Magic: The Gathering — FINAL FANTASY is coming to MTG Arena (June 10), and it’s time to dive into this year’s first Universes Beyond to find out what’s in store!
As with every new release, I'll introduce you to the limited archetypes, describing each color pair, the cards that best lend themselves to each of them, and some intriguing little combos, using only commons and uncommons so that they are easier to actually replicate in a limited event.
MTG—FINAL FANTASY takes characters, stories, and artwork from the namesake video game, including all material available to date, and spanning from FINAL FANTASY to FINAL FANTASY XVI.
But the news is not limited to this, because to make everything more representative, three new mechanics have been added so as to immerse you even more in its playful atmosphere and to let you live an ever-changing limited experience.
The Mechanics
Job Select
Representing heroes who wield swords, weapons, and gear of various kinds, we have Job Select, which is a triggered ability found on almost all Equipment in the set.
When that Equipment enters, you create a 1/1 Hero token and attach the artifact to it. Note that this all happens when the ability resolves, so you can't respond after the token is created and before it's equipped, but older players will already be aware of this since this mechanic works exactly like the past Living Weapons and For Mirrodin!.
Tiered
Tiered represents the magic attack that improves over the course of the game as the character levels up.
They are modal spells where you can choose only one option, but each of these has its own specific cost to pay in addition to its mana cost. Note that regardless of the choice, the mana value of the spell does not change, as well as its name, which is not affected by that of the buffs.
Saga Creatures
The classic FINAL FANTASY summons could not be missed, which have been brought back to MTG by fusing together the creatures and the Saga enchantments.
These permanents enjoy the characteristics of both types of cards. Of course they can attack, block, and activate abilities like all creatures, but when they enter and after your draw step, they gain a lore counter, which causes chapters to trigger and causes them to be sacrificed when these are over.
Note that with FINAL FANTASY, a Saga rule also changes, since before the enchantment had to be sacrificed if all its abilities (and therefore chapters) were removed, which was very counterintuitive.
The Color Pairs
Azorius: Artifacts
Cards:
Sharlayan, Nation of Scholars, The Gold Saucer, Magitek Infantry, Crystal Fragments, Scorpion Sentinel, Cargo Ship, Dragoon's Lance, White Mage's Staff, Sage's Nouliths, Instant Ramen, Ashe, Princess of Dalmasca, Gaelicat, Thief's Knife, Paladin's Arms, Adventurer's Airship, Blitzball, Delivery Moogle, Rook Turret, Magitek Armor, White Auracite, Retrieve the Esper, Ring of the Lucii, G'raha Tia, Relentless X-ATM092, Valkyrie Aerial Unit.
Description:
White-blue is a midrange deck that relies on synergies between artifacts, whether they come as artifact creatures, Equipment, Vehicles, or Treasure tokens.
Tidus, Blitzball Star is one of its best payoffs, as he gets stronger as you bring artifacts into the battlefield and then becomes difficult to block thanks to his tap ability.
The rest of the team is bolstered instead by Cid, Timeless Artificer, taking care of both artifact creatures and Heroes, which you get mainly from Equipment with job select.
Combo:
- Tidus, Blitzball Star / Coeurl + Summon: Primal Garuda / Fate of the Sun-Cryst = On the curve, you can play Tidus, Blitzball Star on turn 3 so he can attack, tap an opponent's creature, and you can shoot it with Summon: Primal Garuda on turn 4. You can also use Coeurl to tap that creature at the end of the opponent's turn so as to reduce the mana cost of Fate of the Sun-Cryst.
- Adventurer's Airship / Rook Turret + Dreams of Laguna / Retrieve the Esper / Auron's Inspiration / Phoenix Down = You can send flashback cards directly to the graveyard with draw-discard effects to make value. You can also send a creature with mana value up to 4 to the graveyard and then reanimate it for just 2 mana with Phoenix Down!
- Ether + The Crystal's Chosen = Ether ramps you up and duplicates a single instant or sorcery spell, so it better be a big one! The Crystal's Chosen is the best at uncommon, letting you get 8x 3/3 Hero tokens on turn 6, as well as buffing the rest of your team!
Dimir: Control
Cards:
Treno, Dark City, Lunatic Pandora, Syncopate, Sleep Magic, Demon Wall, Il Mheg Pixie, Dreams of Laguna, Ice Magic, Poison the Waters, Resentful Revelation, Quistis Trepe, Shambling Cie'th, Shinra Reinforcements, Dragoon's Wyvern, Swallowed by Leviathan, Combat Tutorial, Overkill, Blitzball, Retrieve the Esper, Sidequest: Card Collection, The Final Days, Eject, Sephiroth's Intervention, Summon: Shiva, Summon: Anima.
