Magic: The Gathering Head Designer Explains Why Unstable is Successful

Image: Wizards of the Coast/ Illus. by Dmitriy Burmak

When Magic: The Gathering's latest joke set Unstable was released back in December, it sold so much that the set got its third print run back in March. Compared to previous Un-sets, Unglued and Unhinged, Unstable turned out to be more successful. Just recently, Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater explained what made the Unstable set a success.

When a fan asked him about the secret to Unstable's success, Rosewater took it to his Blogatog to provide an answer.

"I think the previous Un-sets *were* successful. The difference with Unstable is we didn't overprint it," Rosewater explained. "With numerous printings of Unstable and years of growth of the game (more than tripling in size), less Unstable was printed than Unhinged. Let that sink in."

So apparently, Wizards of the Coast printed too much Unhinged back in 2004 but they limited the initial printings for Unstable when it was released last December. I think the design also plays a huge part. The cool mechanics like Host/Augment were fun. Plus, the flavor of the theme was spicy. But I think the main reason the set sold so well was that everyone wanted to get John Avon's full-art basic lands.

With the success of Unstable, it's highly-likely that Wizards of the Coast will print future Un-sets. Would you like to see more Un-sets in the future of Magic?

Read more: MTG Core Set 2019's New Tezzeret & Liliana Revealed