I've been thinking about the common consensus that the post-Mending Planeswalkers are really dull because their personalities are pretty cliché/uninteresting interpretations of their respective slices of the color pie. But I'm wondering if that could be made a little less severe by introducing more contrast between the monocolored walkers.
Consider that in terms of the major plot-relevant Planeswalkers, we've seen Tezzeret and Tamiyo move out of mono-blue, Ajani move out of mono-white, Sorin move out of mono-black, and Garruk move out of mono-green. (Sarkhan's just all over the place; can't seem to pin him down for more than a block!) Between that and the seeming reluctance to feature multiple Planeswalkers of the same color as the focus of a set, that's left very little room for contrasting the personalities and actions of 'Walkers within the same color. I think that leads to more "Well, Jace did this because he's a blue walker" instead of "Jace did this because he has a nuanced personality on top of his color identity."
I think that having more frequent contrast between same-color Planeswalker would help a lot with the blandness issues. Nissa and Garruk are(/were) more or less stereotypical green characters, but they were pretty distinct from one another even before Garruk shifted to black-green. Same with Liliana and Ob Nixilis, or Jace and mono-blue Tezzeret. I don't think that would suddenly make them the best characters ever, but a lot of our ability to perceive character depth comes from the foils they're set up against. (Not that kind of foil, silly!) Seeing how they differ from one another by embodying different aspects of their color identity would, IMO, go a long ways towards that.
Anyone else feel that way? Feel strongly against?
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WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
You make a valid point (though Tamiyo is still, for flavor purposes, pretty much a Mono-U walker). Being able to contrast, say, Chandra's Redness (passion, emotion) and Koth's Redness (Ruthless Determination) would make a world of difference.
Well, I think this is part of the area where "it's a game" kind of takes precedence. Tamiyo wasn't Mono-blue even though she's still Blue-centered because it would have imbalanced the colors amongst Planeswalkers in Standard. Though thinking on it there is actually something extra I want to add.
For all that Tamiyo was depicted as Bant, in story she felt much more Blue-focused and centered, and I think it did do a good job of clashing her with comparison to Jace. Granted Jace wasn't in his right frame of mind for a good part of it which kind of hurts the potential to foil them, but I think that just because Tamiyo's card was Bant doesn't mean that we should think of her as a Bant character. One of the biggest complaints that I saw with Tamiyo being Bant was that she didn't feel like a Bant character the way she was written, and I believe that it was at least somewhat confirmed that she isn't really Bant-focused so much as that was something necessary for the card game aspect of it. Kind of roundabout way of saying that I personally think that already was done with Jace and Tamiyo.
I'll also add that most of those are really old examples of characters moving around color-wise. Sorin was White/Black as old as Innistrad, same goes for Green/Black Garruk. I think Ajani was the most "recent" of those changes that actually felt like a shift in philosophy, but even then it was still in Theros. Not sure where Sarkhan is going so I agree counting him doesn't count. His most defining trait is Red followed by Green, but I can't really say where they're going with him.
That all being said I think that seeing contrasts between characters of similar color pie areas would be nice. The Origins 5 are meant to feel very... generic though, so they will mesh very well with an average view of the color. I think though that you can see that clashing even if they aren't an exact copy. So someone like Tezzeret, Saheeli, and Dovin can all work to foil the Origins 5 to some extent. There are also Legendaries too to keep in mind. It's not like Baral and Jace don't work for that somewhat. I'm guessing you'd have preferred they'd interact more directly though.
I feel like I kind of rambled on enough, didn't wind up coming out quite as cohesive as I wanted it too, and I'm not sure how to tie it together.
Unless Planeswalker Duels killed Garruk, I think he is staying as a GB pocket villain, which the storyline needs.
The reason I see them doing it is marketing. One for each color, with Origins coming out after Tarkir, Sarkhan couldn't be just one of the primary colors, no planeswalker could. This also justified the "death" of Elspeth and the resulting shift for Ajani... lemme list them:
gideon
jace
liliana
chandra
nissa
wu - block guest
wb - Sorin (sort of)
wr - block guest with focus on Nahiri
wg - Ajani
ub - Tezzeret
ur - block guest, Dack is never going to interact with the Gatewatch, sorry.
ug - Kiora...
br - intriguingly open, I'm calling Ob Nixillis moves to this spot
bg - Garruk
Bolas and Ugin, obviously have their spots they always had. Well... then there is Karn. . .
