Is Playing Spark Double a Must in Blue?

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance|mul|8" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fooyee">Yeong-Hao Han</a></em></p>
<p>There are a lot of topics that make <em>Magic</em> players irrationally upset. I've made a career of talking about these things, but usually these are social mechanics. I want to tackle something that is a core mechanic that makes up <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>, something so synonymous with the game that it's a wonder how players can play this game and despise it as much as they do.</p>
<p>No color in <em>Magic</em> gets more hate than blue.</p>
<h2>The Sins of Blue</h2>
<p>Before we can talk about what players hate about blue, we have to talk about what blue is known for. Some of the first things I think of when I think of blue is card draw in cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi, Master of Time" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi, Master of Time</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. There are endless cards in this color that puts cards into hand or gives some kind of card advantage.</p>
<p>I don't know about some players' pods, but card draw can be a source of a lot of salt. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is on the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/salt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Top 100 Saltiest</a> cards. It's in the top five, as a matter of fact, next to cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Winter Orb" href="#" target="_blank">Winter Orb</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tergrid, God of Fright" href="#" target="_blank">Tergrid, God of Fright</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the best card draw engine in the Commander format. Why do we hate draw so much?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div></div>
<p>First, we have to understand the value of card draw. In Commander, the two best things you can do in the game is ramp and draw cards. What I'll stress here is that usually over the course of a game the more important of those two things is card draw or card advantage.</p>
<p>Being able to see more options, being able to take more actions on your turn is hugely important. The more mana you make, the more card draw you need. More card draw leads you to more ramp and more options beyond that, but the opposite isn't true. More ramp doesn't usually get your more card advantage, unless you're playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tatyova, Benthic Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Tatyova, Benthic Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tatyova, Benthic Druid"></div></div>
<p>Why do we hate advantage in this way? The player with more card advantage having more options means they're harder to stop. They'll draw answers to problems. They'll draw win cons. It shoots them ahead so drastically.</p>
<p>When we think about our game plan and how much of a distance there is between the blue player's value and our own, we become frustrated. They always have it. They're always doing more on their turn. Their turns are more effective. It's hard not be frustrated with an engine that good - an engine as good as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>I say this, only partially understanding this. I don't often get frustrated by another player's value if I can overcome them, do my own thing. But blue is more notorious for keeping others from doing their own thing too.</p>
<h2>The Real Sin of Blue</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arcane Denial" href="#" target="_blank">Arcane Denial</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swan Song" href="#" target="_blank">Swan Song</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="An Offer You Can&#039;t Refuse" href="#" target="_blank">An Offer You Can&#039;t Refuse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. These cards are staples in any blue deck. Why? What blue does better than any other color is counterspells.</p>
<p>Most counterspells in other colors aren't very good. I wrote an article about the <a href="https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/cashinds-seo-07252024-the-best-non-blue-counterspells" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best non-blue counter magic</a> and most of those cards aren't very good. Notably <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tibalt&#039;s Trickery" href="#" target="_blank">Tibalt&#039;s Trickery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aven Interrupter" href="#" target="_blank">Aven Interrupter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are good ways to counter, or disrupt, in other colors, but the list isn't every long.</p>
<p>What's wrong with countering spells? No other mechanic in the game makes an active player ask another player permission to do what they want. When a player sees open blue mana, even one, they have to play around the idea that they might get stopped. It's frustrating knowing that anything you might be building up to can be countered, shot down, stopped in it's tracks.</p>
<p>There's no limit to the number of these cards that deny other players freedom to win. You can run as many "I say no" cards in your deck as you want. In 27th place on the salt list is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It's an expensive card to buy, it can counter anything but creatures, and it costs no mana if you have your commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fierce Guardianship"></div></div>
<p>Players hate blue because they have to ask permission to play their turns. On the blue player's turn, they're drawing endless different answers to everyone else's board. It's hard not to see the unique beauty and power behind this color, but is it justified to hate this?</p>
<p>Should this be the color that brings the most ire? Aren't there other relevant sins from other colors? Let's see.</p>
<h2>The Sins of Black</h2>
<p>The best tutors in the game are in this color. Tutors are something that players love discussing as a rule zero conversation because of how much it warps the power of the game. Black has <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vampiric Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Vampiric Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demonic Tutor" href="#" target="_blank">Demonic Tutor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Imperial Seal" href="#" target="_blank">Imperial Seal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>I know that kind of advantage is a huge accelerator in Commander as a format. cEDH is supported heavily by tutors, and cEDH is the strongest version of Commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vampiric Tutor"></div></div>
<p>If that's not enough for you, we've got <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tergrid, God of Fright" href="#" target="_blank">Tergrid, God of Fright</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as the top saltiest commander, one of the most miserable commanders to play against in the format right now.</p>
