Perfection in Ruthless Order [MTG ESPER Color Philosophy MTG Colors Explained]
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- Опубліковано 9 сер 2020
- In MTG one Shard stands out for its ruthless vision of society and that is ESPER. The Color Philosophy of this SHARD is a fascinating one, as it combines the MTG Colors of White, Black, and Blue. These colors might not always see eye to eye but when combined something interesting happens. So sit down get comfortable and let's talk Esper the color of Perfection through Ruthless Order. As always I intend to Explain the Colors of MTG in a straightforward way, by breaking down the steps I took to get to my conclusion. As always MTG Colors are something that is complex with many sides so having the ability to sit down and explain them to you is something that I love to do.
Special thanks to Cameron Davis for his work on Editing the script
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Learn more about the colors featured in this video:
White - ua-cam.com/video/Kgj4Vb-Bc1g/v-deo.html
Black - ua-cam.com/video/PAlr1_ReQq8/v-deo.html
Blue - ua-cam.com/video/_SJWQkWBj6c/v-deo.html
Did anyone else realize that the three versions look more like a progression of the same philosophy?
First The Dark Brotherhood looking for knowledge in the dark places of the mind. Then they start taking control and through their ruthlessness eliminate everyone that stands in the way of progress. Finally, everything becomes available to them and nothing stands in the way of progress, allowing them to perfect everything that surrounds them, and everyone.
That's actually a cool way of looking at it. That didn't even cross my mind. It's sort of the story of Esper's rise to power
@@DiceTry My personal favorite incarnation of it is 2. Which ones yours?
@@lucasbakeforero426 hmmm its hard to say for sure but I think I kind of lean into the first one. Its just such a powerful and absolute leadership. I just wouldn't want to live under its rule.
@@DiceTry Wait I got confused. I dont know why but I referred to the second one in introduction order in your video, meaning the first one in my comment. I confused the shit out of myself. Lol
I acually think there CAN be a creative element to Esper as well as an empathy. I just think it manifests differently than red's empathy. In a society that centered u/w but kept white's compassion and desire for peace at the forefront with an emphasis on allowing people to pursue their individual ambitions so long as it didn't negatively harm society you could definitely get a more benevolent version of Esper. Ruthless order for example can apply not just to a government controlling its citizenry, but to a citizenry controlling its government.
i feel like Esper sums up Gith culture perfectly
From a civilisation building perspective I feel like azorius and esper have a clear advantage because technology and a powerful government are extremely useful when building a society. Especially when competing with other societies that would limit themselves in ways esper wouldn't. And the worst society builders has to be gruul, because they do the opposite of build society
Gruul are literally anarchists, a combination of green and red’s combined hate for structure, and anything that goes against instinct and impulse.
Wow man eerie that Cappena came out and this explains it
@@drquantum583anarchy means "no rulers or masters" not "no rules or without laws". Anarchy with still have laws but no hiearchy.
@@loneoutsider8004 i never said anything about no laws, i said hate for structure (hierarchy) or impulse/instinct (which of course means conventional laws are out the window, but anarchy is far from conventional- and it's not like law cannot be founded on instinct or impulse).
But not quality of life
I think a very good society that represents Esper quite well is “Brave New World”. It’s controlling and hierarchical but genuinely well-meaning and ruthlessly efficient.
I love this interpretation in the philosophy of esper. It's very similar to how I run my Sen triplets deck, making everything and everyone a resource for more gain. Especially my opponents to help me get to that perfection (win).
I love the style and breakdown of the color philosophy.
