How is the presence of black reflected in the Abzan house's worldview, customs, and practices. I know there are lots of cards that showcase their veneration of spirits and their proximity to the ghosts of their ancestors, but are there descriptions of Abzan's unscrupulous or ruthlessness written anywhere? The only examples I can think of are destroying the corpses of the enemy dead (can't tell if this is literal or just metaphorical spirit killing) and using war beasts to terrify their foes.
With respect to writing about the clan's khan, there seems to be little mention of how she is aligned with black. Is there a presumption that her graveyard disruption is a form of necromancy? Do the abzan practice any forms of diabolism?
See, you're approaching this with the wrong mindset. Black =/= ruthless/unscrupulousness, even if it frequently makes use of those things.
The Abzan basically organise themselves in family units. This is classical White/Black: priority of a group over all others. Likewise, they have a pretty damn pragmatic worldview; I seriously doubt any mono-White society would allow the corpses of their loved ones to rot and be consumed by a tree.
It's also implied, I believe, through both cards (Like Salt Road Patrol) and the PW's guide that Abzan are pretty aggressive traders. Another fairly W/B characteristic is the prioritization of money (or at least, an economic system.) White enjoys the order this brings, while black likes the power that large amounts of money offers.
How is the presence of black reflected in the Abzan house's worldview, customs, and practices. I know there are lots of cards that showcase their veneration of spirits and their proximity to the ghosts of their ancestors, but are there descriptions of Abzan's unscrupulous or ruthlessness written anywhere?
Black doesn't have to be unscrupulous. In fact the Abzan appear to be an extremely straightforward sort of people.
Since their primary interaction with people outside of the clan is as traders imagine you're lying by the side of the road starving to death. An Abzan caravan wouldn't taunt you or exploit you but they'd probably charge you full price for food rather than help out of the goodness of their hearts, if you couldn't pay (or convince them you'd be valuable) they would just let you die.
Anafenza's graveyard ability is probably more an indication of overkill than necromancy. From the planeswalker's guide "We do not pile the skulls of our enemies, nor make them into ornaments. We grind them into dust." They don't conquer their enemies but they're also not content with merely winning a battle, it has to be annihilation. That is very black.
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Similarly, the Abzan are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the continuation of their people, which generally manifests in a "no mercy" sort of way. They have no interest in doing anything that doesn't strengthen them.
Since their primary interaction with people outside of the clan is as traders imagine you're lying by the side of the road starving to death. An Abzan caravan wouldn't taunt you or exploit you but they'd probably charge you full price for food rather than help out of the goodness of their hearts, if you couldn't pay (or convince them you'd be valuable) they would just let you die.
Anafenza's graveyard ability is probably more an indication of overkill than necromancy. From the planeswalker's guide "We do not pile the skulls of our enemies, nor make them into ornaments. We grind them into dust." They don't conquer their enemies but they're also not content with merely winning a battle, it has to be annihilation. That is very black.
That doesn't seem entirely correct. The Abzan help war orphans and such; they probably wouldn't just help any person they come across, but they're not entirely self motivated and pitiless.
As for the graveyard thing, yes, it is styled after overkill. The Abzan appearently only make use of two types of magic: spirit magic and sandcalling. Unless Anafenza is using her ancestral spirits to burn corpses or smashing them with sand, I don't see how she's doing that magically.
Since their primary interaction with people outside of the clan is as traders imagine you're lying by the side of the road starving to death. An Abzan caravan wouldn't taunt you or exploit you but they'd probably charge you full price for food rather than help out of the goodness of their hearts, if you couldn't pay (or convince them you'd be valuable) they would just let you die.
Anafenza's graveyard ability is probably more an indication of overkill than necromancy. From the planeswalker's guide "We do not pile the skulls of our enemies, nor make them into ornaments. We grind them into dust." They don't conquer their enemies but they're also not content with merely winning a battle, it has to be annihilation. That is very black.
