Acorn
Acorn cards (formerly silver-bordered cards) are not tournament-legal and are not covered by the comprehensive rules. Usually silver-bordered cards are printed in the so-called Un-sets. Certain promos like the Holiday cards, the 2017 HASCON promos, and Ponies: The Galloping also use a silver border.
Un-sets
Un-sets are named after their common naming pattern.
Silver-bordered
Acorn-stamped
- Unfinity is the latest Un-set. It uses black borders, and as a result, there will be a fraction of the set which is legal in Eternal formats as the cards are mechanically acceptable but flavorfully more bizarre. In place of the silver borders, an acorn holofoil stamp is used instead for those that are mechanically incompatible with normal Magic.[1] According to Mark Rosewater, the audience reaction to the silver border was somewhat of a problem for R&D. It most often didn’t get treated as “this is a different subset of Magic”, but rather as “this isn’t a real Magic card”.[2]
Mechanics
They feature mechanics that would be impossible to print in a normal expansion.[3]
Rules
From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (June 7, 2024—Modern Horizons 3)
- Silver-Bordered
- Cards in certain sets and certain promotional cards are printed with a silver border. Silver-bordered cards are intended for casual play and may have features and text that aren’t covered by these rules.
Tokens
Tokens created by silver-bordered and acorn cards.
| Token Name | Color | Type Line | P/T | Text Box | Source | Printings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ape | Green | Creature — Ape | 1/1 | |||
| Green | Creature — Ape | 3/3 | ||||
| Beeble | Blue | Creature — Beeble | 1/1 | |||
| Contortionist | Blue | Creature — Octopus Performer | 4/4 | At the beginning of your upkeep, you may fold this token in half. (It becomes 2/2, then 1/1, ½ / ½, and so on.) | ||
| Brainiac | Red | Creature — Brainiac | 1/1 | |||
| Chicken | Red | Creature — Chicken | 4/4 | |||
| Construct | Colorless | Artifact Creature — Construct | X/X | |||
| Die | Green | Creature — Die | X/X | |||
| Dragon | Gold | Creature — Dragon | 4/4 | Flying | ||
| Expansion-Symbol | Colorless | Creature — Expansion-Symbol | 1/1 | |||
| Faerie Spy | Blue | Creature — Faerie Spy | 1/1 | Flying, haste Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. |
||
| Giant Teddy Bear | Pink | Creature — Giant Teddy Bear | 5/5 | |||
| Teddy Bear | Pink | Creature — Teddy Bear | 2/2 | |||
| Gnome | Colorless | Artifact Creature — Gnome | 1/1 | |||
| Goat | White | Creature — Goat | 0/1 | |||
| Goblin | Red | Creature — Goblin | 1/1 | |||
| Homunculus | Colorless | Creature — Homunculus | 2/2 | |||
| Rogue | Black | Creature — Rogue | 2/2 | Menace | ||
| Sheep | Green | Creature — Sheep | 2/2 | |||
| Sketch | Colorless | Creature — Sketch | 4/4 | This creature has flying if it has wings in its art. The same is true for first strike and a sword, vigilance and a shield, menace and mean eyes, trample and horns, deathtouch and claws, lifelink and fangs, and haste and footwear. | ||
| Squirrel | Green | Creature — Squirrel | 1/1 | |||
| Zombie Employee | Black | Creature — Zombie Employee | 2/2 | |||
| A | Colorless | Artifact | ||||
| E | Colorless | Artifact | ||||
| I | Colorless | Artifact | ||||
| O | Colorless | Artifact | ||||
| U | Colorless | Artifact |
References
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (November 29, 2021). "To Unfinity and Beyond". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 27, 2021). "Why did yall feel it was necessary to pollute the identity of the core game rather than just spin off a "Universes Beyond" format that was Legacy + UB cards?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 20, 2009). "The Silver Lining". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.