Unhinged

Unhinged is a booster-only, tournament-prohibited Magic set, released in November 20, 2004. It was the follow-up to Unglued, and as such isn't to be considered an expansion of the official game. Only the Unhinged basic lands are tournament legal.
==Set details==
Unhinged included 136 silver-bordered cards and 5 black-bordered cards (the full-art basic lands), all of which had foil versions which occur in a similar rate to "normal" Magic Sets. The set boasts many jokes, and has even set a precedent or two of its own for tournament-worthy Magic. Many cards are references to previous cards. The set is only available in English due to the difficulty of translating it. The expansion symbol for this set is a horseshoe.
Foil cards from Unhinged had extra jokes thrown in on the foil layer. One special card, called <c>Super Secret Tech</c>, only exists as a foil rare card and technically, affects the foil card concept as a whole. Its rarity is supposedly ten times more common than that of other Unhinged foil rare cards.
Unhinged features a sixth color: pink. <c>Water Gun Balloon Game</c> can create a pink permanent and for abilities that let you produce mana of any color, you can choose {P} pink. However, there is no Unhinged Basic Land card that can produce pink mana. In addition, <c>Avatar of Me</c> can be whatever the color of your eyes is, allowing brown and hazel mana.
===Marketing===
Unhinged was announced on April 1, 2004, deliberately creating confusion if it was an April fool's joke. It was jokingly advertised as "Set 1 in the Half-Assed block". Unhinged was the first set printed with the "13+" age rating as it was the first set to come out after the "age grading" policy was implemented on all of Wizards of the Coast games (not just Magic). The five black bordered basic lands have no text box; the art covers the entire card. The release card for Unhinged was <c>Ass Whuppin'</c>. The Unhinged Arena League featured five alternate art promo cards (the art that was used was originally commissioned for Unglued 2: The Obligatory Sequel).
A booster contains 15 cards: 1 rare, 3 uncommons, 10 commons and 1 basic land. The boosters feature art from <c>Richard Garfield, Ph.D.</c>, <c>Mana Screw</c> and <c>Gleemax</c>.
===Design and layout===
*Some of the foil versions instrumentalize the foil layer itself for additional visual effects. For example, <c>Goblin Mime</c> is trapped in a foil box, and <c>Richard Garfield, PhD</c> has Richard's autograph in foil. <c>Gleemax</c>, is covered with letters. <c>Letter Bomb</c> says "sign here".
*Some foil versions of the cards have a special watermark in the text box, similar to the expansion symbol promo cards normally have there (e.g. <c>Farewell to Arms</c>, which shows a hand in the text box).
*Like in Unglued, the pictures in the art box rise over the border.
*Many Unhinged cards show familiar Legends or similar things on the Artwork, such as <c>Akroma, Angel of Wrath</c>, <c>Visara the Dreadful</c>, <c>Phage the Untouchable</c>, <c>Kamahl, Pit Fighter</c>, <c>Erhnam Djinn</c> or <c>Vizzerdrix</c>.
===Hidden message===
Much like Unglued before it, each card in the Unhinged set -including <c>Super Secret Tech</c>- has a single word printed on the bottom of the card after the artist's name and card number. 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; 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; Obligatory 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.; Pinko Kami; Purple Nurple; Form of Uncle Istvan; 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!; and Disrobing Scepter (again!)."
==Themes and mechanics==
*Gotcha If a card with this ability word is sitting in your graveyard and your opponent does the one thing the card says not to do (some are verbal, some are physical, some are mental, etc.), you may say “Gotcha!” and return the card to your hand.Unhinged FAQTIWDAWCC (Frequently Asked Questions That If We Didn't Answer Would Cause Chaos)
*"...." Matters All sorts of things have a mechanical impact that has never ever mattered before. "Artist matters" gets the most attention.
*Fractions Cards with Power/Toughness which doesn't use whole numbers (<c>Little Girl</c>, <c>Fraction Jackson</c>)
*Donkeys and Monkeys
*Mini Games This is a cycle of cards that allow you to get a good effect at a cheap price. All you got to do is win a little game (not Magic).
==Cycles==
Unhinged has four cycles:
Cycle name 	 	 	 	 	
Common Gotcha 	<c>Cardpecker</c> 	<c>Number Crunch</c> 	<c>Stop That</c> 	<c>Touch and Go</c> 	<c>Laughing Hyena</c>
Common Gotcha 	Five commons with the Keyword Gotcha. 	Five commons with the Keyword Gotcha. 	Five commons with the Keyword Gotcha. 	Five commons with the Keyword Gotcha. 	Five commons with the Keyword Gotcha.
