Today, Wizards of the Coast officially revealed a lot of what is coming with the hyped Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy collaboration, with the set being released as early as one month from now. Despite a mixed reception of the Universes Beyond sets with longtime fans of the game, it’s undeniable that they made some of the best-selling MTG products ever, such as the Lord of the Rings set, and the fact that the Final Fantasy expansion is already sold out online or a victim of scalper prices.
There are four Commander decks to expect from the MTG x Final Fantasy collab, and they are going to feature some of the most iconic characters in the series. Game Rant participated in a digital preview of the various MTG x Final Fantasy products and the upcoming cards, including the Commander decks dedicated to FF6, FF7, FF10, and FF14.
How MTG's Final Fantasy 6 Terra Commander Deck Stays True to The Story
For Final Fantasy 6, WotC picked Terra as the lead character of the respective Commander deck, the first of four total. Having Commander decks for all 16 games would have been a near-impossible task, so WotC settled on picking four games that stood out to fans and the four main developers of the set. In the case of FF6, the Commander deck also tells part of the story of the game, with the second half of the title being about reforming the party after Kefka’s victory. This is reflected in terms of gameplay with Terra milling cards and returning creatures from the graveyard.
These are «tailored» experiences, in the sense that each Commander deck mainly has cards from its respective game.
Final Fantasy 7's Cloud Has a Huge Equipment Focus in Magic: The Gathering
Final Fantasy 7 also has a dedicated Commander deck with Cloud, Ex-Soldier. Much like its Midgar Mercenary counterpart, this FF7 Cloud deck also heavily features equipment cards to combo with its signature commander. This card takes its inspiration even further by having the ability to create two Treasure tokens when its power is 7, as a way to hint at FF7. Considering how strong some cards that generate Treasure tokens have historically been as commanders, it seems plausible that this will be a good deck to start out the format — especially in its Naya colors, which already has some very good equipment-related cards.
MTG Stays True to Final Fantasy 10's Story, Characters, and Game Mechanics
Final Fantasy 10 also gets its dedicated Commander deck, which features Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian. This card goes heavy on the theme of counters in Magic: The Gathering, which is appropriate for a Commander deck because it can become its centerpiece strategy. This is also a conscious choice dictated by the love for Final Fantasy 10‘s sphere grid, allowing Tidus to place counters on himself and other creatures.
Alongside Tidus is FF10‘s Yuna in the form of Yuna, Hope of Spira. Considering how Yuna is portrayed as the summoner archetype in the games, it only makes sense to give her card a synergy with enchantments, which ties into the saga-creature hybrid type of the various Summons. One of them is Bahamut, which gets access to the iconic Final Fantasy move Mega Flare, potentially ending the game with its sheer power.
Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis is the first card in the game to ever be a land with Adventure, and there is a 5-land cycle in the set with this design philosophy.
How MTG Implements Final Fantasy 14's 'Cooldowns' Into The TCG
The last of the Commander decks is dedicated to Final Fantasy 14, with its main card being Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed. This is an Esper (White, Blue, and Black) deck that is based on the concept of cooldowns in Final Fantasy 14‘s hectic gameplay, and this is translated into MTG with a series of abilities that are activated once players hit a certain threshold — be it mana costs of spells, the amount of life lost by opponents, and so forth.
MTG players can purchase the foil version of each FF Commander deck, which is entirely made of foil cards.
Magic: The Gathering