Description:
Blue-black is a control deck that aims to dominate the long game, managing the board with stalling creatures and removal spells and using the graveyard as a resource.
You can cast your spells again with flashback for value or send them directly to the graveyard thanks to both the mill and surveil abilities, as well as Locke Cole's discard ability.
Then, once you have enough cards in the graveyard, you can transform cards like Sidequest: Card Collection or Ultimecia, Time Sorceress, for extra value and unleash even more power!
Combo:
- Tonberry / Sahagin + Thief's Knife = Thief's Knife draws a card when the equipped creature hits the opponent, so it's best if it's wielded by Sahagin, which becomes unblockable, or by Tonberry, which is extremely difficult to block thanks to the combination of deathtouch and first strike.
- Shambling Cie'th + Hecteyes / Locke Cole / Adventurer's Airship / Qiqirn Merchant = Shambling Cie'th returns from the graveyard to your hand simply by paying one black mana when casting a noncreature spell, so it can be discarded for value.
- Fang, Fearless l'Cie + Shambling Cie'th / Magic Pot = To the combo just seen, we can then add Fang, Fearless l'Cie, who draws a card every time Shambling Cie'th returns to hand. Alternatively, you can draw every turn by paying 2 mana with Magic Pot or spontaneously with Qutrub Forayer, Fight On!, and every flashback spell cast from the graveyard!
Rakdos: Black Mage Aggro
Cards:
Vector, Imperial Capital, Blazing Bomb, Tonberry, Fire Magic, Prompto Argentum, Black Mage's Rod, Red Mage's Rapier, Opera Love Song, Poison the Waters, Vincent's Limit Break, Haste Magic, Queen Brahne, Mysidian Elder, Cornered by Black Mages, Al Bhed Salvagers, Unexpected Request, Laughing Mad, Circle of Power, Sorceress's Schemes, Summon: Esper Ramuh, Sidequest: Hunt the Mark.
Description:
Black-red is an aggressive deck featuring Wizards and creatures that reward you whenever you cast a noncreature spell.
You can deal a huge amount of direct damage to your opponent by accumulating as many 0/1 black Wizard tokens as possible, since each one deals 1 damage for each noncreature spell you cast.
Black Waltz No. 3 is a version of this on steroids, dealing double the damage of a Wizard token, while Garland, Knight of Cornelia is an aggressive early drop that aims to immediately reduce the opponent's life, then eventually transform into a late game finisher if the opponent is tough to kill!
Combo:
- Unexpected Request + Ahriman / Phantom Train = Classic Rakdos combo! You steal an enemy creature for a turn, maybe attack with it, and then, instead of returning it, you sacrifice it for value!
- Circle of Power + Queen Brahne / many 0/1 black Wizards = Circle of Power is a one-card combo here because it gives +1/+0 and lifelink to all your Wizards. This means that whenever you cast a noncreature spell, in addition to dealing 1 damage to your opponent for each Wizard token you control, you gain that much life thanks to lifelink, creating a big gap between you and your opponent.
- Fire Magic + Qutrub Forayer = Use the red spell to clear small creatures from the board and combine it with Qutrub Forayer to eliminate even the largest of the survivors!
Gruul: Landfall Aggro
Cards:
Gongaga, Reactor Town, Sazh's Chocobo, Cactuar, Torgal, A Fine Hound, Town Greeter, Sabotender, PuPu UFO, Gysahl Greens, Choco-Comet, Chocobo Kick, Ride the Shoopuf, Sidequest: Raise a Chocobo, Summon: Fenrir, Summon: G.F. Ifrit, Prishe's Wanderings, Sidequest: Play Blitzball, Bard's Bow, Call the Mountain Chocobo, Vanille, Cheerful l'Cie, Gigantoad, Sandworm, Chocobo Racetrack, Summon: Fat Chocobo, Coliseum Behemoth.
Description:
Red-green is an aggro deck that cares about Landfall and is characterized by Chocobos, which natively have this ability, and it allows them to power up.
Its uncommon signposts are Humans, though, like Rydia, Summoner of Mist that eventually makes you exchange a Saga from your hand for a new card so as to bring it back into play with its second ability and give it haste. Or like the top end of the curve, Gladiolus Amicitia, who with Landfall can power up others as well as himself and eventually attack as an incredible 8/8 with trample!
