The Schools of Magic - White

So, there's been a thread on the Wizards Community lately about the various schools of Magic within the colors. It started with one person writing an in-character discussion on the schools that make use of Black mana, and it kind of spiraled from there.

For those interested, the thread is here. After the jump I'll be detailing my thoughts on it, and I'll be going through all the cards in Magic 2011 to fit them into the various schools. To follow along, see here, which is the entire list of M11 cards in the order that I'll be discussing them. In this post I'll be focusing on the White cards, but expect future blog posts to focus on the other colors.

White

The three schools of White magic are:

Hieromancy: The magic of law and order.

Soul: Healing and support magic.

Divine: Spells that represent divine might.

Ajani Goldmane: Planeswalkers are interesting cases. Technically, they are allies who you summon to help them, so their three abilities are essentially spells they cast. However, Ajani is a fairly easy fit. His first ability is clearly Soul magic, healing the player. The second ability is also Soul magic, as it strengthens your troops. His third ability is Divine magic, calling a divine avatar to fight for you.

Ajani's Mantra: It gives you life. Clearly Soul magic.

Ajani's Pridemate: Our first creature is, luckily, very clearly Soul magic. He gains strength whenever you gain life.

Angelic Arbiter: Our first Angel, and our first complicated spell. All Angels have some manner of Divine magic due to their very nature as Angels. This angel also has some very strong Hieromancy, as it dictates the rules your opponents must follow.

Armored Ascension: One of my personal favorite spells, this is another clear case of Soul magic.

Assault Griffin: Creatures with no abilities or just a simple keyword pose a little bit of a problem, as their abilities don't point to any school. So instead we have to look at their flavor, which in this case is quite clear: this is a creature that is used for war, which falls under Hieromancy.

Baneslayer Angel: One of the coolest creatures of this set, this angel is one of the iconic creatures of this set. Like many of the Mythic Rare spells, you could see it as a mix of all three schools. It's Protection abilities and lifelink point towards Soul, while first strike is primarily a Hieromantic ability. Overall, though, this is the epitome of the Divine school. An angel who is built to kill the champions of their greatest enemies.

Blinding Mage: Divine magic. A light that blinds the wicked.

Celestial Purge: Divine magic. I don't feel like I need to explain why.

Cloud Crusader: While the fact that it is a crusader would point to the Divine school, I would place this in Hieromancy. It's abilities and flavor indicate that it isn't a divine being, and it feels more like a mundane being.

Condemn: The art on this one almost made me put it in the Divine school, but its flavor is clearly Hieromancy.

Day of Judgement: Divine.

Elite Vanguard: Soldiers generally fall under Hieromancy, and this is no exception.

Excommunicate: Divine. The flavor is clearly religious.

Goldenglow Moth: It is a defensive creature that gains life for you, so it is very clearly Soul magic.

Holy Armor: Divine.

Honor of the Pure: A tricky one, but this seems to be more of a Divine spell than Soul.

Infantry Veteran: The ability is more along the line of the Soul school, but the flavor is clearly Hieromancy. Therefore, Hieromancy.

Inspired Charge: Divine because of the broader nature of the ability - Soul magic is more personal while Divine is broader in its effects.

Knight Exemplar: Knights are primarily Hieromancy, and she is no exception, but she adds some Soul magic to aid her fellow knights.

Leyline of Sanctity: Defensive abilities are primarily the domain of Soul magic.

Mighty Leap: Boosting the power of your troops is generally the domain of Soul magic also.

Pacifism: And here we find a spell whose abilities are at odds with its flavor when it comes to the school of choice. While removing creatures from combat is generally Hieromancy, the way this spell does it feels more like Soul magic to me.

Palace Guard: Hieromancy.

Roc Egg: This is a tricky one. I'm not sure where to put this one - Hieromancy or Soul. Thoughts?

Safe Passage: Divine because it appears to be an angel casting the spell, and it is a broad protection.

Serra Angel: Divine with a hint of Hieromancy.

Serra Ascendant: Soul because of how much it deals with the life total.

Siege Mastodon: Hieromancy.

Silence: It dictates the rules your opponents must play by, so it's Hieromancy!

Silvercoat Lion: I would lean towards Hieromancy for this.

Solemn Offering: Divine.

Squadron Hawk: Look at its name! Clearly Hieromancy.

Stormfront Pegasus: Hieromancy.

Sun Titan: Much like Baneslayer Angel was the iconic creature for Divine magic, this is the iconic for Soul magic. Its ability is all about healing!

Tireless Missionaries: More Soul magic.

Vengeful Archon: Here's an interesting one. His ability is essentially a mix between Hieromancy and Soul magic, and there isn't anything to make it clearly more one school over the other. In the end, I think he edges into Hieromancy.

War Priest of Thune: While Soul magic is generally the school that deals with Auras, Hieromancy is the more violent school and the fact that he is a War Priest gives the edge to Hieromancy.

White Knight: While Protection would normally indicate Soul magic and First Strike would indicate Hieromancy, the overall flavor feels like Divine magic to me.

Wild Griffin: Much like the other vanilla and french vanilla creatures, I'm putting this one under Hieromancy.