Unstable

Unstable
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics	Squirrels, Contraptions
Set size	216-ish
Expansion code	UST

Unstable is the third Magic: The Gathering booster-based set to be used outside of legal Magic tournaments. It will be released on December 8, 2017 as a standalone fun-set. This is the third of the silver bordered Un-sets and is designed to be drafted.

Set details

Unstable contains 216-ish cards. The set explores new areas of Magic game design and continues the tradition of bending the conventional rules of the game in a fun and whimsical way. Silver-bordered cards can do interesting and unique things that regular black-bordered cards don't typically get to do, all in the name of fun, and the set's creative elements reflect that spirit. Unstable was designed to both be drafted alone and be mixed with other sets. According to Mark Rosewater however, the best experience is probably when it's drafted alone. The set will feature 'modern design sensibilities' and a 'cohesive creative vision'. It includes fun Legendary creatures that can be utilized in the Commander format. The set is built around a cohese creative. It features black-bordered full-art basic lands, like its predecessors (but with a special twist), and foil tokens (both for tokens produced by cards in the set and for popular tribes outside the set). There will also be a squirrel lord that is not legendary, and a mythic vanilla. The expansion symbol is a a wrench with an acorn shaped hole.

History

Mark Rosewater had to wait 13 years after Unhinged before Unstable could be printed. Unhinged had been considered a commercial failure. However, Rosewater argues this wasn't because of poor sales, but because of overprinting. Wizards of the Coast didn't regularly create supplemental sets back then so they treated them like a small expansion which they weren’t. Rosewater argues that properly printed, they would have been considered big successes. Actual work on the set took six years.

Storyline

Unstable is set on a mad scientist world with 5 factions:

• Order of the Widget; cyborgs with no self control.
• Agents of S.N.E.A.K.; really bad spies.
• League of Dastarly Doom; super villains constantly at odds with each other.
• Goblin Explosioneers; steamfloggers and tinkerers that breed fast enough to not wipe out their race.
• Crossbreed Labs; they like to experiment with combining animals and themselves.

Mechanics

• Contraptions are part of the set.
  • All creatures that make them are Riggers.
  • Steamflogger Boss is reprinted from Future Sight. It is the only extra card printed on the land sheet, and therefore black-bordered.

Trivia

• Sword of Dungeons and Dragons references Dungeons & Dragons, another Hasbro-brand.
  • Although D&D has heavily influenced the creation of Magic (e.g. Legends), this is the first time the brand itself is referenced.
  • This mash-up card was previewed at HASCON
• The Gold Dragon token created by Sword of Dungeons and Dragons is the first instance where an artifact subtype is combined with a creature subtype.