Blue

Card Draw
* Spells

Blue is the color of logic, depth, and progress. It seeks perfection through knowledge.

Popular mono-blue commanders include Urza, Lord High Artificer, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Emry, Lurker of the Loch.

**See the top Blue cards in EDH!**

## **Identity**

Blue believes in striving for perfection through self-improvement. Blue believes that there is nothing that cannot be done through study and reflection. Blue wants everyone to be a perfect creature. Because of this, Blue is constantly searching for information. Blue mages believe life is about everyone having access to the information they need, and they encourage thorough, careful study of that information; and they continue to look for more information to add to their wealth of knowledge. This view means that blue mages will often not act if they believe they do not know everything about a situation, but it also means that when blue does something it will be thought out and perfected, with little room for error.

## **Popular Strategies in Mono-Blue**

* Artifacts**Artifacts** is an *Archetype* or deck type, that seeks to play lots of Artifact cards, and cards that care about or reward you for playing Artifacts. This can snowball, sometimes producing lots of mana or drastically reducing Artifact cost while drawing cards each time it plays an Artifact.
* Combo**Combo** is an *Archetype* or deck type, that seeks to actively locate, and put multiple permanents onto the battlefield that interact in such a way as to win the game on the spot.
* Control**Control** is an *Archetype* or deck type, that seeks to deny it's opponents use of their most powerful cards by countering or destroying them, and drawing lots of cards so that they can manage to do this against all their opponents without running our of cards themselves.
* Spellslinger**Spellslinger** is an *Archetype* or deck type, that seeks to cast Instants and Sorceries. It commonly receives rewards and generates abilities each time it casts and can often copy it's most powerful spells multiple times.
* Wheels**Wheels** is an *Archetype* or deck type, that seeks to disrupt it's opponents plans by constantly replacing the cards in every players hands using Wheel effects (*each player discards their hand and draws a new one*) while triggering effects that occur every time they draw or their opponents discard
* Wizards tribe Tribal**Tribal** is an *Archetype* or deck type, that seeks to utilize rewards by sticking to a single creature type. Normally an Aggro (*combat based*) archetype, but some tribes or commanders may allow them to play differently.

## **Common Tribes in Blue**

* Merfolk
* Wizards
* Shapeshifter
* Faeries
* Sea Creatures
* Sphinxes

## **Strengths**

### **Card Draw**

Blue is the primary color of Card Draw**Card Draw** refers to the act of putting the top card of your library into your hand. It is considered very important for Commander decks, giving your more resources to use against your opponents, more options, and reduced risk of not being able to play a land for the turn.. From one-time spells to repeatable sources of card advantage, Blue has many of the best options to fill its hand.
**Examples:**
* Blue Sun's Zenith
* Rhystic Study
* Consecrated Sphinx

### Countermagic

Blue is the only color with more than incidental access to Countermagic**Countermagic** is a term for cards that cancel out another card as it is being cast, causing it to have no effect and go into the graveyard., which gives Blue a unique method of disrupting any enemy's plans.
**Examples:**
* Counterspell
* Swan Song

### Bounce Spells

Blue is able to returning nearly any type of permanents back to its owner's hand, either one at a time or all at once. This can provide Blue with ubiquitous, albeit temporary, removal.
**Examples:**
* Cyclonic Rift
* Evacuation
* Capsize

### **Artifacts**

While any color may use artifacts, blue has many cards that directly assist, enhance, or tutor for them.
**Examples:**
* Fabricate
* Padeem, Consul of Innovation

### Instants and Sorceries

Blue uses magic rather than might, and contains many ways of manipulating or gaining additional benefit from casting a large number of spells.
**Examples:**
* Mystical Tutor
* Talrand, Sky Summoner

### Clones

Blue excels at creating copies of other creatures and permanents on the battlefield, allowing it to receive extremely powerful abilities without spending lots of mana.
**Examples:**
* Clone Legion
* Clever Impersonator

### Thievery

Blue can steal permanents from enemy players, often permanently, turning an enemy's own game pieces against their owners.
**Examples:**
* Blatant Thievery
* Control Magic

### Extra Turns

Blue is one of the only colors that bend time and take additional turns. These effects can give the color the additional tempo it needs to catch up or overtake its enemies.
**Examples:**
* Time Warp
* Expropriate

### Evasion

Blue is the color of evasion and unblockability. Blue has many small creatures, especially with flying, that are difficult or impossible for enemies to block during combat.
**Examples:**
* Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
* Aqueous Form

## **Weaknesses**

### Permanent Answers

While Blue can counter spells as they are cast, or bounce permanents to their owner's hand after they are in play, Blue struggles to permanently handle powerful threats after they have already been put onto the battlefield, delaying the problem rather than eliminating it completely.
### Creatures

Blue's creatures may possess powerful abilities, but tend to be small and fragile. Blue creatures are unlikely to deal lethal damage to their enemies or to survive combat steps against other creatures or damage-dealing abilities.
### Speed

Blue can provide many powerful abilities, but usually takes time to accumulate card advantage or to establish a board presence on the battlefield. Faster decks, especially aggro strategies, may be able to take advantage of blue's lack of tempo and defeat it before it has a chance to use any of the cards it has accumulated.