Uncommon Gotcha	<c>Save Life</c> 	<c>Spell Counter</c> 	<c>Kill! Destroy!</c> 	<c>Deal Damage</c> 	<c>Creature Guy</c>
Uncommon Gotcha	Five uncommons with the Keyword Gotcha (triggered upon saying a word in the card's title), whose flavor text combines to form a limerick.	Five uncommons with the Keyword Gotcha (triggered upon saying a word in the card's title), whose flavor text combines to form a limerick.	Five uncommons with the Keyword Gotcha (triggered upon saying a word in the card's title), whose flavor text combines to form a limerick.	Five uncommons with the Keyword Gotcha (triggered upon saying a word in the card's title), whose flavor text combines to form a limerick.	Five uncommons with the Keyword Gotcha (triggered upon saying a word in the card's title), whose flavor text combines to form a limerick.
Donkeys 	<c>Cheap Ass</c> 	<c>Smart Ass</c> 	<c>Bad Ass</c> 	<c>Dumb Ass</c> 	<c>Fat Ass</c>
Donkeys 	Five common Donkey creatures 	Five common Donkey creatures 	Five common Donkey creatures 	Five common Donkey creatures 	Five common Donkey creatures
Mini Games 	<c>Head to Head</c> (Seven Questions) 	<c>Mouth to Mouth</c> (Breath-holding contest) 	<c>Eye to Eye</c> (Staring contest) 	<c>Face to Face</c> (Rock, Paper, Scissors) 	<c>Side to Side</c> (Arm-wrestle)
Mini Games 	Five uncommons that put the players in a Mini-Game and have an Effect 'whenever you Win or Lose'. 	Five uncommons that put the players in a Mini-Game and have an Effect 'whenever you Win or Lose'. 	Five uncommons that put the players in a Mini-Game and have an Effect 'whenever you Win or Lose'. 	Five uncommons that put the players in a Mini-Game and have an Effect 'whenever you Win or Lose'. 	Five uncommons that put the players in a Mini-Game and have an Effect 'whenever you Win or Lose'.
=== Pairs ===
Unhinged features one mirrored pair.
Mirrored Pairs	Mirrored Pairs	Description
() 	
() 	Two rare cards illustrated by Douglas Shuler. Each feature the original frame introduced since the original set, clearly meant to invoke the old card designs like the graveyard symbol on Blast from the Past and Old Fogey's type line saying, "Summon Dinosaur." Each also features lots of keywords used in Magic's past. Also, both cards' artworks tell the story of a goblin riding a time machine to the past, only to crash in the prehistoric era where Old Fogey lives.
==Spoofs==
Several Unhinged Cards are references to "real", tournament-legal, cards, to familiar card concepts or to the Wizards of the Coast.
Real Version 	Unhinged Card Spoof 	Reference to
Cards with short names 	<c>_____</c> 	name
<c>Lhurgoyf</c> 	<c>“Ach! Hans, Run!”</c> 	flavor text
<c>Demonic Consultation</c> 	<c>Aesthetic Consultation</c> 	name and ability
The double meaning of the words "play" and "counters" 	<c>Ambiguity</c> 	rules text and art
<c>Merfolk Looter</c> and "looting" 	<c>Artful Looter</c> 	name, art, and ability
<c>Vindicate</c> 	<c>Ass Whuppin'</c> 	mana cost and ability
<c>Avatar of Fury</c><c>Avatar of Hope</c><c>Avatar of Might</c><c>Avatar of Will</c><c>Avatar of Woe</c> 	<c>Avatar of Me</c> 	name and creature type
<c>Personal Incarnation</c> 	<c>Avatar of Me</c> 	concept
<c>Exile</c> 	<c>AWOL</c> 	mana cost and ability
Graveyard cards 	<c>Blast from the Past</c> 	mechanics, tombstone icon, artist, credits
Tutors (such as <c>Diabolic Tutor</c>) 	<c>Booster Tutor</c> 	name
<c>Bouncing Beebles</c> <c>Bubbling Beebles</c> 	<c>Bursting Beebles</c> 	name
<c>Circle of Protection: White</c> <c>Circle of Protection: Blue</c> <c>Circle of Protection: Black</c> <c>Circle of Protection: Red</c> <c>Circle of Protection: Green</c> <c>Circle of Protection: Artifacts</c> <c>Circle of Protection: Shadow</c>	<c>Circle of Protection: Art</c> 	probably also other Circles of Protection.
