Why does Experiment Kraj's mana cost not correspond to "WUBRG?"
Asked by EmperorEvil 12 years ago
Usually a creature's mana cost (for what I've known) will always go in the order of colorless first, and then any number of colored mana always in the order of WUBRG. Experiment Kraj has Green before Blue in his mana cost.Why is this?
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #2
MTG Q&A is intended to be for rules-related questions. This is a topic better suited to the General section of the Forums.
Yes, Mana symbols are usually in WUBRG order, but for 2-color cards where the colors are enemies, the order is based on the smallest "gap" between the colors in the order they're listed. For example, U->G has 2 other colors between it (BR), but G->U only has one (W). Boros Swiftblade is another example of this graphic design choice, where R->W has a smaller gap than W->R.
August 29, 2012 11:56 a.m.
Jarrod_0067 says... #4
but it's funny that we both mentioned Boros Swiftblade :P
August 29, 2012 11:57 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #6
Yeah, GU and RW are actually the only pairings where this happens, and I guess Swiftblade is the simplest example.
August 29, 2012 noon
doinitwrong says... #8
GU and RW are the only pairings where the shortest gap goes from G to W. Don't think of it as going backwards (GRBUW), think of it as taking the order and moving the first color and shifting it to the last position until the shortest gap is clear. For example, if instead of WUBRG, the order went UBRGW, then suddenly Boros Swiftblade would make sense but Vindicate wouldn't. Shift again (BRGWU), then Experiment Kraj makes sense.
August 29, 2012 2:29 p.m.
hunter9000 says... #9
What was the reason for doing it that way? Why not just use the same ordering for everything? It doesn't seem to serve any purpose except making the ordering more complicated.
August 29, 2012 3:25 p.m.
Chibisukei says... #10
The simplest way to put it is:The 2 colors clockwise of a color will go after it,The 2 colors counterclockwise of a color will go before it.
This is according to the color order on the back of every card.
W > UBW < GR
U > BRU < WG
B > RGB < UW
R > GWR < BU
G > WUG < RB
Ive confirmed this at least for dual color cards
August 29, 2012 4:07 p.m.
Chibisukei says... #11
Bah, the chart should read
W > UB
W < GR
U > BR
U < WG
B > RG
B < UW
R > GW
R < BU
G > WU
G < RB
my bad
August 29, 2012 4:08 p.m.
EmperorEvil says... #12
Thank you all. This is very interesting, but I think it would make more sense to follow WUBRG. :P
Jarrod_0067 says... #1
As a convention, all enemy colors are opposite. Boros Swiftblade , Glissa, the Traitor , Jhoira of the Ghitu , Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
August 29, 2012 11:56 a.m.