I was just wondering what everyone's opinion was on the ranks of the colors of magic. I often hear that blue is the strongest, but what are the reasons behind it? Why not the other colors? Where do they rank? Please remember that it is an opinion so don't bash anyone for their ideas.
I really like this question. +1.
Honestly I think blue and green are a tie for 1st. Because I think blue of having "the best of both worlds" they have good creatures and good spells. Green just has good creatures, but when we talk about green creatures. They are REALLY fast. Blue just has a really good midrange tempo with some quick creatures and good counterspells. Green has a really aggressive tempo. With a turn 2 3/3, you put a timer on your opponent. 3rd would have to be black. They just have so much solid removal. Black is more of a control tempo to me and then late game play down some nasty cards and bombs. 4th is white. They are somewhat like black because they have solid removal. BUT they don't have real good late game bombs. They have a midrange tempo. they play quick creatures with quick removal. then late game you just play down nasty bombs. 5th is red. They don't have real solid removal nor real late game bombs/changers. They have a burn tempo. They just need to burn you and play down chumpers to block.
Edit: her ya go:
1st-2nd:Blue
1st-2nd:Green
3rd:Black
4th:White
5th:Red
Blue
Black
Red
White
Green
The middle three in no particular order.
I simply find Green to be the weakest. This is not biased either, Elves are one of my sacred tribes and I have an Elf deck in almost every format. Blue control is just unbelievably strong when piloted correctly. Even in Standard, most people either build it wrong or don't know how to properly play control. Also, Control has just been hated out in Standard. I hope we get a {Mana Leak} reprint soon. Although the format is extremely diverse and houses hundreds of different Midrange and Aggro decks, Control doesn't have much of a say. I'm not a fan of Standard though, but I will admit some of the top tier decks are pretty sweet. Ramble ramble ramble....
Moral? I enjoy playing all colors and find that all have their uses and limits, but in my eyes Blue ranks highest, and Green lowest.
(P.S. Black is my favorite)
I guess a minor expansion is in order.
Green I find the weakest because although they do have the biggest creatures, they have almost no removal, aside from enchantment and artifact. They do have plenty of "ramp" though, and push out there big guys a lot faster than they should.
Black has plenty of removal and board wipes. It also has a myriad of decently priced creatures with interesting effects, but no enchantment or artifact removal (for the most part).
Red has a lot of spot removal and is looked at as a very aggressive color, for good reason, it usually has the most OP low drops. It has virtually no board wipes or large critter removal though. Plenty of artifact hate but no enchantment removal. It does have a decent amount of large, decently costed creatures as well, but with the smaller end being so quick, mono red doesn't really use 'em.
White has pretty much everything. Removal, board wipes, low drops and high. Plenty of enchantment hate, not too much artifact destruction though. It is a very solid color.
Blue is well known for it's {Counterspell}s, but it also has plenty of spot removal and pseudo board wipes. It is also famous for evasive creatures and undercosted OP spells. Not much in the enchantment or artifact destruction department.
For almost all downside listed there are exceptions, although they are few and far between. When colors come together is when you see true power. Mono colored decks are fun, but limited in game plan. Multi-colored decks fill holes that other colors simply couldn't do on their own.
This was kind of half assed and I'm a but tired but here ya go, my first piece was even worse lol.
Format is everything. If we are talking all time then blue is of course the strongest by denying your play, taking extra turns, draw more cards, and breaking artifacts with cards like {tinker}.
Standard is difficult to say at the moment do to all the multicolor. Mono red is the strongest mono as it's damage output outclasses every other consistent use of the first 3-5 turns. As for best color based on combinations that mostly maintain the idea of that color...black. While i believe black to be the weakest mono, other colors can greatly support the idea of power at any cost (discard, pay life, self mill, then reanimate or crush their hand not to mention removal).
Modern green and blue are hard to separate here. Green has the most aggressively costed power which is key to modern while blue has the much needed draw and counter to enable and support other strategies.
Edh...blue? All the most broken edh cards that are not banded seem to be blue. Not to mention it makes the best use of tge crazy artifact synergies.