<p>It's the color of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rankle, Master of Pranks" href="#" target="_blank">Rankle, Master of Pranks</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, making everyone sac a creature or discard a card. Which can be pretty miserable, but overall black minds its own business. It might make everyone sac creatures and discards cards, but often times, aside from Tergrid, it's not the main game plan of this color. It's not at the top of the list of salt.</p>
<h2>The Sins of Red</h2>
<p>I'm not going to sit here and tell you that red is the biggest threat here for the title of the saltiest color in <em>Magic</em>, but it isn't without sin. I wrote an article about the <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/red-deck-wins-and-maybe-combo-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">art of the Burn player</a> and it sort of paints a vivid picture of the problem with letting the Burn player play any of their cards.</p>
<p>A streamlined game of life totals melting away is a good argument to hate this archetype. It's the kind of hit that keeps on giving, no matter what removal you have.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vivi Ornitier"></div></div>
<p>I think we're kinder to this archetype because it struggles with card advantage. But once you slap blue into there you've got an unstoppable <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vivi Ornitier" href="#" target="_blank">Vivi Ornitier</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck that burns and storms and draws cards with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Curiosity" href="#" target="_blank">Curiosity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it's the assistance of blue that holds this archetype up, but it doesn't mean it's not oppressive. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Solphim, Mayhem Dominus" href="#" target="_blank">Solphim, Mayhem Dominus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is not a deck to ignore. Though I wouldn't put it at the top of the list for salt as a color.</p>
<h2>The Sins of White</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Armageddon" href="#" target="_blank">Armageddon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. That's plenty, right? Blowing up all lands, holding priority and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-ing your self away. It usually means you win, but it definitely upsets everyone else at the table. It's the 7th saltiest card on that list too.</p>
<p>No? What about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? A little soft staxing your opponents into making a ton of Treasures for drawing. Getting outvalued for your draw step is hard. It's in the top 12 of saltiest cards. Still not worse than blue?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Armageddon"></div></div>
<p>What about <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drannith Magistrate" href="#" target="_blank">Drannith Magistrate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>? No more playing your commander. No more casting from graveyard or from exile. Trust me, every time I see a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drannith Magistrate" href="#" target="_blank">Drannith Magistrate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, I consider why I even still play this game.</p>
<p>Imagine if we let Staxy McGee white mix with the card draw and denial of blue. That's Azorius, the least loved color combination, in my experience. It's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grand Arbiter Augustin IV" href="#" target="_blank">Grand Arbiter Augustin IV</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> making all opponents' spells cost more while discounting their own.</p>
<p>Once again, the inclusion of blue seems to ramp up how oppressive the deck appears.</p>
<h2>The Sins of Green</h2>
<p>I'm a big believer that green has pretty privilege. I could scream from the top of my lungs that I think it's the strongest, most versatile color in casual Commander, and I'll get laughed out of the room every time.</p>
<p>Green doesn't ask permission. Its heavy creature-based strategies turn off counters like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fierce Guardianship" href="#" target="_blank">Fierce Guardianship</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="An Offer You Can&#039;t Refuse" href="#" target="_blank">An Offer You Can&#039;t Refuse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. It has a great ratio of mana cost to creature stats, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Defiler of Vigor" href="#" target="_blank">Defiler of Vigor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma" href="#" target="_blank">Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which discounts spells.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma"></div></div>
<p>Green is the color of ramp and draw. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Nature&#039;s Lore" href="#" target="_blank">Nature&#039;s Lore</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skyshroud Claim" href="#" target="_blank">Skyshroud Claim</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are both excellent ramp spells. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Garruk&#039;s Uprising" href="#" target="_blank">Garruk&#039;s Uprising</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Guardian Project" href="#" target="_blank">Guardian Project</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elemental Bond" href="#" target="_blank">Elemental Bond</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are cards that draw cards consistently when you take basic game actions. When we think about a color that outvalues, we have to be talking about green. It will draw more cards, be more resilient to disruption, and deal a significant amount of damage.</p>
<p>I'm not saying it has no weaknesses, but if we're thinking about a color that will do too much, we're looking at green. You throw blue into the mix and you have unstoppable Simic, with card draw built into ramp with commanders like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait" href="#" target="_blank">Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Okay, I'm not confused by why we all hate blue. I'm not saying we shouldn't hate blue. It's salt inducing to be told "no" when you're going for the win by the same color over and over. It sucks watching that.</p>
<p>But if we're talking about colors that are oppressive, all the colors have their role to play. They have their own method of oppression and value. Blue gets most of the hate, when in actuality we should diversify and hate other colors just as much. Green should be getting more side eye and salt than a blue player, but I guess it depends on the commander. If they're playing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baral, Chief of Compliance" href="#" target="_blank">Baral, Chief of Compliance</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, I might feel differently.</p>
<p>But that's just what I think. Tell me your thoughts! I'm <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/strixhavendropout.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@strixhavendropout on Blue Sky</a>.</p>
<h3>Read More:</h3>
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Does Blue Deserve the Hate It Gets in Commander?

