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The first white border
What this set is
Unlimited Edition prints exactly Beta's card list again: the same 292 different cards and the same three arts per basic land, 302 cards in all. What changed is the border. Unlimited is the first white-bordered Magic set, which was the convention for core-set reprints for years afterwards and is the clearest way to tell it from Beta.
Its set code is 2ED because it is, in effect, the second edition of the core set. The black-bordered first edition was printed in two runs, Alpha and Beta, and Unlimited followed it.
It matters to players because it was the last core set to include the Power Nine, Time Vault, Chaos Orb and several other cards that Revised dropped in 1994. A white-bordered Unlimited copy is usually the least expensive original printing of those cards, though none of them is inexpensive.
Themes
Every mechanic in Unlimited
Flying
A creature with flying can't be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach. Reach is the modern keyword for what Giant Spider's text spelled out in 1993.
First strike
It deals combat damage before creatures without first strike, so it can kill a blocker or attacker before that creature deals any damage back.
Trample
Once lethal damage is assigned to every blocker, the rest goes through to the player. Without it, a blocked creature's whole power is absorbed by the block.
Regenerate
The next time the creature would be destroyed this turn, it is tapped, all damage is removed from it and it is removed from combat instead. It doesn't stop exile or a sacrifice.
Banding
Creatures with banding, plus up to one without, can attack as a group that is blocked as one. When a creature with banding blocks or is blocked, its controller divides the combat damage dealt to their creatures. It is rarely printed, and is one of the harder rules from this era to apply at the table.
Protection and landwalk
Protection from a color means it can't be blocked, targeted, damaged or enchanted by anything of that color. Landwalk (swampwalk, forestwalk) makes a creature unblockable while the defending player controls that land type.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Unlimited is one code. Its card list is Beta's, so its legality is Beta's: eternal formats only, with the long ban list below.
Not Standard-legal, and not Modern-legal as a set: Modern starts at Eighth Edition (July 2003). A card from here that was reprinted in a later Modern-legal set is Modern-legal in this printing too, because legality follows the card, not the printing. 23 of these cards are banned in Legacy, including Black Lotus, the five Moxen, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk and Timetwister. Commander bans 17: the same Power cards except Timetwister, plus Balance, Channel, Fastbond, Time Vault, Chaos Orb, Crusade and the three ante cards (Contract from Below, Darkpact and Demonic Attorney). Vintage restricts 16 to one copy and bans only those three ante cards, Chaos Orb and Crusade. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Boosters, precons and singles from Unlimited are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
Where can I play Unlimited cards?
In Legacy, Vintage and Commander, minus the cards each format bans. Unlimited is too old for Standard, Pioneer or Modern as a set, though any card that was later reprinted in a Modern-legal set is Modern-legal in every printing.
Is Unlimited the same as Beta?
The card list is identical, 292 different cards and 302 in all. The difference is the border: Unlimited is white-bordered and Beta black-bordered.
Why is Unlimited's set code 2ED?
Because it was the second edition of the core set. Alpha and Beta were two print runs of the first, black-bordered edition.
Does Unlimited have the Power Nine?
Yes, and it is the last set that does. Revised Edition removed them in 1994.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Unlimited Edition released on Dec 1, 1993; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
Playing Unlimited in Commander?
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