You for me are a master of salvation philosophy. In a time when only a practical teachings of life based on Mtg save me from void and nihilism
Esper is an interesting shard. There is a development from blue. Blue wants to have order and control. Azorious ads white to it. It becomes the most controlling color pair. It adds the orderly nature of white to the control of blue. Esper adds in black. There is still order in its perfectionism. White and black are two major enemy colors. White has comunalism. Black has individualism. Blue is one color where they actually can go together. Blue doesn't care for itself or for others. It is just rulled by logic. So these two can go together in a morally neutral way. Perfection through ruthless order is most like Azorious. There is a lot of learing and control over society, like Azorious. There is an added black in culling out the weak. Power through unrestricted knowlage is most like Dimir. Dimir has a mix of blue and back. It desires learning forbidden knowlage. It also tends to have smaller groups than Azorious. This part of Esper has all of that. It does have a bit of white. It brings a wider perspective. One relizes they have a great place in society. They may find spirituality in a cult. Resource of progression is most like Orizhov. Orizhov is balck and white. It has a tight control of society. It drains money from the people. This part of Esper is similar in taking in resources. Blue adds in more objectivity. It is less about the greed for money. It is more about the desire to use more technology. One finds that using more natural resources to build machiens is better in a way. It is more civilized.
I love all shards of Alara, but I love Esper the most.
In commander, I love that Breya is Red Esper and can play with the cute toys such as Goblin Welder, Daretti (a Goblin Welder Planeswalker), Scrap Mastery, Goblin Engineer, Trash for treasure, and the "new" dockside extortionist, as well as all the stuff from Kaladesh and our fried Saheeli.
Next shard, Grixis.
And this was great. Going back to the hero and villain analysis videos, I love how when each ideal emphasizes for each version, it can be applied both in a cruel or a beneficial approach. Sacrifice anything for knowledge, but that knowledge is improving society to benefit all. Or us knowledge to apply order at any cost. The flexibility of such rigid ideals is amazing and one of the many reasons Esper is my favorite shard.
I love love LOVE this! So excited to binge watch all of these shard/wedge breakdown videos on repeat
Yeah I am happy to see that so many people are enjoying this video. Probably will take a few months before we cover everything especially once Zendikar is on the horizon but stick with the channel.
All right! I was looking forward to this video. I know my mono colors and my guilds of Ravnica. What I don't know very well is the shards of Alara and klans of Tarkir. I hope this channel goes through all of them. Blue is my favorite color. The most interesting shard to me is Esper, because it is an extension of blue. I voted for this video. I see how the shard comes together. One starts with blue first. Then they get to allied colors seperatly. This mixes into Dimir and Azorious. Then that mixes to Esper. The key word is perfection. It is a part of blue. However I think of intellectual as the main characteristic of blue instead. I guess if one mixes in the order of white and the amorality of black it can get into perfection. One has a drive to learn and perfect for oneself with rigidity. It helps to note the missing colors, red and green. Together these colors form Gruul. Gruul stands out as the guild that is the most primal and barbaric. Being the opposite of Gruul, Esper would be the shard that is the most civilized. There is a desire to go beyond the natural and develop technology and society for a civilized people. Esper does have it non-blue colors mix to form Orizhov. It is the enemy pair of black and white. This mix is about putting ruthless order on society in order to serve oneself. There is an oppressive regime of religion and banking. I find the Orizhov helpful for understanding Esper. Esper is like Orizhov with the intellegence of blue. It is a selfish rule on society with an intellectual vision of good society. Their is a perfection at the cost of primal emotions.
3:14 - "We will have to take the next step and learn about what Esper's missing colors tell us about this combination".
You have remind me of Mark Rosewater's quote from his 2013 article "Absence" about four color cards:
"The major problem is that it's nearly impossible to design four-color cards that actually feel like four-color cards. Why? Because there are just too many colors fighting for attention to get a feel. The biggest thing about four-color cards is the missing color, but you can't design about what's missing, as that's the only thing the card isn't allowed to have, color-pie-wise. I do think there is a way to design four-color cards, but it requires some context (such as two guilds working together, interestingly enough)."
...and Ethan Fleischer's 2016 article "Designing Commander (2016 Edition)" where he writes about (and I am paraphrasing here) that they instead thing of each 4 color commander and card as a combination of two Ravnica guild identities and merge them together.
I would say that Breya, the Red Esper commander is designed much like I how i just described here: What if Esper look like with red? It would NOT be Orzhov + Izzet. It is Esper, the world of artifice mixed with the passions and chaos of Red. It could also be Esper + Blue Red Artifacts (not Izzet spells matter)
While all of this is about 4 color and not Shards/Wedges, the same concept applies. I think each shard is less about what is missing and more about what is there, as you began the video. Both in terms of flavor/story as well as game mechanics.