Now that we have that map out of the way, please notice with each block you will NEVER have two planeswalkers with the exact same color identity. This is to clearly define factions as "protagonist" and "antagonist". This also leads to a huge issue with the Gatewatch being only primary colors, there will probably never be a new monocolored planeswalker unless one of them dies/"dies"/quits the Gatewatch. This is also why I think Sorin got dealt his fate: he was too prime of a candidate for the Gatewatch and due to the power ranger mentality, he got put on (permanent?) hiatus instead of delegated to "green ranger" status. Ajani got that slot, which isn't bad at all, I actually really like Ajani and he is one of the originals (Postmending storywise;Lorwyn card type premiers cardwise).
I think the marketing team is heavily tying "color identity" in with "character identity".
Which leaves me completely in the dark as to the chance of us witnessing an awkward conversation between Ugin and Karn(which if it would occur, would in 2018).
Well, I think this is part of the area where "it's a game" kind of takes precedence. Tamiyo wasn't Mono-blue even though she's still Blue-centered because it would have imbalanced the colors amongst Planeswalkers in Standard. Though thinking on it there is actually something extra I want to add.
For all that Tamiyo was depicted as Bant, in story she felt much more Blue-focused and centered, and I think it did do a good job of clashing her with comparison to Jace. Granted Jace wasn't in his right frame of mind for a good part of it which kind of hurts the potential to foil them, but I think that just because Tamiyo's card was Bant doesn't mean that we should think of her as a Bant character. One of the biggest complaints that I saw with Tamiyo being Bant was that she didn't feel like a Bant character the way she was written, and I believe that it was at least somewhat confirmed that she isn't really Bant-focused so much as that was something necessary for the card game aspect of it. Kind of roundabout way of saying that I personally think that already was done with Jace and Tamiyo.
Actually, I always thought of Tamiyo (as depicted in the story of SOI) as a blue-centred Bant character. Her story-related abilities, her self-imposed "only watching, never intervening"-clause (which definitely isn't pure blue as far as I know)... It's just that her white and green aspects are somewhat "filtered" through her mostly blue personality (mirrored in her planeswalker abilities). Someone (I believe it was Maro, but I might be wrong) said that she was deliberately written that way to justify her being Bant in EMN. And I like that, you can still see her as a mostly blue character if you want to, but I'm more intrigued by her being Bant to be honest. You can still contrast her to Jace nicely (which was one of my favorite elements of SOI).
Non-intervention may be seen as a green clause ("it is not my place to alter the natural proggression of this plane") but it is definitely NOT white. It strongly clashes with the idea of her being white, really.
I didn't state that it was part of her white characteristics, those were just general examples for her non-blue elements.
Well, I think this is part of the area where "it's a game" kind of takes precedence. Tamiyo wasn't Mono-blue even though she's still Blue-centered because it would have imbalanced the colors amongst Planeswalkers in Standard. Though thinking on it there is actually something extra I want to add.
For all that Tamiyo was depicted as Bant, in story she felt much more Blue-focused and centered, and I think it did do a good job of clashing her with comparison to Jace. Granted Jace wasn't in his right frame of mind for a good part of it which kind of hurts the potential to foil them, but I think that just because Tamiyo's card was Bant doesn't mean that we should think of her as a Bant character. One of the biggest complaints that I saw with Tamiyo being Bant was that she didn't feel like a Bant character the way she was written, and I believe that it was at least somewhat confirmed that she isn't really Bant-focused so much as that was something necessary for the card game aspect of it. Kind of roundabout way of saying that I personally think that already was done with Jace and Tamiyo.
Actually, I always thought of Tamiyo (as depicted in the story of SOI) as a blue-centred Bant character. Her story-related abilities, her self-imposed "only watching, never intervening"-clause (which definitely isn't pure blue as far as I know)... It's just that her white and green aspects are somewhat "filtered" through her mostly blue personality (mirrored in her planeswalker abilities). Someone (I believe it was Maro, but I might be wrong) said that she was deliberately written that way to justify her being Bant in EMN. And I like that, you can still see her as a mostly blue character if you want to, but I'm more intrigued by her being Bant to be honest. You can still contrast her to Jace nicely (which was one of my favorite elements of SOI).
