Unglued Basic Lands: The First Full-Art Basics in Magic
Prices from cards tracked on RareWell — updated daily. Last updated August 8, 2026. Format legality changes — verify against the current official banned & restricted list.
The Unglued basic lands, printed in 1998, were the first full-art basics in Magic's history — and unlike the silver-bordered jokes that filled the rest of the set, the five basics are completely tournament legal.
Every full-art land that came after, from Unhinged to Zendikar to the modern showcase basics in nearly every set, traces back to these five cards. That legacy, plus a supply frozen in 1998, keeps them permanently in demand.
Why they were revolutionary
Before Unglued, every basic land ever printed used the standard frame: a small rectangular art window with a text box below it. The Unglued basics threw that out. The artwork stretches across almost the entire card face, with only a slim strip carrying the card name and a mana symbol replacing the rules text nobody needed anyway.
It sounds obvious now because full-art basics are everywhere. In 1998 it was a genuine shock — a basic land that looked like a landscape painting instead of a form to be filled out. Players who had never cared which Island they played suddenly cared a lot.
The serious cards in a joke set
Unglued was Magic's first parody set: silver borders, squirrels, cards that asked you to do things no tournament would allow. The basic lands were the deliberate exception. They were printed as real, black-bordered basics in the land slot of Unglued boosters, which means they're legal in any format that allows basic lands — which is all of them.
That combination is exactly why so many boxes got opened. Plenty of players had no interest in the gag cards but wanted the lands, and the lands are what the set is remembered for.
The legacy: Unhinged, Zendikar, and everything since
Unhinged repeated the trick in 2004 with a second wave of full-art basics. Then Zendikar in 2009 brought full-art lands into a regular black-bordered expansion for the first time, and the floodgates opened: Battle for Zendikar, Unstable, the Nyx basics, and the steady stream of showcase and secret-lair-style basics collectors chase today.
Understanding that lineage matters for collecting. The Unglued lands are not just old full-art basics — they're the origin point of one of the biggest cosmetic-collecting niches in the game.
Collecting Unglued basics today
A few practical notes for anyone hunting these down. First, there are no foils: Unglued predates foil printing, which didn't arrive until 1999, so every Unglued basic is nonfoil by definition. Second, condition is a real problem — these are lands, and lands got shuffled hard for years. Clean, unwarped copies are meaningfully scarcer than the raw print run suggests.
Price-wise they sit in a comfortable middle ground: typically pricier than modern full-art basics, since the supply hasn't grown since 1998, but nowhere near Reserved List territory. The five lands don't cost the same, either — demand tracks which colors people play, so expect some spread across Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. A full set of matching Unglued basics remains one of the classic ways to finish a deck.
- Five lands: Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, Forest — one full-art version of each
- Black-bordered and legal in every format, unlike the rest of Unglued
- Nonfoil only; foiling didn't exist until 1999
- Condition-sensitive: check for edge wear and shuffle creasing before buying
Forest printings tracked on RareWell
| Card | Set | Rarity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest | Portal Three Kingdoms | common | $13 |
 Forest | Unhinged | common | $11 |
 Forest | Portal Three Kingdoms | common | $9.04 |
 Forest | Portal Three Kingdoms | common | $6.34 |
 Forest | Edge of Eternities | common | $4.66 |
 Forest | Unfinity | common | $2.63 |
 Forest | Unsanctioned | common | $2.43 |
 Forest | Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty | common | $2.40 |
Collections featuring Forest
3 public collectors have this card on RareWell — tap through to see it in their collection.
Cards mentioned in this guide
Frequently asked questions
- Are Unglued basic lands tournament legal?
- Yes. The five basics were printed as normal black-bordered basic lands, so they're legal in every format, unlike the silver-bordered cards in the rest of the set.
- Do Unglued basic lands come in foil?
- No. Unglued released in 1998, before Wizards introduced foil cards in 1999, so every Unglued basic is nonfoil.
- Why are Unglued basics more expensive than newer full-art lands?
- The supply has been fixed since 1998, they were the first full-art basics ever printed, and clean copies are scarce because so many were played hard. Age, history, and condition all push the price up.