Unlimited 40

Rules & Motivation

Originally written by one of the format’s founding fathers, Jeff (aka MrMunich), I wanted to make sure anyone who visits the site can see this treatise.

NAME: The “Unlimited” in the name is meant to represent both the expanded B&R list (think unlimited power) as well as the wider reach that the actual Unlimited set provided. Note that cards from Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited are all perfectly legal!

MOTIVATION: Unlimited 40 celebrates the second release of the core set of Magic the Gathering. Think “December 1993, going to the card store with a friend, splitting a box of Unlimited, cracking all the packs on the steps outside, making a few trades, combining them with the few Alpha and Beta cards you had already, and then jamming games.”

MISSION STATEMENT: It doesn’t aim to relive the “early days” necessarily, but instead a time when Unlimited was in wide circulation, players had acquired a few pieces of power, a grip of dual lands, and some spicy cards they were excited about. They were eager to take their pet combos to the next level – or to crush other player’s pet combos with a finely tuned aggro deck. The aim of this format is not to be accessible to the greatest number of players, or to discover the absolute best decks possible – but instead focus on the excitement and passion that comes with playing powerful ABU cards. Another goal is to give underplayed cards from the core set a different environment to shine.

IN RELATION TO OTHER FORMATS: There are a number of Alpha-only and AB-only formats which already exist. There is nothing wrong with these, but the inclusion of Unlimited hopefully expands the number of people who may be interested and capable of playing. It also provides an aspirational angle as some players look to upgrade their favorite cards to black bordered versions over time – perhaps passing along their well-loved UL copies to another eager U40 player.
A40 does a great job capturing the limited availability and rules-awkwardness of the earlier days, but feels a bit too restrictive to fully explore what the core set has to offer. Wild A40 (meaning literally any 40 Alpha cards) is almost too open and overwhelming, knowing how far off any given deck is from the all Ancestrals + Moxen + Timetwisters optimal deck. U40 looks to provide the middle ground many have been seeking.

PROXIES AND REPRINTS: We realize ABU cards are expensive and thus recommend using proxies and reprints to playtest a cards before spending lots of money on official U40 (ABU) versions. Note that the end goal is to eventually jam decks composed of Unlimited cards, and if you want to be flashy – Beta or even Alpha! (edited)

U40 RULES FROM THE OFFICIAL DISCORD, CURRENT AS OF 7 APR 25:

Summary:

  • Modern game rules and Gatherer card rules, except:
    • Chaos Orb uses Swedish errata (can’t hit tokens), however both players can agree beforehand for it to always hit.
    • Mana Burn!

Deck Building Constraints:

  • Minimum 40 cards (no maximum as long as you can shuffle your deck).
  • The available cardpool is any card that was printed in Unlimited Edition.
  • Sideboard: maximum 5 cards, singleton (each card in your sideboard must be distinct).
  • No restriction on the number of basic land or commons not on the moderated list.
  • Your deck (including sideboard) may include no more than:
    • 1 card from the Power Group
    • 1 of each Restricted List card
    • 3 cards from the Fast Mana Group (maximum 1 copy of each)
    • 3 of each non-creature rare (including dual lands)
    • 6 of each creature rare (not on the Moderated List)
    • 3 of each Moderated List card
    • 6 of each uncommon
    • 6 dual lands in total

Banned List (only ante cards are banned):

  • Contract from Below
  • Darkpact
  • Demonic Attorney

Fast Mana Group (pick up to three, max one of each):

  • Black Lotus
  • Mana Vault
  • Mox Emerald
  • Mox Jet
  • Mox Pearl
  • Mox Ruby
  • Mox Sapphire
  • Sol Ring

Power Group (pick one):

  • Ancestral Recall
  • Balance
  • Braingeyser
  • Chaos Orb
  • Mind Twist
  • Time Walk
  • Timetwister
  • Wheel of Fortune

Restricted List (you may include one of each):

  • Channel
  • Control Magic
  • Demonic Tutor
  • Earthquake
  • Icy Manipulator
  • Jade Statue
  • Regrowth
  • Time Vault

Moderated List (maximum three of each):

  • Berserk
  • Black Vise
  • Counterspell
  • Fireball
  • Hypnotic Specter
  • Juggernaut
  • Lightning Bolt
  • Psionic Blast
  • Sedge Troll
  • Serra Angel
  • Sinkhole
  • Swords to Plowshares

Please come visit our Unlimited 40 discord linked here for up-to-date rules, B/R/M changes, and to say hi and join the community! We would love to have you. 🙂