''Unglued'' is a
Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first satirical, non-tournament-legal
expansion set
An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules or game mechanics tha ...
released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
. Among the themes of the set were
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...
,
dice
A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...
rolling and multiplayer Magic games.
History
''Unglued'' was originally conceived by then-lead Magic designer Joel Mick and fellow designer Bill Rose. Having helped in the creation of many of the expansion sets of the time, they began talking about cards which were cut from the expansion or were unplayable, based on the rules of the game. Thinking this through, they conceptualized an expansion where all the cards had no place in serious games.
''Unglued'' was not entirely a commercially successful expansion, but the unique basic land cards - the only cards from the set legal in tournaments - were and still are moderately valuable. As of May 2025, the three most valuable Unglued cards on
TCGPlayer
TCGplayer is an online trading card marketplace started in 2008 in Syracuse, New York. It sells Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Lorcana, Flesh and Blood, MetaZoo, and Star Wars: Unlimited products.
History
In 2008, Chedy Hampson ...
are: 1. Blacker Lotus, 2. Squirrel Token, and 3. Ashnod's Coupon.
The set also developed a cult following among casual Magic fans, and four sequel sets have been released since, ''
Unhinged'' in 2004, ''
Unstable
In dynamical systems instability means that some of the outputs or internal state (controls), states increase with time, without bounds. Not all systems that are not Stability theory, stable are unstable; systems can also be marginal stability ...
'' in 2017, ''
Unsanctioned ''in 2020, and ''
Unfinity'' in 2022.
Unglued secret message
Each of the 94 cards in the ''Unglued'' set had a single word printed on the bottom of the card. Alone these single words made little or no sense but when combined in proper numerical order with other cards in the series spell out the following secret message:
"Here are some cards that didn't make it to print: Socks of
Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...
, Hot
Monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...
Love,
Colonel's Secret Recipe,
Squee's Play, Banned in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Spoon
A spoon (, ) is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a table setting, place setting, it ...
, Disrobing Scepter, Butt Wolf, Lotus Roach,
Sesame
Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...
Efreet, Needless Reminder Text,
Chicken Choker, Clockwork Doppelganger, Henway, HELP I'M TRAPPED IN
CARTA MUNDI
Cartamundi Group is a company based in Turnhout, Belgium, that manufactures, produces, and sells board games, card games, collectible card games, packages, and playing cards through its manufacturing and sales subsidiaries. The name of the compa ...
,
Mad Cow
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and always fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of the ...
, Poke, Lord of
Wombat
Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials of the family Vombatidae that are native to Australia. Living species are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are ...
s, Gratuitous Babe Art,
Brothers' War Bonds, Dwarven Kickboxer, Mickey's Drunk, Pact with the Wastes, CoP:
BO, Urza's
Chia Pet
Chia Pets are American styled terracotta figurines used to sprout chia, where the chia sprouts grow within a couple of weeks to resemble the animal's fur or hair. Moistened chia seeds (''Salvia hispanica'') are applied to a grooved terracotta ...
,
Thallid Shooter Shooter may refer to:
People
* Rod Beck (1968–2007), American baseball pitcher nicknamed "Shooter"
* Shooter Jennings (born 1979), country music singer
* Evan McPherson (born 1999), American football placekicker nicknamed "Shooter"
* Adrian Sh ...
, Shoelace,
When Chihuahuas Attack, Wall of Cookies, Kobold Ninja, Mucusaur, Kjeldoran Outhouse, Bear in the Woods, Dental
Thrull, Flavatog,
Cereal Killer."
Flavor Text
The
flavor text
Flavor text is Written language, text for action figure character backgrounds, video games, Card games, playing cards, or within the pages of a role-playing game's wikt:rulebook, rulebook. While appropriate to the product's or game's story concep ...
s of the cards Double Dip, Double Play, Double Deal, Double Take, and Double Cross form the following
limerick
Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
:
In a duel and taking a lickin'...
The wizard exclaimed, "I'm no chicken...."
"I'm facing defeat,..."
"But the next time we meet,..."
"You're in for a nasty butt kickin'."
Which fit the mechanics of the cards, as all five not only did something for the player when played, but also created a benefit for the player during their next game against the same opponent.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Official unglued pageHistory of Unglued by Mark Rosewater
{{MTG navbox, sets
Card games introduced in 1998
Magic: The Gathering sets
Fantasy parodies