UNIVERSES BEYOND - the new frontier, where players can explore new worlds and distant franchises outside of Magic's own. I say new frontier, because while we've had a number of Universes Beyond cards and sets since 2021 (or earlier depending on your persepctive,) this will be the first time that a Universes Beyond set (outside of D&D: Forgotten Realms) will be playable in the premier format of Standard. Who better to venture into the unknown than Square Enix's star player, the Final Fantasy franchise?
I don't know. I uh, wont have time to try the games until after I write this article (gotta have your vegetables before your dessert.) Even though I'm not a fan, I can appreciate that people are very excited about this set, within and without the FF community, and while the culture shock of having Mainline Magic becoming crossover content, I am happy for all of the new players who get to experience MTG because its celebrating the thing they love, and for all the players who are excited for strong cards, pretty art, spicy memes, and spot-on flavor. Magic is nothing without the Gathering, and here's an awesome opportunity to make new friends for all the adventures yet to come.
So why am I (Ben) the one writing about a crossover I know nothing about? Because I'm funny, and I write the blog posts, that's why! Also, I asked real fans for their input, so hopefully by our powers combined, we'll dish the hype that ain't all tripe. Or something.
Let's start off with some ballers from FFVII! You know Tifa and Aerith, right? They're sisters, and spoiler alert; one of them dies! Did you know that? I didn't know that, but its right there in Aerith's textbox, representing that time she got murdererd and all of her friends were inspired by the power of sad. Cool thing though, Aerith gets buffer for each instance of life gain, not the value of life gained, and so cards like Hardened Scales and Weather The Storm go bonkers with her. Then once she's swole as heck, pop her to give all of your Legendaries a huge power/toughness boost, which gets doubled on Tifa when you start dropping or fetching lands.
(Consultant's note: Ben is wrong. Tifa and Aerith are not sisters, and we don't know why Ben thinks that.)
Cloud's Iconic weapon, the Buster Sword sure is busting some moves with saboteur ability that draws a card and casts a spell. Usually this card is netting you a free 4 cmc spell at instant speed by turn four, which is only if you're playing fair Magic, and covers most of the playables in most of the formats, but pop it on something big (or maybe Fear of Failed Tests,) and who knows what could happen! Does this make the Buster Sword really the Busted Sword?
I don't know, hero. You tell me.
Also, we have Barret Wallace here, who can attack and defend pretty good. He's like a really nice dude with a band of merry rebels (like a Robin-Hood type I think,) who has a really powerful ability to explode your opponent once you've distributed equipment to all of his friends. Barret would be an awesome commander with a living weapon/for Mirrodin subtheme, where we're getting 2 for 1 value on our artifacts/creatures, turning your usual equipment commander Voltron themes on its ear. Pretty cool if you ask me!
(Consultant's note: Ben is wrong. Barret Wallace is not a Robin Hood analog, he's an eco-terrorist.)
I feel bad for Zenos. He just wants a friend! And then if the friend he picks runs away, he turns into a crazy dragon that states the obvious. UH YEAH CLOUD, IF YOU LOSE THE GAME, WHO ELSE WOULD WIN, BUT ME?
All joking aside, this boy is built for commander, making it so that you only need to KO one opponent instead of three. Its an interesting politics piece that makes life hard for everyone, assuming no one has an answer for an 8/8 flier. If you really want to lean into Gary-Sue/main character syndrome at your table, Zenos is truly your first and only friend.
(Consultant's note: Ben is wrong again. Firstly, Zenos does not fight Cloud because you do not play as Cloud in this game, and also you're not friends. Zenos wants to be the strongest warrior ever, and also to kill you, who he perceives to be a worthy rival.)
Also from XIV, Y'shtola here specializes in blinking, souping up your enters/leaves triggers, and making additional end steps, which is so spicy that Cookingway will have something to say about it. We don't really have an extra step maker that fits the same role, but with an additional end step you can double your Artificer Class triggers, your Lighthouse Chronologist triggers, and even Y'shtola's own Conjurer's Closet impression just to name a few! Master Matoya would be proud!
