Magic: The Gathering creator Wizards of the Coast has announced the new release date for MTG Unfinity, the fifth entry in the TCG’s series of ‘Un-sets’. Originally scheduled for April 1, this comedic, space circus-themed set was delayed due to supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic. It’s now slated for release in October 2022, and its new release date is October 7, nestled neatly between Dominaria United and The Brothers’ War in the MTG release schedule.
Like the rest of Magic’s Un-sets, MTG Unfinity will explore design space that regular Standard sets would not – pushing the boat out in terms of wackiness, humour, and parody. However, in a swift departure from previous Un-sets, where all the cards are silver-border and banned from most formats, some Unfinity cards will be legal in eternal formats like Commander, Vintage, and Legacy, and marked with an oval stamp. Other cards will have an acorn stamp, indicating they’re only for use in casual games.
When first announcing this premise, head designer Mark Rosewater gave a number of reasons for acorn cards replacing silver borders, including the idea that fans view silver-border cards as not “real” Magic cards.
According to an article on the Magic site from November 2021, The switch from borders to stamps came after designers realised many Un-set cards could theoretically work in normal MTG games, and it was a shame to ban them just because they were printed in a set alongside other cards that couldn’t.
The new approach allows the best of both worlds, letting the designers print some over the top cards with rules that would never work in a typical Magic game, alongside other cards that, while still jokey, could nonetheless be played as normal.
MTG Unfinity is designed to be drafted, and – as you might expect – will be sold in draft boosters. The set will also have collector boosters, a first for Un-sets. Draft booster and collector booster boxes alike will have one of the Unfinity shock lands as a box topper. These are some of the best MTG lands, reprints from the sets Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance featuring shiny new artwork.
For more news on what’s coming to Magic: The Gathering this year, check out our guides to the MTG Warhammer 40k crossover set or Double Masters 2022.
Source: Wargamer