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep" href="#" target="_blank">Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/rutkowski" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grzegorz Rutkowski</a></em></p>
<p>Each color in <em>Magic</em> has its own strengths and weaknesses. This is one of the first things you learn about the game when you start and is what keeps most people playing for years.</p>
<p>A green deck will have more mana than you thought was possible and so many creature tokens that you run out of board space. By turn two they’ll have as many lands on the board as you have in your deck. And every new land will trigger all of their hundreds of +1/+1 counters to double.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Llanowar Elves"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bristly Bill, Spine Sower"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Doubling Season"></div></div>
<p>Though there are certain decks that throw this away and try new things, such as this series suggests. Such green players will control the board state with a non-combat engine, shaping the flow of play and dictating what everyone is and isn’t able to do.</p>
<p>They’ll probably have far too many artifacts and enchantments, to boot.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Deck of Many Things"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The First Iroan Games"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Epic Struggle"></div></div>
<h2>What Is Playing “Out Of Type?”</h2>
<p><em>Magic</em> is a game that doesn’t just allow for, but is fundamentally built around, the idea that each color is “special.” But that doesn’t mean you’re forced to play a specific way. While white has creature removal and black has its ways of gaining life, those are exceptions to the traditional ways of playing.</p>
<p>Red might be good at rush-down aggro strategies, but that doesn’t mean it <em>can't</em> play the long-con. It’s just not what the majority of its cards are designed around.</p>
<p>Playing out of type or “off-color” is throwing away those staple cards the color is known for and focusing on oddities that barely fit within the color pie. It’s less a matter of finding secret sleeper hits and more so turning table scraps into a meal.</p>
<p>And depending on what you grab or how good of cook you are, that can lead to something pretty compelling!</p>
<h2>A Quick Disclaimer</h2>
<p>You probably won’t win doing this, even at non-competitive pods or low brackets. After all, you’re going out of your way to ignore the best cards in your color.</p>
<p>But would you rather play the same rote deck over and over until the meta shifts, or actually have fun trying something new?</p>
<p>To properly play off-color, you have to go into a game with the mindset that you want to have fun. Winning certainly is fun and some of my favorite games of <em>Magic</em> have been desperate struggles to combat an excellent player with a finely-tuned deck.</p>
<p>But there’s more than one way to have fun, and so many people get lost in how competitive this game is. So talk to your gaming group, set up a Bracket 1 or 2 game, and get deckbuilding something no sane person would ever craft.</p>
<p>Because it’s one thing to skip the counters and the card draw and the milling blue is known for. There are plenty of strategies you can employ that will still control the board state without employing any of those. It’s another thing entirely to focus on creature-spam aggro builds where you crash out if you don’t win by turn four.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, stompy’s coming over to blue.</p>
<h2>What Blue Does Well</h2>
<h3>Ruining Players’ Fun</h3>
<p>Blue’s largest strength, at least within the <em>Magic</em> community, is ruining the fun of other players. That’s really all you need to know. But the obligatory bashing aside, blue is fantastic at controlling the board state.</p>
<p>Counterspells are the most obvious example, in literally allowing you to remove the ability for opponents to cast spells. That type of card is called a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Counterspell" href="#" target="_blank">Counterspell</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for a reason.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Negate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arcane Denial"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="An Offer You Can&#039;t Refuse"></div></div>
<p>But blue has other means of completely disrupting opponents’ plans. Flickers, or cards that remove a permanent only to return it immediately after, destroy the potential of developing strong creatures. Similarly, blue excels at returning cards to their owner’s hand — yours or your opponents’.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghostly Flicker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Summon: Leviathan"></div></div>
<p>Then there’s the many abilities blue has which tap, restrain, or otherwise render inert permanents without removing them from the board. This can be a minor inconvenience or shut down a strategy depending on how it’s played. At its least useful, it can buy the blue player a few more turns. Which, by itself, is quite a good thing to do!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aboshan, Cephalid Emperor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lorthos, the Tidemaker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Breaching Leviathan"></div></div>
<p>And, of course, blue has the ability to mill your cards out from under you. Which you might be able to respond to… if you can draw a response before it’s removed from your library.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Mindskinner"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bruvac the Grandiloquent"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fractured Sanity"></div></div>
<h3>Deck Manipulation</h3>
