Tome of the GuildpactTome of the Guildpact | Art by Randy Gallegos

Hello and welcome back to How To Be New, a series for people who absolutely cannot believe that there are apparently multiple names for each color pair.

Yes, you read that right. Magic's new set Secrets of Strixhaven is coming out later this month, and it revolves around a magical university (the eponymous Strixhaven University), which houses five highly competitive colleges. Each of those colleges is defined by its relationship to one of Magic's five "enemy color pairings."

And each college has a name that is different from the name that most people use for those color combinations. It's sort of a nightmare from a new player perspective.

Learning the names for the different color combinations is one of the largest hurdles that players tend to face early on in their Magic career. And this problem is made all the worse by how casually more veteran players tend to use those words, like they're something you should understand implicitly from the first time you opened a booster pack. Even processing the letters that were just said and figuring out that they must've been a word that was said correctly and on purpose is a gargantuan feat.

So, for a newer player encountering this set that is based around something called "enemy color pairs," which also has different names for those color pairs than they may have previously heard around the Commander table, this could quickly devolve into a full Mind TwistMind Twist kind of situation.

So let's break these things down. We'll learn a bit about what enemy color pairs are, and what you can expect to see from them in Secrets of Strixhaven and beyond.

Note: In this article I will be primarily referring to these combinations by the names they were given in Ravnica block back in 2005, as these are the most commonly used names for these color pairs in casual MtG conversation. I will make mention of the Strixhaven college names, but if you can only internalize one name for each color pair, let it be the more common Ravnica name.

What Are Enemy Color Pairs?

Enemy color pairs are are two mana colors that exist on opposite sides of the color wheel.

The Magic color wheel, courtesy of mtg.wiki

The color wheel is a foundational guide that depicts the color identities and how they relate to each other. Looking around the wheel, we can see which color identities tend to be closer in philosophy and playstyle to one another and which tend to be farther away, or even directly opposed (like enemies, get it?).

For example, in Mark Rosewater's excellent Drive to Work podcast, he explains in an episode about the color wheel (or color pie) that "White wants peace and it gets it through structure... Black wants power and it gets it through opportunity." Those two things seem fairly opposed to me. And it metes out in the way these colors tend to play.

A simple Scryfall search for white cards that gain life and black cards that drain life confirms that these are fairly diametrically opposed forces.

If you're having trouble remembering the order of the color wheel, just remember that it is the basis for the phrase "WUBRG," the way Magic players and designers refer to the five colors in order (white, blue, black, red, green, or ).

If two letters are next to each other, those colors go together (including white and green, the ends of the phrase, as it is meant to represent a wheel). If two letters are not next to each other, they're considered "enemies." To save you the Wordle-esque mental gymnastics, that makes the five enemy color pairs , , , , and .

The color wheel is also depicted on the back of each Magic card! Those little gems in the middle represent the color wheel, and any gems that are not adjacent to one another are an enemy color pair.

Does being enemy colors mean these color pairs don't go well together? Absolutely not! These are foundational, beloved color pairings in modern Magic, though I'm led to understand that cards which synergize between two enemy colors were less common back in the early days of the game. But at any Commander table, you'll find commanders sporting these color pairs. Powerhouses like Teysa KarlovTeysa Karlov, salt-generating newcomers like Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier, and even my beloved first commander The Jolly Balloon ManThe Jolly Balloon Man all sport enemy color pairs.

In fact, if you're doing a prerelease (and I highly recommend that you do), the Strixhaven prerelease kits will be divided up between the five enemy color pairs. And the kits will include one booster that's specifically themed around your selected color pairing.

Let's go into these color pairings, what they typically look like, and some popular commanders and precon decks featuring each pair.

White/Black - Orzhov

Strixhaven College: Silverquill

How to Remember "Orzhov": I have two ideas: First, it sounds vaguely like a word for a Russian mafia. And they're definitely doing some dark work in the white Moscow snow. Or, it sounds like it could be the name of an F1 driver who's constantly taking checkered flags.

