Unstable

Unstable
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics	Contraptions Watermark matters, Flavor text matters, Die rolls
Keywords/​ability words	Assemble, Crank, Squirrellink, Just a second, Combine, Switch
Set size	216-ish
Expansion code	UST

Unstable is a booster-based card set for Magic: The Gathering that can not be used in legal Magic tournaments. It will be released on December 8, 2017 as a wacky 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 (5 basic land, TBA common, TBA uncommon, TBA rare, and TBA mythic rare) and 20 foil tokens, and includes randomly inserted premium versions of all 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 expansion symbol is a wrench with an acorn shaped hole.

The set features 'modern design sensibilities' and a is built around a 'cohesive creative vision'. It includes fun Legendary creatures that can be utilized in the Commander format and some cards designed for cubes. Like its predecessors, Unstable features 5 full-art basic lands, but these are borderless instead of black-bordered. Every pack contains one of the five lands unless It is replaced by a Steamflogger Boss, as the Steamflogger Boss appears only once on the land sheet. The set also features foil tokens (both for tokens produced by cards in the set and for popular tribes outside the set).

History

Mark Rosewater had to wait 13 years after Unhinged before Unstable could be printed. Unhinged had been considered a commercial failure. However, Rosewater and senior brand director Mark Purvis argue 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. When design started, one of the goals, as proposed by director of product design Mark Globus, was to explore what new printing technology might allow. Even though the set took many years to finally make it to print, none of the proposed was actually technically viable at the time the set was printed.

Marketing

Unstable is sold in 16-card boosters (one card being a marketing card) and Draft Packs. First details of Unstable were revealed by Rosewater at San Diego Comic-Con 2017. He also heavily promoted the set on Blogatog.

Tokens

Unstable features 20 foil tokens, one per pack.

• 2/1 blue Bird with Flying called Storm Crow for Crow Storm.
• 4/4 goldDragon with Flying for Sword of Dungeons & Dragons

Factions

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

File:Order of the Widget.jpg

Order of the Widget

The Order of the Widget faction () are cyborgs that use technology to constantly improve themselves. They have no self control. The Order of the Widget Contraptions do one of three things:

1. They enhance a creature in some way while also turning it into an artifact.
2. They make artifacts.
3. They have effects that scale with the number of artifacts you control.

These effects play into their flavor of self-enhancement and their love of artifacts.

File:Agents of S.N.E.A.K.jpg

Agents of S.N.E.A.K.

The Agents of S.N.E.A.K. faction () are really bad spies with cool toys. The Agents of S.N.E.A.K. Contraptions do one of four things:

1. They mess with information (drawing you cards or making your opponent discard cards).
2. They make creatures deadlier or harder to block.
3. They make creature tokens.
4. They have effects that scale with the number of creatures you control.

These effects all have a "spy" feel to them.

File:League of Dasterdly Doom.jpg

League of Dasterdly Doom

The League of Dastardly Doom faction are super villains scheming to take over the world. They're constantly at odds with each other. The League of Dastardly Doom Contraptions do one of three things:

1. They destroy, damage, or weaken things, including players.
2. They interact with the graveyard.
3. They have effects that scale with the number of creature cards in the opponent's graveyard.

These effects tend to be destructive and mean.

File:Goblin Explosioneers.jpg

Goblin Explosioneers

The Goblin Explosioneers faction are steamfloggers and tinkerers that experiment with lots of crazy ideas, many of which explode. They breed fast enough to not wipe out their race. The Goblin Explosioneers Contraptions do one of three things:

1. They enhance creatures in a way that encourages attacking.
2. They cause chaotic things to happen.
3. They have effects based on rolling two six-sided dice and caring about the difference.

These effects tend to play into the chaotic nature of the Goblins.

File:Crossbreed Labs.jpg

Crossbreed Labs

The Crossbreed Labs faction are creature hybrids that have used their inventions to create a perfect society where everyone is their true self. The Crossbreed Labs Contraptions do one of three things:

1. They enhance creatures in different ways, always making them bigger.
2. They help you get or cast more creatures.
3. They have effects based on the power of target creature you control.

These effects tend to play into the creature-building flavor of the faction.

Themes and mechanics

The set has a minor squirrel theme. There as a mythic vanilla. A dexterity card and the return of Ninjas are strongly hinted at. The factions of the set are recognizable by their watermarks. Some cards als care about watermarks ("watermarks matter"). In the same vein "flavor text matters" returns from Unhinged; Ineffable Blessing features the choice between the anchor words "flavorful" and "bland", depending if you favor cards with flavor text or without. As usual in Un-sets, the set features a subgame card (The Countdown Is at One).

The set also uses gold as a (mono)-color..

Mechanics

• Contraptions are a major mechanic of the set, as there are 45 different Contraptions to build (9 per faction), roughly one fifth of the set.
  • All creatures that make them are Riggers.
  • Steamflogger Boss is reprinted from Future Sight and is the only creature card printed on the land sheet. It is black-bordered and rare.. All Contraptions are legal for tournament play, as they have no border, but since all cards that build Contraptions are not tournament legal, there is no way to currently build them in Modern or Standard.
  • Contraptions appear twice in each Unstable pack, and are put in a separate deck of cards close to your library. They give different general boosts to your deck depending on what faction the Contraption is from, such as gaining life to pumping your creatures. When a Rigger assembles a Contraption, you may put the Contraption on the top of your Contraption deck underneath the first, second, or third Sprocket slots. Once per turn, on your upkeep, you may Crank! the Contraption to move the counter from the current Sprocket to the next (1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 1), and gain whatever benefits are listed on each of the Contraptions you put under that particular Sprocket. This adds a certain layer of complexity, as players might choose to stack every Contraption under one Sprocket, or find certain synergies between the different contraptions that work well together on a given turn given the game state.

Creature types

• Besides Riggers, Unstable features Beebles, for the first time since Unhinged.
• Hangman uses the creature type Villain, that was previously erratad to Beast (Spinal Villain).
• Cyborg is a new creature type.
• Killbot is a new artifact type.

Trivia

General

• Mark Rosewater joked that his toaster did most of the design.
• Originally, there were supposed to be 50 Contraptions (10 for each faction), but Dawn Murin, the art director for Unstable, decided to connect all the Contraptions for each faction, leading there to be 9 Contraptions for each faction, with each piece of artwork on each Contraption card making up a single section of a 3x3 grid.

Flavor

• Crossbreed Labs may also refer to Labrador Crossbreeds.

Cards

Blue

• Crow Storm and its token are a play on the meme that Storm Crow is the best card ever printed. The reason that the joke exists is because storm crow was first printed in Alliances, the same set as Force of Will. At the time, FOW was the best card in Magic and blue the best color. By proxy, any blue card was also the best card in Magic because it could be used to pay the alternate cost. It also has Flying.

Green

• Earl of Squirrel is a squirrel lord that is not legendary.

Artifacts

• Sword of Dungeons & 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 with a different graphical design as a HASCON-promo.

Gallery

• 

  Borderless Plains

• 

  Borderless Island

• 

  Borderless Swamp

• 

  Borderless Mountain

• 

  Borderless Forest