Final Fantasy Debut Card Review

Hey all. This past weekend we got a big look at the upcoming Final Fantasy set, including a lot of new cards, various mechanics, and of course fancy treatments. 

While spoilers continue this week, we got enough of a look this weekend for me to want to go over some of the highlights, breakdown how the mechanics will play, and see which cards will be making the biggest impact in Standard and Alchemy.

Let’s keep in mind the main three categories I use to evaluate cards:

1. Will this card make a meaning contribution or upgrade to an existing deck?
2. Will this card create a new strategy or revive an abandoned strategy?
3. Is this a sideboard option?

So let’s dive in and look at some sweet new cards!

Cloud, Midgar Mercenary

Cloud is a really cool card that calls back to Stoneforge Mystic, as a two drop that tutors an equipment from your deck.

While there is an instinct to try to reassemble the various (failed) equipment decks I’ve tried since Phyrexia: All Will be One, I think this card can do a lot of cool stuff in Standard and Alchemy, and has a chance to make a splash.

First of all, it can search for Cori-Steel Cutter, basically giving you extra copies of the key card for aggro decks in Standard and Alchemy. Those decks don’t currently play white mana, so getting in a double white card would take a big rebuild, but I think it is worth trying a Boros or Jeskai build of the deck.

Second, it can find interesting utility equipment like Chainsaw and Assimilation Aegisfor removal, Lavaspur Boots for haste, and Dissection Tools for a real Stoneforge Mystic fetching Batterskull call back.

In Alchemy, Cloud can also fetch Tome of Gadwickto get some card advantage going.

Overall, I am interested to see where Cloud lands, but there are just so many good equipment in Standard and Alchemy right now that I expect to at least try Cloud.

Dark Confidant

Wow, Dark Confidant is back, and going to see no play.

I know these review are supposed to be about cards that I think will see play or have a high chance, and I think that Dark Confidant has a small chance of seeing play, I just can’t imagine a two drop that dies to every removal spell in the format, and costs you life when most of your opponents are fast aggro, is going to be very good.

If the format every slows down and becomes more grindy, then Dark Confidant could absolutely find a home.

In its prime, Dark Confidant was powerful in Modern because the only good one mana removal spells were Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile, the latter of which would help ramp you to your four drops. But nowadays, it dies to a ton of removal spells in every format, so I just sadly think that Magic is not about this type of card anymore.

I would love to be wrong though!

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

Sephiroth is a Blood Artist amped to the max. On top of a blood artist effect, you also get a sacrifice outlet when he enters and attacks that also keeps you topped up on cards. If you do manage to have four creatures die in one turn you get to flip Sephiroth and get an emblem that gives you a permanent Blood Artist effect, and a big way to refill your hand when he attacks.

There are so many pieces for a sacrifice deck in Standard. I’ve tried it several times and it just never has the speed to beat out the slower decks, or blocks well enough against Monstrous Rage to compete against aggro decks.

Sephiroth doesn’t fix those problems, but I like that it adds more card advantage to the deck, while also increasing the ways to drain the opponent. So I feel like if there are enough pieces there has to be a build that is at least alright. Right?

Maybe we have to wait for rotation, but I really like what Sephiroth has to offer here.

Fire Magic

Tiered is a new mechanic that lets you choose an additional cost to basically choose how powerful your spell will be. Don’t confuse it with spree, you don’t get to choose multiple, only one.

I think that this card is a pretty sweet glimpse into what the mechanic can do, and this card has some potential for sideboard play in Standard and Alchemy for sure.

One mana to deal one damage at instant speed can be very powerful against a lot of tokens, maybe even to sweep out some otter tokens or monk tokens, but in other circumstances we can pay three mana for an instant speed Pyroclasm.

Flexibility is great for sideboard cards, and I think that Fire Magic could have a home in sideboards soon!

Summon: Fenrir

Summon: Fenrir is a saga and also a creature. So it will do its normal saga things while being a 3/2 the whole time, and then sacrifice after chapter III.

I like Summon: Fenrir because in a wide field of three mana green ramp spells, this one gives you a body that you can block and attack with, meaning that you can afford to take turn three to ramp, and still impact the board.

