Magic tends to be a serious game, especially on the competitive scene. Top players will spend countless hours mastering a format, in the hopes of competing for tens of thousands of dollars in the game's most premier events. Meanwhile, collectors seeking to put together a set of the game's most desirable cards (e.g., Power Nine) could easily spend a few Pro Tour winnings' worth of money. This would lead you to believe that Magic is about competition and seriously tight gameplay.

Luckily, that's not always the case. In fact, Magic knows how to have fun and joke around as much as the next game. Both internal and external parodies exist, sprinkling a good bit of humor and reminding players that this is, after all, just a game.

Un-Set Cards

If you're looking for evidence that Magic doesn't always take itself seriously, look no further than the various Un-set cards throughout the game's history. Here are some of the more entertaining cards sure to elicit a laugh from your play group:

1. "Ach! Hans, Run!"

What's more fun than announcing the sudden appearance of your favorite intimidating creatures? "Ach! Hans, run! It's the Craw Wurm!" Of course, you don't have to search up big, scary monsters. "Ach! Hans, run! It's the Tainted Monkey!" Better yet, "Ach! Hans, run! It's the Smart Ass!"

2. Our Market Research Shows...

Be careful with what you intend to name with "Ach! Hans, Run!" You don't want to be rules lawyered for messing up the names in a game of Unhinged Sealed or your friends may call you out for misfiring with "Ach! Hans, run! It's the Our Market Research Shows That Players Like Really Long Card Names So We Made this Card to Have the Absolute Longest Card Name Ever Elemental!" Then again, the flavor text gives you a handy acronym to use instead.

3. Crow Storm

If you're unfamiliar with the meme, apparently Urza refers to himself as a Storm Crow in one of the Magic novels. Since then, players have found joy in collecting Storm Crow cards. Plus, there's some joke out there about being Blue for Force of Will. Either way, what better way to celebrate the Storm Crow meme than casting Crow Storm, a sorcery with Storm that generates Storm Crows galore.

4. Enter the Dungeon

I am a huge fan of subgames. Shahrazad is one of my all-time favorite cards in Magic, though I suspect I'm in the minority with that opinion. Fortunately, Wizards of the Coast has been messing around with lighter versions of subgames - Enter the Dungeon forces you to play a subgame under the table.

5. Form of the Approach of the Second Sun

Do you ever wish that you could become a part of the Magic universe? Like, an actual game piece? Now you can, thanks to the card that hybridizes Form of the Dragon and Approach of the Second Sun. Balancing cards on top of your head can be awkward, but no other cards contain the text, "When you draw yourself, you win the game."

6. Gleemax

While its effect is obviously powerful, the artifact costs 1,000,000 generic mana. I remember when I first cracked this in a booster pack, I combined it with Tinker as a way of cheating it into play. My friends did not appreciate that, and the card didn't stay in my deck for very long.

7. & 8. Uktabi Kong & Uktabi Orangutan

Never mind what these cards do. To truly appreciate the hilarity of Unhinged's Uktabi Kong, you need the full back story. To do this, we need to travel back to 1996 and Una Fricker's art on Uktabi Orangutan from Visions. Notice the two monkeys allegedly copulating in the background? Apparently, this resulted in a pregnancy, which Fricker brought to life in the art's sequel on Uktabi Kong!

9. When Fluffy Bunnies Attack

I love the look on the dragon's face as it stares down dozens of white, fluffy bunnies. Clearly, it's frightened, and I would be to if so many rabbits surrounded me at once like that. Someone at Wizards wanted to invoke the fear instilled by the rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, perhaps. Either that, or they played on Anya's (a character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) number one fear. Either way, the flavor text says it all: "Get it? Bunnies, letters, -X/-X? Me neither. -Bucky, flavor text writer."

10. Spark Fiend

Other than the tiny artwork and gigantic text box, you may be wondering why this card makes my list. What's so funny about it? The humor is in the game this card is referencing: Craps. That's right, Spark Fiend is a Magic port of the casino dice game. I'm not sure if such a reference would fly in 2026, but back in Unglued, there was likely a bit less oversight from the WOTC legal team.

Holiday Cards

The reality is there are 100's of entertaining cards across each of Magic's Un-sets. That being said, I want to acknowledge that hilarity can be found from other pockets of the game. For example, check out a couple of my favorite holiday promo cards.

11. Snow Mercy

The flavor on this one is fantastic. When a creature damages you, you put a "globe" counter on it. Essentially, this represents trapping the creature in the snow globe. Then you shake the snow globe (by tapping it and untapping it a few times) to tap the creatures in the snow globe.

12. Gifts Given (vs. Gifts Ungiven)

Gifts Given is my favorite of all the holiday cards. It riffs on Champions of Kamigawa's Gifts Ungiven in multiple ways. First and foremost, check out the humorous art: the same character is depicted gift wrapping whatever the little artifacts are in front of her. Then you have the card's effect: in Gifts Ungiven, you search your own deck for cards, whereas in Gifts Given you search your opponent's deck for four cards. Hence the referenced "gift" in Gifts Given.

