Unfinity, a booster-based card set for Magic: The Gathering, was released in Q4 of 2022 and was the first Un-set to have eternal-legal cards in it. It deviates from the standard silver border, and while most of the cards were designed exactly how you’d expect, many of the eternal-legal cards stand to have an impact.
This deviation from typical set design rocked the player base when it was first announced. Players wailed on social media and in their respective LGSes at the possible downfall of Legacy as a result of many of the newly-introduced cards.
But just how good are these cards? Let’s take a look.
What Cards Are Legal?
If a card from Unfinity doesn’t have the acorn stamp, that means that it’s legal in eternal formats. WotC pivoted to using an acorn-holo stamp in Unfinity instead of the standard silver borders usually used to identify legality in joke/supplemental sets. Cards with this stamp are the cards deemed illegal in all formats aside from kitchen table or casual play.
________ Goblin
________ Goblin is a common goblin creature that generates mana when it enters the battlefield by giving you one red mana for each vowel on the sticker you put on it. The stickers come from sticker sheets made by the player. Players using sticker sheets need to bring a total of 10 different sheets alongside their deck, and you get access to three random sheets in a given game.
There are a few choice stickers to use to profit mana: Guacamole, Misunderstood, Narrow-Minded, Baloney, Unsanctioned, Phyrexian, Minotaur, Delusionary, Gelatinous, and Dinosaur. These all have at least four vowels, with Delusionary having six and Gelatinous having five.
This card has seen some play in Legacy, mostly as a joke or at in-person events at local FNMs. It’s also been picked up thanks to the fact that you can name it “Mind Goblin.”
“Lifetime” Pass Holder
More than zero people run a playset of “Lifetime” Pass Holder in various Golgari ({BG}) and Sultai ({UBG}) attraction decks. Pass Holder opens an attraction when it dies and comes back if you roll a 6 at any point. You need to bring 10 different attractions in a side deck similar to stickers. They must each be different and set aside shuffled face down before the game starts.
You roll a D6 at the beginning of your main phase each turn. If you roll onto a number that’s on the attraction, you get to “visit” it and trigger its effect. These have various effects and include things like giving a creature flying, creating tokens, and opening more attractions. Identical attractions can have different numbers that let you visit when you roll them, so it’s possible to figure out the best set of attractions to run to have the highest rate of visits.
The Most Dangerous Gamer
The Most Dangerous Gamer is also typically run in attraction decks with “Lifetime” Pass Holder. This 4-mana creature opens an attraction whenever it attacks or enters the battlefield and gets a +1/+1 counter when an attraction is opened. You get to destroy a target permanently whenever you claim the prize of an attraction.
That’s some incredible value, and triggering it multiple times per turn if you have a lot of different attractions set up can quickly overwhelm opponents.
Comet, Stellar Pup
Comet, Stellar Pup is one of the most popular eternal-legal cards in Unfinity. It’s often played as a one- or two-of in Jeskai ({WUR}) control decks but has yet to win the Legacy Challenge. It’s a 4-mana Boros ({WR}) planeswalker that comes in at five loyalty and has one ability that costs {0}. Roll a D6 and do something based on your roll:
- If you roll a 1 or 2, Comet gains two loyalty and you make two 1/1 tokens with haste.
- If you roll a 3, Comet loses one loyalty and you can return a card with mana value two or less from your graveyard to your hand. This is great recursion in these low-to-the-ground Legacy control decks that typically run things like Pyroblast, Snapcaster Mage, and Brainstorm.
- If you roll a 4 or 5, Comet deals damage equal to the number of loyalty counters on it to a creature or player and then loses two loyalty. Blasting an opponent’s face for (at worst) five damage isn’t too bad, I guess.
- If you roll a 6, Comet gains one loyalty and you can activate its ability two extra times in a turn. That’s extremely powerful and often results in you creating tokens and burning opponents down. It has serious power potential, but luck must be on your side…
Embiggen
Embiggen is one of the more boring cards in Legacy coming out of Unfinity as a 1-mana instant pump spell that gives +1/+1 for each supertype and subtype a card has. It’s basically only used for certain infect decks since giving something +3/+3 or +4/+4 for one mana is pretty much standard.
Is This Good for Legacy?
All in all I don’t think that this change in set design for Un-sets is good or bad for Legacy as a format. These cards have yet to have a substantial impact and I don’t see players going out of their way to play these clumsy, confusing, and often luck-driven cards when they’re not even particularly strong.
Wrap Up
That wraps up this brief summary and breakdown of how much of an impact Unfinity is actually having on Legacy! I didn’t quite buy into the fear and anxiety this set produced during spoiler season. A lot of these eternal-legal cards didn’t seem too strong, and players won’t use cumbersome and luck-driven cards if they’re not also extremely powerful.
What did you think of the set and its cards? Were there any that blew your mind, or was it kind of underwhelming in the end? Let me know in the comments below.
That’s all from me for now. Stay safe, stay healthy, and wash your hands!
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