What is undoubtedly the biggestMagic: The Gatheringcrossover of all time is almost here, as theFinal Fantasyset is about to enter prerelease. DualShockers had the chance to try out the new cards in a mammoth twenty-four-hour preview event in MTG Arena, to see if the iconic spiky-haired heroes and villains are done justice in cardboard form.
The Final Fantasy crossover set covers the sixteen mainline games, with a mixture of heroes, villains, weapons, spells, and even character classes being converted into Magic: The Gathering creatures. Don’t expect to see the spin-offs or even the direct sequels represented here – it’s just Final Fantasy through toFinal Fantasy 16.
MTG Players Can Have A Deck Made Of Final Fantasy Cid Cards
The Cid cards in the Final Fantasy x Magic: The Gathering crossover set have a special trait that lets you use as many copies of them as you want.
Unlike how the characters are portrayed in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, there’s very little synergy when it comes to franchises. Don’texpect Cloud to be buffedwhen fighting alongside Tifa, or even against Sephiroth. These are creatures that are more closely adapted to the colors and types of Magic: The Gathering.
Final Fantasy 7’s Worst Section Can Be Used On Enemies In Magic: The Gathering
The single most frustrating section in the original Final Fantasy VII can now be unleashed as a spell in Magic: The Gathering’s crossover set.
A lack of franchise synergy isn’t a bad thing, quite the opposite. There’s a ton of scope for mixing and matching not only the Final Fantasy characters, but the rest of the Magic: The Gathering multiverse, including the crossovers. This is now a game where Aerith Gainsborough makes a great team with Samwise Gamgee fromThe Lord of the Rings.
After trying numerous decks during the preview period, I got to see just what’s different about the Final Fantasy set. It turns out that it’s not the big epic heroes who are the stars of the show, but the gear they carry.
Final Fantasy x MTG Is All About The Jobs
One of the unique mechanicsadded in the Final Fantasy crossover is called Job Select. Much like how switching character classes works inFinal Fantasy 14, Job Select involves specific items that are tied to each job, such as the Red Mage’s Rapier.
When a Job Select item is played, it spawns a 1/1 Hero Token and the item equips itself to it, usually providing a stat buff and a special ability. The player is then free to equip the equipment to a new creature, assuming they can pay the cost.
The Hero Tokens themselves are a nice bonus, but the power of Job Select lies in its cards being Equipment, and there being an absolute ton of support for that card type. Cards like Cloud, Ex-Soldier, Gilgamesh, Master-at-arms, and Firion, Wild Rose Warrior, are great at pulling out the best of Equipment, boosting creatures to a ridiculous degree.
It helps that the iconic weapons of the Final Fantasy franchise provide some absolutely amazing Equipment, like the Buster Sword and Excalibur II. There are a lot of moving parts to get them into position, but the “getting swords onto heroes” archetype is bound to be a strong one.
Of the Equipment cards I tried out, Aettir and Priwen were easily the best. This 6 cost Artifact changes a creature’s stats to equal the player’s current life score. In a Lifelink deck, this would be ridiculously strong, especially with so many Final Fantasy cards pulling Equipment.
Cards like the Buster Sword already have Magic: The Gathering players excited, and the Equipment cards are bound to have an effect on the larger metagame in the formats where they’re allowed, making them just as important as the characters wielding them.
Summons Are Taking Sagas To The Battlefield
The other major addition to Magic: The Gathering is the Final Fantasy Summon monsters, which are adapted into the game as Enchantment Creature – Saga cards. Essentially, they’re Saga monsters that can fight like regular creatures, but still activate powers when lore counters are added, and vanish from the field once their final ability is used.
Summons are incredibly powerfulin Magic: The Gathering, as they tend to be strong for their cost and have multiple abilities that activate over several turns. The downside is that they’re finite and will vanish after a few turns, matching how they work in the Final Fantasy games.
The Saga creatures are an amazing addition to Magic: The Gathering and players should expect to see them reappear in other forms in future sets. They have a great balance between explosive power and a short time on the field, save for the few cards that can prolong their presence.
By far the scariest Summon card is Odin, who I’ll talk more about later, but each one is incredibly useful in its own right. The developers should be commended for adapting a mechanic so well to the tabletop game, in a way that matches the source material, while still feeling like it belongs in Magic.
Towns Are Full Of Adventure
Another new mechanic introduced in the crossover that isn’t quite as impactful as summons, but is still a welcome addition to the game, is Land–Towns.
Unlike regular Lands, some of theseTowns have a separate usethat functions like an Adventure card. This means the player can either play them straight away, or use their Adventure effect, then play them from exile. The rest of the Towns have a regular secondary use, like non-basic Lands.
One of the most frustrating things to happen during the later stages of a Magic: The Gathering game is to constantly pull Lands, especially when you have tons on the field already. The secondary Adventure function of Towns at least gives them some utility, such as Midgar letting players sacrifice to draw, or Ishgard summoning artifacts from the graveyard to the hand.
The Towns are more of a flavor thing than something that willshake up the metagame, but their presence is appreciated, and they’re a nicer touch than just another reinterpretation of Forests, Islands, Mountains, Plains, and Swamps.
Final Fantasy Has Upped The Speed Of Games
One of the most notable changes that I felt the Final Fantasy set brought to Magic: The Gathering is how it sped up some, but not all, matches. This is due to the inclusion of cards that can outright end the game, should the player not have the right thing to hand to counter them.
Summon: Primal Odin is the perfect example of this. If it reaches its second Lore counter and deals combat damage, that player who was hit straight up loses the game. Anyone who can Trample onto Odin or manages to get it on the field when the enemy is short on blockers has a very easy way to win.
Thenthere’s the Jumbo Cactuar, who gains 9999 power when it attacks. Getting Trample on this beast means the player has pretty much won.
For the Commander format, there’s Zenos yae Galvus, who transforms into Shinryu, Transcendant Rival. When Shinyru enters the field, the player selects an opponent, and if they lose, you win. This power is redundant in 1v1, but in a multiplayer format, it offers a player a way to bypass the usual rules and sweep a win, forcing an interesting dynamic where other players need to protect Shinryu’s target.
There have been plenty of alternate win condition cards in Magic: The Gathering before, but they usually take a lot of time and effort to pull out, outside of really cheesy combos.
For the Final Fantasy set, it feels like the pace of the game has become much faster, with characters likeLightning having some ridiculous combosattached to her.
Magic: The Gathering is a slower and more methodical game than many of its rivals, and these instant win buttons will drastically shake up the pace of the game, while forcing players to change their strategies to match. Whether this is a good thing depends on how many endless games with camping and counters you’ve endured.
Closing Comments
Like with The Lord of the Rings crossover, the Final Fantasy set truly feels like it has captured the spirit of the video games and transplanted them perfectly into Magic: The Gathering. The new additions to the rules will be felt throughout the game, and Magic will never be quite the same again.
Final Fantasy MTG Card Misses Huge Meme Opportunity
A new Final Fantasy card has been revealed for Magic: The Gathering and fans are disappointed that it skipped out on a very obvious meme reference.