I wasn't really considering abilities any, mostly because I don't think Chandra but with Ice powers would really feel like a Blue/Red character, even if her ability set would make her one.
As far as non-intervention only observing goes I could see that in a pure Blue character. Depends on the setting. I'm definitely not saying she can't be Bant, but her personality and motives and such were plenty Blue exclusive too.
If anything I could see her being a hybrid Blue character. But I wouldn't see her as Bant Bant, at least to me. Even with a Blue focus that would look different to me.
I would agree that Tamiyo's not BANT bant, but I'm comfotable with her being Blue bant. If not for the added difficulty in casting her card, I'd imagine she would have cost GWUU instead of 1GWU to really highlight that blue is her core. (In fact, IIRC someone asked MaRo about that on tumblr and he said as much/agreed with that assessment.)
EDIT: Looked for it, but all I could find was this comment, doesn't mention mana costs but he does outright state that Tamiyo *IS* more Blue than White/Green, so there's that.
[mana]GWUU[mana] cost would have settled most complaints.
Reading the comments feed on that post OathboundOne, some people place strict promise-keeping in white. Others point out white would be more concerned about the fate of a world than its own promises, which I agree with.
Moreover I think you could place stubborn promise-keeping in blue as 'self programming.'
As much as I'd like to see her be mono U, there's a very good case to be made for her being GU based on her development.
She shows tremendous acceptance for death, hangs out in Kamigawa to study and just meditate/chill out. As we've seen with Nissa, Harmonize flavor is getting more of a push in green.
If Tamiyo is Bant-colored, then I see the ratio as WGGUUU if not GUU. We could argue she splashed white as a phase while helping the Gatewatch, but I think her core is much more Simic than Bant.
With that said, why not have more GU representation? It's nice to see different nuances that colors and their pairings exhibit. A story encounter between Kiora and Tamiyo, for instance, would be pretty cool.
If we consider what MaRo has often said about the Orzhov guild as 'White means to Black ends' - Tamiyo might lean toward Green means (Calm observation, exploration) to Blue ends (Research) while Kiora might be Blue means (Trickery) to Green ends. (Stompy goodstuff)
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
I would agree that Tamiyo's not BANT bant, but I'm comfotable with her being Blue bant. If not for the added difficulty in casting her card, I'd imagine she would have cost GWUU instead of 1GWU to really highlight that blue is her core. (In fact, IIRC someone asked MaRo about that on tumblr and he said as much/agreed with that assessment.)
EDIT: Looked for it, but all I could find was this comment, doesn't mention mana costs but he does outright state that Tamiyo *IS* more Blue than White/Green, so there's that.
That's why I said hybrid. I could see Tamiyo being hybrid U/G and U/W, but... I don't know. Most of the things people try and point to as being White or Green traits seem perfectly suitable for Blue traits. The colors in general have a lot of breadth and depth, so Tamiyo being one possible interpretation of a mono-Blue character seems totally fine to me.
Non-intervention may be seen as a green clause ("it is not my place to alter the natural proggression of this plane") but it is definitely NOT white. It strongly clashes with the idea of her being white, really.
Non Intervention is definitely white if you have a rule about it. The Prime Directive from Star Trek is Definitely White in theme since every episode about it comes down to "Do we follow the law, or do we break it and do the right thing."
Non-intervention may be seen as a green clause ("it is not my place to alter the natural proggression of this plane") but it is definitely NOT white. It strongly clashes with the idea of her being white, really.
Non Intervention is definitely white if you have a rule about it. The Prime Directive from Star Trek is Definitely White in theme since every episode about it comes down to "Do we follow the law, or do we break it and do the right thing."
Non Intervention, like a lot of things, can be seen as different colors based on why. If your non intervention is because this is a law or restriction you(or something) have set for yourself then it is obviously white. If it is because as you see it, it is rude and cruel for a being not of this world to meddle so deeply in the worlds affairs then it is green. If you're like Tamiyo and you don't meddle because you can't possibly know the results of your meddling so you sit back and learn all you can and only meddle if after all this you believe that your actions will have your intended results, then you are blue.
Then the whole if you don't intervene because it won't help you you're black. While if you don't because you don't feel like it you're red...