Absolutely loved this, was really looking forward to the first episode! I really apprivate how you reverse engineer each notion you present by linking together beliefs of each colour in a way that makes the conclusion feel even more natural, especially with the addition the cards that serve to represent them.
Looking forward to the next installment, and wish you the best!
Hey thanks for that I'm happy you enjoyed it.
This series is so INTERESTING!! What a great job!
Hey! Thanks appreciate it
Great vid!
Its very interesing to hear others interpretation of the color combinations
Can’t wait for the Indatha colour wedge. I wasn’t playing during Tarkir so I don’t really know the names of the wedges that well
Abzan
I plan tackling all of the shards first but then I will be moving on to wedges
The quiz take me here (i still try to discover if feel amused or offended that is so accurate) and is pretty cool how he present everything now I found a new favorite background channel (bonus point, i mostly do black-blue but now I want to try to include white sometime)
The part where you explained the missing colors was so helpful, great video!
Thanks!! Honestly using that strategy helped my kinda come up with a clear picture in my mind as well.
Light Yagami is absolutely an esper protagonist.
IMO Light is very japanese, he is White(moral, social armony, everybody must contribute, citizen must sacrifice well-being and feeling for the sake of society) and Blue(perfection, analysis, etc).
P:D: Sure, Light has Black if we are looking at Light after he found the death note (specially when he gave up "sanity", his delirium increases on every chapter) but, before he found the death note he never took action, he mentally complained...he waited for the laziest, safest and easiest way of "creating a new world"...That's why I consider him mainly Blue+White.
If we are looking at the world he wants to create, it's clearly White+Blue world, similar to Japan's ideal.
thanks for doing this! I loved it!
Esper looks like a place where Massive Attack is very much listened to
Really love the series, keep 'em coming. Can't wait for the Jund episode
its wild to see esper be the most popular in vote because while its my favorite color combo, i dont ever come across other who share that opinion
Yes wedge philosophy at last! Can’t wait to see what you have for Naya!
Esper is a shard but yeah stay tuned cause we will cover all of the shards and wedges. it's gonna take a while but they are all coming
Loved the video!
Hey thanks for the kind words. I was actually super nervous as to how this one would be recieved and I'm happy people liked it
Do you think Esper has the right vision in mind for society?
I’d say so. Being willing to do whatever it takes is essential in accomplishing your goals, be they selfish or altruistic. I personally identify as Esper.
Esper is basically the Borg.
It feels to me a normal citizen is just a pawn for esper.
It probably does. Each color has its strengths and weaknesses. Blue is my favorite color. It is the one that I most relate to. I also have fun playing decks that mix blue with some other color. I enjoy studying and becoming a better person through knowledge. The downside is that I have weak social skills. So the the Esper drive to be greater through knowledge is something I can get behind.
That's a good outlook. As someone who is naturally more introspective and not very social I can understand where you are coming from
Without green and red which are colors that specialises in now and here, also mean that esper is more focus on the future
I’m an esper with a predominately black personality.
It makes sense as Azorius is just the end goal of what I want ( a perfect society where everyone can live happily with advanced technology) but aside from that I don’t have a lot of the qualities (such as a constant need for improvement) instead I lack empathy and don’t mind others suffering if it’s needed for me.
Same here.
Esper. "Be perfect, or be made so."
So I was thinking about a versus series where we could see your thoughts on color combination ideologies with a one color difference, Like Esper vs Sultai or Grixis vs Jund.
I'm making my next D&D character an Esper Sorcerer. She's... ruthless.