<p>Drawing extra cards is one of the powerful things to do in <em>Magic</em>, and blue just so happens to be the color most suited towards doing that. While its mana production isn’t stellar in comparison to green, the sheer flexibility you’ll have available is astounding.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jin-Gitaxias"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Azami, Lady of Scrolls"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Memories Returning"></div></div>
<p>Not only that, but blue is also home to the scry and surveil keywords. While it lacks the consistency of tutors that black has, being able to alter which cards you’re about to draw is powerful in its own right. Then combine that with the ability to draw more and you have a scary degree of control over your deck.</p>
<h3>Copying</h3>
<p>Copying spells and/or permanents is almost entirely relegated to the realm of blue. While red can double-up on its spells by copying instants or sorceries, blue has the ability to wholesale recreate permanents. With shapeshifters and copycats abound, even if blue doesn’t have the answer to a problem it can oftentimes just copy that problem and have it solve itself in the most literal sense.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Orvar, the All-Form"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Relm&#039;s Sketching"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sakashima the Impostor"></div></div>
<h2>But What If…You Play a Blue Deck Where You Ungabunga to Victory?</h2>
<p>Blue requires a certain level of skill to properly utilize, particularly when you’re not able to rely on the other colors. So what if you just… didn’t? Didn’t plan or think or strategize. You just cosplayed a green player and got the biggest numbers you could find without considering the consequences of your actions.</p>
<p>And to my surprise, it’s actually not that hard!</p>
<h3>Creatures!</h3>
<p>While blue certainly isn’t the most aggressive color, it has access to creatures which are no joke, primarily Serpents, Krakens, and Leviathans. There’s far more heavy hitters than I gave blue credit for before writing this.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Watcher in the Water"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tromokratis"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stormtide Leviathan"></div></div>
<p>Or just getting more creatures when playing other spells.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Murmuring Mystic"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shark Typhoon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hermes, Overseer of Elpis"></div></div>
<p>Then, of course, there’s the synergy this has with other creatures, such the various Merfolk. Or just Merfolk and Faeries having typal synergies in general. And while chain-synergy between different creature types is a little too high-IQ for what we’re going for, it’s certainly not “stereotypically blue.”</p>
<p>So I say it should be fine!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Svyelun of Sea and Sky"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Talrand, Sky Summoner"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Alandra, Sky Dreamer"></div></div>
<h3>Sustainability</h3>
<p>Something I don’t think of when I imagine blue decks is sustainability. They can control the board state and stay flexible in their options, but they have a certain fragility to the decks most of the time.</p>
<p>If you can get a strong board presence and somehow stave off that presence being removed, most blue decks can’t effectively respond.</p>
<p>Thus, we must include cards in off-blue to keep the deck going through the fights we’ll be starting.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Staff of the Mind Magus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="High Tide"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kraken&#039;s Eye"></div></div>
<h3>Group Hug?</h3>
<p>My light-hearted bashing of blue earlier was really just to indicate that there’s a bit of a stigma against blue players. They’re assumed to be control players so they’re associated with ruining the fun of other players. Which isn’t always true!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kami of the Crescent Moon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Braids, Conjurer Adept"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arcum Dagsson"></div></div>
<p>So to put your best foot forward in off-blue, I propose engaging in group hug. That is to say, offer benefits to other players.</p>
<p>No one will likely trust you due to the aforementioned suspicion. Good. Let them be suspicious.</p>
<p>Play it straight, don’t feel the need to politic or turn it around on them in the end. Just be nice to the other players and see what happens. Very quickly they'll realize you aren't the threat and will devote resources to the other players.</p>
<p>And <em>that's</em> when you strike.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Magic Damper"></div></div>
<h2>Blue Has Depth</h2>
<p>Maybe this was just my own experience with the color, but I hadn’t really considered just how good blue is at all the non-control options available to them.</p>
<p>Certainly, control is quite popular in blue because it’s quite effective. Most decks can’t respond quickly enough to being milled to put up a fight. Voltron gets shut down hard by flickers. Stompy and aggro either win fast or not at all.</p>
<p>So blue doesn’t often have much of an incentive to experiment outside of what works.</p>
<p>However, there’s real potential in off-blue for other, more aggressive playstyles. They don’t see as much play given they’re competing with the top of class, but they really aren’t the self-imposed restriction I assumed they’d be.</p>
<p>If you want to play off-blue, you’re in for a good time. You’ll be purposely holding yourself back from some of the best cards in the game, but that’s the case with playing out of type for any color.</p>
<p>At the very least, your pod will be glad you’re not running any control.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study"></div></div>


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