Oh, it would definitely help I think. But I also think a more fundamental issue would have to be addressed first, and its the order in which the design process happens regarding a character's color identity. The way it should work, and often did pre-Ravinca block (as I perceive this problem as starting slightly before Time Spiral block), was that a character's personality and history was written first and then the writer would decide upon a reason that character would choose to use a certain color of magic or identify with that color of magic. Teferi used blue magic because he was interested in time magic, and that requires the use of blue mana, for instance. Freyalis was half elf, so of course she identified with green, but she also dabbled in pyromancy because it was practical and suited her fierce persona. Chainer, to use a non-planeswalker example, used black magic and an aspect of it that isn't usually seen: taking his own fears and literal nightmares and turning them into a weapon. Sometimes a planeswalker would even be left undefined for various reasons, such as in the case of Urza and Karn. They were artifact focused characters, so it was only fitting that they use whatever color was convenient at a given moment. Almost every character, if they were a mage, was aware of where the colors of magic came from and had some idea of what they could and could not do. They also were allowed to self-define what aspect of the color of magic they drew upon, including new aspects that were revealed in new blocks. To flip that creation process on its head transparently reduces them to mere game pieces. And yes, I am aware that they are in fact parts of a game. Its not an impossible task to balance that with their depiction in the story.
In contrast, the Gatewatch characters (and this isn't meant to be another rant about the Gatewatch characters; we spend more time with them than other planeswalkers, and what is revealed about them helps make sense of things like Tamyo's color identity) don't even seem to be aware that their type of magic is associated with a certain color of magic. We are the ones who know that Jace uses blue magic, but Jace hardly ever mentions it. They know that mana exists, but they seem to exist in a state similar to the Thrawn, aware that magic is powered by mana but unaware of why their various forms of magic are so different. The most recent story even implies that they use personalized planeswalking spells, but don't know why this is! Why is it necessary that they use personalized planeswalking spells? Why is planeswalking even a spell and not an ability? (don't answer that, I'm sure it was explained in Time Spiral block) All it does is call attention to how poorly the characters really understand magic. As far as I can tell, the only one who is really cognizant of a theory of magic color is Lilliana, and that's because she is supposed to be a pre-mending planeswalker from Dominaria. Also, she is the most horribly stereotypical of them all, but more because the writers don't know how to write a genuinely heroic black character. Because of this, the characters are actually denied some of their agency: they use a certain color of magic, but it isn't by choice. Chandra uses pyromancy because she was born a pyromancer; Gideon is indestructible because reasons; Nissa is green because she is an elf; and Jace is the face of blue magic. If, on the other hand, the characters were more self-aware, then we could have Nissa ask Chandra if she could teach her some pyromancy, or have Jace ask Gideon for tips on law magic to help him administer Ravinca-- or better yet address the problem that he's constantly away from his duties. But that isn't going to happen, of course, because it would hamper the Superhero team dynamic the writers are trying to establish. Its just too bad that dynamic doesn't work very well in a genre where the hero's abilities are supposed to be learned skillsets.
As for those planeswalkers who we've seen in multiple colors, it appears that they generally are the ones who are aware of the colors of magic and are the ones making more conscious choices about what kinds of magic the use and learn. So its no surprise to me that many of them are so popular in spite of the backlash against the Origins Five. It definitely seems to be the case for Sorin and Nahiri, who are notable for overlapping in white and for each using a secondary color that would normally be friendly (red and black), but nonetheless conflict openly. Sorin is openly said to have emulated Nahiri's magic to make the big 'ol magic prison that Avacyn was trapped in, after all.
Almost every character, if they were a mage, was aware of where the colors of magic came from and had some idea of what they could and could not do.
I love most of your post, but this isn't true. A lot of mages knew where 'their' color of magic came from but had little understanding of the others, and sometimes didn't even know that much. So only characters that dabbled in all colors would then have any real idea how each functioned. Also for a significant number of mages spellcasting was natural/self taught, though they occasionally branched out and learned 'new' spells usually from imitation.