Best shard
I think what's missing in this analysis is how while the shard itself may seem to be progressing towards one goal, the systems within it are always fracturing. White black results a corrupt system, yes its a working system but behind the scenes there is always a power struggle, from each according to their ability to further "my" goals is the philosophy of white black. Throw blue into that mix and your just as likely to have a shard dominated by 1 super as you are to have a shard with thousands of smaller factions with fragile alliances all sabotaging and backstabbing the other to ensure they come out on top. MTG usually resolves this by having some uber bad being the shadow ruler of it all but I feel that it would be best if the nations of esper were always at war in some way, trying to bring other houses or nations under its control to take what others can provide for their own ends.
lacking red doesnt mean they lack emotion, but that that impulse, passion, and furor are not strong factors. White is part of the emotion of serenity or piety, the feeling that your deeds matter. Blue is the feeling of being learned or in control, blue has just as much passion as red usually an obsession with learning. Black is the emotions of envy, dominance, that things must go to your design. So Esper would be mostly populated by people who seek to feel like the center of attention, be in control, and have it their way. I dont think a shard populated by these people would naturally congregate towards a single idea if it wasn't their idea to begin with, and if it wasn't their idea they would actively sabotage it.
White = Life, removal
Blue = Control
Black = Death, recursion
Esper is a style that focuses on controlling the board in your benefit to these three aspects. Tldr
I really liked this breakdown, made me really think a little more about what esper is outside of artifacts and stealing/controlling all resources.
I'd like to see your take on Jund if you're still doing the Ally Tri-colors or Mardu if you're open to all of them. Especially what Mardu really was before the Khans block, I feel like everyone looks at Mardu as smashy smashy when there's much more to the color combo. I also miss Jund... 😢
Hey thanks for the kind words! I will be covering each of the shards then each of the wedges so stay tuned to the chabnel
This is actually a really cool video.
Hey thanks! Stay tuned cause I will be covering all of the shards and wedges in the future
What would Esper look like if White-Black was the focus, with Blue being auxillary?
Orzhov is a W/B example. W/B is all about caring about the group, but only this one. Tack on some open-mindedness, willingness to learn, and forethought into that “Only X group matters” process, and you have it.
great vid and can't wait for grixis
Thanks!! It was fun making this one.
Gixis!!! Grixis!!! Grixis!!!
☠️let the blood flow☠️
I vote Grixis too!
My vote is for grixis or mardu depending on if your sticking with the shards or change it up with a wedge.
Honestly grixis is my favorite but it doesn't seem to get as much of the vote
Some of the points later into the video make it sound like Esper is the transhumanism of MtG.
My money is that Jund wins the next Shard vote, though I would love to see Bant and then Naya. No disrespect to Grixis, as I love each of the shards and felt that first set was a home run in Flavor.
Last time it came really close to being bant so I wouldn't be surprised if that is what it ended up being but you never know
Cant wait for Grixis
This is basically me
Also Esper is missing the arguably most honest and carefree colors. And the two colors that are the least subtle. Even though White is also more of an open color but far more unaware of its biases.
This views on the world remind me of saruman. He fits well with all those interpretations of this shard.
Saruman of Many Colors
Esper sounds a lot like the Adeptus Mechanicus in Warhammer 40k. Could you do Bant Next?
I am not super familiar with Warhammer but I could see an Esper like faction in that game for sure. Also I'll take your vote into consideration. Will have to wait and see what everyone's vote is
“From the weakness of the mind, Omnissiah save us
From the lies of the Antipath, circuit preserve us
From the rage of the Beast, iron protect us
From the temptation of the Flesh, silica cleanse us
From the ravages of the Destroyer, anima shield us
From this rotting cages of biomatter, Machine God set us free”
“There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal.
There is no strength in flesh, only weakness
There is no constancy in flesh, only decay
There is no certainty in flesh but death”
Sounds like the Cult Mechanicus would make of Esper it’s perfect home, and not a single Heritech would be left standing in it’s way.
Now excuse me, I must go pray to my Internet Modem in gratitude for granting me the possibility of making this comment
*burns incense while chanting 011010010101100101*
@@DesolatedChild018 Don’t forget to anoint your toaster in holy oil, for is it not also a gift of the Omnissiah?
Can you do Jeskai next? I am trying to learn more about it and it would be nice to have a discussion about it.
Hey man I will def take it into consideration Taylor, but I will still probably put it up to a vote as well as tally the comments here. If you want to get another vote then follow me on twitter as well. Also thanks for your support so far glad to see your comments in all of my videos.
No worries! I'm just excited that you are finally doing this series next!
