Ever since Unfinity was first teased in June, players have been hyped for Galaxy Foils. As the set’s spoiler season began, there was much anticipation of what the cards would look like and how otherworldly they would be. Thankfully, players didn’t have to wait long to find out when Wizards debuted Galaxy foils to kick off Spoiler season. Upon presentation, many players were mesmerized by the shimmer of MTG’s latest slides. So much so that even those burned out by Wizards nonstop product releases couldn’t deny how good these cards looked.

Galaxy slides

During the Unfinity First Look livestream, Magic’s Lead Designer Mark Rosewater explained that Galaxy Foils were unsurprisingly named because the foiling technique “literally looks like stars.” With speckled, extra-shiny foil dots on top of the usual foil sheen, Rosewater’s assessment is spot on; Galaxy Foils look cosmic. Unfortunately, Galaxy Foils could pop up on any map as a “very different look” for a foiling technique. The cards, the Galaxy Foils work look on but totally out of this world. For example, during the livestream, Rosewater explained that Unfinity’s basic lands “look really cool with the Galaxy foil.”

The live stream chat soon revealed a series of Galaxy Foil “planetary space countries” and quickly erupted in praise of this new foiling technique. “WOW, these are pretty,” said Twitch user gatorkitty, and similar praise came from IronTide24, who said, “Damn, these look amazing.” Similarly, the nearly unanimous praise continued after the “Orbital Space -ic Lands” had debuted. “These orbitals are awesome,” vnHsor said while much of the chat was spamming the Twitch favorite PogChamp emote.

While glowing praise dominated much of the livestream’s chat, the new Galaxy Foils already had some critics. For better or worse, comparisons between MTG’s new Galaxy Foils and the “og Pokémon card holo” were quickly drawn. While some users, like lord_strix, enjoyed this comparison, others feared how deep the similarities might run. “This is the same foil Pokemon used for promos and CURL HORRIBLY,” Kronoskronoss said. While Wizards of the Coast doesn’t use the same technique as Pokémon’s classic foils, curling or pringling can be a significant issue that can affect a set’s release. Hopefully, Unfinity won’t suffer too much from this fate. However, that won’t be known until Unfinity is in the hands of players.

Overdressed

With a lot of online praise for the Infinity Galaxy Foils, Wizards has indeed struck gold with their latest foiling experiment. However, not all of Wizards’ recent experiments have been so positively reviewed. Instead of getting excited about each new foiling technique, many players lament how fast Wizards move. With seemingly every new supplement product recently given its unique foiling technique, it’s understandable that some players are overwhelmed.

Wizards’ recent foiling experiments are not only too much to handle for some players, but also aren’t ideal for collectors or players trying to foil an entire deck. By only appearing on a single set, MTG’s unique wraps often look too good for their own good. Attempting to stand out in order to make a set more unique and desirable, MTG’s new foils can end up looking out of place. This issue was recently highlighted with the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks being available entirely in the new Surge Foil foiling. Due to the good looks of the Surge Foil cards, the Warhammer Collector’s Edition decks are often labeled as untouchable good, so much so that powerful upgrades are not worthwhile as they would contrast with the deck’s incomparable theme.

Too good to resist

Despite these concerns, the Galaxy Foils in Unfinity still wow MTG fans. While Galaxy Foils don’t come cheap as they’re only available in Collector Boosters, there’s no end to the excitement online. “Ok… I wasn’t planning on buying anything from this set, but… This is just cool…” said u/Lucane_cerf-volant on Reddit, with u/demonardvark sharing a similar sentiment. “Interest rate before = 0. Interest rate after = 1000000000000000000000% on board.” While some of the enthusiasm is obviously overdone, we ultimately tend to agree with the praise Galaxy Foils are receiving. On the maps we’ve seen, the Galaxy Foil technique really makes the maps pop and will no doubt add something special to Unfinity.

From the praise Galaxy Foils are receiving, it certainly seems like Unfinity is poised to be an incredible success. This is obviously good news for Wizards of the Coast. However, it can encourage more rampant experimentation. Mark Rosewater has stated in the past that “success breeds repetition” in future MTG sets. So if foil experiments work, we’ll likely see a lot more of them. While this may result in another knockout success like Galaxy Foils, it may also exacerbate how overwhelming Wizards’ recent product releases have felt.

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