Bear with me here. ?

I was reading one of the many threads on this forum and came across a very interesting take on our current L5R; aligning the current, unreleased 7 Clans through the prism of the 5 colors of Magic the Gatheting. A poster stated that the Crane were akin to a Blue and White deck, or some such...

Anyone care to give this a try?

What colors would the 7 Clans 'fall under' if you could paint them with the 5 colors of MtG?

This sounds fun. It's been a long time since I played Magic, but I remember the strengths of the colors quite well.

Crab
Super green to me. Big dudes that hit hard and rather than messing with the opponent being the game plan, they instead try to make themselves untouchable or difficult to mess with. Way of the Crab looks like crab might also have some sacrifice themes, so there could potentially be some black in there.

Crane
Definitely aspects of blue, do to their aspects of control through denial and bowing effects; I'd also say white because of the sheet power gain of being honored for them, which gives a sort of weenie vibe normally associated with white.

Dragon
The Dragon clan feels very white to me, due to their efficient and cheap guys and focus on attachments and buffing themselves up. They seem like they have some cool combo potential as well with their effects, so they might end up being very flexible with who they splash. So white with a hint of whatever flavor they want to go for based on ally.

Lion
The obvious answer is Red, do to their fast and aggressive military theme, but Lion also have a ton of aspects seen in White with weenie guys getting buffed by area buff effects and honor gain stat boosts. Boros is the perfect fit here, for sure.

Phoenix
Izzet? What we have seen of the phoenix so far leans very heavily on defensive control and removal. Characters like Masahiro have repeatable discard which is very powerful and Pacifism/Solemn Scholar start to form a hard control package similar to the Crane's style. I'd say a mixture of blue for the ring manipulation and control and red for the hard removal if we see more of it.

Scorpion
Predominantly black in my opinion. Scorpion looks like it leans on subtle manipulation, resource choke, and tons of mean tricks. Seems like they might lean toward discard and dishonor (negative stats), which are both common effects in Black decks, with a pinch of red (Blackmail being akin to Red's many "take control until end of turn" effects), and blue (do to their soft control of targeting and the dial). So Grixis with a heavy black focus.

Unicorn
It's hard to place the Unicorn exactly because mobility isn't really a thing in Magic. That said, they seem to be very aggressive and fast so there's definite elements of Red there. I'd argue that the latest Battle Maiden spoiler also seems very green to me and Breakthrough can sort of be related to trample. For now, I'd definitely say Unicorn look most like Gruul.

I'm not a recent MtG player, but I have a friend who says you're better trying to align them to the various 3-colour guilds.

Are we talking in scrictly mechanical terms here, or philosophical as well? I recall misinterpreting it in the original discussion and getting my arguments way offbase as a result. For example, I see the Crane as being white-blue in their value of both structure, and scholarly pursuits such as art and writing. The Dragon are more blue-green in their search for (esoteric) knowledge, and their belief that true wisdom can only be found within oneself.

I based my statements on an entirely mechanical perspective. The fluff based perspective is a tough one to take because different color combinations can have wildly different flavors.

2 hours ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

I'm not a recent MtG player, but I have a friend who says you're better trying to align them to the various 3-colour guilds.

Sorry, but what are the 3 color guilds? (unless they are related to the previous L5R, which would put me further into the dark)

55 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

Sorry, but what are the 3 color guilds? (unless they are related to the previous L5R, which would put me further into the dark)

They're divided into Shards (each color and its two allies) and Clans (each color and its two enemies), deriving from their uses in Alara block and Tarkir block, respectively.

4 hours ago, I Fight Dragons said:

This sounds fun. It's been a long time since I played Magic, but I remember the strengths of the colors quite well.

Crab
Super green to me. Big dudes that hit hard and rather than messing with the opponent being the game plan, they instead try to make themselves untouchable or difficult to mess with. Way of the Crab looks like crab might also have some sacrifice themes, so there could potentially be some black in there.

Crane
Definitely aspects of blue, do to their aspects of control through denial and bowing effects; I'd also say white because of the sheet power gain of being honored for them, which gives a sort of weenie vibe normally associated with white.