Oh, it would definitely help I think. But I also think a more fundamental issue would have to be addressed first, and its the order in which the design process happens regarding a character's color identity. The way it should work, and often did pre-Ravinca block (as I perceive this problem as starting slightly before Time Spiral block), was that a character's personality and history was written first and then the writer would decide upon a reason that character would choose to use a certain color of magic or identify with that color of magic. Teferi used blue magic because he was interested in time magic, and that requires the use of blue mana, for instance. Freyalis was half elf, so of course she identified with green, but she also dabbled in pyromancy because it was practical and suited her fierce persona. Chainer, to use a non-planeswalker example, used black magic and an aspect of it that isn't usually seen: taking his own fears and literal nightmares and turning them into a weapon. Sometimes a planeswalker would even be left undefined for various reasons, such as in the case of Urza and Karn. They were artifact focused characters, so it was only fitting that they use whatever color was convenient at a given moment. Almost every character, if they were a mage, was aware of where the colors of magic came from and had some idea of what they could and could not do. They also were allowed to self-define what aspect of the color of magic they drew upon, including new aspects that were revealed in new blocks. To flip that creation process on its head transparently reduces them to mere game pieces. And yes, I am aware that they are in fact parts of a game. Its not an impossible task to balance that with their depiction in the story.
In contrast, the Gatewatch characters (and this isn't meant to be another rant about the Gatewatch characters; we spend more time with them than other planeswalkers, and what is revealed about them helps make sense of things like Tamyo's color identity) don't even seem to be aware that their type of magic is associated with a certain color of magic. We are the ones who know that Jace uses blue magic, but Jace hardly ever mentions it. They know that mana exists, but they seem to exist in a state similar to the Thrawn, aware that magic is powered by mana but unaware of why their various forms of magic are so different. The most recent story even implies that they use personalized planeswalking spells, but don't know why this is! Why is it necessary that they use personalized planeswalking spells? Why is planeswalking even a spell and not an ability? (don't answer that, I'm sure it was explained in Time Spiral block) All it does is call attention to how poorly the characters really understand magic. As far as I can tell, the only one who is really cognizant of a theory of magic color is Lilliana, and that's because she is supposed to be a pre-mending planeswalker from Dominaria. Also, she is the most horribly stereotypical of them all, but more because the writers don't know how to write a genuinely heroic black character. Because of this, the characters are actually denied some of their agency: they use a certain color of magic, but it isn't by choice. Chandra uses pyromancy because she was born a pyromancer; Gideon is indestructible because reasons; Nissa is green because she is an elf; and Jace is the face of blue magic. If, on the other hand, the characters were more self-aware, then we could have Nissa ask Chandra if she could teach her some pyromancy, or have Jace ask Gideon for tips on law magic to help him administer Ravinca-- or better yet address the problem that he's constantly away from his duties. But that isn't going to happen, of course, because it would hamper the Superhero team dynamic the writers are trying to establish. Its just too bad that dynamic doesn't work very well in a genre where the hero's abilities are supposed to be learned skillsets.
As for those planeswalkers who we've seen in multiple colors, it appears that they generally are the ones who are aware of the colors of magic and are the ones making more conscious choices about what kinds of magic the use and learn. So its no surprise to me that many of them are so popular in spite of the backlash against the Origins Five. It definitely seems to be the case for Sorin and Nahiri, who are notable for overlapping in white and for each using a secondary color that would normally be friendly (red and black), but nonetheless conflict openly. Sorin is openly said to have emulated Nahiri's magic to make the big 'ol magic prison that Avacyn was trapped in, after all.
I agree completely, especially that the super hero-like abilities that characters are born with completely contradicts the idea of magic being something you learn. Hell, just playing the card game itself is a much better example of how using mana and knowing spells is supposed to be.
I hope that they make characters become a little more self-aware regarding the colors of mana. The best recent example are tge Jeskai, who had recognized and named each type of mana: soulfire (W), mistfire (U), deathfire (B), bloodfire (R), and vitalfire (G) as well as ghostfire (colorless). (Some of those names might be slightly off but you get the idea.) The Jeskai had specific reasons for using U, R, and W magic but not B and G. I would like to see more of that type of thing show up in modern Magic lore.
Chandra uses pyromancy because she was born a pyromancer; Gideon is indestructible because reasons; Nissa is green because she is an elf; and Jace is the face of blue magic. If, on the other hand, the characters were more self-aware, then we could have Nissa ask Chandra if she could teach her some pyromancy, or have Jace ask Gideon for tips on law magic to help him administer Ravinca-- or better yet address the problem that he's constantly away from his duties. But that isn't going to happen, of course, because it would hamper the Superhero team dynamic the writers are trying to establish. Its just too bad that dynamic doesn't work very well in a genre where the hero's abilities are supposed to be learned skillsets.
