Acorn
Acorn cards (formerly silver-bordered cards) are Magic: The Gathering cards that are not tournament-legal and are not covered by the comprehensive rules.
History
Silver-bordered cards were introduced in 1998 for Unglued, the first Magic supplemental set and the first "joke set" and became tradition for the following so-called Un-sets. Certain promos like the Holiday cards, the 2017 HASCON promos, and Ponies: The Galloping also used a silver border.
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”.[1]
Rosewater later explained that when silver border was originally dubbed "not for tournament play," that meant not for Vintage, Legacy, or Standard, but for every other format, especially the casual ones.[2] Over the years, silver border slowly shifted to end up meaning "not for any official format, casual or not," which contradicted what it was originally intended to do. Rosewater realized that many cards in the set would be perfectly fine to be played in black border Eternal sets. R&D then looked another way to express "silver border-ness" that didn't require a silver border and turned to holofoil security stamps.
Starting with the black-bordered Unfinity set in 2022 an acorn security stamp means exactly what a silver border used to. This is a card not meant for tournament play and should only be used in casual formats where all the players agree to its inclusion. These have been dubbed these "acorn" cards. If a card has an oval security stamp (or no security stamp at lower rarities), it's legal in eternal formats (which includes Commander, Legacy, and Vintage). These have been dubbed these "eternal" cards. This security stamp technology allow R&D to let the two different types of cards commingle in the same set.[2]
Un-sets
Un-sets are named after their common naming pattern.
Silver-bordered
Acorn-stamped
- Unfinity
- Uses black borders, a fraction of the set is legal in Eternal formats as the cards are mechanically acceptable but flavorfully more bizarre.
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 (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.
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (November 29, 2021). "To Unfinity and Beyond". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 20, 2009). "The Silver Lining". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.