Dragon
The Dragon clan feels very white to me, due to their efficient and cheap guys and focus on attachments and buffing themselves up. They seem like they have some cool combo potential as well with their effects, so they might end up being very flexible with who they splash. So white with a hint of whatever flavor they want to go for based on ally.

Lion
The obvious answer is Red, do to their fast and aggressive military theme, but Lion also have a ton of aspects seen in White with weenie guys getting buffed by area buff effects and honor gain stat boosts. Boros is the perfect fit here, for sure.

Phoenix
Izzet? What we have seen of the phoenix so far leans very heavily on defensive control and removal. Characters like Masahiro have repeatable discard which is very powerful and Pacifism/Solemn Scholar start to form a hard control package similar to the Crane's style. I'd say a mixture of blue for the ring manipulation and control and red for the hard removal if we see more of it.

Scorpion
Predominantly black in my opinion. Scorpion looks like it leans on subtle manipulation, resource choke, and tons of mean tricks. Seems like they might lean toward discard and dishonor (negative stats), which are both common effects in Black decks, with a pinch of red (Blackmail being akin to Red's many "take control until end of turn" effects), and blue (do to their soft control of targeting and the dial). So Grixis with a heavy black focus.

Unicorn
It's hard to place the Unicorn exactly because mobility isn't really a thing in Magic. That said, they seem to be very aggressive and fast so there's definite elements of Red there. I'd argue that the latest Battle Maiden spoiler also seems very green to me and Breakthrough can sort of be related to trample. For now, I'd definitely say Unicorn look most like Gruul.

Crab

They actually seem more Gu to me. Green does have the big guys and usually has most of the fight cards too. I use 'u' because of the scouts and Yasuki. Scouts might end up rather smaller compared to other Crab but could easily be nimble attackers or provide a number of beneficial effects like peaking at province cards (i.e. scouting) or cards in the opponents hand. The Yasuki family could fit very well into blue if more of the family follows the same lines as the Shrewd Yasuki.

Dragon

I'd go with a WG because of the focus on attachments and possible 'mana' or fate shenanigans. Doing things with counters seems to be a green thing nowadays for mtg when I see cards like the camel in Amonkhet.

Crane

WUg might be the best way to describe them right now. The above works but 'g' to represent the dueling aspect of the clan. When more cards show up, the clan might be more Bant (WUG)

Lion

WRb looks like the perfect fit with what we see. The aggressive theme is certainly WR when it deals with weenies and/or aggression. I've added 'b' because of the spirit/ancestor theme going on and WB really likes to do stuff along those lines. Yeah, white had resurrection, but black tends to fit more with what we saw in the preview.

Phoenix

Hmmm, might need to see the preview for a full color combination. They might end up being very WU with another color to represent the darker side of the clan. Of course, we might not see it in the core set.

Scorpion

UB looks to be the fit for the clan with a possible splash depending on some of the control aspects or whatever ninjas end up like.

Unicorn

Blue and White have several mobility-like keywords or mechanics such as untapping or vigilance. WUr might be perfect since that color pairing was known as Jeskai and focused on cunning or making your opponent second guess themselves.

On 6/17/2017 at 4:45 PM, LordBlunt said:

Bear with me here. ?

I was reading one of the many threads on this forum and came across a very interesting take on our current L5R ...

If you read that thread why not just post to that thread instead of starting a new one?

17 minutes ago, Kakita Shiro said:

If you read that thread why not just post to that thread instead of starting a new one?

...why post on this thread just to threadcrap it?

On 6/17/2017 at 6:34 PM, Kubernes said:

Crab

They actually seem more Gu to me. Green does have the big guys and usually has most of the fight cards too. I use 'u' because of the scouts and Yasuki. Scouts might end up rather smaller compared to other Crab but could easily be nimble attackers or provide a number of beneficial effects like peaking at province cards (i.e. scouting) or cards in the opponents hand. The Yasuki family could fit very well into blue if more of the family follows the same lines as the Shrewd Yasuki.

