Verhey reveals future of White in Magic formats

Senior Magic: The Gathering designer Gavin Verhey broke down several buffs the color White will receive within future sets. 

The color White has been under fire from Magic players for some time, considered the weakest color within the pie. In an effort to evolve White into a color that provides Commander players all the necessary tools, the Council of Colors at Wizards of the Coast has several buffs in the works. Verhey broke down those buffs today via his Good Morning Magic series. 

The outline provided by Verhey today was a sneak peek, and not the full picture. There are specifics—like mechanics—that can’t get released yet, according to Verhey.  Some of the adjustments to White have already begun, but many of the ideas revealed by Verhey today are scheduled to release in sets that are a year or more away.  

White, in Magic, is getting buffed in three specific ways: Flash, card draw, ramp.

Flash

White creatures with Flash provides a number of opportunities within the color. Players can now cast on an opponent’s turn, using mana that may have been held on their turn for a combat trick. Flash also provides instant speed, which White lacks as a color, with a majority of cards getting cast at Sorcery speed. 

Card draw

Card draw is rarely seen in the color White, and “White needs more card draw,” according to Verhey. The design team created three unique ways that White will utilize card draw in the future.  

• Symmetric draw: Player and opponents draw an equal number of cards.
• Ruleseting draw: When an opponent breaks “White” rules, White gets to draw a card. 
• Graveyard draw: Allows players to get cards back from the graveyard or even from their library. 

Ramp

Similar to card draw, there are also three unique ways the color White will produce ramp in the future. 

• Catch-up ramp: This provides a player with land should an opponent have more lands than you, like Keeper of the Accord.
• Sun Titan effect: This allows cards in White the ability to reanimate lands.
• Treasure production: Seen in several sets via multiple colors, Treasure tokens have a future in the color White. 

Many of the changes to White are in the works, and may not be seen within MTG 2020 sets. The next scheduled set to release this year is Strixhaven: School of Mages.