That doesn't seem entirely correct. The Abzan help war orphans and such; they probably wouldn't just help any person they come across, but they're not entirely self motivated and pitiless.
You also have to look at how they help war orphans, rather than simply saying 'help orphans=not selfless'. Firstly, they're helping orphans that they 'created' in the first place by killing the parents. Secondly, they're helping the orphans by making them second class citizens (at best) until they're adopted by an Abzan family. Once they're adopted, of course, they get all the benefits of being Abzan, but isn't that just another way of strengthening their families by adding new blood? And, of course, we don't know what happens to those who aren't adopted, with the best case scenario being that they remain second class Krumar for the rest of their life. So I don't think characterizing them as mostly doing things because it helps them conflicts with the established lore so far.
Feels line you guys are not arguing for black in abzan but for their whiteness. I'm pretty surge charging full price for food is something any color but white would do.
I don't know why community/family ideology is black either. Family only sounds black to me when we're talking about mafia. I think the power struggle aspect of abzan social system should havê recieved greater focus.
I don't know why community/family ideology is black either.
Community is white. Family is green.
Cultural supremacy, however, is a traditional trait given to Bx groups while GW wants everyone to join (Selesnya), BG (Shadowmoor Elves) and BW (Orzhov) have often been shown as despising outsiders.
I don't know why community/family ideology is black either.
Community is white. Family is green.
Cultural supremacy, however, is a traditional trait given to Bx groups while GW wants everyone to join (Selesnya), BG (Shadowmoor Elves) and BW (Orzhov) have often been shown as despising outsiders.
I think the power struggle aspect of abzan social system should havê recieved greater focus.
Jockeying for power is certainly a trait of a Bx society but I expect its difficult to show on cards.
Barbarians, dragons, goblins and ogres are not very empathetic imo and they are poster races of red.
There are green farmers in magic the gathering, so green selo food.
Cultural supremancy have been assaciated with white quite strongly as well. Evangelists, preachers and crusaders are portrayed in white after all. Cultural supremancy havê not been portrayed in monoblack (phyrexians is more of a conqueror race then supremancists).
Power struggle is very well portrayed in many blocks, such as conspirancy, masks and ravnica. All it needed was one mono black abzan card referring to families accumulating wealth across generations and/or showing one family ploting against another. Instead we get friendly looking orcs, onde with a really white flavor text!
I kind of figured Mer-ek Nightblade is an inter-abzan killer; like an adopted orc, turned hatchet man/praetorian guard for his family. Too bad they didn't include some flavor text (plenty of room for it too!).
The Abzan policy when it comes to their enemies reminds me of the Hyozan Reckoners' oath about totally destroying their enemies' households. I'd pin that as their Black traits.
I'm pretty surge charging full price for food is something any color but white would do.
Depends on the situation honestly. Any color could charge full price, or not, depending, except as stated Green, who probably wouldn't be selling food in the first place.
White would either be adhering to the vastly more important rules than caring about this one citizen, or they could have naturally lower prices in order to make their "utopia."
Blue could charge full price because this person has the ability and potential to make his own way up to paying for the food, or they could exchange information instead of money.
Black would charge full price because that's how a business is run, that's Black's life on that coin, or they could cut a deal of some kind.
Red could either charge full price because that's how THEY decided to run their business, and no one can tell them otherwise, or empathy could make them change the price for this person.
And Green...well, green could either argue that this is merely the way to survive, that if "survival of the fittest" led to not having the money to pay here, it was clearly their fault, or they could just as easily see it as their fate, or look to their bond as creatures fighting the same fight, and cut a deal.
And now I'm picturing some weird farmer's market where all 5 colors are lined up, selling the exact same product.
I'm pretty surge charging full price for food is something any color but white would do.
Depends on the situation honestly. Any color could charge full price, or not, depending, except as stated Green, who probably wouldn't be selling food in the first place.
White would either be adhering to the vastly more important rules than caring about this one citizen, or they could have naturally lower prices in order to make their "utopia."