Dragon

I'd go with a WG because of the focus on attachments and possible 'mana' or fate shenanigans. Doing things with counters seems to be a green thing nowadays for mtg when I see cards like the camel in Amonkhet.

Crane

WUg might be the best way to describe them right now. The above works but 'g' to represent the dueling aspect of the clan. When more cards show up, the clan might be more Bant (WUG)

Lion

WRb looks like the perfect fit with what we see. The aggressive theme is certainly WR when it deals with weenies and/or aggression. I've added 'b' because of the spirit/ancestor theme going on and WB really likes to do stuff along those lines. Yeah, white had resurrection, but black tends to fit more with what we saw in the preview.

Phoenix

Hmmm, might need to see the preview for a full color combination. They might end up being very WU with another color to represent the darker side of the clan. Of course, we might not see it in the core set.

Scorpion

UB looks to be the fit for the clan with a possible splash depending on some of the control aspects or whatever ninjas end up like.

Unicorn

Blue and White have several mobility-like keywords or mechanics such as untapping or vigilance. WUr might be perfect since that color pairing was known as Jeskai and focused on cunning or making your opponent second guess themselves.

That is actually a great description of the mechanics. I would add Red to the Phoenix both due to the general feel of fire and the fact that Blue and Red are the main spell casting colors.

You also have the various guilds/clans to build off for flavor.

From what I've seen (and I'm way more familiar with MTG than L5R) I'd peg them as such.

Crab: Abzhan (BGW) The Abzhan are described as being tough and rely a lot on fortifications.

Dragon: Jeskai (RWU) The Jeskai are martial artists, mystics, and monks, seems pretty Dragon to me.

Crane: Azorius (WU) Government and lawyers seems like the closest you'll get to courtiers.

Lion: Boros (RW) Boros is the military arm in Ravnica so definitely Lion.

Phoenix: Are hard to peg down but my gut says to go with Izzet (RU) if you view them as the prime spell casters of their realms. I'm interested in suggestions for this one to be honest.

Scorpion: Dimir (UB) Yeah this one is just too obvious to pass up. Dimir are the assassins and information brokers and in previous editions all the ninja were Blue or Black.

Unicorn: Mardu (WBR) The Mardu were the clan that honored the speed of the dragons and as such their feel was very Unicorn to me. They were also all about hit and run tactics.

10 minutes ago, Klawtu said:

That is actually a great description of the mechanics. I would add Red to the Phoenix both due to the general feel of fire and the fact that Blue and Red are the main spell casting colors.

You also have the various guilds/clans to build off for flavor.

From what I've seen (and I'm way more familiar with MTG than L5R) I'd peg them as such.

Crab: Abzhan (BGW) The Abzhan are described as being tough and rely a lot on fortifications.

Dragon: Jeskai (RWU) The Jeskai are martial artists, mystics, and monks, seems pretty Dragon to me.

Crane: Azorius (WU) Government and lawyers seems like the closest you'll get to courtiers.

Lion: Boros (RW) Boros is the military arm in Ravnica so definitely Lion.

Phoenix: Are hard to peg down but my gut says to go with Izzet (RU) if you view them as the prime spell casters of their realms. I'm interested in suggestions for this one to be honest.

Scorpion: Dimir (UB) Yeah this one is just too obvious to pass up. Dimir are the assassins and information brokers and in previous editions all the ninja were Blue or Black.

Unicorn: Mardu (WBR) The Mardu were the clan that honored the speed of the dragons and as such their feel was very Unicorn to me. They were also all about hit and run tactics.

Completely agree with your points, but the Dragon/Jeskai part is specially appropriate, I think. Their faction mechanic, Prowess, is great to simulate the effect of the Dragon Ise-zumi tattoos.

2 hours ago, Kakita Shiro said:

If you read that thread why not just post to that thread instead of starting a new one?

Necromancy?

3 hours ago, Kakita Shiro said:

If you read that thread why not just post to that thread instead of starting a new one?

I posted a new thread because I didn't want to hijack that thread.

43 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

Necromancy?

LOL!!! ?