Since Unfinity was first teased in June, players have been hyped for Galaxy Foils. Leading into the set’s spoiler season, there was much anticipation about what the cards would look like and how out of the world they would be. Thankfully, players didn’t have to wait long to find out, as Wizards debuted Galaxy foils to kick off spoiler season. As soon as they were shown off, many players were utterly entranced by the shimmer of MTG’s latest foils. So much so, in fact, that even those burnt out from Wizards’ nonstop product releases couldn’t deny just how good these cards looked.
Galaxy Foils
During the Unfinity First Look Livestream, Magic’s Lead Designer, Mark Rosewater, explained that, unsurprisingly, Galaxy Foils got their name since the foiling technique “literally looks like stars.” With speckled extra shiny foil dots atop the usual foil shimmer, Rosewater’s assessment is spot on; Galaxy Foils look cosmic. Unfortunately, Galaxy Foils might pop on every card as a “very different look” for a foiling technique. The cards that Galaxy Foils work on, however, absolutely look out of this world. During the Livestream, Rosewater stated, for instance, that Unfinity’s basic lands “look really really cool with the Galaxy foil.”
Revealing a set of Galaxy Foil “planetary space-ic lands” shortly afterward, the Livestream’s chat quickly erupted into praise for this new foiling technique. “WOW, those are pretty,” Twitch user gatorkitty stated, with similar praise coming from IronTide24, who said, “damn, those look incredible.” Similarly, once the “orbital space-ic lands” were debuted, the near-unanimous praise continued. “Those orbitals are gorgeous,” vnHsor stated while much of the chat spammed the Twitch favorite PogChamp emote.
While glowing praise dominated much of the live stream’s chats, the new Galaxy Foils already had some detractors. For better or worse, comparisons were quickly made between MTG’s new Galaxy Foils and the “og Pokémon card holo.” While some users, such as lord_strix, enjoyed this comparison, others feared how deep the similarities may run. “This is the same foil pokemon uses for promos and the CURL HORRIBLY,” Kronoskronoss stated. While Wizards of the Coast aren’t using the same technique as Pokémon’s classic foils, curling or pringling can be a significant issue that can mire a set’s release. Hopefully, Unfinity won’t majorly suffer from this fate. However, that won’t be known until Unfinity is in players’ hands.
Too Much of a Good Thing
With plenty of praise online for the Unfinity Galaxy Foils, Wizards has indeed struck gold with their latest foiling experiment. However, not all of Wizards’ recent experimentation has been viewed so favorably. Rather than being excited about each new foiling technique, many players lament how quickly Wizards are moving. With seemingly every new supplemental product getting its unique foiling technique recently, it’s understandable that some players are getting overwhelmed.
Besides being too much to handle for some players, Wizards’ recent foiling experiments aren’t ideal for collectors or players trying to foil an entire deck. By only appearing on a single set, MTG’s unique foilings often look too good for their own good. By trying to stand out to make a set more unique and desirable, MTG’s new foils can ultimately look out of place. This problem was recently highlighted with the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks, which are available entirely in the new Surge Foil foiling. Due to how good the Surge Foil cards look, the Collector’s Edition Warhammer decks are often laundered as untouchably good, so much so that powerful upgrades aren’t worthwhile since they’d stick out from the deck’s unparalleled theming.
Too Good to Resist
Despite these concerns, the Galaxy Foils in Unfinity are still winning over MTG fans. While Galaxy Foils may not come cheap, since they’re only available in Collector Boosters, there’s no end of enthusiasm online. “Ok… I planned on not buying any of this set, but… That’s just cool…,” u/Lucane_cerf-volant stated on Reddit, with u/demonardvark sharing a similar sentiment. “Interest in set before this = 0. Interest in set after this = 1000000000000000000000% on board.” While some of the enthusiasm is obviously hyperbolic, ultimately, we’re inclined to agree with the praise Galaxy Foils are receiving. On the cards we’ve seen, the Galaxy Foil technique really makes cards pop and will undoubtedly make Unfinity feel special.
From the praise Galaxy Foils are receiving, it certainly seems that Unfinity is primed to be an incredible success. This is obviously good news for Wizards of the Coast. However, it may encourage more rampant experimentation. Mark Rosewater has stated in the past that “success breeds repetition” in future MTG sets, so if foil experiments work, we’re likely going to see a lot more of them. While this may lead to another knockout success like Galaxy Foils, it may also exacerbate just how overwhelming Wizards’ recent product releases have felt.