Yes I'm definitely an Esper But I believe society is apart of the world. I believe that the true philosophy is knowledge about who we truly are as living being. Which in this video is talk about it being projected on to the world to better it. Theyre are too many Azorious and Dimir already doing that. Beside its way fun and better to extend your own knowledge and as well as teach the ones you care for that same knowledge as well.
7:48 - Hail Sithis
This just sounds like the phyrexians
In a way, yes.
By using the dark side of living and life itself we can use it to benefit other's and ourselves
I think the esper shard in the game fits this as well. Authoritarian rule and people who are willing to lose their humanity for perfection, transhumanism.
Here’s a philosophic take on esper
The One Who Does What Needs To Be Done For The Betterment And Protection Of All
It’s more on an individual level but This would take the form of a vigilante who makes hard decisions that others may struggle with do to the moral ambiguity of the action. Let’s say someone is a murderer rapist just a lowly individual who would harm others for personal gain or pleasure. This individual would see them as not only not being beneficial to society but actively harming it therefore for the betterment of all they should be removed from society and/or the world as a whole.
When this philosophy effects a group it’s going to produce morally upright individuals who r going to make sure individuals or groups don’t hinder or harm the majority
I feel it’s a very stoic and respectful way to paint these colors
u have the need to maintain peace from white
The need to insure things can continue to progress from blue
And the ability to do those morally ambiguous things from black
Peace should be maintained (white) if it’s not being improved upon (blue) and if u wanna hurt the people actively hindering the progression and stability of peace u will be removed/eliminated (black)
This is a very hard balance to achieve but the ones who achieve this balance will actually find a way to use black to help society even tho society still see’s them in a darker eviler lens, but this would be a better devils kinda deal where the devil u know is better then the devil u don’t
Ohh and I’d like to drop off an application please lol 😂😂😂
I think you're very right with this take I like it
This, imo, is a FANTASTIC analogy of Esper. Spot on, rly 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Wouldn’t change a word u wrote, but add my take-from what I’ve learned of each individual color, white seeks order and the more collective for the benefit of the group (generally, the better).
Blue reveals, and/or simply defends-nothing surprising about that. & black, yea. Is all about self/selfishness to gain power; more or less to win the game.
However, when paired with Azorius (UW), black does something interesting, and someone already mentioned here, which I agree-perfect, or be perfected. IOW, if you stray away from the whole of the group (or sometimes an individual’s plan), you will be answered to (interaction-heavy=esper). Similarly, defy (for better or worse), or be used for the betterment of one’s plan (an Esper deck). That’s why blue is great for white and black because it will do its best to find an answer to win, either through collective (white) means, or through individual means (black & blue-tho, one seeks power (B), the other seeks knowledge(U)) 🔵⚪️⚫️
This is the Vex
All your bases belong to us.
Premium content, keep up the good work buddy :*
Thanks! It always makes me happy to hear people enjoy my work
Do mardu or grixis
If you did Esper first, why not go with Jund or Naya as contrasts?
It does makes sense but I do think I like keeping it to popular vote
This shard it's also the perfect sum up of Transhumanism
The sigma colours
Personally, Bant would a great choice to do next! Who’s with me???
Bant honestly has been getting a lot of love and it was close second last time so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes this one.
3:37
Impulsiveness? No, it won’t have that.
Empathy? It has white. I think that covers empathy.
Please do Grixis at some point. Can't find anything on Grixis philosophy on UA-cam.
Your in luck it looks like the winner will be grixis finally. Also that's the thing about color philosophy there really isn't much out there. So glad I could be of help in that way
@@DiceTry Thank you. I enjoy your content and especially appreciate that you do videos on the shards since it really isn't found anywhere else other than through Tumblr posts or the "interview with the colors" thing done by Mr Rosewater, which is cool and all, but they aren't as concise or as visually stimulating as what you do, so I'm excited to see what you have in store. No pressure 😄
When I'm not in emotions. 😶
¿Seen me? Perhaps
White blue red pretty chill
"The 'perfect being', you said? Well.... I have to tell you the honest truth, as I see it. In this world, nothing perfect exists. It may be a cliche, after all... but it's the way things are. That's precisely why ordinary men persue the concept of perfection, it's infatuation....
But ultimately, I have to ask myself: what is the true meaning of being perfect?