<c>City of Brass</c> 	<c>City of Ass</c> 	art, name and ability
<c>Takklemaggot</c> and flip cards 	<c>Curse of the Fire Penguin</c> 	mechanic and lay out
<c>Shahrazad</c> 	<c>Enter the Dungeon</c> 	ability (the subgame)
<c>Erase</c><c>Lightning Rift</c> 	<c>Erase (Not the Urza's Legacy One)</c> 	Erase: name; Lightning Rift: artwork
<c>Denied!</c> 	<c>Flaccify</c> 	Unglued card, showing the flavor text of "Denied" taped on "Flaccify".
Soft Counterspells (such as <c>Mana Leak</c>) 	<c>Flaccify</c> 	Ability
<c>Form of the Dragon</c> 	<c>Form of the Squirrel</c> 	name
R&D 	<c>Gleemax</c> 	Gleemax makes fun of R&D, claiming to be controlled by an alien brain-in-a-jar.
"Goblins with a mana cost of 1R, Power and Toughness 2/2", e.g. <c>Goblin Brigand</c> 	<c>Goblin Mime</c> 	drawback effect of all those creatures
<c>Goblin Digging Team</c> 	<c>Goblin S.W.A.T. Team</c> 	name
<c>Wild Mongrel</c> 	<c>Staying Power</c> 	art
<c>Morphling</c> 	<c>Greater Morphling</c> 	name and abilities
<c>Infernal Spawn of Evil</c> 	<c>Infernal Spawn of Infernal Spawn of Evil</c> 	Unglued card name and abilities
<c>Moat</c> 	<c>Look at Me, I'm R&D</c> 	frame. The handwriting on the card is by Randy Buehler.
<c>Mana Flare</c> 	<c>Mana Flair</c> 	name
<c>Meddling Mage</c> 	<c>Meddling Kids</c> 	name, art and ability
<c>Ancestral Recall</c> 	<c>Mise</c> 	ability; also references <c>Lexivore</c> in the flavor text; depicts <c>Vizzerdrix</c> in the normal art and <c>Chicken à la King</c> from in the special promo art
<c>Magical Hack</c> 	<c>Magical Hacker</c> 	name and ability
<c>Mons's Goblin Raiders</c> 	<c>Mons's Goblin Waiters</c> 	name
<c>Mother of Runes</c> 	<c>Mother of Goons</c> 	art, name and ability
<c>Mox Diamond</c> <c>Black Lotus</c> 	<c>Mox Lotus</c> 	name and ability
Card-drawing "Tomes" (such as <c>Jayemdae Tome</c>) 	<c>My First Tome</c> 	name and ability
<c>Verdeloth the Ancient</c> 	<c>Name Dropping</c> 	art
 	<c>Necro-Impotence</c> 	name, art and ability
Obsolete mechanics 	<c>Old Fogey</c> 	mechanics, artist, credits
<c>Chaos Orb</c>, <c>Falling Star</c> 	<c>Orcish Paratroopers</c> 	flip mechanic
<c>The Ultimate Nightmare of Wizards of the Coast® Customer Service</c> 	<c>Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made This Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental</c>	name
<c>Persecute</c> 	<c>Persecute Artist</c> 	name and ability
<c>Chaos Orb</c> 	<c>Pointy Finger of Doom</c> 	random destruction . Flavor text references the fact that very few Magic players are "cool" enough to go to parties and play related games, such as spin the bottle.
