Announced all the way back in 2021, Unfinity is Magic: the Gathering’s latest, and arguably greatest, Un-Set. Unfortunately played by production problems, Unfinity would ultimately be very worth the wait. With wacky themes, art, and mechanics, Unfinity pushes what’s acceptable in Magic to new extremes. Even more so than MTG’s past Un-Sets could ever dream of doing!
Since Unifty is so unusual compared to a regular set, there are plenty of details and important tidbits to cover. Thankfully, to keep you in the know, throughout this article we’ll be covering all of those and then some. So, without any further ado, buckle up and prepare to learn everything you need to know about Unfinity!
MTG Unfinity Release Dates
Unfortunately, unlike most MTG sets, the release of Unfinity wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. Initially, this comedy-focused set was fittingly planned to release on April 1st, 2022. Unfortunately, however, this plan soon went awry thanks to the ever-troublesome COVID-19 pandemic.
Causing myriad production issues, especially for the set’s unique sticker cards, ultimately, Unfinity had to be substantially delayed. Pushed back by over six months, excited MTG players had a long of wait before getting their hands on this set. Unfortunately, even when they did, the problems didn’t end there.
In another unusual and unwelcome twist, Unfinity released on the same day as another MTG set: the Warhammer 40,000 Commander Decks. Similarly offering plenty of awesome new cards and interesting art, these products were made to unnecessarily compete. Unfortunately for Un-Set fans, Unfinity seemed to lose the battle, fading from the limelight remarkably quickly.
Ultimately, as you may have picked up on already, Unfinity has already been released. Despite this, you can still find the important dates for the set below, just in case you want to know when everything happened for posterity.
- Unfinity Global Tabletop Release Date: October 7th, 2022
What is MTG Unfinity?
Magic: The Gathering Unfinity is a top-down designed set that combines Mark Rosewater’s passion for a circus-themed Magic: The Gathering set and art director Dawn Murin’s desire for a retro-science fiction set.
Through Rosewater’s and Murin’s powers combined, the pair created a giant intergalactic amusement part that fused circus, carnival, and amusement park aspects. This park was dubbed Myra the Magnificent’s Intergalactic Astrotorium of Fun and is the setting for the Unfinity set.
For those unfamiliar with the term, a “top-down” designed set is one where a set’s setting, story, and theme are established first, and the mechanics are designed around that setting. Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Kaldheim, and Amonkhet are examples of top-down designed sets.
Alternatively, “bottom-up” designed sets are created with the mechanics in mind first, with the setting and aesthetic built around those decisions.
As a Un- set, Unfinity features a great deal of humor throughout the card names, art, mechanics, and flavor text. To help enhance the comedic aspects of the set, Wizards of the Coast has sought help from Canadian comedy group LoadingReadyRun, Cracked writer ‘Seanbaby,’ and established flavor text writer Austin Bridges.
Magic: The Gathering Unfinity Set Legality
Traditionally, Magic: The Gathering’s Un- sets have been printed with silver borders to denote that they are not eligible to be played outside their own constructed or limited formats. For the latest Un- set, however, this is changing, as every Unfinity card is being printed with MTG’s traditional black border.
This is because, for the first time, some Unfinity cards will be legal in the eternal constructed formats of Legacy, Vintage, and Commander.
Wizards of the Coast has created a new acorn security stamp to facilitate this change while removing silver borders. This new security stamp is visible at the bottom of the cards in place of an oval, or no, security stamp.
As Mark Rosewater explains, the “acorn security stamp means is exactly what a silver border used to.” If an Unfinity card features the new acorn security stamp, it won’t be eligible for tournament play. Unfinity cards with an oval security stamp or no stamp will be eligible for play in Legacy, Vintage, and Commander.
MTG Unfinity Mechanics
During Mark Rosewater’s recent ComicCon panel, a new Unfinity mechanic was revealed; Stickers. Despite not being in anyone’s hands just yet, Stickers have already become a controversial topic. Thankfully, the actual function of Stickers is fairly self-explanatory. Brought into play through cards such as Carnival Carnivore Stickers let you modify or add to a card you own. Keep in note that owning a card is different from controlling it, so you can’t Sticker your opponent’s cards.
Played from the new play item, Sticker Sheets, a Sticker can add to a creature’s name, art, abilities, or change its power/toughness. Some cards, such as Angelic Harold only allow you to stick a certain type of Sticker. Angelic Harold also showcases that, as usual with a Un- Set, art and card names matter. Once stuck to a creature, Stickers won’t be removed unless the card goes to a nonpublic zone. Nonpublic zones are your hand and your library. Once in a nonpublic zone, Stickers are removed and returned to the Sticker Sheet.
As you’ll notice on Sticker Sheets, as well as cards like Animate Object, Stickers come with another brand new mechanic; Tickets. Tickets are a new Poliferateable counter introduced in Unfinity that allows players to stick ability or power/toughness stickers.
MTG Unfinity Spoilers
Many Unfinity cards showcase the acorn and standard security seals while also providing an insight into the set’s dice rolling and wacky Sticker-based themes and mechanics.
As seen in the cards above, Killer Cosplay, Water Gun Baloon Game, and Assembled Ensemble all feature somewhat overpowered, wacky, and nonstandard mechanics that are typical of a Un- set. Subsequently, these cards are all dubbed “acorn cards” thanks to their unique security seal.