Popular Commanders: Teysa KarlovTeysa Karlov, Ketramose, the New DawnKetramose, the New Dawn, Eriette of the Charmed AppleEriette of the Charmed Apple

Commander Precons: Blood Rites, Party Time

A few of these color pairs seem to go so naturally together that I'm always surprised that they're considered "enemies." When you look at white and black, they do tend to represent life and death. And though sometimes those are considered opposite forces, they're often referred to as two sides of the same coin.

And they just go so well together in Magic. They commonly use tools like Life manipulationLife manipulation or reanimationreanimation to dominate the board in ways that other color pairs simply can't manage themselves.

If you see an Orzhov commander across the table from you, expect to see shenaniganry involving life totals. Possibly yours. Almost certainly yours.

Blue/Red - Izzet

Strixhaven College: Prizmari

How to Remember "Izzet": This is one of the easiest to remember in my opinion. Izzet decks are known for spell-slinging (that is, a deck dense with instant and sorcery spells), and Izzet literally sounds like a magical bolt crackling across the battlefield. It's practically onomatopoeia. Brilliantly named and on theme. No notes.

Popular Commanders: Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier, Ghyrson Starn, KelermorphGhyrson Starn, Kelermorph, anyany of severalseveral Niv-MizzetsNiv-Mizzets.

Commander Precons: Quick Draw, Draconic Descent

Izzet was the first color combination I fell in love with when I first started playing Magic. Red and blue both love slinging spells, and the fantasy of being a wizard just rapid firing bolts and flames and whatever else they can conjure in the middle of a chaotic battlefield is what drew me to the game.

Izzet decks tend to revolve around playing as many of these spells as possible and utilizing them to maximum effect. You'll often see keywords like prowessprowess, which causes a creature to grow stronger each turn based on the number of noncreature spells cast that turn, and stormstorm, which sees its spells copied a number of times equal to the number of spells cast before it on that turn.

However, be careful when using both of these mechanics together, as effects that trigger when spells are cast, like prowess, do not trigger in response to spells being copied, like with storm. This is a lesson I had to learn in a hard and embarassing way, so hopefully I can save you that same mistake.

Black/Green - Golgari

Strixhaven College: Witherbloom (one of the only Strixhaven names that are arguably better than their Ravnican counterpart)

How to Remember "Golgari": This is another one that I think is pretty straightforward by merit of its onomatopoeia. "Golgari" sounds like the noise Swamp Thing probably makes when it sinks down into the muck. It sounds like it could be the legal last name of The Dirty Bubble. Just think, "What two colors feel like they would combine to produce a murky, bubbling bog?" And that's Golgari for you.

Popular Commanders: Lathril, Blade of the ElvesLathril, Blade of the Elves, Ygra, Eater of AllYgra, Eater of All, High Perfect MorcantHigh Perfect Morcant

Commander Precons: Squirreled Away, Death Toll

Golgari is a combination that plays very well together and is always fun to command. These decks often feature a lot of reanimation, bringing things back from the graveyard to the battlefield (a clear nod to black's influence over death and green's influence over growth and new life). Many of them also feature some manner of sacrifice, as in the Squirreled Away precon, or with the nastiness that Ygra, Eater of AllYgra, Eater of All gets up to.

However, as these decks sometimes lack in card draw, you'll often see them paired with blue to make Sultai (). For example, Golgari makes up the backbone of my Sidisi, Brood TyrantSidisi, Brood Tyrant deck, as those colors are great for milling oneself and reanimating those milled creatures. But the added blue allows access to powerful graveyard engines like Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide, as well as the pure gleeful silliness of Eternal SkylordEternal Skylord.

