White vs. Black Vampiric Ideologies in MTG

this video is brought to you by yourplaymatt.com elevate your presence at your next game of magic by customizing your play mat and sleeves with your favorite art use the link in the description to get 10 off your purchase and support the channel thanks you made me see their famous louis they were doomed stuck in their decadent time and they had forgotten the first lesson that we must be powerful beautiful and without regret the vampire is everything we're not and yet everything we wish we could be it has remained a villain since its inception and yet it holds a romantic notion in our hearts and minds i see the same inclination when it comes to black mana on the surface black is the color of many evil things and yet its philosophy is somewhat of a curiosity in that it hearkens to a section of our hearts and minds that wishes to push back against societal norms and to simply give into our selfish nature in this way the vampire's the perfect analogy for the color black not just because of how well their ideals align with this mana source but in how they both make us feel to accept vampirism and in turn black mana would mean turning our backs on our constructed notion of humanity and yet here we are ever drawn to the darker side of ourselves why is it that black aligns with vampires so well and why is it more than just mechanical in this video i want to answer this question and then take it one step further by analyzing how the addition of other colors can add to our ideas of what vampires can be we will accomplish this by discussing the vampires of two prominent planes anistrod and ixalan before we get there though i want to start off with black and see why it truly is the color of vampires to understand the motivations of the vampire we must understand the motivations of black when unrestrained by humanity when you dissect the ideals of this color you begin to realize that every aspect of it describes a being who deems their experience of this world as the only one that matters black rejects white in that it does not ask what i can do for others and instead ask what others can do for me this notion becomes ever more dangerous when that person is given proof of their superiority which is something that goes hand in hand with the vampire now this does not mean the vampire or the black aligned person is truly a villain by default it just means that they can easily become removed from the human experience and instead focus solely on their needs at the cost of others let's look at the simple act of consuming the blood of humans and why it really is the most selfish act there is even though the vampire was once human its humanity eventually becomes so detached from their experience that they deem humanity itself as no more than a tool for sustenance and pleasure in drawing blood the vampire gains as much from the act as it does the result it is the act of placing yourself at the height of the food chain and relegating the humans you once called kin to nothing more than cattle this separation continues to extend and eventually the vampire gains pleasure and not just sustenance from the suffering of humans just as we see on the card thirsting bloodlord a whole light full of memories and experiences love and sorrow drain drop by drop into this bottle could any feast be more glorious to me the consumption of humans taking into consideration that the vampire was once human is the ultimate revelation of self-importance in most cases the vampire can feed off other living things but it would never demean itself to satisfy a human ideal like mercy yes black can be a powerful tool to help you reach your potential but when you apply it to the vampire something happens the vampire with all of its abilities sociopathy and self-importance takes everything that is wrong about black and revels in it so now that we understand why the color black fits so well into the mindset of a vampire i want to see what happens when other colors are added to the mix and how we can further define new types of vampires this way to start i want to talk about adding red to our established core of black to see what result we get to do this we will use the vampires of innistrad as an example even though we just learned that black on its own fits vampires quite well i do think the vampires of this plane show that by adding an allied color to black in red we can create a more refined version of the vampire to me the vampires of this plane take the combination of red and black and push it in a direction that displays the type of vampire that we are used to seeing in most modern media before we discuss the colors though i think it's a good idea to get a refresher on just who the vampires of innistrad are to do that i'm going to need some help from someone who knows a bit more about the lore than i do and to a friend of this channel the librarians eric why don't you set the stage before we get into the colors of these vampires hey lore lovers my name is eric with the librarians youtube channel huge thanks to dice for having me on in collaboration to discuss the history and characteristics of some of the most notable vampires in the multiverse those that hail from the plane of innistrad innistrad is a grim world where humanity struggles for survival against a myriad of horrors monsters and things that go bump in the night the vampiric bloodlines of innistrad are among the predators that lurk they hide behind magical glamours to conceal their identity and rule their human flock from gaudy manors and self-indulgent estates but one mustn't be fooled by the vampire's cool demeanor or elegant lifestyle when the urge to feed becomes irrepressible there are few things that can stand in the way of a vampire and its human prey despite their prevalence across innistrad vampires were not originally native to the plane roughly 7 000 years ago when famine swept through the province of stensia an aging human alchemist named edgar markov was obsessed with uncovering the solution thousands died of starvation by the month and markov was desperate to save both himself and the families of stencia when his experiments failed time and again edgar turned to more sinister magic making a pact with a demon to create a ritual that would free people from the need of food he trapped and