"Phyrexian Horrors", e.g. <c>Phyrexian Negator</c> 	<c>Phyrexian Librarian</c> 	name
<c>Stone Giant</c> <c>Bloodshot Cyclops</c> 	<c>Pygmy Giant</c> 	Stone Giant: name and picture*; Bloodshot Cyclops: ability
<c>Rod of Ruin</c> 	<c>Rod of Spanking</c> 	name and ability
<c>Healing Salve</c> 	<c>Save Life</c> 	ability
<c>Granite Gargoyle</c> <c>Lightning Axe</c> 	<c>Sauté</c> 	flavor text
<c>Masticore</c> 	<c>Remodel</c> 	picture
<c>Plague Rats</c> 	<c>S.N.O.T.</c> 	mechanic
<c>Counterspell</c> 	<c>Spell Counter</c> 	name and ability
<c>Standing Troops</c> 	<c>Standing Army</c> 	name and ability
<c>Stone-Tongue Basilisk</c><c>Enter the Dungeon</c> 	<c>Stone-Cold Basilisk</c> 	name and ability. Art
<c>The Fallen</c> 	<c>The Fallen Apart</c> 	name
<c>Uktabi Orangutan</c> <c>Gorilla Titan</c> 	<c>Uktabi Kong</c> 	Orangutan name, ability, and picture; Gorilla flavor text
<c>Survival of the Fittest</c> 	<c>Urza's Hot Tub</c> 	mechanic
"Urza's" Cards, e.g. <c>Urza's Chalice</c> 	<c>Urza's Hot Tub</c> 	name
<c>Sneak Attack</c> 	<c>When Fluffy Bunnies Attack</c> 	name and picture
"Split cards", e.g. <c>Life // Death</c> 	<c>Who/What/When/Where/Why</c> 	mechanic
<c>Cyclopean Mummy</c> 	<c>Working Stiff</c> 	creature type and picture
<c>City in a Bottle</c> and other expansion hosers 	<c>World-Bottling Kit</c> 	name and ability
<c>Drop of Honey</c> 	<c>Zzzyxas's Abyss</c> 	ability
<c>The Abyss</c> 	<c>Zzzyxas's Abyss</c> 	name
==Creature types==
Unhinged creature types were eliminated from the Comprehensive Rules list during the Grand Creature Type Update. They included:
*Child (<c>Infernal Spawn of Infernal Spawn of Evil</c>, <c>Little Girl</c>)
*Designer (<c>Richard Garfield, Ph.D.</c>)
*Dinosaur (<c>Old Fogey</c>) (reintroduced for Ixalan)
*Donkey (<c>Bad Ass</c>)
*Expansion-Symbol (<c>Symbol Status</c>)
*Gamer (<c>Collector Protector</c>, <c>Johnny, Combo Player</c>)
*Mime (<c>Goblin Mime</c>)
*Mummy (<c>Working Stiff</c>)
*Paratrooper (<c>Orcish Paratroopers</c>)
*Penguin (<c>Curse of the Fire Penguin</c>)
*Pig (<c>Atinlay Igpay</c>)
*Ship (<c>Toy Boat</c>)
*Teddy (<c>Water Gun Balloon Game</c>)
*Waiter (<c>Mons's Goblin Waiters</c>)
==Mana symbols==
A few cards in this set use mana symbols which only appear in Unhinged.
*<c>Cheap Ass</c> Spells you play cost less to play.
*<c>Flaccify</c> Counter target spell unless its controller pays .
*<c>Gleemax</c> Costs .
*<c>Little Girl</c> Costs .
*<c>Mons's Goblin Waiters</c> Adds .
*<c>Mox Lotus</c> Produces colorless mana, and can convert .
==Trivia==
*<c>Land Aid '04</c> spoofs Band Aid 2004.
*The art of <c>Ambiguity</c> can be interpreted differently depending on the angle of looking at it.
*<c>Monkey Monkey Monkey</c> was Mark Rosewater's homage to the East Coast playtesters renaming the majority of their Alliances playtest cards to include the word "Gorilla" in protest over the continuity team's plans to include sentient gorillas in the set.
*Borderless full art lands were first proposed for Unhinged but were deemed a "step too far" from existing prints and ultimately rejected in favor of the skinny border lands.
===Gatherer update===
After the release of Unstable in December 2017, the other Un-sets received a Gatherer update. 
*<c>Question Elemental?</c> 's Flying ability is now rephrased as a question.
*<c>AWOL</c> still removes the target creature from the game but now exiles it first.
*<c>R&D's Secret Lair</c> now says to add instead of and no longer says "to your mana pool." However, a reminder text is added (This mana is still added to your mana pool.) to comply with the first ability of the card that all errata should be ignored.
*For <c>Ladies' Knight</c> you can now define women's clothing as you see fit.
*The flavor text from <c>Bloodletter</c> that made fun of card names using the ligature Æ, now references the Kaladesh errata from Æ to Ae.
* was originally designed for Tempest.
==References==
==External links==
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