Standing Army

Standing Army was released as part of the Unhinged set in 2004, the second of Magic: The Gathering’s satirical, silver-bordered expansion sets. Designed to break the traditional rules of the game, the set leaned heavily into humor, metagaming, and cards that interacted with the physical environment or player behavior. This card specifically parodies the concept of the 'army' creature archetype while playing on the literal, visual interpretation of soldiers standing in formation.

The card was illustrated by Greg Staples, who moved away from his typical serious fantasy style to capture the whimsical, tongue-in-cheek spirit of the Un-sets. The design intentionally creates a recursive loop of tokens, embodying the set's goal of pushing game mechanics to absurd extremes. Upon its release, the card was widely received as a highlight of the set’s experimental design philosophy, serving as both a functional card for casual play and a piece of conceptual comedy for long-time collectors.