I'm surprised no one thought of this before. Someone skilled at something is probably going to attract people who want to know how they do it, or they'd offer to help others with the skill. With that in mind, it seems baffling why Gideon never offered to train everyone on the team his invulnerability trick, or Jace tutoring them in the secrets of mental communication, or Nissa teaching the rudiments of healing magic. Those would be extremely useful strategic abilities! Are we to believe that these characters are just the X-Men, where they just have powers that can't actually be taught? Because that flies in the face of everything we've learned about the way magic works in the story.
Heck, the story of Feldon is entirely about his journey to find a magical means of getting his wife back, learning a little bit about each color of magic on the way. You would expect any mage, regardless of whether they are formally educated or not, would probably have the same idea. If the magic you know can't accomplish what you are after, then you would think "maybe someone else knows the way?" The cherry on top would be the very different aspects of some of the colors on display in the story from what we're used to these days.
Great post, Formless_One! Some characters in magic, and especially the Gatewatch, really are too closely defined by their colors. But mono-colored characters are kinda hard in that regard. In a way, if you make their characters too complex and maybe even let them dabble into some other color of magic, people would most likely demand that the additional color be represented on the planeswalker card ("he must be part green or white because he used a healing spell"). I see this in many discussions where people argue for or against a character having or not having color X in his/her mana cost because [reasons]. In order for more complex (mono-colored) characters to be possible, the audience also needs to know and accept that the colors we see on a card can reflect only the most prevalent traits of a certain character and that it's neither necessary nor achieveable to have every little thing represented. Otherwise, pretty much every character could be five- or at least four-color.
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Consider that in terms of the major plot-relevant Planeswalkers, we've seen Tezzeret and Tamiyo move out of mono-blue, Ajani move out of mono-white, Sorin move out of mono-black, and Garruk move out of mono-green. (Sarkhan's just all over the place; can't seem to pin him down for more than a block!) Between that and the seeming reluctance to feature multiple Planeswalkers of the same color as the focus of a set, that's left very little room for contrasting the personalities and actions of 'Walkers within the same color. I think that leads to more "Well, Jace did this because he's a blue walker" instead of "Jace did this because he has a nuanced personality on top of his color identity."
I think that having more frequent contrast between same-color Planeswalker would help a lot with the blandness issues. Nissa and Garruk are(/were) more or less stereotypical green characters, but they were pretty distinct from one another even before Garruk shifted to black-green. Same with Liliana and Ob Nixilis, or Jace and mono-blue Tezzeret. I don't think that would suddenly make them the best characters ever, but a lot of our ability to perceive character depth comes from the foils they're set up against. (Not that kind of foil, silly!) Seeing how they differ from one another by embodying different aspects of their color identity would, IMO, go a long ways towards that.
Anyone else feel that way? Feel strongly against?
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
For all that Tamiyo was depicted as Bant, in story she felt much more Blue-focused and centered, and I think it did do a good job of clashing her with comparison to Jace. Granted Jace wasn't in his right frame of mind for a good part of it which kind of hurts the potential to foil them, but I think that just because Tamiyo's card was Bant doesn't mean that we should think of her as a Bant character. One of the biggest complaints that I saw with Tamiyo being Bant was that she didn't feel like a Bant character the way she was written, and I believe that it was at least somewhat confirmed that she isn't really Bant-focused so much as that was something necessary for the card game aspect of it. Kind of roundabout way of saying that I personally think that already was done with Jace and Tamiyo.
I'll also add that most of those are really old examples of characters moving around color-wise. Sorin was White/Black as old as Innistrad, same goes for Green/Black Garruk. I think Ajani was the most "recent" of those changes that actually felt like a shift in philosophy, but even then it was still in Theros. Not sure where Sarkhan is going so I agree counting him doesn't count. His most defining trait is Red followed by Green, but I can't really say where they're going with him.
That all being said I think that seeing contrasts between characters of similar color pie areas would be nice. The Origins 5 are meant to feel very... generic though, so they will mesh very well with an average view of the color. I think though that you can see that clashing even if they aren't an exact copy. So someone like Tezzeret, Saheeli, and Dovin can all work to foil the Origins 5 to some extent. There are also Legendaries too to keep in mind. It's not like Baral and Jace don't work for that somewhat. I'm guessing you'd have preferred they'd interact more directly though.