Blue could charge full price because this person has the ability and potential to make his own way up to paying for the food, or they could exchange information instead of money.
Black would charge full price because that's how a business is run, that's Black's life on that coin, or they could cut a deal of some kind.
Red could either charge full price because that's how THEY decided to run their business, and no one can tell them otherwise, or empathy could make them change the price for this person.
And Green...well, green could either argue that this is merely the way to survive, that if "survival of the fittest" led to not having the money to pay here, it was clearly their fault, or they could just as easily see it as their fate, or look to their bond as creatures fighting the same fight, and cut a deal.
And now I'm picturing some weird farmer's market where all 5 colors are lined up, selling the exact same product.
That's my point. I think I should have written 'could do'. Anyway, charging optimal prices is hardly any reason to make a faction black, specially when this business practices have been 0% explored in cards. You guys talk like there's a card "Charge Full Price" with the picture of a Abzan merchant getting a gold coin and handling a fruit to depressed and hungry person.
Take the Abzan black cards.... They all have pretty white flavor text and the looks are definitely not black enough.
I think from the clans of KTK block, only the Sultai and the Jeskai do a good job of covering their 3 colors and justify the multicolor mechanics. Temur lacks a lot of blue, Abzan lacks a lot of black and Mardu lacks a bit of white.
Temur have their interests in time travels, the written and unwritten whatever it is. Mardu have the sense of unity in that they are fully focused on trolling every other clan on Tarkir.
I'm pretty surge charging full price for food is something any color but white would do.
Depends on the situation honestly. Any color could charge full price, or not, depending, except as stated Green, who probably wouldn't be selling food in the first place.
White would either be adhering to the vastly more important rules than caring about this one citizen, or they could have naturally lower prices in order to make their "utopia."
Blue could charge full price because this person has the ability and potential to make his own way up to paying for the food, or they could exchange information instead of money.
Black would charge full price because that's how a business is run, that's Black's life on that coin, or they could cut a deal of some kind.
Red could either charge full price because that's how THEY decided to run their business, and no one can tell them otherwise, or empathy could make them change the price for this person.
And Green...well, green could either argue that this is merely the way to survive, that if "survival of the fittest" led to not having the money to pay here, it was clearly their fault, or they could just as easily see it as their fate, or look to their bond as creatures fighting the same fight, and cut a deal.
And now I'm picturing some weird farmer's market where all 5 colors are lined up, selling the exact same product.
That's my point. I think I should have written 'could do'. Anyway, charging optimal prices is hardly any reason to make a faction black, specially when this business practices have been 0% explored in cards. You guys talk like there's a card "Charge Full Price" with the picture of a Abzan merchant getting a gold coin and handling a fruit to depressed and hungry person.
Take the Abzan black cards.... They all have pretty white flavor text and the looks are definitely not black enough.
I think from the clans of KTK block, only the Sultai and the Jeskai do a good job of covering their 3 colors and justify the multicolor mechanics. Temur lacks a lot of blue, Abzan lacks a lot of black and Mardu lacks a bit of white.
The Abzan Black cards are pretty Black. Just because they're more benevolent than Black is usually portrayed doesn't stop making them valid representations of the colour.
The Mardu are very White, their whole philosophy is based on ideals and honour and they're efficiently organised. The Temur are the only clan that doesn't feel imediately tricolor, though I'd argue their lifestyle is a form of Blue perfectionism, and of course there's their whole time travel shenigans.
We should note that the clans are not equal in their colors. Abzan is base white, so it has more white cards and feels more white than black. Plus, with the wedge structure, black is the odd one out, so will be more marginalized than the two ally colors.
That said, I disagree that the black cards don't show black traits of Abzan. Killing people so that you can conscript their children into your army isn't really white. Neither is disowning a former member of your family, condemning them to an eternity of loneliness, yet still requiring them to serve in battle (the card makes it sound like they do it willingly, the planeswalker's guide suggests they are summoned, either way sucks to be them).
Also you have too think some of these traits are hybrid feeling examples; Temur uses elemental magic and Mardu treat the khan like a living god.