And the answer I came up with was: nothing. Not. One. Thing.
The truth of the matter is, I despise perfection. If something is truly perfect, that's it.
The bottom line becomes.
There is no room for imagination. No space for intelligence. Or ability. Or improvement! Do you understand?!
To men of science like us, perfection is a dead end, a condition of hopelessness! Always strive to be better than anything that came before you, but not perfect. Scientists agonize over the attempt to achieve perfection!
That's the kind of creatures we are. We take joy in trying to exceed our grasp and trying to reach for something that, in the end, we have to admit, may in fact be unreachable!
In other words...
You may think that we operate on the same level, but you are wrong. The moment you talked about perfection, you embraced an impossible concept and already lost to me....
that is, of course, if you are indeed a scientist, at all" - Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach.
This sounds like a borg combintion.
Only one color off from Grixis.
Either way great vid.
Mitch Mcconnell
So Esper is NOT White-Black, right?
Imagine this added to the pile.
Esper is Phyrexia's whole mentality.
I vote for Grixis. Esper is the shard I was looking forward to the most. Blue is my favorite color. I am fond of Dimir, Azorious and even Orizhov. Then I thought Grixis would be a good one to do next. My favorite guild of Ravnica is Izzet. My second favorite color is black. Together they form Grixis. Izzet is the guild that is best in creativity. Black is the color based on inividualism and serving the self. So Grixis is probably about going through great lengths to serve oneself. It can even use creative and unconventional means to get it. Rakdos goes through great lengths to entertain itself. Dimir goes through great lengths to learn. Grixis would go thorough great lengths to do both and serve itself. It is missing the Selesnya colors of white and green. So there is no morality holing it back. There is no morality to society or nature. Grixis is probably like successful entrepreneurs who are also ruthless and cutthroat. There is a benefit of winning the competition of buisness, and there is a downside of becoming anitsocial. I think Nicol Bolas was Grixis. He was such a baddie. This is just an educated guess.
Esper sounding v Aryan
I feel like it is missed opportunity to have Norn be Esper.
As a Bant Planeswalker, I find Esper way too artificial and somewhat pointless. If you must remake yourself or society into something it's not, what was the point of all of it.
Side note, as I was watching the latest season of Westworld, all I could think was "so this is what an Esper controlled society would look like."
Edit: Phrasing
As a Mardu and Grixis player, I agree with you. Esper's desire for progress and perfection is superficial, but I disagree as to why. It doesn't allow for pleasure or joy. And to have these things, you must decide what brings them to you. I value individuality and pleasure, along side empathy and comradery. Esper discards these things, which is why I agree that it is superficial. It expands for expansion's sake without thought of why.
I'd also agree with you for the same reason @MaxPower!. I like both Bant and Naya, so to me, esper feels a bit hollow. Like it wants to build a place for everyone, but in it's pursuit is willing to sacrifice what it was building it for.
As an "Esper Planeswalker", I find all of you stifled and held back by superficial values. Who says we need to make a society for imperfect individuals? How about a perfect society with a perfect people.
We (As humans) are always at war with each other, can't or don't want to communicate our true intentions in any interaction and can't find true consensus because of it.
Why Not become telepathic? Why not become a unified network of independent thought? Why do you want to root yourself in the fickle, fuzzy image of what a "human" constitutes in your very subjective perspective? You know the person next to you will have a different opinion of what constitutes a human, right?
I see the point of an ideology built on acceptance, discipline, altruism and peace through similar beliefs as long as our means as a species are limited. But we are currently moving beyond those limitations. Soon we'll be able to change our very core through genome manipulation. If we as a people reject this technology, some "Grixis" asshole( or asshole-community) will use it to fulfill his own self-serving goals and the people will be slaves forevermore.
Progress can't be halted through positive thoughts, y'know?
@@flyingchimp5012 the "asshole" grixis is just doing what technology was made, to be used, I don't need unnecessary regulations for progress, let alone arbitrary laws that limit the pursuit of my desires, if progress limits ambition, it's without sense
Esper is just Grixis without freedom and ambition.
Grixis is just Esper but chaotic and selfish.
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