While you can never really answer this question, this is how I would go about arguing a stance in it.
In standard:
Green
Red
White
Blue
Black
Historically:
Blue
Black
Green
White
Red
1. Blue
2. Red
3. Black
4. White
5. Green
Seems blue is very popular huh?
All of the power 9 are either blue or an artifact, if that says anything lol
In terms of power, blue has historically had better cards. In terms of degenerate gameplay - probably black. Blue gets a bad rep because of its the favorite of tournament players. Tournament players (spike) seek effeciency and lower variance. Blue draws cards and efficiently counters larger spells. Also, {Force of Will}.
In terms of degenerating gameplay, well dredge, {Necropotence}, {Tendrils of Agony} and other silly things make black an insane deck. At the kitchen table, where I've spent a number of years, black was also the most brutal.
In standard nobody even plays mono except for mono red (sometimes mono black rat decks) but because of rtr being in standard and innistrad block seriosly lacking in power for Blue and green I think red is most powerful as a mono deck
Green however is essential in many builds and is in over 50% of the top tier decks such as all the junk builds and celesnia
Therefore for standard id say...
Mono colorwise
1. Red
2. White
3. Black
4. Blue
5. Green
As for power in 2 color decks its
1. Green
2. Blue
3. White
4. Black
5. Red
And for 3 color decks
1. Green
2. Black
3. Red
4. Black
5. White
Its really close and hard to tell though
And for anything else other than standard its obviosly blue
In standard I would rank it
1. Green/black
3.White/Blue
5.Red.
Though they're all very close.
Red deck wins can beat any other mono deck right now. 3 color decks can get tricky though.
I have to say red is number one for me, nothing else seems to have really good damage early
1.{goblin Charbelcher}
2.burn decks
3.goblins
I'd say red beats down blue often though simply cause red seems to be a quantity color
Next I'd say either white or black
White simply because it was my first color(and no not just my skin color) and had a pretty funny combo in {knight exemplar}
Black because it actually can creature steal better than blue...
And can control while at it
With this combo
{necroskitter}
{kulrath knight}
{glistening oil}
It's really good since I can guaranteed kill a creature each turn with it
I've never like blue or green
Both are to slow which I don't like at all
Actually
1. Eldrazi
2-6. All the other colors
If you get it to work it can be sooo fun to play.
White is my favorite because life gain and cards like {elixir of immortality} can make you out last some opponents. Red decks can be nasty with bursts of damage right out the gate. But seeing as how blue has an answer to almost every single spell you will ever cast I'd say it would be the strongest. Mixing colors. I find the Azorious build type ({U}{W}) to be the funnest deck style to play with as it is a quick play style that practically allows you to rule the field.
Along with blue being the strongest color (aside from the master Jace card) look at cards like {Last Word}
Colorless Eldrazi may be really hard to do but it is funnest. In DOTP the eldrazi deck rules. I guess its green cause all the mana ramp spells are green but the theme is eldrazi. I was playing it against a boss and I got to 33 lands 101 health and 6 cards in my library. I swung for 121 in 1 turn and got like 20 achievments. So id say none of the colors are the best because colorless is.
(Not of any one format)
From what I've seen each colors good at different things, although blue is a strong color i believe that the other colors are equally strong in their own way, red is super fast, it mixes it's spot removal with direct damage and puts out cards like {lightning bolt}. White is has amazing defensive capabilities, my brother had a life deck that was mono white and he'd sit there and gain more life then you could deal damage all the while using cards {swords to plow shares} and silence to make it even more difficult for his opponent to win, green has absolutely massive creatures and the ramp to use them, black (my favorite) uses every thing as a recourse towards winning you the game that gets you crazy cards like {grisilbrand} {necropotense} and lots more. But each one is week in its own way blue=slow early game, red=fast but little to no late game, green=monster creatures, no spot removal, black= awesome effects, but no artifact destruction and ok creatures. It's when you combine the colors that they become really strong though, that is what I think, I think all colors are have great attributes as well as weaker ones, and that they are all for the most part equal