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I'm pretty surge charging full price for food is something any color but white would do.
Depends on the situation honestly. Any color could charge full price, or not, depending, except as stated Green, who probably wouldn't be selling food in the first place.
White would either be adhering to the vastly more important rules than caring about this one citizen, or they could have naturally lower prices in order to make their "utopia."
Blue could charge full price because this person has the ability and potential to make his own way up to paying for the food, or they could exchange information instead of money.
Black would charge full price because that's how a business is run, that's Black's life on that coin, or they could cut a deal of some kind.
Red could either charge full price because that's how THEY decided to run their business, and no one can tell them otherwise, or empathy could make them change the price for this person.
And Green...well, green could either argue that this is merely the way to survive, that if "survival of the fittest" led to not having the money to pay here, it was clearly their fault, or they could just as easily see it as their fate, or look to their bond as creatures fighting the same fight, and cut a deal.
And now I'm picturing some weird farmer's market where all 5 colors are lined up, selling the exact same product.
That's my point. I think I should have written 'could do'. Anyway, charging optimal prices is hardly any reason to make a faction black, specially when this business practices have been 0% explored in cards. You guys talk like there's a card "Charge Full Price" with the picture of a Abzan merchant getting a gold coin and handling a fruit to depressed and hungry person.
Take the Abzan black cards.... They all have pretty white flavor text and the looks are definitely not black enough.
I think from the clans of KTK block, only the Sultai and the Jeskai do a good job of covering their 3 colors and justify the multicolor mechanics. Temur lacks a lot of blue, Abzan lacks a lot of black and Mardu lacks a bit of white.
The Abzan Black cards are pretty Black. Just because they're more benevolent than Black is usually portrayed doesn't stop making them valid representations of the colour.
The Mardu are very White, their whole philosophy is based on ideals and honour and they're efficiently organised. The Temur are the only clan that doesn't feel imediately tricolor, though I'd argue their lifestyle is a form of Blue perfectionism, and of course there's their whole time travel shenigans.
Disowned Ancestor have a black name but the flavor text talks about a spirit seeking redemption (unblack). Krumar Bond-Kin is a grateful orc making a life oath to their House (very unblack). Mer-Ek Nightblade doesn't have a flavor text but it should really look more meaner. Retribution of the Ancients talks about martyrdom and willing after life servitude (unblack). Unyielding Krumar talk about another redeemed orc (again, redemption is not a black theme).
I said Mardu lacks a bit of white, not much of it. I think there should be a white Mardu card showing their devotion to the Khan. About the Temur, it's just the lack of humans in blue that bothers me (the blue temur creatures are all elementals!). It really makes the Temur clan looks very unblue when there's no representative of the philosophy in the cards. Not to mention multicolor Temur humans (Bear's Companion, Surrakar) doesn't look blue in any way.
Okay, I will be convinced if people show mono black cards from other sets with the following themes: redemption, life oath as gratitude, martyrdom.
That said, I disagree that the black cards don't show black traits of Abzan. Killing people so that you can conscript their children into your army isn't really white. Neither is disowning a former member of your family, condemning them to an eternity of loneliness, yet still requiring them to serve in battle (the card makes it sound like they do it willingly, the planeswalker's guide suggests they are summoned, either way sucks to be them).
Killing people and conscripting their children is precisely the white thing to do if you believe yourself the righteous and the one killed a wicked monster. Conscripting the children is even a form of mercy (instead of killing him or letting him to die, you show him your better way of life). Killing people TO gather new soldiers is less white but it's not what Abzan lore implies.
Disowning people is what white do best, including sending people to another dimension or erasing it's existence. In this case the spirit lingers on, seeking redemption for their diversions. If they were forced it would feel less white more white-black hybrid but this is not implied by the card (see, I'm arguing for the lack of black flavor in Abzan cards).
