Why do mages need wands if they can use magic without them?

In the Twst universe it seems that magic comes from a mage’s magic pool, and/or from nature, in the case of certain fae, and not from wands, magical pens or stones.

We get examples of characters using magic without their pens or magestones during Vargas Camp, where Vargas confiscates everyone’s pens but we still have Floyd magically starting a fire and Trey setting up a magical barrier, etc., without any access to pens or stones.

Ruggie says they are able to use “some basic magic” without magestones “but bigger attack spells are out of the question,” and especially unique magics. But he doesn’t mean that they are physically incapable of casting spells without stones: the only thing that magestones do is take on the blot that is created from a mage using magic.

Vil, for example, uses his unique magic during Book 6 without access to any magestone.

But what is blot in Twisted Wonderland? Crowley explains:

Blot is a form of waste that is created as a byproduct of using magic. Just as cars run on gasoline, and in the process, expel dangerous gases as exhaust, Casting spells consumes magical energy, and in the process, expels blot. Research into the nature of blot has been conducted since time immemorial. And yet, we still understand little about it. All we know for sure is that it is terrifically toxic, and excessive amounts can wreak havoc on a mage’s mind and body. Power and peril are two sides of the same coin. Even the greatest of mages cannot cast spell after spell without consequence.

So this is why mages need the magestones: to accumulate their blot, not to make it possible for them to cast magic.

And magical pens are also unnecessary, as long as there is a way for a mage to have a magestone on hand.

While not officially confirmed, the faculty of NRC seems to have their magestones attached to various accessories rather than pens, while the students of RSA seem to be using their magestones as badges rather than pens, and Rollo’s magestone is maybe his ring.

In the case of not having a magestone, blot is accumulated within the person casting the magic, which is what leads to overblot.

Vargas explains,

Normally your blot gets absorbed into the magestones on your magical pens. But without those stones, using magic will cause blot to accumulate directly in your body.

Crowley explains that magestones are similar to a lightning rod of sorts, taking on the blot that would otherwise build up within the mage when they use magic.

And blot accumulation is significantly affected by the mage’s mental state, with negative emotions such as anger, fear, panic and sorrow making blot accumulate even faster than it would otherwise.

So does being a strong mage mean that you are also more resistant to blot? Does someone with a small magic pool not need to feel particularly strong anger or sorrow? Could a weak enough mage overblot over a minor inconvenience? Crowley says no.

People vary greatly in their capacity for magic. However, save for a few key exceptions, there is little variance in most mages’ tolerance for blot. In essence, it means that those who possess a great capacity for magic must be meticulous in their efforts to avoid accumulating blot.

This means that both Riddle and Deuce might have a more or less equal tolerance for blot.

Stronger mages are at greater risk. Riddle, Leona and Vil have to be more careful than Deuce and Ace, for example, according to Crowley:

Crowley: In essence, it means that those who possess a great capacity for magic must be meticulous in their efforts to avoid accumulating blot.
Ace: So folks who know their way around magic gotta lay off once in a while.
Crowley: Correct. That said, it isn’t anything that mages at YOUR level need to worry about.

Hence why Cater stops Riddle from using his unique magic without a magestone in Book 2, saying, “You only just recovered from the blot!”

That is likely why we have heard of students using magic prior to receiving magestones, but we have not heard of any of them overblotting.

Deuce summoning cauldrons, Silver moving a spoon, even Jamil using his unique magic was apparently not enough to trigger an overblot, despite how that blot had no where to go and likely built up inside their bodies as a result.

But blot does not seem to be something that a mage must be burdened by forever once it starts accumulating inside of them, with Crowley saying that eating well and getting plenty of sleep will result in most of the blot clearing away from a magestone, so that is possibly how it is cleared from a mage’s body, as well? Maybe!