exsanguinated an angel and using her blood performed a dark ritual the result a concoction that when imbibed transformed the drinker into a vampire no longer bound to food but instead requiring blood nourishment to survive since then vampires in their bloodlines have gained more and more ground thanks to their supernatural speed and strength their ability to fly and their increased longevity edgar markov is the progenitor of the vampire race but since that fateful day four distinct bloodlines or families have risen to prominence across stensia and beyond the markov family is the most prestigious and widespread of bloodlines due to its long and integral role in the species history they're elegant blade masters and indulgent patrons of the arts they believe themselves above the other families but after the destruction of markov manor by nahiri their line faces possible extinction [Music] the voldarin vampires are led by their beguiling matriarch olivia voldarin from her secluded stencian estate valdarn vampires are known for hosting elegant balls and decadent galas from which they plucked their human victims the falcon wrath bloodline had as their name suggests a brilliant falconer as their progenitor and these vampires took on many characteristics of the bird of prey their delight comes not from subtlety deceit or petty glamours but from the thrill of the hunt falcenrath vampires are outwardly aggressive and the most brazen of all families choosing as their prey humans deep within the walls of protected cities stromkirk the final vampiric bloodline is based in the coastal province of naphalia and led by its progenitor bruno stromkirk these vampires are masters of illusion and mental magic having the best warden glamours stromkirk vampires are fierce soldiers and master hunters but they prefer to deal in commerce and political intrigue guiding the flow of coin as it passes through their various trade cities the vampires of innistrad are complex predatory and egotistical they believe themselves above the humans from which they came and indulge in feasts of blood as proof if you want to learn more about innistrad or the greater multiverse be sure to check out the librarians youtube channel after watching this video to catch more mtg content until next time go forth and explore the lore be sure to check out the librarians channel after this video i can't say enough good things about his work i'll have a link to his channel in the description of this video so now that we've established a bit of an understanding of these vampires i bet you already can see how red adds more to what we've already established red an ally of black often finds itself facilitating black's ideals in that it allows it to take things one step further red black is the combination that places the need for experiences at the forefront and one that has an almost obsession with self-satisfaction what do i mean by this well it manifests itself in a few ways for one the vampires of this plane take part in all of the excesses that their lofty position provides they throw wild and extravagant parties where they take part in every bit of hedonism that a long and powerful life can afford going as far as bringing in humans to these parties to mock and feast upon delighting in the fear and suffering their mansions and way of dress are gaudy utilizing every bit of their wealth and status to express their superiority especially considering the conditions that the humans beneath them live in black on its own is concerned with what it can take from the world for itself red in this context is the desire for pleasure and expression and so when we bring these colors together we have a combination of pure self indulgence each of the four bloodlines brings with it something new to the table but the core of what this combination is resonates through each one the falcon wrath are very straightforward in that they are the brutal and violent version of red plaque the markov being the original bloodline have a nature that is of pure self-importance save for the markov we all know and soar and though that might be debatable the stormkirk are interesting in that they are closely tied to the human population of stensia utilizing red's empathy and black's influence to keep control of their territory the valderran delight most of all in the fear of humanity going so far as to take in a human pretend it's a king or a queen for a three-day party called the court of the vampire king all while their human guests marinate in their terror knowing full well how it will end some may point to how the vampires of innistrad made what they would call a sacrifice by not recklessly feasting on the population but even that is rooted in self-interest as it's an act they only follow through on so that they do not feed off of the humans into extinction the vampires of innistrad are beings of pure self-indulgence and left unchecked they would torture kill and feed on humans until not one remained it is the side of red black that focuses on all of life's dark and delicious experiences it is both black's need to access all that it can take from this world and red's compulsion to simply act out its every desire no matter who suffers because of it but what happens when we remove red from the equation and then replace it with white well we get something very different indeed to learn what change this will take let us inspect and discuss the vampires of another prominent plane in the plane of ixalan when you have a color combination that uses two enemy colors instead of allied colors you end up meeting somewhere in the middle blurring the lines if you will of the two colors present when white and black come together you have an oddity in that you have self versus selfless amorality and morality so what form does this take when applied to the vampire well before we can get into that we need to first understand the vampires of ixalan as their motivations will reveal to us just that once again to accomplish this i want to ask the aide of another friend of the channel in mtg lore seeker so lord seeker what can you tell us about the vampire inhabitants of ixalan for over 700 years the vampires of terezon have been viewed as noble warriors holy paladins upholding the teachings of the church even as they wage a merciless bloody war against their enemies when