I agree with you the odd color in the wedge seems to get lesser representation, which is a shame because the wedges seems very artificial when not all colors are justified properly. The way I see, wedge already suffer from lack of identity and philosophy in the game and this set only gives ammunition to the idea wedges are a impractical thing from a flavor stand point , since KTK experience is at least questionable compared to the depth each tri color combo got in Alara and in previous multicolor blocks/stories.
I said Mardu lacks a bit of white, not much of it. I think there should be a white Mardu card showing their devotion to the Khan.
Firehoof Cavalry is demonstrating fortitude in combat. How is that not White? Mardu Hordechief is inspiring fellow warriors with his valor. How is that not White? Timely Hordemate is about someone saving the skin of a fellow Mardu. How is that not White?
Okay, I will be convinced if people show mono black cards from other sets with the following themes: redemption, life oath as gratitude, martyrdom.
Maybe you should consider the fact that not every set expresses every part of a colour, just like we didn't get to see Red's less violent side until relatively recently.
Killing people and conscripting their children is precisely the white thing to do if you believe yourself the righteous and the one killed a wicked monster. Conscripting the children is even a form of mercy (instead of killing him or letting him to die, you show him your better way of life). Killing people TO gather new soldiers is less white but it's not what Abzan lore implies.
The thing is that in order to make that argument, you have make an assumption about the motivations of the Abzan. I don't see anything in the lore that describes them as trying to slay monsters and make the world a better place or anything like that. Instead, their motivations are more base, they just want to survive, and do so by taking what they need from others. Taking of war orphans is a tradition from raiding other groups, rather than for any benevolent reasons.
As the Abzan wage war, they create many orphans among their enemies. Krumar are the orphaned children of enemy clans taken by the Abzan to be raised as soldiers. The taking of krumar is a tradition that dates back to the days when the Abzan were raiders, and it remains a strong institution to this day.
Of course they tell the orphans they conscript that they're 'redeeming' them, what better way to get loyal soldiers than brainwashing them? Note that this flies in the face of their treatment of the disowned, who it seems are not able to be redeemed no matter what they do.
Specifically about Mer-Ek Nightblade, the assassin that smiles while he slits your throat is still black.
Krumar Bond-Kin is a grateful orc making a life oath to their House (very unblack).
Black's association with deals and contracts sets precedent for this. It is simply a more heartwarming version.
But that's not what the flavour text is about at all. It directly calls out "selflessness", something that is so inherently unblack, it's hilarious. Black can be "good", black can be "kind", black can even be a "people person", but black in its very core is not selfless.
The way I see it the Krumar (and other minions of black-aligned systems) are black in the same vein as falcons are white or drakes are blue. They do not share the philosophical system of the mana they are summoned with, but they are still deeply connected to their "master".
Shrug, not an ideal solution, I know. I just prefer to ignore the Krumar flavour texts altogether and re-imagine them as bitter "outcasts" within the Abzan struggling to become more than just second-class citizen.
With respect to writing about the clan's khan, there seems to be little mention of how she is aligned with black. Is there a presumption that her graveyard disruption is a form of necromancy? Do the abzan practice any forms of diabolism?
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The Abzan basically organise themselves in family units. This is classical White/Black: priority of a group over all others. Likewise, they have a pretty damn pragmatic worldview; I seriously doubt any mono-White society would allow the corpses of their loved ones to rot and be consumed by a tree.
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Black doesn't have to be unscrupulous. In fact the Abzan appear to be an extremely straightforward sort of people.
Since their primary interaction with people outside of the clan is as traders imagine you're lying by the side of the road starving to death. An Abzan caravan wouldn't taunt you or exploit you but they'd probably charge you full price for food rather than help out of the goodness of their hearts, if you couldn't pay (or convince them you'd be valuable) they would just let you die.
Anafenza's graveyard ability is probably more an indication of overkill than necromancy. From the planeswalker's guide "We do not pile the skulls of our enemies, nor make them into ornaments. We grind them into dust." They don't conquer their enemies but they're also not content with merely winning a battle, it has to be annihilation. That is very black.
