Unhinged
Encyclopedia
Unhinged is the name of one of the few English
-only expansions to the game Magic: The Gathering
. It is a humorous parody
set, and is far less serious than traditional Magic expansions. Mark Rosewater
, lead designer for Magic: The Gathering, has written in several articles that, due to the nature of the humor and the many plays-on-words used in both Unhinged and Unglued
, sets such as these will always be English language only. The only other English language only sets were released before Magic gained enough popularity to support foreign markets.
, on 7 August 1998. Much of the set's humor came from meta-humor references at the game itself and its mechanics. Many cards featured mechanics deemed too strange or impractical for a "serious," tournament-legal expansion. Because of the success of the set, designers began work on an Unglued sequel, named Unglued 2: The Obligatory Sequel. However, Wizards of the Coast
felt that releasing another comedy set along with the standard serious sets, would go beyond market saturation
. Unglued 2 was scrapped.
Since then, many players asked for a sequel to Unglued. However, they were always told that it would not be happening any time soon. On 1 April 2004, Magic designer Mark Rosewater
posted an article, announcing the sequel to Unglued, Unhinged. The next day, amid speculation that the announcement was an April Fool's Day joke, Rosewater posted a poll asking readers if they believed an Unglued sequel was actually in the works and if they would enjoy such a sequel. Three days later, Rosewater confirmed that Unhinged was a reality.
"Here are some more cards that didn't make it: Moronic Tutor
; Lint Golem
; Wave of Incontinence
; I'm Quitting Magic
; Bob from Accounting; Castrate; Mishra's
Bling Bling; Dead Bunny Isle; Circle of Protection: Pants; Time Fart; Sliver and Onions; Kobold Ass Master; Thanks, Barn; Mild Mongrel; Robo-Samurai; Obligitory Angel; Chump-Blocking Orphan; Wrath of Dog; Celery Stalker; Hugs-a-lot Demon; Assticore; Codpiece of the Chosen; Hurl; What the Cluck?!; Nachomancer; Scrubotomy; Arcbound Noah
; Darksteel Spork; Look at Me, I'm Accounts Receivable; Hydro
Djinn; Bad Stone Rain Variant; S.O.B.F.M.; Pinko
Kami
; Purple Nurple; Form of ; Them's Fightin' Wards; Spleen of Ramos; Fifteenth Pick; Squizzle, Goblin Nabizzle; Zombie Cheerleading
Squad; Two-Way Myr; Bone Flute 2: Electric Boogaloo
; Magic Offline; Nutclamp; Bwahahahaaa!; Dragon Ass; Phyrexian Sno-Cone Machine; Chimney Pimp; R.T.F.C.; Greased Weasel; Flame War; We Don't Need No Stinkin'
Merfolk; Ting!; Timmy Power Gamer; and Disrobing Scepter (again!)."
Also, if you read the flavor text for the cards , , , , and (all of which are cards with a "Gotcha" rule on them) in that order, it gives you the limerick:
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-only expansions to the game Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
. It is a humorous parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
set, and is far less serious than traditional Magic expansions. Mark Rosewater
Mark Rosewater
Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering card designer. He is currently Magics head designer.-Biography:Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High School. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did...
, lead designer for Magic: The Gathering, has written in several articles that, due to the nature of the humor and the many plays-on-words used in both Unhinged and Unglued
Unglued
For the Stone Temple Pilots song, please see Unglued .Unglued is the name of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first silver-bordered, non-tournament-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg...
, sets such as these will always be English language only. The only other English language only sets were released before Magic gained enough popularity to support foreign markets.
Background
Wizards released a humor-themed Magic expansion set, UngluedUnglued
For the Stone Temple Pilots song, please see Unglued .Unglued is the name of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first silver-bordered, non-tournament-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg...
, on 7 August 1998. Much of the set's humor came from meta-humor references at the game itself and its mechanics. Many cards featured mechanics deemed too strange or impractical for a "serious," tournament-legal expansion. Because of the success of the set, designers began work on an Unglued sequel, named Unglued 2: The Obligatory Sequel. However, Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
felt that releasing another comedy set along with the standard serious sets, would go beyond market saturation
Market saturation
In economics, "market saturation" is a term used to describe a situation in which a product has become diffused within a market; the actual level of saturation can depend on consumer purchasing power; as well as competition, prices, and technology....
. Unglued 2 was scrapped.
Since then, many players asked for a sequel to Unglued. However, they were always told that it would not be happening any time soon. On 1 April 2004, Magic designer Mark Rosewater
Mark Rosewater
Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering card designer. He is currently Magics head designer.-Biography:Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High School. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did...
posted an article, announcing the sequel to Unglued, Unhinged. The next day, amid speculation that the announcement was an April Fool's Day joke, Rosewater posted a poll asking readers if they believed an Unglued sequel was actually in the works and if they would enjoy such a sequel. Three days later, Rosewater confirmed that Unhinged was a reality.