Red/White - Boros

Strixhaven College: Lorehold

How to Remember "Boros": Boros is a word that resonates with warmth and light. It's a word that feels red and white in the mouth and in the chest. However, failing that, "Boro" sounds like "Toro!" and you can think about the red stains you'll leave on a bull's white horns if you're ever close enough to goad one with that exclamation.

Popular Commanders: Arabella, Abandoned DollArabella, Abandoned Doll, Ragost, Deft GastronautRagost, Deft Gastronaut, The Jolly Balloon ManThe Jolly Balloon Man

Commander Precons: Blame Game, Rebellion Rising

Boros is another absolute favorite of mine, and is the most represented color combination in my deck bag. Boros very effectively combines the aggression of red with the token-generation of white. And that's something you'll see in a majority of Boros decks: creature tokens.

And what delightful tokens they make. The Jolly Ballon Man makes Balloon tokens, Anim Pakal, Thousandth MoonAnim Pakal, Thousandth Moon takes non-Gnome creatures and uses those to make Gnomes, Pia Nalaar, Consul of RevivalPia Nalaar, Consul of Revival beats you to death with Thopters. It really feels like you're getting bludgeoned to death with the full menagerie of available creature tokens.

However, Boros really does have a lot of flexibility. Taking a look through the EDHREC Top Commanders page for Boros should give you an idea of the breadth available here. Past the token generators, there's the ever-popular Brion StoutarmBrion Stoutarm (FlingFling on a stick), Ragost, as well as Sami, Wildcat CaptainSami, Wildcat Captain are both artifact-based, Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader provides additional combats.

There's a ton of fun things to do in this color combination.

Green/Blue - Simic

Strixhaven College: Quandrix

How to Remember "Simic": I honestly think this is one of the toughest. The fact that is Simic and is Dimir makes me absolutely furious. Would love a little more distance there.

I have two potential mnemonics here. The first is by remembering that Dimir is dimmer, because it has black instead of green to go with the blue. The other is that the main colors of The Sims franchise are blue and green. And "Sims" sounds like "Simic."

Popular Commanders: Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy, Zimone, Mystery UnravelerZimone, Mystery Unraveler, Volo, Guide to MonstersVolo, Guide to Monsters

Commander Precons: Explorers of the Deep, Tricky Terrain

Simic decks often involve blue-style trickery around lands. In fact, five of the top eight Simic commanders have the word "land" in their rules text. And Kinnan, while not dealing with lands directly, gets you extra mana from nonland permanents, so I'd call that the same ballpark.

But Simic decks can do a little bit of a lot of different things. Some Simic commanders deal in +1/+1 counters+1/+1 counters, some deal in token doublingtoken doubling, some deal in cheating out spellscheating out spells, some deal in pure, abject dreadpure, abject dread*.

As I have recommended in the past, pick up the Tricky Terrain precon if you can. It gives a great sense for what this color combo is capable of. The trickiness lurking back amongst your lands makes you feel like the entire game of Magic is at your fingertips. And more than half of your games will end with you swinging Marit LageMarit Lage for the fifth or sixth time.

*As a sufferer of thalassophobia, that card art is top two most terrifying in all of Magic for me. AstroquariumAstroquarium fights it for the top spot.

That's all five enemy color pairs! If any of them interested you, EDHREC has a page dedicated to housing each pair's most popular commanders. And if reading through your favorite color pair's most popular commanders doesn't make your eyes go wide with the vast possibilities present in this game of Commander that we all love, then I don't know what to tell you.

It gives me the sort of rejuvenative feeling that I imagine others might get from a relaxing bath or a long run.

Also, these color pairs tend to work differently within different planes in the Magic universe. For example, in Secrets of Strixhaven, apparently Lorehold (Boros, ) is about graveyard recursion, which is not a strategy I would previously associate with that color pairing at all! So get excited about what lies just around the corner with Secrets of Strixhaven, as well as all of the other wonderful ways these color pairs have interacted throughout Magic's history. And if nothing else, remember: "Simic, like The Sims. Blue and green."