously anarchic.
2. Allies in Arms
Although each color has an opposite, it also has two adjacent allies. These alliances form additional mini-conflicts, because your allies often hate each other’s other allies! But there’s also an overlap of shared values. Below are the five major color pairs—each united by a common enemy—and what they stand for together.
2.1 White/Blue (WU)
Mutual enemy: Red
- Shared agreement: Design, structure, engineering, and careful planning
- Pop-culture examples: Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek), Hillary Clinton (political persona)
- Common question: How do we know what’s right and good?
White/Blue combines moral responsibility (White) with rigorous thought (Blue). This is the “rational technique” mindset—believing in the power of logic, processes, and planning to solve problems.
2.2 Blue/Black (UB)
Mutual enemy: Green
- Shared agreement: Growth mindset, self-determination, challenging the status quo
- Pop-culture examples: Odysseus, Sherlock Holmes, Lex Luthor, Quirinus Quirrell (HPMOR)
- Common question: How can I best achieve my goals?
Blue/Black invests in cleverness and autonomy—tuning systems to one’s advantage and believing in personal agency. They see Green as too accepting of the way things are.
2.3 Black/Red (BR)
Mutual enemy: White
- Shared agreement: Independence, resisting conformity or external control
- Pop-culture examples: The Joker, Voldemort, Peter Pan, Deadpool, Jack Sparrow, Donald Trump (persona), Howard Roark (The Fountainhead)
- Common question: How do I get what I want?
Black/Red fights anything that threatens personal freedom—whether that’s a government or a cultural norm. They see White as intrusive and tyrannical.
2.4 Red/Green (RG)
Mutual enemy: Blue
- Shared agreement: Authenticity and wildness, the primacy of immediate experience
- Pop-culture examples: Tinkerbell, the Hulk, Wolverine (mostly Red/Green), Aang (Avatar)
- Common question: Where am I now, and where should I go?
Red/Green wants to live in the moment and trust its instincts. Blue’s endless striving for perfection feels cold, stuck in theoretical dream-worlds.
2.5 Green/White (GW)
Mutual enemy: Black
- Shared agreement: Community, cooperation, the conviction that we are stronger together
- Pop-culture examples: Hufflepuff House (Harry Potter), Akela (The Jungle Book), Obi-Wan Kenobi (as played by Alec Guinness)
- Common question: What’s fair and good? What’s sustainable?
Green/White is about working for the greater whole. They see Black’s self-centeredness as ultimately destructive.
Opposites in Harmony
Interestingly, some enemy pairs can come together in powerful ways, blending strengths that normally clash.
3.1 White/Black (WB)
- Theme: Tribalism; “us vs. them” mentality
- Pop-culture examples: Don Corleone (The Godfather), Rorschach (Watchmen), Magneto (X-Men)
- Common question: Who’s in my circle of concern?
White/Black can manifest as fierce loyalty within a chosen group, paired with ruthless pragmatism toward outsiders.
3.2 Blue/Red (UR)
- Theme: Creativity—mad science, wild artistry
- Pop-culture examples: Tony Stark (later arcs), Willy Wonka, Doc Brown, Indiana Jones
- Common question: What can be achieved? What might be possible?
Blue/Red thrives on inspiration and exploration, balancing experimentation (Blue) with raw passion (Red).
3.3 Black/Green (BG)
- Theme: Embracing the cycle of life and death
- Pop-culture examples: Lilith, Venom, Poison Ivy, the zombies from The Walking Dead
- Common question: What costs must be paid to achieve the ideal?
Black/Green is about getting your hands dirty and accepting the world’s gritty, evolutionary reality.
3.4 Red/White (RW)
- Theme: Heroism—passion guided by moral duty
- Pop-culture examples: Daredevil, Robin Hood, Prince Zuko (late arc), Bernie Sanders (persona)
- Common question: What needs to be done? What would a good person do?
Red/White channels strong conviction and bold action, often championing justice or protecting the underdog.
3.5 Green/Blue (GU)
- Theme: Truth seeking—wisdom meets curiosity
- Pop-culture examples: Old-age Albus Dumbledore, Uncle Iroh, Morpheus (The Matrix)
- Common question: What do I not yet understand?
Green/Blue wants to perceive the world clearly, integrating Blue’s drive for knowledge with Green’s organic insight.
Going Beyond Two Colors
4.1 Triple Majors
Many people identify with three colors or more—though often one or two remain stronger. For instance:
- Red/White/Blue: Captain America
- Blue/Black/Red: Might emphasize growth mindset (UB) plus passion (R)
- Green/Blue/Red: Like someone who’s deeply curious and contemplative (GU) but also spontaneous (R)
Often, the best way to imagine a triple-color identity is to picture that person as the sum of any two-color combination minus or plus a key trait from the third color.
4.2 More Than Three Colors
From a high-level perspective, everyone has some capacity for every color. The point of this framework isn’t to reduce people down to a single label; it’s to provide a robust set of “default modes” to which we often revert. You can certainly aim to “catch ‘em all” and integrate the strengths of every color, but few people embody all five equally in daily life.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the five-color framework is a toy model. It simplifies reality and can’t capture the fullness of any individual’s complexities. Yet precisely because it’s limited, it’s quick, easy, and broadly applicable—a useful lens for brainstorming, diagnosing conflicts, and clarifying motivations.
When you’re stuck, it can jumpstart your thinking. When you’re confused about someone’s behavior, it can help you see the situation from a new angle. When you’re writing fiction, it can unlock new dimensions in your characters. And in everyday life, it can help you give advice or support that meets people where they really are, instead of where you assume them to be.
There’s no single correct tool for understanding human nature. But the color wheel, with its familiar archetypes, might just be the one that sparks fresh insights when you need them most.
Appendix: Quick Reference
- WU (White/Blue): Design, structure, planning
- UB (Blue/Black): Optimization, personal agency
- BR (Black/Red): Independence, freedom from constraints
- RG (Red/Green): Authenticity, immediacy, wildness
- GW (Green/White): Community, sustaining the whole
- WB (White/Black): Tribalism, us vs. them
- UR (Blue/Red): Creativity, mad science/art
- BG (Black/Green): Life/death cycle, evolution in the mud
- RW (Red/White): Heroism, moral passion
- GU (Green/Blue): Truth-seeking, wisdom + curiosity