Four-color · Color Identity
Glint-Eye / Chaos (UBRG): The Four-Color Identity Without White
Blue, black, red and green is every color except white: the four that draw cards, make mana and take other people's things, with none of the ones that clean up a board.
Glint-Eye is blue, black, red and green, the four-color identity. Everything except white: ramp, draw, removal and cascade, with no board wipes at all.
Also called UBRG, Chaos, No white, Non-White.
Where the Name Comes From
Glint-Eye Nephilim, from Guildpact (2006); "Chaos" from the Commander 2016 deck.
Glint-Eye Nephilim is one of five four-color creatures Guildpact printed in 2006 and then left alone for ten years. It is also, like its four siblings, not legendary, so the card that named this identity cannot be its commander, which is the running joke of the whole four-color naming scheme.
Commander 2016 gave the identity its second and more descriptive name. Its deck, fronted by Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, was themed around Chaos: cascade, random outcomes and spells cast for free. The word fits the color combination as well as the deck: this is the identity with the most mana, the most card draw and the fewest brakes on either.
All 32 color combinations and where each name came from →How Glint-Eye Plays
Sultai's resource engine with red's rituals bolted on. Green ramps, blue draws, black tutors and recurs, and red turns all of it into a turn that produces far more mana than the board suggests. It is the four-color identity most likely to simply take an enormous turn and end the game there.
Cascade is its signature, courtesy of Yidris, and it is more powerful in this identity than anywhere else because every color in it wants to cast lots of spells. A deck that casts four free spells off one connection has resources nobody can trade with.
What is missing is white, and what white supplies is cleanup. There are no exile-based removal spells, almost no board wipes, and no mass protection, so this identity answers threats one at a time and cannot reset a table that has got ahead of it. Combined with a four-color mana base, that makes it a deck that has to be proactive.
What It Does Well, and What It Doesn't
Strengths
- Green's ramp, red's rituals and blue's untap effects together: the most mana in Magic.
- Card advantage from four directions: draw, tutors, impulse and the graveyard.
- Cascade and free-spell effects, which turn the mana surplus into actual cards.
- Complete permanent removal outside enchantments, plus theft and reanimation.
Weaknesses
- No white means no exile removal, no mass protection and almost no board wipes.
- Four colors with no white still needs an expensive mana base, and green is the only fixer.
- Nothing stabilises. There is no lifegain and no way back from a board that is ahead.
- The command zone options are thin: very few UBRG legends exist.
Best Glint-Eye Commanders
The command zones that define the identity rather than the ones winning this week: the pips beside each name are its color identity, which is what it lets you play in the other 99.
Commander Spotlight
Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder ↗
Once it connects, every spell you cast for the rest of the turn has cascade. One hit turns a hand of four spells into eight, and it is the Commander 2016 face commander for the identity.
Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist ↗
Partner. Pairs with Reyhan to make this identity, and lets whoever damaged an opponent that turn draw a card: a political draw engine.
Reyhan, Last of the Abzan ↗
Partner. Moves its +1/+1 counters to another creature when it dies, so nothing invested is ever lost.
Thrasios, Triton Hero ↗
Partner. Four mana to scry and draw, or ramp: an infinite mana outlet that also fixes a deck with no white.
Vial Smasher the Fierce ↗
Partner. The other half of a Thrasios pair, throwing damage at a random opponent for every first spell you cast each turn.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the UBRG color combination called?
Glint-Eye, after Glint-Eye Nephilim from Guildpact (2006), or Chaos, after the Commander 2016 deck fronted by Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. Most players simply say "no white". All three mean blue-black-red-green.
What does a UBRG deck give up by leaving out white?
Board wipes, exile removal and mass protection, which is more than it sounds. This identity can kill any individual permanent, but it cannot reset a board that has got away from it, and it has no way to protect its own permanents from somebody else's sweeper. That is why UBRG decks tend to be proactive rather than reactive.
Is cascade as strong as it looks in Commander?
Yes, and this is where it is strongest. Cascade casts a cheaper spell for free, and in a hundred-card singleton deck the card it finds is a different card every time. Yidris grants cascade to every spell after it connects, which means a single unblocked attack can convert a normal turn into several turns of casting for nothing.
See how your decks actually perform, by color.
Track your games with TurnZero HQ and every deck gets its own record: win rate, rating and what it beat. Free to start.
Create Free Account