Combo:
- Sidequest: Raise a Chocobo + Chocobo Racetrack = Sidequest: Raise a Chocobo creates the first Bird but needs three more to transform and pump them all! With Chocobo Racetrack, you can craft as many as you want, since all you have to do is put lands under your control!
- Prompto Argentum / The Gold Saucer + Quina, Qu Gourmet = On the curve, you play Prompto Argentum on turn 2, Quina, Qu Gourmet on turn 3, and maybe Call the Mountain Chocobo or Warrior's Sword as a follow-up on turn 4, both getting two extra Frog tokens (Treasure + Bird/Hero)! More for the late game instead is the combo between The Gold Saucer and Quina, Qu Gourmet, where you can try to spin the wheel whenever you have 2+1 free lands!
- Cactuar + Loporrit Scout = Perfectly in line with the flavor of the video game, Cactuar stays on the ground for the duration of a single attack and then “escapes” into your hand. Loporrit Scout benefits from this by strengthening itself by continuously entering the battlefield.
Selesnya: Go Wide
Cards:
Windurst, Federation Center, Cactuar, You're Not Alone, Torgal, A Fine Hound, Ambrosia Whiteheart, Battle Menu, Coeurl, Dwarven Castle Guard, Snow Villiers, Quina, Qu Gourmet, Summon: Choco/Mog, Summon: Fenrir, Loporrit Scout, Bard's Bow, Auron's Inspiration, Summon: Primal Garuda, Aerith Rescue Mission, G'raha Tia, Chocobo Racetrack, Summon: Fat Chocobo, Rydia's Return, The Crystal's Chosen.
Description:
Green-white is about a go-wide strategy, building up a large board of creatures, pumping them, and swinging for an incredible chunk of damage.
Tokens are a big part of the game plan, and Rinoa Heartilly contributes first by creating her dog Angelo and then buffing an attacker based on the unit's strength!
Garnet, Princess of Alexandria instead opens up a new angle of attack, more individualistic and focused on Sagas. With each of her attacks, she can turn back one chapter as many Sagas as you want, making them basically inexhaustible and becoming a big threat with lifelink herself.
Combo:
- Garnet, Princess of Alexandria + Summon: Fenrir / Summon: Choco/Mog / Summon: Primal Garuda / Summon: Fat Chocobo = With each attack, Garnet, Princess of Alexandria can remove a lore counter from the Sagas, becoming huge, but above all ensuring that the Saga doesn't expire and that the same chapter can trigger again on your next turn.
- Aerith Rescue Mission + Auron's Inspiration = In keeping with the go-wide strategy, Aerith Rescue Mission creates three Hero tokens that can then be powered up with Auron's Inspiration. You can also use The Crystal's Chosen to go big!
- Sidequest: Raise a Chocobo + Ambrosia Whiteheart = Sidequest: Raise a Chocobo creates one Bird and wants four of them to transform, but Ambrosia Whiteheart is a Bird itself, so by bouncing the enchantment, you'll immediately get up to 3/4 of the Birds needed!
[Note: Ambrosia Whiteheart is by far the uncommon that generates the most combos for you, so much so that it combos out with basically everything! However, I will only mention it here to avoid doing 30 combos with it alone!].
Orzhov: Artifact & Creature Sacrifice
Cards:
Insomnia, Crown City, Zack Fair, World Map, Phoenix Down, Reno and Rude, Hecteyes, Undercity Dire Rat, Dwarven Castle Guard, Vayne's Treachery, Vincent's Limit Break, Instant Ramen, Al Bhed Salvagers, Ahriman, Dark Knight's Greatsword, Sidequest: Catch a Fish, Fight On!, Delivery Moogle, Gaius van Baelsar, Namazu Trader, Phantom Train, Aerith Rescue Mission, G'raha Tia, Sidequest: Hunt the Mark.
Description:
White-black is a value deck that requires artifacts and creatures to sacrifice to turn them into a resource.
You can use any Equipment with job select, since they give you two things to sacrifice, although Rufus Shinra gives you a potentially unlimited sacrifice material since he keeps creating his legendary Dog, Darkstar, with every attack.
Phantom Train, for example, lets you sacrifice it every turn to animate and power up, while in the meantime Al Bhed Salvagers drain life, G'raha Tia draws cards, and Judge Magister Gabranth grows bigger and more menacing!
Combo:
- Rufus Shinra + Phantom Train + G'raha Tia = You can cast these three spells on a curve. Rufus Shinra creates his Dog token with each attack, which can be enhanced by sacrificing it.