the immortal sun a holy relic was taken from its mountaintop monastery its last custodian elinda was left for dead when she recovered alinda took on a vow to not rest until the immortal son was found and retrieved years passed and the last custodian scoured the land surging far and wide to no avail eventually she turned to dark magic giving up her soul in exchange for time time desperately needed to continue her quest helenda the first vampire would spend centuries sailing the world eventually returning to the nation of terraison in the middle of a great conflict known as the apostasine war here she single-handedly turned the tide of battle against the apostasy princes with this victory elenda introduced vampirism to the knights of terezon the monarch of the time and the church chose to interpret the state of vampirism not as an accursed bloody existence but as one of noble selfless sacrifice it quickly became customary for the nobles of terezon to undertake what became known as the right of redemption with an army of supernaturally powerful immortals at their disposal thereazon not only ended the apostasy war it slowly overwhelmed the continent today the legion of dusk is the most powerful army in the world as servants of both a powerful church and a power-hungry monarchy the legion's vampires are seen as powerful weapons of conquest as well as holy warriors though they are consumed by a blunt thirst these vampires do not turn their fangs inwardly on the readily available citizens of their empire instead these conquistadors uphold a strict oath to only feast on criminals heretics and enemies of church and state in this way conquest is constantly fueled not just by political greed but by relentless thirst though a lender has been missing for some time in her absence a truly mighty force has risen the various nightly orders of the legion of dusk are ever ready to uphold their vows to their faith and the crown thank you so much for setting the stage lordseeker if you want to know more about ixalan and the vampires that inhabit the plane mtg lore seeker has a video on the subject plus a lot of more quality lore content a link to his channel will also be in the description i highly recommend you check it out after this video with the vampires of ixalan we're shown what happens when the colors black and white are brought together in the context of vampirism the thing to note about the merger of these colors is the notion of skewed morality what i mean by this is that the actions of white black selfishly create a narrative that benefits their chosen group it's not a matter of what can others do for me but what they can do for us the thing about black on its own is that it's honest with itself it takes on pure immorality and is fine with it when white is on board though there must be some form of reasoning and morality no matter how skewed it may be with the vampires of the legion of dusk their view of themselves is grand and follows a narrative that vampirism is a noble duty and not a vicious curse it may have started with the best of intentions but has resulted in the rationalization of endless conquest this is what i mean by skewed morality in their minds they have justified their actions as they deem themselves to be holy warriors abiding by a bigger cause even if that cause only benefits themselves they claim to only feed on criminals and heretics and yet what constitutes as a heretic is based on what they regard to be lesser than them in some way this way they can hold on to the narrative that they are still in the right and yet from the outside we can see that this is no more than a way to still relegate certain mortal beings to the role of cattle once again sure they do not feed on their own people and live beside humans but they have no given right to kill others simply for not following their doctrine this is the way that these vampires blur the line between good and evil between self and selfless they do have a moral code it's just that it's marred in the blood of the innocent i find this way of thinking to be especially interesting and something we see time and time again in our own world throughout history it's just that here on earth those that act in this way do not have the excuse of vampirism [Music] luke the ghost cap floating all by itself as we have discovered vampirism is inherently black aligned and yet when we add new colors to the mix we get something more something that is either fresh or refined in some ways it enhances our notion of a vampire crafting something that fits our typical idea of what a vampire is based on popular culture to that end we look no further than the red black vampires of innistrad on the other hand by mixing enemy colors we come across vampires that break our idea of what this curse can do and change our understanding of who these vampires can be like the white black vampires of ixlon even though these were only two examples we can now begin the conversation of how other vampire tribes could be formed through the use of the color pie as always the color pie is one of the greatest tools out there for understanding and defining bigger concepts into more digestible ideas ideas that we can take with us and in turn form a greater understanding of the world and its inhabitants even if those inhabitants hide in the shadows waiting for the sweet pulse of our very blood i just want to give a huge thank you to the librarians and mtg lore seeker for their contribution to this video it was a blast working this out with them when i say their channels are worth your time i honestly mean it so go give their content a watch and i'm sure you'll enjoy it before you go though i just want to announce that i've opened up youtube memberships so if you want to support this channel directly and get some benefits then check that out down below by the subscribe button with that friends i'll catch you in the multiverse bye

Channel: DiceTry

Views: 13,295

Keywords: vampire mtg, MTG vampire, mtg vampires, vampires of magic the gathering, dicetry, color pie, vampire color pie, vampire color study, mtg colors, Innistrad vampire, lorebrarians, mtg loreseeker, mtg vampire lore, magic the gathering, mtg mana, mtg color pie, magic: the gathering

Id: QFJOrCyczhc

Length: 22min 49sec (1369 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 06 2021