There's always a lighthouse? No, wrong franchise! But there's always a Cid, which is why he has the relentless ability. Its a little odd on a legendary creature, but with the inherent cycling ability, Cid's copies are really just Grandeur cantrips that fuel his static typal anthems while filtering your deck. Pop 30 in a Bernard, Ginger Sculptor or Urza, Chief Artificer, and you're good to go, no big sword required (figurative or otherwise.)
This one goes out to all the Timmies in the audience. It makes a million mana. You can do ANYTHING with a million mana. Don't think about it too much. Its a great card. 10/10
Some ballers from FFX:
SIN - Dredge/Graveyard toy with big numbers. Also, very cute. Big Olm vibes. Probably a dummy <3 Use surveil and self mill/strategic planning effects to fill up your yard, and guys like Gorex or delve creatures to adjust the randomness, optimizing your hits in your combat mini game.
Al Bhed Salvagers - a Disciple of the Vault who still dies to bolt, but doesnt die to Bowmasters... or at least not the first two triggers. Cool? Kinda. Relevant? Mostly only for lore reasons!
Yuna - Enchantress support that gives castling, aggro, and recursion themed strategies an important leg up in the rat race. Use it to circumvent the cost of your Duskmourn Overlords in standard, or a Nyxbloom Ancient or Kestia anywhere else.
Back to FFVI now, and where would we be without our big bad. Kefka in his Joker arc makes Nicol Bolas look like Condiment King. This dude's just gonna run around creating a wealth gap between you and your opponents' hands, and then flip into his zaddy mode where you'll have more cards in hand than god. Finding cool things to do with that big hand is a must, so look into things like Abandon Hope to strip whole hands, or Firestorm to go full nuclear.
Sometimes you're an ancient, all powerful sorcerer who misses his friends and has to destroy the world to bring them back to life. Its totally normal, and something you can now recreate with MtG. Some of the strongest cards in Magic have let you cast spells from your graveyard, and many of them end up getting banned, so hopefully Emet-Selch's double-threshold is enough to keep this ability relevant, but fair.
(Consultant's note: I can't actually correct this one because of spoiler reasons. Play FFXIV and then we'll talk about how wrong Ben was again.)
Serah and Lightning are dating, and spoiler alert, one of them dies... or just gets turned into a crystal. I think that's a crystal? Anyways..
They probably don't go in the same deck, unless you're playing a Naya Superfriends build, like a Sisay Weatherlight Captain or Jodah the Unifier, both of which would proabably love Serah, and have big splashy direct-damage haymakers for Lightning to boost after she connects.
(Consultant's note: well now we know why Ben thought Tifa and Aerith were sisters. THESE are the sisters. sigh. I feel like I'm being trolled, but also being told about my favorite thing by an alien.)
Oh... I get it. That's pretty clever, the name and the thing it does.
The important part is, you read the flavor text and have a good, sensible chuckle.
So saucy, so delicious.
Last but not least is the most important card in the entire set. Its a Magus of the Future for specifically birds and lands that also doubles all of your landfall and birdfall triggers. Pair with Bristly Bill or Salvation Swan and you've got yourself beaucoup value my friend!
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And those are the takes my friends, hot out of the oven! What are you excited to play with, or to crack in a pack? Any combos you're itching to pull off at prerelase or new pieces to soup up your favorite commander decks? Let us know when you stop by on JUNE 6th for our kickoff prerelease of Final Fantasy x Magic the Gathering!
(Consultant's note: Thanks so much for reading! I'm never doing this again. This is your story!)
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The Consultant is a fictionalized amalgamation of various Pandemonium staff members who were asked vague questions about characters, places, and events in the FF canon. No consultants were physically harmed in the making of this blog post, although several of them became exasperated during the production.
Ben Doane has been a member of the Pandemonium Team since 2019, and has been playing wargames, rpgs, and tcgs since 2004 and earlier. When not blogging, Ben runs the wargames and mailing departments, and also puts together the store's newsletters. She is currently working on an "oops all birds" cube.