13. Last Minute Chopping

Did you remember to buy Liliana a gift for this holiday season? Liliana may be hiding an axe behind her back in the art (hence the "chopping" pun on last-minute shopping), but she can be easily bribed with a gift. I suppose the card doesn't specify if you have to be honest, so I'd recommend always answering "yes" to the question. Then again, you may be forced to do a little last-minute shopping if you risk your friend's wrath by lying about said gift.

Secret Lairs and Universes Beyond

Thanks to the relatively recent creation of Secret Lair and Universes Beyond cards, we have a large selection of randomly funny cards. I'll touch on a few of my favorites.

14. No-Art Basic Lands

With how popular full-art basic lands were (these date all the way back to Unglued), it's no surprise we see new versions of full-art lands in most modern sets. On the other hand, have you seen the no-art basic lands? A cycle of Secret Lair basic lands instead explains all the rules associated with the basic lands, eschewing any artwork. While not the most attractive, these certainly hit on a subtle joke about Magic. The endless text on a basic land is funny because it acknowledges the complexity of this game.

15. Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog

Remember when I referenced the Monty Python and the Holy Grail killer rabbit? Well, it turns out there's already a card for that! Perhaps now the frightened dragon on When Fluffy Bunnies Attack's artwork makes a bit more sense. Would you want a fluffle of these creatures surrounding you? As Tim the Enchanter wisely states, "That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on." Run away, indeed.

16. Tormenting Voice

Here's a question for my readers: how many of you remember the original Furby hype? I know I sure do. The most memorable thing about these toys is their obnoxious, never-ending chatter. I love that Wizards of the Coast created a Tormenting Voice reprint depicting a giant Furby. Nothing comes closer to the truth than this, and the card's flavor text is icing on the cake.

Normal, Everyday Cards

While there are countless deliberately humorous cards across Un-sets, Secret Lairs, and holiday promos, did you know that Wizards of the Coast also printed some belly-shaking, laughable cards in normal, black-bordered sets? Whether or not these were meant to be funny may be unclear, but the fact remains these cards still crack me up.

17. Goblin Game

Take a moment to read what this card does. This feels like an Unglued card, but it was printed in Planeshift and is tournament legal. I think that's why Wizards of the Coast gave it such a prohibitively expensive casting cost. They don't want players pausing a Legacy or Vintage game so they could hunt for random objects to hide behind their backs.

18. King Cheetah

Magic has countless cards with hilarious flavor texts. Some are obviously a joke, while others are a bit cleverer. To represent this category of funny cards, I've selected King Cheetah's flavor text citing Suq'Ata wisdom as one of the first I remember laughing about when I started playing Magic in 1997. I've used derivatives of this quote with friends and co-workers who are unfamiliar with Magic and it always earns a chuckle.

19. Telim'Tor's Darts

This one is admittedly a bit of an inside joke with my friends, but it doesn't take much to explain why we find it hilarious. Poor Telim'Tor takes himself so seriously that he threateningly states that people laughed at his darts - once. He's implying that once someone gets hit by his darts, they stop laughing. I've got news for you, Telim'Tor. When my opponent pays 2 mana to cast your darts, and then two more mana to deal a single damage to me, I can't stop laughing. There's really no breakeven point with this card. How much damage must you do for it to be worth casting? 10 mana to deal four damage (across four turns)? Twenty mana to deal nine damage? Nope, I'm still laughing.

20. Floral Spuzzem and Spuzzem Strategist

Wizards of the Coast didn't always have consistent templating established for their rules. This led to some bizarrely phrased cards that, when taken literally, cause a little head scratching. Floral Spuzzem is a famous example of this. Read the card's ability closely. Did you note that the decision to destroy an artifact isn't yours to make? It's up to Floral Spuzzem whether or not this occurs. You'll be waiting until the cows come home if you leave the decision up to an inanimate piece of cardboard.

Luckily, you can combo this card with the Mystery Booster play-test card Spuzzem Strategist. At last, you can think like a Spuzzem and make that difficult decision for Floral Spuzzem. My favorite part about this play-test card is it's Wizards of the Coast acknowledging their templating gaffe.

Wrapping It Up with Honorable Mentions

This list could go on indefinitely. The reality is, Magic is game filled with humor, both intentional and unintentional. Play-test cards do a fantastic job highlighting some of the more hilarious aspects of the game. Cards like A Good Thing causing you to lose the game when you have 1,000 or more life and Largepox riffing on Smallpox and Pox (two real cards) are great examples of Magic's humorous self-awareness.

Then there are the humorous cards not made by Wizards of the Coast. Fans of the game have been creating their own cards for decades (some of the more famous examples were created by InQuest magazine staff). My favorites, however, were the parody cards printed in Havic the Bothering, a direct rip-off of Magic. So direct, in fact, that Wizards of the Coast pursued legal action to put a stop to the parody game.

I guess the official game rule cited on the bottom of the rules card wasn't enough to legally protect PGI Limited from a lawsuit.

Whatever your type of humor, there is plenty to find across Magic's 33-year history. Some are obvious and deliberate, while others are subtle and unintentional. Regardless, it's good to know that Magic is a game that can both be a place where professionals play and collect cards for tens of thousands of dollars and a game to make people laugh and have fun with their friends. It's the perfect balance.