Written by Reuben Bressler
The Un-Sets of Magic: The Gathering started out as MTG’s self-deprecation of themselves. Unglued came out in 1998 and was chock full of inside jokes, childish humor, and double entendres. The second offering, Unhinged, came out in 2006, and doubled down on the goofs and gags, self-references, and tongue-in-cheek adolescence. All to be expected from Magic’s Friar’s Club comedy roast of themselves! It took more than a decade for the third Un-Set to come out, Unstable, but with that time to grow Magic added more than just the asinine and inane to the set. They added playability, continuity, factions, alliances, and more. Sure, the childishness never left, but Unstable’s growth and complexity led it to become the surprise hit of 2017 for Magic: The Gathering. It would be no surprise to see another Un-Set come in no time… and that’s just what Magic players get in 2022 with Unfinity.
Building on the foundations of fun and frivolity laid by the first two Un-Sets and the controlled chaos of Unstable, Unfinity twists every lever of craziness and stretches every boundary of what is possible to the highest level yet seen, while simultaneously providing a coherent story and draft environment.
Welcome to Myra the Magnificent's Intergalactic Astrotorium of Fun, a space carnival that travels the galaxy. Featuring employees and workers like Goblins, Elves, Vampires, and Zombies; the Astorium is a series of interconnected flying spaceships that can move from planet to planet. Part carnival, part amusement park, and part sci-fi adventure, Unfinity finally goes to the final frontier: space.
Among the mechanics being introduced are Stickers, which can change basically every aspect of a printed card! Trade in tickets (another mechanic in the set, similar to Energy from Kaladesh) to permanently alter the power, toughness, name, and abilities of your permanents! Wish your 1/1 as a 7/4? Want to give your 10/10 trample? Want to change the name of a card that your opponent has named with a Pithing Needle or Runed Halo? Well now you can with stickers!
Several big changes to the Un-Set format come with Unfinity. Firstly, no more silver borders! Previous iterations of Un-Magic had silver borders instead of black or white borders to denote their tournament play illegality. Instead, cards that are not legal for tournament play now feature an acorn insignia. Why the change? Well, because many of the cards in Unfinity will in fact be legal in older formats like Vintage, Legacy, and most importantly for the casual crowd: Commander!
The headliner in value of many reprint and other types of Un-sets is often the lands, and Unfinity is no different. Unglued, Unhinged, and Unstable basic lands all command high demand to this day, and Unstable’s new space-themed basics will surely be no different. But Unfinity offers something else: space-themed Shock Lands! From Temple Gardens to Blood Crypts and everything in between, each of the original 10 Ravnica dual-color lands are getting a new facade with the release of Unfinity.
So come on down to Myra’s Astorium! Play games, win prizes, and have an out-of-this-world experience! And don’t forget to protect those well earned prizes with Unfinity accessories from Ultra PRO!
