Red has been one of my favorite colors in MtG but it has been let down time and again by WotC, and I don’t really blame them. It has gotten a bad rap for the longest time, and for good reason. In the recent past, it’s been a very, very narrow color, known for only its small creatures and good early game value, or its damage spells. It has been shallow and puerile for the longest time, but it is a very hard color to define and design. So, I’ll take a look at what Red really is, from Wizard’s own website:

“Red mages have no patience for talk or subtlety. They act quickly and recklessly. With red mana, a mage controls the power of fire and earth. Red mages scorch their enemies with fireballs or call down electricity from the sky. They can rattle the foundations of civilizations and destroy the land itself. At their best, red mages are dynamic, passionate, and unbound. At their worst, they are shortsighted, temperamental, and destructive.”

This is what WotC used to think what red is, and its very, very outdated. It is one facet of what it means to be a red mage, but it isn’t everything. Let’s go on a journey, to see the evolution of red from reckless abandon to something more new, subtle, and beautiful.

We begin our journey on Theros, with the God of the Forge himself, Purphoros.

The Domains of Purphoros, as found in the Planeswalker’s Guide to Theros, Part 1:

“Domains: Purphoros is the god of the forge, the restless earth, and fire. He rules the raw creative force of heat and energy that fills the souls of sentient beings. His energy emerges as chaos, something to be harnessed and shaped by labor and passion. For this reason, Purphoros is also the god of artisans, of obsession, and of the cycle of creation and destruction.”

Purphoros was inspired by Hephaestus, blacksmith to the gods. Already we see a difference in the way red is portrayed, being as much about creation as about destruction, and turning raw materials into something else entirely. Purphoros himself is a major flavor fail, and doesn’t represent all that he is. As it stands, all he represents is fire (direct damage) and “the heat and energy that fills the souls of sentient beings” (his +1/+0 effect, and even that is reaching a little). A more apropos example of what Purphoros is about is in his hammer:

Akmon, the hammer of Purphoros. It perfectly embodies the creation and destruction cycle that Purphoros represents, and creating things out of other things, as does any god of the forge worth his salt.In his hammer, we see that red has already been given a new domain, the creation of new things by using the elements at its disposal. The striking of the anvil, and the implements that follow. Definitely a lot more different than red has been in the past. It still feels intrinsically red, however, and different enough from the rest of the colors to warrant a space in the color pie.

Now, I ask you to turn your attention to Feldon, owner of an odd cane:

While I confess to not knowing much about Feldon or his backstory, the card itself does something that red has never done before: pseudo-reanimating creatures in your yard. Again we see this creative side of red, the forging of artifacts and smelting them, in this case, to take the form of your dead. While I can’t say this doesn’t remind me of black cards, the creative and passionate (judging from the flavortext) side of red is clearly represented here. Already we see a theme: bringing forth works of art and artifice from other sources, or drawing inspiration to create those works of art, in this case, from the form of those who are buried. I applaud WotC in at least trying to move red into other areas laterally and in a flavorful way.

The metamorphosis of red began before the introduction of Puphoros, however, back in M14, with the introduction of Chandra, Pyromaster, and a new way to draw cards in red. “Use it or lose it” became the rubric for red’s card drawing capabilities, and this was the cornerstone of a slew of new cards in use of this design space. Here are a few:

If we look at Prophetic Flamespeaker’s flavortext, we see what feels like WotC’s attestation to the “new” red. Fire to create. It feels like we’ve missed the most important manifestation of fire, in that it can be used to produce a lot of things as well as being destructive. It also represents greed: wanting a lot but being unable to use it once you have it, like impulsively buying things at a store.

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker shows us yet another version of red card draw, in his oft-ignored limit break ability. The ability doesn’t quite jibe with his other two, but still lends us an idea about what red is capable of doing in relation to draw. You’re given a finite amount of time with alluring options, after which you lose those options. I also want to point out the difference between Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and Gideon. Though the two walkers turn into creatures, Sarkhan does it differently, which is flavorful in and of itself. While Gideon retains his being a planeswalker, Sarkhan does not. It goes to show you how devout Sarkhan is to dragons, in that he turns into a dragon so wholly that for the duration of time he is a dragon, he isn’t himself; he isn’t a planeswalker. That’s another facet of red that Sarkhan embodies: losing oneself completely to one’s passion.

Magic Origins and Beyond

All three of the lateral widening of red have been displayed in full effect in Magic Origins, in these three cards:

Of course, these won’t be the last we see of these mechanics even in Magic Origins. Pia and Kiran Nalaar are interesting in that they embody artifice, something that hasn’t been red since Esper. Kaladesh artificers are more artisans than the efficient etherium sculptors found on Esper, they are creators of both form and function. Here culminates one of the facets of red that WotC would like us to see: the forging of artifacts. Pia and Kiran also retain their red-ness by allowing you to throw your stuff at your opponents or their creatures, which seems to indicate that red hasn’t lost sight of its roots, but is merely exploring new territory.

Putting these abilities on creatures juxtaposes the old with the new: Avarice Dragon is an imposing, hoarding dragon of yore, as seen on Dominaria, and Abbot of Kheral Keep is a combat-ready, cheap drop with more to him than just the pseudo-draw.

Prowess is another thing that changed with Magic Origins, in that red has another mechanic that separates it from other colors, impressing on us that red still likes spellcasters and burn spells, as well as being relevant in combat.

Red has moved past its beginnings, and we’re seeing a whole new range of things that red can do. While I’m glad that we’ve centered red around artifice, I hope that’s not all we see on the creature and token-centric side of the color. I’m glad that they’re at least attempting to fix that which was broken, and hopefully, what was once considered the worst color will rise in the ranks and dethrone blue in terms of player preference (please don’t lynch me).

Cheers,

Brick