The five colors of Magic: The Gathering have much more meaning to them than some players might think. In fact, head Magic designer Mark Rosewater has written many topics on the subject of the colors and their individual meanings, both as they relate to card design and development and concerning their more ideological connotations.
The colors in Magic: The Gathering, and by extension color pairings, carry a lot of expressive weight. Similarly, the twelve zodiac signs also express much about those who are born beneath them. As a result, it's easy to draw ties between the colors of Magic: The Gathering and the twelve signs of the zodiac. In this article, we'll explore which colors match up with which signs as well as why they appropriately represent one another.
12 Aries: Red
Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, and it revels in being such. Aries are confident and bold. They dive right into the fray without much forethought or consideration, believing in their own optimism and ability so much that they are convinced it alone should be enough to succeed. Furthermore, Aries are actually frustrated by nuance and overly complicated situations, preferring to keep things quick and simple.
In Magic, red is the color of freedom. It believes in doing first and thinking afterwards, and seeks to pair its immediate action with immediate gratification. The red part of the color pie is responsible for the fastest decks in the game, and its strategies rely on quick and dirty victories that are capable of winning games well before many decks have had a chance to start playing their key cards. Consequently, it makes sense that Aries is best represented by red.
11 Taurus: Green
Taurus is an earth sign that's most at home in nature. It is a focused, steadfast, resilient, and loyal sign that is dedicated to the long game. The sign itself is represented by the bull, which speaks to both its reverence for nature and its dedication to its values. However, this dedication can often be misconstrued by others as stubbornness.
Similarly, green is the color of nature. It believes that nature is absolutely perfect given the time that it needs to properly grow. Green mechanics emphasize creating more mana, casting big creatures, and not worrying about smaller blockers thanks to trample.
10 Gemini: Izzet
Gemini is a sign that keeps itself so busy that it wishes it could clone itself. Appropriately, its symbol is two twins. Gemini are forever in motion, constantly looking to improve themselves across their many and varied pursuits. Their energy is best used for innovation, and they are always down to try something new.
Izzet (red/blue) combines the fiery passion and speed of red with the yearning for discovery and perfection of blue. This mixture leads to passionate thinkers who are so busy juggling all of the possibilities that they create things often just to destroy them soon after in search of a new and improved version.
9 Cancer: Blue
Cancers are known for their aptitude in the emotional and physical worlds. They are highly attuned to their surroundings and extremely protective and controlling against registered threats. This emotional attunement leads some to jokingly claim that they are almost psychic, however getting to know a Cancer well enough for them to share their psychic powers often requires both time and patience.
Meanwhile, blue is the color of deep thought, excessive patience, and desire for perfection. Blue seeks to truly understand its adversaries more than any other color, if only so that it might then properly control them. Consequently, blue focuses on cards that draw cards, counterspells, bounce effects, and spells that copy others. Like a Cancer, a blue opponent who knows you well enough will see your every move before you make it.
8 Leo: Boros
Despite their often vain nature, Leos are among the most steadfast, consistent, and loyal people you might meet. Leos love the spotlight and always enjoy being the center of attention, especially if it's a topic of controversy. They are fearless optimists who believe that their pride in themselves deserves recognition. Fittingly, the symbol of Leos is the lion.
Boros (red/white) combines the self-assuredness and fervent devotion of red with the community values and peacekeeping of white. Boros mirrors Leo in that it moves forward with the pride of red and cares for its own with the morality and order of white. While seemingly at odds at first glance, these two colors balance one another quite nicely. Similarly, Leo's clear love for themselves often hides some of the best qualities you could ask for in a friend.
7 Virgo: Simic
Virgo is an earth sign who is sometimes too busy analyzing data, practicing its skills, and working towards perfection for its own good. The symbol of Virgos is the maiden; helpful by their nature, with a wish to improve upon the flaws that they notice in themselves and others. However, their shrewd practicality and commitment to excellence can sometimes come off as harsh.
Simic (blue/green) merges the thoughtfulness and need for perfection of blue with the love of nature and dedication of green. Ultimately, this results in a color pair that seeks to improve upon the natural world in order to reach the next evolution.
6 Libra: White
The symbol of libras is the scales, which represent its values of peace, justice, and balance. There is nothing more important to a libra than achieving a state of equilibrium with oneself, others, and humanity, as well as the world, at large. Libras rely on companionship, and are just as interested in keeping everyone else happy as they are in their own happiness.
White is the color of society, community, and companionship. Furthermore, white focuses on constructing, abiding by, and maintaining systems of law to assist in keeping the peace amongst everyone. White cards focus on the combined power of many smaller creatures, protection, life gain, and enchantments that introduce new rules or laws into the game.
5 Scorpio: Black
Scorpio is said to be one of the most misunderstood signs. Their symbol is the scorpion, which speaks to their ability to sting with incredible speed as well as the often unseen nature of their future plans. Scorpios always play their cards close, rarely revealing their ultimate goals due to their intuitive knowledge of others' tendencies to get in the way.
Black is also a commonly misunderstood color. While many believe black to be the color of death, destruction, and reanimation, these are merely a means to its own ends. More than anything, black wishes to accomplish its own goals by whatever means necessary. Black has no concern for morality or friendships; instead, its only important metric is whether a plan succeeds or fails.
4 Saggitarius: Gruul
The symbol of the Saggitarius is the centaur archer. This symbol represents the signs adaptability, wanderlust, and fiery passion. Saggitarius are as curious as kittens and wish to explore every inch of the earth, both known and unknown. Other than thrill-seeking adventure, this sign is also known for its brutal honesty and signature bluntness.
Gruul (red/green) brings together the passion and love of freedom of red with the love of nature and continuous growth of green. Gruul colors bring forth monsters part-man, part-beast such as werewolves, satyrs, ogres and more, intermingling the natural world's harsh hierarchy with explorative freedoms.
3 Capricorn: Golgari
For Capricorn, the most valuable resource in the world is time. It is said that those born under this sign actually age backward, becoming more youthful and outspoken the older they get. Capricorn focus on long-term goals, and are symbolized by the mythical sea-goat which tells of their perspective on the future, no matter how the landscape might change.
Golgari (green/black) combines the victory by any means necessary of black with green's belief that the natural world reaches perfection given enough time. Golgari strategies often revolve around filling the graveyard with cards only to bring them back in time as even more powerful.
2 Aquarius: Azorius
The symbol of Aquarius is the water-bearer: a mystical healer who brings life to all. Aquarius is known for its devotion to making the world a better place for people through innovation and progress. Their path to achieving these goals involves bringing together people through teamwork and collaboration.
Azorius (blue/white) pairs the need for progress and perfection of blue with the ideals of balance, protection, and community values of white. Azorius cards mix the card draw and bounce effects of blue spells with the numerous small bodies of white creatures.
1 Pisces: Esper
As the last of the signs, Pisces has absorbed a piece of knowledge from every sign that comes before it. Pisces are kind, gentle, creative, and extremely empathetic. Their deep concerns about emotion can sometimes make them seem delusional. In truth, though, they are so attuned to what others are feeling that they perceive sentiments most people fail to notice.
Esper (black/blue/white) mixes the emotional strength of blue with the clairvoyant planning of black and the care for humanity of white. Altogether, these colors are primarily concerned with focus, control, and understanding, which leads to innovations for the benevolence of its own community.