I feel like I kind of rambled on enough, didn't wind up coming out quite as cohesive as I wanted it too, and I'm not sure how to tie it together.
The reason I see them doing it is marketing. One for each color, with Origins coming out after Tarkir, Sarkhan couldn't be just one of the primary colors, no planeswalker could. This also justified the "death" of Elspeth and the resulting shift for Ajani... lemme list them:
gideon
jace
liliana
chandra
nissa
wu - block guest
wb - Sorin (sort of)
wr - block guest with focus on Nahiri
wg - Ajani
ub - Tezzeret
ur - block guest, Dack is never going to interact with the Gatewatch, sorry.
ug - Kiora...
br - intriguingly open, I'm calling Ob Nixillis moves to this spot
bg - Garruk
Bolas and Ugin, obviously have their spots they always had. Well... then there is Karn. . .
Now that we have that map out of the way, please notice with each block you will NEVER have two planeswalkers with the exact same color identity. This is to clearly define factions as "protagonist" and "antagonist". This also leads to a huge issue with the Gatewatch being only primary colors, there will probably never be a new monocolored planeswalker unless one of them dies/"dies"/quits the Gatewatch. This is also why I think Sorin got dealt his fate: he was too prime of a candidate for the Gatewatch and due to the power ranger mentality, he got put on (permanent?) hiatus instead of delegated to "green ranger" status. Ajani got that slot, which isn't bad at all, I actually really like Ajani and he is one of the originals (Postmending storywise;Lorwyn card type premiers cardwise).
I think the marketing team is heavily tying "color identity" in with "character identity".
Which leaves me completely in the dark as to the chance of us witnessing an awkward conversation between Ugin and Karn(which if it would occur, would in 2018).
Actually, I always thought of Tamiyo (as depicted in the story of SOI) as a blue-centred Bant character. Her story-related abilities, her self-imposed "only watching, never intervening"-clause (which definitely isn't pure blue as far as I know)... It's just that her white and green aspects are somewhat "filtered" through her mostly blue personality (mirrored in her planeswalker abilities). Someone (I believe it was Maro, but I might be wrong) said that she was deliberately written that way to justify her being Bant in EMN. And I like that, you can still see her as a mostly blue character if you want to, but I'm more intrigued by her being Bant to be honest. You can still contrast her to Jace nicely (which was one of my favorite elements of SOI).
I didn't state that it was part of her white characteristics, those were just general examples for her non-blue elements.
I wasn't really considering abilities any, mostly because I don't think Chandra but with Ice powers would really feel like a Blue/Red character, even if her ability set would make her one.
As far as non-intervention only observing goes I could see that in a pure Blue character. Depends on the setting. I'm definitely not saying she can't be Bant, but her personality and motives and such were plenty Blue exclusive too.
If anything I could see her being a hybrid Blue character. But I wouldn't see her as Bant Bant, at least to me. Even with a Blue focus that would look different to me.
EDIT: Looked for it, but all I could find was this comment, doesn't mention mana costs but he does outright state that Tamiyo *IS* more Blue than White/Green, so there's that.
Reading the comments feed on that post OathboundOne, some people place strict promise-keeping in white. Others point out white would be more concerned about the fate of a world than its own promises, which I agree with.
Moreover I think you could place stubborn promise-keeping in blue as 'self programming.'
As much as I'd like to see her be mono U, there's a very good case to be made for her being GU based on her development.
She shows tremendous acceptance for death, hangs out in Kamigawa to study and just meditate/chill out. As we've seen with Nissa, Harmonize flavor is getting more of a push in green.
If Tamiyo is Bant-colored, then I see the ratio as WGGUUU if not GUU. We could argue she splashed white as a phase while helping the Gatewatch, but I think her core is much more Simic than Bant.
With that said, why not have more GU representation? It's nice to see different nuances that colors and their pairings exhibit. A story encounter between Kiora and Tamiyo, for instance, would be pretty cool.
