I was reading an old Daily MTG article ("The Magic Style Guide Part 1) and I found a quote from a 2005 style guide that I think you'll find interesting: "Magic is a head-to-head battle of wits in which two spellcasting warriors fight to the death with magic and armies of bad-ass creatures. Every card illustration should work in that context: active, aggressive, cool, wicked, “edgy.” The word “magepunk” works for us. Remember, your audience is BOYS 14 and up." Goes to show how MTG has evolved.

I remember those days. The brand team was worried Squirrels weren’t “bad-ass” enough, so I made this art description:

Could a reasonably strong case be made for a monoblack character whose guiding ethos is "I will fight to the death to protect my loved ones from harm because they are MINE?"

Sure.

In the flavor in the game when plansewalkers fight do they fight to the death or to "best" each other?

They mostly fight until one is forced to flee the plane. There are duels to the death but those are few and far between.

You recently answered a question about a fight to the death against a Demon where you chose to play a Golgari deck to defend your life. As a "Johnny" styled player (that I could swear I remember you referring to yourself as), did you pick it for that purpose as a "If I'm going down I'm having fun!" or would you force yourself to be a spike to overcome the challenge?

Dredge is the most powerful Ravnica/Return to Ravnica mechanic. If I’m fighting for my life, I don’t mess around.