Some spoilers have already hit for the highly anticipated Unfinity set for MtG and they're pretty bonkers, as they should be given it's an Un-set. This Unfinity set seems to be set in a weird carnival like atmosphere with a futuristic 50's theme to it. Think a Fallout setting I suppose but in the MtG world. Two of the biggest differences with this Un-set is that some of the cards (about 1/4 I think) are actually legal to play plus there's a sticker and a ticket mechanic.....
Yes, that's right stickers and tickets because, well, it's a carnival/fun park. The stickers are pretty interesting, with you being able to place certain stickers upon other cards enhancing them. Some cards give other cards boosts for having stickers, like a +1/+1 for each sticker they have. Don't worry these stickers are like Post-It notes with their glue. They won't ruin the cards and are supposed to be reusable. On a side note, this is why Unfinity was pushed back so far. The original glue company WotC was going to use went under and they had to secure another source. Below is just one example of a sticker card with the ticket mechanic.
Stickers seem like an interesting little concept but also pretty.....out there. It just seems like something else that will clutter up the game flow, kind of like having to roll a d20 with any of the AFR sets. The mechanic seems cool on paper and as a concept, but implementation will more than likely just slow down the game. Imagine having to pause while someone says "Wait! Let me peel off these 5 stickers and place them onto this one card!" or "I've got 4 different cards that need 3 stickers each." Sure, you can just pass the turn while you sticker everything but it seems a bit much. Just my humble opinion, especially if there's more than one player utilizing these mechanics.
Tickets are another new mechanic. Tickets seem like a variation of the Energy mechanic from Kaladesh. Pay a certain amount of tickets for some permanent in play, or just have a certain amount of tickets, and things happen. Pretty cut and dry. Getting tickets seems a little cloudy at the moment but we can only guess that there will be cards that just give you tickets, like Animate Object, and then more cards that will utilize tickets and stickers with the Sticker Kicker mechanic, like Wicker Picker. (Animate Object seems bonkers as all hell, mind you. Imagine just having your Monster thrown onto the table and is now a 5/5 with First Strike and Infect? Because yes, there are stickers that give infect. Wooo!)
It should be worth noting the way to determine which cards you can and can't use in normal play is by a little acorn on the bottom center of the cards. Like you can see in Animate Object and Wicker Picker above. The cards that have the acorn symbol are not legal, the ones that don't have the acorn symbol are legal for play.
Now, the one thing everyone kept talking about early on were the lands. And they do not disappoint at all. They're beautiful and once seeing the full array available, I think they will rival the Dominaria United stained glass lands. The shocklands are also in a league of their own, however I wish they actually told you "tap to add blah blah" instead of just having nothing, or so it seems. Not like we can't guess that if it says Plains/Island it taps for a white or blue, but for newer players it would be nice. That's really my only gripe and it's nitpicky as hell.
The Basic Lands
The Shocklands
As I said before, absolutely beautiful lands. These are going to be in heavy demand and I can see people only wanting to buy the lands from this set. But don't forget one thing as I've mentioned in another article, you gotta crack packs in order for their to be singles out in the wild. So, if you want these singles, do your part and crack some sealed product. If you don't get what you want, trade them in at your LGS and hopefully they'll have the ones you're looking for because someone else did what you just did....and the cycle continues.
In conclusion this set seems like it's in a precarious position. I'm not really one for Un-sets however. They're fun and gimmicky and aren't meant to be taken seriously which is fine, but this one is straddling the line with having some legal and some not legal cards. I'm really not a fan of that considering the ticket/sticker mechanic is gimmicky by itself and I'm not sure how it's going to mesh with the flow of the game overall. The best part of this set seems to be the lands at the moment, to me at least. What are your thoughts? Let me know!