- Zack Fair + Vincent's Limit Break = Zack Fair starts off with a +1/+1 counter on it, which adds to the power and toughness modified by Vincent's Limit Break, making it harder to kill. You can then sacrifice it, move its counters and one of its Equipment, and bring it back into play again.
- Delivery Moogle + Phoenix Down = With Delivery Moogle, you can search your library for Phoenix Down, and then when Delivery Moogle dies, you can revive it with the artifact. Multiple Phoenix Down in your deck make your Delivery Moogle nearly immortal!
Izzet: Big Noncreatures
Cards:
Baron, Airship Kingdom, Blazing Bomb, Thunder Magic, Prompto Argentum, Ultros, Obnoxious Octopus, Sahagin, Red Mage's Rapier, Sage's Nouliths, Choco-Comet, Dreams of Laguna, Ice Magic, Quistis Trepe, Laughing Mad, Ether, Sidequest: Card Collection, Summon: Esper Ramuh, Sorceress's Schemes, Call the Mountain Chocobo, Eject, Retrieve the Esper, The Prima Vista, Summon: Shiva, Random Encounter.
Description:
Blue-red cares about casting big noncreature spells for bonuses and buffs!
While it doesn't have a keyword yet, its mechanic is a triggered ability that takes effect whenever you cast a spell for at least 4 mana. Note that it doesn't look at the mana value of the spell but at the amount of mana actually spent, meaning it also works with tiered and flashback spells.
The Emperor of Palamecia and Shantotto, Tactician Magician both have this feature, growing rapidly for each big noncreature spell cast, as well as providing nice additional effects like drawing cards and dealing direct damage to the opponent.
Combo:
- Ether + Random Encounter = On curve, you can play Ether on turn 4 and Random Encounter on turn 5, milling 8 cards and bringing back all creatures you see for a single alpha strike. This could potentially be a turn 5 win in limited!
- Magic Damper / Unexpected Request + opponent's Sleep Magic / Stuck in Summoner's Sanctum = It's not a combo, but an interesting synergy that can easily catch your opponent off guard! Your opponent may think they've knocked out one of your creatures with one of their blue enchantments, but you can untap it unexpectedly to block or make the decisive attack that your opponent didn't see coming!
- Fire Magic / Self-Destruct + oppontent's Sleep Magic = Additionally, a creature of yours that is asleep with Sleep Magic can still wake up, taking damage so that the enchantment is sacrificed. You can use damage spells like Fire Magic or Self-Destruct, intending to hit your opponent's targets but freeing your creature as a bonus!
Golgari: Graveyard Value
Cards:
Gohn, Town of Ruin, Tonberry, Gran Pulse Ochu, Lunatic Pandora, Town Greeter, Goobbue Gardener, Hecteyes, Resentful Revelation, Chocobo Kick, Fang, Fearless l'Cie, Shambling Cie'th, Shinra Reinforcements, Adventurer's Airship, Fight On!, Vanille, Cheerful l'Cie, Namazu Trader, The Final Days, Evil Reawakened, Rydia's Return, Relentless X-ATM092, Balamb T-Rexaur, Malboro, Coliseum Behemoth, Diamond Weapon.
Description:
Black-green is a classic midrange value deck that takes advantage of the graveyard, focusing on filling it with mill and surveil spells in the early turns, then exploiting it with flashback spells, returning permanents to your hand, reanimating creatures, and getting mana discounts and buffs.
Exdeath, Void Warlock, and Cloud of Darkness both look at the number of permanents in the graveyard, allowing the former to transform into at least a 6/3 with trample as soon as the indicated number is reached, while the latter removes an enemy piece in addition to its evasive body.
Combo:
- Gran Pulse Ochu / Tonberry / Ahriman + Chocobo Kick = Classic Golgari Combo! Combine a bite spell with a creature with deathtouch to take down any enemy threat, no matter how big!
- Fang, Fearless l'Cie + Vanille, Cheerful l'Cie = A built-in game combo! On the curve, cast Fang, Fearless l'Cie on turn 3 and Vanille, Cheerful l'Cie on turn 4, returning a permanent to your hand and drawing a card for Fang's trigger! On turn 5, then, you can already fuse them both into Ragnarok, Divine Deliverance, attacking for 7 damage right away!
- Evil Reawakened + Balamb T-Rexaur / Malboro = The black sorcery is a powerful reanimation spell, but sometimes it needs additional cards that send creatures to the graveyard. You can skip this step with Balamb T-Rexaur and Malboro's cycling ability!
