Silver-bordered, and proud of it
Unsanctioned is a boxed un-product rather than a booster set: five 30-card decks, one in each color, sixteen genuinely new cards and the rest reprints of un-cards worth playing again. There is no draft format and there are no boosters to open.
The way it is meant to be played is the interesting part. Each player takes two of the five decks and shuffles them together, which makes a 60-card two-color deck with no deckbuilding step at all. Jumpstart did the same thing five months later with a straight face and a legal card pool, which makes 2020 the year Magic shipped that idea twice.
Everything in it is silver-bordered, which means it does what black-bordered Magic cannot: cards that reference the table, the physical cards, the players and occasionally the rules of other games. That is the point of the product, and it is also why it is legal nowhere.
Where You Can Play It
Unsanctioned is the one case where the legality section has nothing to grant, because the set was never trying to be legal.
Silver-bordered, so not legal in any sanctioned format: not Standard, not Modern, not Legacy or Vintage, and not Commander either. Commander is the one people expect an exception from, and what it actually offers is rule zero. Your table can agree to allow these, and nothing in the rules stops you.
This set was never legal anywhere sanctioned, and was never meant to be. It is built for a table that has agreed to play it, which is the only place it works and the only place it is trying to. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Commander
One per color, and deliberately not themed beyond that. You are meant to take two, shuffle them together and hand the other pair to somebody else.
White
30 cards, mono-white
The go-wide half, and the one that most rewards being paired with another aggressive color.
Blue
30 cards, mono-blue
Card draw and interference, including several jokes that ask you to do something with the physical card.
Black
30 cards, mono-black
Removal and sacrifice, played straight enough that the un-cards land harder.
Red
30 cards, mono-red
Damage, dice and chaos, which is where most of the set's dexterity cards live.
Green
30 cards, mono-green
Big creatures and mana, the half that turns any pairing into a beatdown deck.
Building one of these into something of your own? The precon buying guide covers how to judge a deck, and the Commander deck template is the shape to build toward.
FAQ
No. Every card in it is silver-bordered, and silver-bordered cards are legal in no sanctioned format, Commander included. What Commander offers instead is rule zero: your table can agree to allow them, and nothing in the rules stops you.
Five 30-card decks, one in each color, plus tokens and dice. Sixteen of the cards are new and the rest are reprints of un-cards from earlier un-sets.
Each player takes two of the five decks and shuffles them together, which makes a 60-card two-color deck with no deckbuilding step at all. Two players can play straight out of the box.
No. Unsanctioned is entirely silver-bordered and legal nowhere sanctioned. Unfinity, in 2022, shipped a legal half, and its acorn or oval stamp decides legality card by card.
No. There are no boosters, only the five preconstructed decks, so there is nothing to draft.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Unsanctioned released on Feb 29, 2020; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
TurnZero HQ keeps deck records, MMR, and moments for every Commander night, so you can see which new cards are actually earning their slot.
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