A spark of humanity in the dark world of Tarkir: Dragonstorm

I cracked a pack of Tarkir: Dragonstorm over the weekend, and this was the first card I saw:

First, I noticed the typo in “survivial”.

Then I noticed something else: a black card with selflessness.

Mark Rosewater has a lot of ways that he defines each of the colors. Selfishness and capitalism are commonly associated with Black. In his most recent article, Mark writes from the perspective of each color as it explains its philosophy and how it looks at others. I think that how White describes Black is what most of the colors assume of the color of ambition and greed. Here is one of my favorite passages:

“Black treats immorality like a trophy, something to be proud of. Recklessness is dangerous, but at least that is not on purpose. Black thinks of violence, disease, and cruelty as tools, things it can use to get what it wants. Nothing is taboo to Black. It will do whatever it needs to do to get what it wants, no matter who gets hurt in the process. In fact, Black seems to revel in causing others pain. Their end goal is a dystopia, a world where most suffer so a few can thrive. It is the exact opposite of what we are working toward.”

— My Words: White (Rosewater, 2025)

But when I look at this card, I realize the nuance in the color pie.

Black is a color that holds nothing sacred, except for what it claims for itself. So in the face of losing what it cares about the most, losing its loved ones, it is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I always knew White was willing to act against its moral code to achieve higher ends. That’s why it is the color of fascism, the political philosophy defined by tyranny in the name of peace for a defined group. I might expect this behavior from Red, usually the color of love and passion. But never before did I realize this also applied to Black: that the most selfish creatures would take selfless actions in the name of love.

I never thought a card game would help me find such a beautiful and eternal truth.