If we consider what MaRo has often said about the Orzhov guild as 'White means to Black ends' - Tamiyo might lean toward Green means (Calm observation, exploration) to Blue ends (Research) while Kiora might be Blue means (Trickery) to Green ends. (Stompy goodstuff)
"OH GOD MY BRAIN IS EXPLOADING AT HOW BAD THE ART IS ON MY OWN CARD"
-A friend's first impression of Ancestral Recall
10/10, I tapped.
That's why I said hybrid. I could see Tamiyo being hybrid U/G and U/W, but... I don't know. Most of the things people try and point to as being White or Green traits seem perfectly suitable for Blue traits. The colors in general have a lot of breadth and depth, so Tamiyo being one possible interpretation of a mono-Blue character seems totally fine to me.
Non Intervention is definitely white if you have a rule about it. The Prime Directive from Star Trek is Definitely White in theme since every episode about it comes down to "Do we follow the law, or do we break it and do the right thing."
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Then the whole if you don't intervene because it won't help you you're black. While if you don't because you don't feel like it you're red...
In contrast, the Gatewatch characters (and this isn't meant to be another rant about the Gatewatch characters; we spend more time with them than other planeswalkers, and what is revealed about them helps make sense of things like Tamyo's color identity) don't even seem to be aware that their type of magic is associated with a certain color of magic. We are the ones who know that Jace uses blue magic, but Jace hardly ever mentions it. They know that mana exists, but they seem to exist in a state similar to the Thrawn, aware that magic is powered by mana but unaware of why their various forms of magic are so different. The most recent story even implies that they use personalized planeswalking spells, but don't know why this is! Why is it necessary that they use personalized planeswalking spells? Why is planeswalking even a spell and not an ability? (don't answer that, I'm sure it was explained in Time Spiral block) All it does is call attention to how poorly the characters really understand magic. As far as I can tell, the only one who is really cognizant of a theory of magic color is Lilliana, and that's because she is supposed to be a pre-mending planeswalker from Dominaria. Also, she is the most horribly stereotypical of them all, but more because the writers don't know how to write a genuinely heroic black character. Because of this, the characters are actually denied some of their agency: they use a certain color of magic, but it isn't by choice. Chandra uses pyromancy because she was born a pyromancer; Gideon is indestructible because reasons; Nissa is green because she is an elf; and Jace is the face of blue magic. If, on the other hand, the characters were more self-aware, then we could have Nissa ask Chandra if she could teach her some pyromancy, or have Jace ask Gideon for tips on law magic to help him administer Ravinca-- or better yet address the problem that he's constantly away from his duties. But that isn't going to happen, of course, because it would hamper the Superhero team dynamic the writers are trying to establish. Its just too bad that dynamic doesn't work very well in a genre where the hero's abilities are supposed to be learned skillsets.
As for those planeswalkers who we've seen in multiple colors, it appears that they generally are the ones who are aware of the colors of magic and are the ones making more conscious choices about what kinds of magic the use and learn. So its no surprise to me that many of them are so popular in spite of the backlash against the Origins Five. It definitely seems to be the case for Sorin and Nahiri, who are notable for overlapping in white and for each using a secondary color that would normally be friendly (red and black), but nonetheless conflict openly. Sorin is openly said to have emulated Nahiri's magic to make the big 'ol magic prison that Avacyn was trapped in, after all.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
I agree completely, especially that the super hero-like abilities that characters are born with completely contradicts the idea of magic being something you learn. Hell, just playing the card game itself is a much better example of how using mana and knowing spells is supposed to be.
I hope that they make characters become a little more self-aware regarding the colors of mana. The best recent example are tge Jeskai, who had recognized and named each type of mana: soulfire (W), mistfire (U), deathfire (B), bloodfire (R), and vitalfire (G) as well as ghostfire (colorless). (Some of those names might be slightly off but you get the idea.) The Jeskai had specific reasons for using U, R, and W magic but not B and G. I would like to see more of that type of thing show up in modern Magic lore.
I'm surprised no one thought of this before. Someone skilled at something is probably going to attract people who want to know how they do it, or they'd offer to help others with the skill. With that in mind, it seems baffling why Gideon never offered to train everyone on the team his invulnerability trick, or Jace tutoring them in the secrets of mental communication, or Nissa teaching the rudiments of healing magic. Those would be extremely useful strategic abilities! Are we to believe that these characters are just the X-Men, where they just have powers that can't actually be taught? Because that flies in the face of everything we've learned about the way magic works in the story.