Defining aspects of the set
- "Donkey" creatures are featured on a number of cards, similar to the way chickens were featured in UngluedUngluedFor the Stone Temple Pilots song, please see Unglued .Unglued is the name of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first silver-bordered, non-tournament-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg...
. This allows humorous puns of phrases containing the word ass. ("Bad Ass", "Cheap Ass", "Ass Whuppin'", and so on). - Fractions, especially 1/2, can be used where only natural numbers could be used before: casting costs, damage, life totals, mana, power, and toughness can all be affected.
- Gotcha - Cards which can be returned from graveyard to hand, if your opponent laughs, says a specific word, etc.
- Cards that only have a specific effect if you win a short subgame, such as a staring contest, arm wrestlingArm wrestlingArm wrestling is a sport with two participants. Each participant places one arm on a surface with their elbows bent and touching the surface, and they grip each other's hand...
, rock/paper/scissors, or even another game of Magic within the original game (see Shahrazad and , which is a parody of Shahrazad). - Several cards have effects that can apply only to cards with a specific artist, name, or collector's number.
- Several creatures have effects that forces the controller to sacrifice them if they do something specific, such as speak or not have a finger on that creature.
- Several cards are parodies of cards in UngluedUngluedFor the Stone Temple Pilots song, please see Unglued .Unglued is the name of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first silver-bordered, non-tournament-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg...
or other Magic sets, such as City of Ass (for City of Brass) and Greater Morphling (for Morphling) - This set includes premium (foil) cards that have hidden pictures or words in it.
- This is the only set to include premium (foil) cards that are not black-bordered.
- "Avatar of Me" and "Water Gun Balloon Game" have added the colors Pink, Hazel, and Brown to the original five colors of mana when playing with Silver-Bordered cards.
Full set spoiler
A sortable 'spoiler' list for Unhinged can be found at the Wizards Website.Unhinged secret message
Much like Unglued before it, each card in the Unhinged set -including Super Secret Tech- has a single word printed on the bottom of the card after the artist's name and card number. Alone these single words made little to no sense but when all cards are placed in the proper order with other cards in the series they spell out a secret message detailing cards that allegedly did not make it into the set. Placing all the Unhinged cards in reverse alphabetical order will cause the following message to appear:"Here are some more cards that didn't make it: Moronic Tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
; Lint Golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
; Wave of Incontinence
Urinary incontinence
Urinary incontinence is any involuntary leakage of urine. It is a common and distressing problem, which may have a profound impact on quality of life. Urinary incontinence almost always results from an underlying treatable medical condition but is under-reported to medical practitioners...
; I'm Quitting Magic
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
; Bob from Accounting; Castrate; Mishra's
The Brothers' War
The Brothers' War is a Magic: The Gathering novel written by Jeff Grubb, and published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. It takes place on the fictional world of Dominaria, within the 'multiverse'. It tells the story of the origins of Urza, who plays a significant role in other Magic: The Gathering...
Bling Bling; Dead Bunny Isle; Circle of Protection: Pants; Time Fart; Sliver and Onions; Kobold Ass Master; Thanks, Barn; Mild Mongrel; Robo-Samurai; Obligitory Angel; Chump-Blocking Orphan; Wrath of Dog; Celery Stalker; Hugs-a-lot Demon; Assticore; Codpiece of the Chosen; Hurl; What the Cluck?!; Nachomancer; Scrubotomy; Arcbound Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
; Darksteel Spork; Look at Me, I'm Accounts Receivable; Hydro
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
Djinn; Bad Stone Rain Variant; S.O.B.F.M.; Pinko
Pinko
Pinko is a term for a person regarded as being sympathetic to communism, though not necessarily a Communist Party member.The term has its origins in the notion that pink is a lighter shade of red, the color associated with communism...
Kami
Kami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
; Purple Nurple; Form of ; Them's Fightin' Wards; Spleen of Ramos; Fifteenth Pick; Squizzle, Goblin Nabizzle; Zombie Cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
Squad; Two-Way Myr; Bone Flute 2: Electric Boogaloo
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo is the 1984 sequel to the breakdancing film Breakin. It was first released in the same year as its predecessor by TriStar Pictures, and by Cannon Films the year after...
; Magic Offline; Nutclamp; Bwahahahaaa!; Dragon Ass; Phyrexian Sno-Cone Machine; Chimney Pimp; R.T.F.C.; Greased Weasel; Flame War; We Don't Need No Stinkin'
Stinking badges
"Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" is a memorable and widely-quoted line from cinematic history. In 2005, it was chosen as #36 on the American Film Institute list, AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes...
Merfolk; Ting!; Timmy Power Gamer; and Disrobing Scepter (again!)."
Also, if you read the flavor text for the cards , , , , and (all of which are cards with a "Gotcha" rule on them) in that order, it gives you the limerick:
- There once was a player named Quinn, . . .
- Who consistently managed to win.
- Until he got singed . . .
- Playing Unhinged, . . .
- Getting “Gotcha’ed” again and again.