Boros: Equipment Aggro
Cards:
Rabanastre, Royal City, Freya Crescent, Zack Fair, Magitek Infantry, Crystal Fragments, Coral Sword, Adelbert Steiner, Ambrosia Whiteheart, Item Shopkeep, Dragoon's Lance, White Mage's Staff, Red Mage's Rapier, Monk's Fist, Slash of Light, Ashe, Princess of Dalmasca, Gaelicat, Samurai's Katana, Paladin's Arms, Unexpected Request, Barret Wallace, Delivery Moogle, Weapons Vendor, Warrior's Sword, G'raha Tia.
Description:
Red-white is aggro as usual but includes the Equipment theme along with its job select mechanic.
You won't have to worry too much about having the right balance between creatures and Equipment because almost every piece of Equipment in the set comes into play already attached to a 1/1 Hero token ready to fight. You can thus flood your deck with gears, which will benefit Adelbert Steiner even more than his signpost Zidane, Tantalus Thief, who has the task of stealing for a turn an enemy creature, perhaps well equipped!
Giott, King of the Dwarves, thanks to double strike, is perfect instead for picking up the various weapons left on the battlefield and going to strike hard in combat.
Combo:
- Weapons Vendor + Paladin's Arms / Warrior's Sword = Another built-in game combo that deserves to be highlighted! With Weapons Vendor you can attach any Equipment to any creature for just 1 mana, regardless of the artifact's equip cost. You can save a lot of mana considering there are very high equip costs even among commons!
- Giott, King of the Dwarves + Sidequest: Play Blitzball / You're Not Alone = On the curve, you can play Giott, King of the Dwarves and Sidequest: Play Blitzball, valuing double strike and hitting for 6 per turn! However, the Dwarf Noble is designed for Equipment, so you can also combine it with some cheap ones like Crystal Fragments or Coral Sword and still use the abilities of Weapons Vendor for the heavier ones!
- Adelbert Steiner / Snow Villiers + Dragoon's Lance / Samurai's Katana = Both white creatures can gain a high attack power, but they risk not having a long life on the board. So combine them with abilities like flying and trample to stabilize and/or deal serious damage to the opponent!
Simic: Town Ramp
Cards:
Guadosalam, Farplane Gateway, World Map, Cactuar, Commune with Beavers, Tifa's Limit Break, Scorpion Sentinel, Town Greeter, Goobbue Gardener, PuPu UFO, Summon: Fenrir, Quistis Trepe, Qiqirn Merchant, Prishe's Wanderings, Bard's Bow, Combat Tutorial, Gigantoad, Reach the Horizon, Relm's Sketching, Eject, Chocobo Racetrack, Summon: Shiva, Travel the Overworld, Coliseum Behemoth, Iron Giant.
Description:
Blue-green is a ramp deck that cares about having lots of lands in play and Towns in particular.
They offer advantages, such as mana discounts for spells or abilities, based on the amount you have, so it's important to get as many Towns as you can, perhaps even using off-color ones or those that do not offer direct benefits to the archetype.
Omega, Heartless Evolution, in fact, keeps an opponent's permanent tapped for a time equal to the number of nonbasic lands you control, so it's very useful to have cards like Ignis Scientia, which allows you to ramp maybe a Town onto the battlefield and make you play ahead of schedule!
Combo:
- Stolen Uniform + Bard's Bow / Thief's Knife = Stolen Uniform is designed as a combat trick to steal an opponent's Equipment and attach it to one of your creatures. However, it doesn't specify anywhere that it has to be the opponent's, and you can also use it to attach one of your Equipment at instant speed without having to detach it at the end of the turn. This way you can save on large equipment costs, and you can trick an attacking flier with Bard's Bow, as well as draw at instant speed with Thief's Knife!
- Thief's Knife + Balamb T-Rexaur / Blitzball Shot = Thief's Knife still needs to hit the opponent to draw, so it is not necessary for the latter not to block, but just that the equipped creature has trample!
- Ultros, Obnoxious Octopus + Ice Magic / Tifa's Limit Break = The legendary Octopus has a second ability that is very marginal, but you might be able to activate it in the late game at instant speed by choosing Blizzaga with Ice Magic! The fun comes with Final Heaven in Tifa's Limit Break, which allows you to triple Ultros' stats and hit with an unbelievable 30/27 for an epic moment!
That's all for today! FINAL FANTASY limited promises to be interesting and full of new features, but more importantly, it contains all the most characteristic elements of the video games so as to literally make all enthusiasts of the genre go into hype! Choose your weapon, channel your magic, and ride your Chocobo to prerelease glory!