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That doesn't seem entirely correct. The Abzan help war orphans and such; they probably wouldn't just help any person they come across, but they're not entirely self motivated and pitiless.
As for the graveyard thing, yes, it is styled after overkill. The Abzan appearently only make use of two types of magic: spirit magic and sandcalling. Unless Anafenza is using her ancestral spirits to burn corpses or smashing them with sand, I don't see how she's doing that magically.
They're Green for the very same reason they're White/Black: their focus on the family and kin-specific communities.
I don't know why community/family ideology is black either. Family only sounds black to me when we're talking about mafia. I think the power struggle aspect of abzan social system should havê recieved greater focus.
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Red wouldn't leave a person to starve on account of empathy. Green wouldn't sell food in the first place.
Community is white. Family is green.
Cultural supremacy, however, is a traditional trait given to Bx groups while GW wants everyone to join (Selesnya), BG (Shadowmoor Elves) and BW (Orzhov) have often been shown as despising outsiders.
Jockeying for power is certainly a trait of a Bx society but I expect its difficult to show on cards.
Barbarians, dragons, goblins and ogres are not very empathetic imo and they are poster races of red.
There are green farmers in magic the gathering, so green selo food.
Cultural supremancy have been assaciated with white quite strongly as well. Evangelists, preachers and crusaders are portrayed in white after all. Cultural supremancy havê not been portrayed in monoblack (phyrexians is more of a conqueror race then supremancists).
Power struggle is very well portrayed in many blocks, such as conspirancy, masks and ravnica. All it needed was one mono black abzan card referring to families accumulating wealth across generations and/or showing one family ploting against another. Instead we get friendly looking orcs, onde with a really white flavor text!
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Depends on the situation honestly. Any color could charge full price, or not, depending, except as stated Green, who probably wouldn't be selling food in the first place.
White would either be adhering to the vastly more important rules than caring about this one citizen, or they could have naturally lower prices in order to make their "utopia."
Blue could charge full price because this person has the ability and potential to make his own way up to paying for the food, or they could exchange information instead of money.
Black would charge full price because that's how a business is run, that's Black's life on that coin, or they could cut a deal of some kind.
Red could either charge full price because that's how THEY decided to run their business, and no one can tell them otherwise, or empathy could make them change the price for this person.
And Green...well, green could either argue that this is merely the way to survive, that if "survival of the fittest" led to not having the money to pay here, it was clearly their fault, or they could just as easily see it as their fate, or look to their bond as creatures fighting the same fight, and cut a deal.
And now I'm picturing some weird farmer's market where all 5 colors are lined up, selling the exact same product.
That's my point. I think I should have written 'could do'. Anyway, charging optimal prices is hardly any reason to make a faction black, specially when this business practices have been 0% explored in cards. You guys talk like there's a card "Charge Full Price" with the picture of a Abzan merchant getting a gold coin and handling a fruit to depressed and hungry person.
Take the Abzan black cards.... They all have pretty white flavor text and the looks are definitely not black enough.
I think from the clans of KTK block, only the Sultai and the Jeskai do a good job of covering their 3 colors and justify the multicolor mechanics. Temur lacks a lot of blue, Abzan lacks a lot of black and Mardu lacks a bit of white.
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The Abzan Black cards are pretty Black. Just because they're more benevolent than Black is usually portrayed doesn't stop making them valid representations of the colour.
The Mardu are very White, their whole philosophy is based on ideals and honour and they're efficiently organised. The Temur are the only clan that doesn't feel imediately tricolor, though I'd argue their lifestyle is a form of Blue perfectionism, and of course there's their whole time travel shenigans.
That said, I disagree that the black cards don't show black traits of Abzan. Killing people so that you can conscript their children into your army isn't really white. Neither is disowning a former member of your family, condemning them to an eternity of loneliness, yet still requiring them to serve in battle (the card makes it sound like they do it willingly, the planeswalker's guide suggests they are summoned, either way sucks to be them).