According to Mark Rosewater, “over half” of the cards the team designed for Unfinity are suitable for “the black border category” and eternal tournament play. Rosewater also stressed, however, that “all the cards in this set were designed before this distinction existed.”
“We just made cool cards for the set and later divided them into categories. We tweaked a small number of cards that were close to being non-acorn, but mostly things stayed as originally designed,” Rosewater stated.
It has also been confirmed that Unfinity will feature 30 legendary creatures in the set, one of which is The Space Family Goblinson. Most of these legendary creatures are two-color, and over a third are playable in eternal formats. This will allow Commander players to enjoy a lot of new quirky commanders.
Each of the 30 legendary creatures in Unfinity will also be available in an alternate retro-pop style called “the showcase cards of tomorrow.” These showcase frames highlight Unfinity’s ’50s and ’60s retro-pop-inspired style. As you can see from the example above, they’re oozing with charm.
What Is in Unfinity Collectors Boosters?
For the first time in a Un- set, Unfinity will have more than one type of booster available for purchase. Alongside Draft Boosters, Collector Boosters will also be available for purchase.
Unlike traditional Collector Boosters, which have become a staple for modern Magic sets, Unfinity’s Collector Boosters are slightly different. That’s because every single card within an Unfinity Collector Booster will be foil.
Unfinity Collector Boosters will also have a brand new “unique foil treatment called galaxy foil.” This new foiling technique is said to look like the stars in space.
In Collector Boosters, twelve out of the fifteen cards will be traditional foils, while three out of the fifteen cards will be the new galaxy foils.
Will MTG Unfinity Have Full Art Lands?
Yes, Magic: The Gathering Unfinity will feature a plethora of full-art basic lands and shock lands. Dubbed “space-ic lands,” Unfinity is continuing the trend of Un- sets featuring some of the best-looking full-art lands available with not one but two different cycles of full-art lands.
The first and more common cycle of full-art basic lands available in the Magic: The Gathering Unfinity set is known as “planetary space-ic lands.” These full-art basic lands feature stunning alien vistas from planets across the Unfinity universe.
According to Wizards of the Coast, planetary space-ic lands will be found in Collector Boosters and Draft Boosters roughly 70% of the time.
As well as the planetary space-ic lands, Wizards of the Coast is offering a second, far rarer, set of full-art lands known as “orbital space-ic lands.” These basic lands provide an enchanting view of the planets from space and will show up in roughly one of every four Draft Boosters.
As if two sets of full art lands aren’t enough already, the Unfinity set also features exquisite space-themed full-art borderless versions of the ten shock lands from the Ravnica blocks. Unfortunately, these full-art shock lands are the rarest of all the lands, only available in one in 24 draft boosters and two in 24 of the designated land slots in Collector’s booster packs.
A foil version of full-art borderless shock land is guaranteed to be included within a Box Topper booster available in each Draft Booster and Collector Booster box.
MTG Unfinity Best Cards
As with all MTG sets, Unfinity has a wide range of cards both good and bad. For better or worse, in Unfinity, many of these cards aren’t playable outside of casual games thanks to the Acorn symbol. Thankfully, while prevalent, there are still 140 cards from Unfinity that are useable in Eternal formats. Somewhat remarkably, some of these cards are even playable in Commander, Legacy, and Vintage!
In case you’re curious, here are a few of the best cards from Unfinity that you can play with!
The Most Dangerous Gamer
Somewhat miraculously, for a while, The Most Dangerous Gamer actually saw play within Legacy of all formats! Used to enable, and then profit off of Attractions, this unique card is hardly the most powerful card in Legacy. That being said, however, it can still be a lot of fun, and surprisingly affordable too!
Whether you just want a go on the Merry-Go-Round or are looking to scale into a threat, The Most Dangerous Gamer can be surprisingly useful. Currently, the only cost around $0.71 on TCGplayer too, so it’ll hardly break the bank to experiment with them!
Comet, Stellar Pup
While not a threat in the ultra-competitive landscape of Legacy, Comet, Stellar Pup is still a surprisingly powerful card. Looking at their adorable face, you might not suspect this, however, Comet, Stellar Pup has actually been banned! Earlier this year, back in May, Comet, Stellar Pup was deemed to be too much for Dual Commander.
For better or worse, Comet, Stellar Pup isn’t always an absolute all-star of an MTG card. This is thanks to them being inherently random, with abilities based on dice rolling. With the right luck, Comet, Stellar Pup can be a powerhouse in a game. Should your luck turn, however, then you may be left seriously lacking value.
Ultimately, due to this variance, Comet, Stellar Pup was deemed to have “one of the poorest possible game experiences.” Subsequently, while fun, it might not be the best idea to play this sometimes powerful Planeswalker.
Saw in Half
Unlike many of the cards from Unfinity, Saw in Half is almost mercifully simple. As the name suggests, and as you see above, this card basically splits a creature in two. While each new hard of the chosen creature is admittedly smaller, this ability is incredibly versatile and undeniably useful.
Whether you’re synergizing Saw in Half with Enter the Battlefield or on-death effects, this card works wonders. Just imagine casting it on Wurmcoil Engine, for instance. Not only do you get the two smaller Wurmcoil Engines, but its on-death effects gives you two more 3/3s! Alternatively, using Saw in Half with Atraxa, Grand Unifier could tutor you up to 16 cards!
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