Scribble No. 3 August 2016

The Types of Magic

Here’s a visualization of Magic card types by color, shown over time.

Colors are the standard Magic fare: White , Blue , Black , Red , Green , Colorless .

Click here to toggle between absolute and relative color charts.

The colors are sorted by size, showing how each card type has a characteristic color — creatures in Green , instants in Blue , enchantments in White , and sorceries in Black .

Dips in the chart happen when card types drop to zero, such as in 2003, when the all-creature set Legions was released.

Data notes — All card counts are normalized by set size and adjusted for cards with multiple colors and types. Here’s where I got the mana symbols and source data.