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Disowned Ancestor have a black name but the flavor text talks about a spirit seeking redemption (unblack).
Krumar Bond-Kin is a grateful orc making a life oath to their House (very unblack).
Mer-Ek Nightblade doesn't have a flavor text but it should really look more meaner.
Retribution of the Ancients talks about martyrdom and willing after life servitude (unblack).
Unyielding Krumar talk about another redeemed orc (again, redemption is not a black theme).
I said Mardu lacks a bit of white, not much of it. I think there should be a white Mardu card showing their devotion to the Khan. About the Temur, it's just the lack of humans in blue that bothers me (the blue temur creatures are all elementals!). It really makes the Temur clan looks very unblue when there's no representative of the philosophy in the cards. Not to mention multicolor Temur humans (Bear's Companion, Surrakar) doesn't look blue in any way.
Okay, I will be convinced if people show mono black cards from other sets with the following themes: redemption, life oath as gratitude, martyrdom.
Killing people and conscripting their children is precisely the white thing to do if you believe yourself the righteous and the one killed a wicked monster. Conscripting the children is even a form of mercy (instead of killing him or letting him to die, you show him your better way of life). Killing people TO gather new soldiers is less white but it's not what Abzan lore implies.
Disowning people is what white do best, including sending people to another dimension or erasing it's existence. In this case the spirit lingers on, seeking redemption for their diversions. If they were forced it would feel less white more white-black hybrid but this is not implied by the card (see, I'm arguing for the lack of black flavor in Abzan cards).
I agree with you the odd color in the wedge seems to get lesser representation, which is a shame because the wedges seems very artificial when not all colors are justified properly. The way I see, wedge already suffer from lack of identity and philosophy in the game and this set only gives ammunition to the idea wedges are a impractical thing from a flavor stand point , since KTK experience is at least questionable compared to the depth each tri color combo got in Alara and in previous multicolor blocks/stories.
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Yes, because a slightly different variation of the "mournful spirit" archetype is so unblack, in spite of being a staple of the colour by now.
Black's association with deals and contracts sets precedent for this. It is simply a more heartwarming version.
Please tell me you're joking.
Because it's not like Black is strongly associated with post-mortem service or anything.
Tell that to Repentant Vampire.
Firehoof Cavalry is demonstrating fortitude in combat. How is that not White?
Mardu Hordechief is inspiring fellow warriors with his valor. How is that not White?
Timely Hordemate is about someone saving the skin of a fellow Mardu. How is that not White?
Maybe you should consider the fact that not every set expresses every part of a colour, just like we didn't get to see Red's less violent side until relatively recently.
That said:
Ihsan's Shade(Not in the card, but as a character)
Markov's Servant
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord (again, character, not in the card, but still)
The thing is that in order to make that argument, you have make an assumption about the motivations of the Abzan. I don't see anything in the lore that describes them as trying to slay monsters and make the world a better place or anything like that. Instead, their motivations are more base, they just want to survive, and do so by taking what they need from others. Taking of war orphans is a tradition from raiding other groups, rather than for any benevolent reasons.
Of course they tell the orphans they conscript that they're 'redeeming' them, what better way to get loyal soldiers than brainwashing them? Note that this flies in the face of their treatment of the disowned, who it seems are not able to be redeemed no matter what they do.
Specifically about Mer-Ek Nightblade, the assassin that smiles while he slits your throat is still black.
But that's not what the flavour text is about at all. It directly calls out "selflessness", something that is so inherently unblack, it's hilarious. Black can be "good", black can be "kind", black can even be a "people person", but black in its very core is not selfless.
The way I see it the Krumar (and other minions of black-aligned systems) are black in the same vein as falcons are white or drakes are blue. They do not share the philosophical system of the mana they are summoned with, but they are still deeply connected to their "master".
Shrug, not an ideal solution, I know. I just prefer to ignore the Krumar flavour texts altogether and re-imagine them as bitter "outcasts" within the Abzan struggling to become more than just second-class citizen.