The other chapters are not as exciting to me, and I would mostly be playing this in a ramp deck for chapter I, but if you are able to draw a card on chapter III, because maybe you have an Overlord of the Hauntwoods in play or something like that, then this card was much better value than most of the other three mana ramp options.

I think that Summon: Fenrir can find a home in a lot of decks, and I’m looking forward to trying it.

Summoner’s Grimoire

Summoner’s Grimoire, much like Kona, Rescue Beastie, provides a must-answer way to cheat in creatures from your hand, but unlike Kona your opponent has to answer any creature you may equip this to, increasing the chance that you can do-the-thing.

This is thanks to Job Select, which doesn’t have reminder text here but does on other cards, and it is similar to the For Mirrodin! mechanic from Phyrexia: All Will be One, but instead of a 2/2 you get a 1/1 hero.

So for your four mana you get a token already equipped with the grimoire, forcing your opponent to answer that token and any other creature that you equip it to after that.

We already have a lot of ways to cheat a big creature into play in Standard, like with Kona or by reanimating it, but I like that Summoner’s Grimoire forces your opponent to answer the equipment itself or every creature you play after that.

The reference to enchantment cards here is because of the saga creatures like Summon: Fenrir above, and there are some big ones that would be very nice to cheat into play ahead of schedule, so I know this will at least be a fun limited card.

Tifa Lockhart

Tifa Lockhart has the very important keyword of trample, and for that reason alone I think she is worth discussing.

I think if we are going to make Tifa work in a format like Standard or Alchemy it is going to involve buffing her power in other ways, such as through counters or enchantments, etc. Once you have her power up to three or four, a fetch land like Fabled Passage is suddenly make her hit for 12 or 16, which is very scary.

Yes she does die to every removal spell in the format, and will thus probably not see any play, but this is about as cheap as this effect, with built in trample, that you are going to get. So I think it could be fun to include her in an auras style deck making use of Optimistic Scavenger etc.

Traveling Chocobo

Speaking of landfall triggers, Traveling Chocobo is going to double those up for you, along with giving you the value of playing lands and birds off the top of the library.

I think that the main value from this card is going to come from that land trigger doubling, no offense to the various birds in Standard/Alchemy, but they are mostly in white and blue, and three color decks can be a bit awkward.

I foresee this playing a role in a green/white ramp deck making use of cards like Felidar Retreat, doubling up on those triggers, or maybe in a build trying to kill with Iridescent Vinelasher, or ramp up with Nissa, Resurgent Animist.

There are so many possibilities with this type of effect, and the value of being able to play lands off the top means that even once you run out of lands in your hand you are able to still find ways to trigger all of those landfall effects.

There isn’t a current home for Traveling Chocobo in Standard or Alchemy, but I think it could find a spot and be a player either now or after rotation.

Absolute Virtue

Absolute Virtue is a big dude with a big effect. This is what eight mana mythic rares should be like. Can’t be countered, flying 8/8, that gives you protection from your opponents? Oh yeah this is going to sell packs.

Its Standard/Alchemy applications are not zero. You can cheat this into play with cards like Zombify or Summoner’s Grimoire or ramp into it. Now, the Absolute Virtue does not have protection itself, so it can still be killed by your opponent, but against certain decks that is easier said than done.

For example if you look at most of the aggro lists in Standard/Alchemy, most of them don’t have solid or consistent ways to remove an eight toughness creature, so once you land this you can just ignore their board and kill them in a couple of attacks.

We already have big idiots in these formats, so I don’t think that Absolute Virtue is suddenly going to replace Valgavoth or Atraxa etc as the main reanimation targets, but it is a tool in the toolbox for those decks that can help in those aggressive matchups.

Balthier and Fran

Balthier and Fran is a sweet follow up to the various vehicles given to us in Aetherdrift, serving as a way to both power up your vehicles and get in for extra combat phases later in the game.

Gruul Vehicles was a deck that I tried after Aetherdrift was released, and this card does a lot for the deck, as giving your vehicles vigilance and reach help you block to stay alive, and that extra combat clause is going to lead to surprising lethal in a ton of games.

This is a pretty straightforward card in my mind, but I’m sure there are other uses outside of just an aggressive deck, and I look forward to exploring them every time we get new vehicles in these formats.

Noctis, Prince of Lucis

Noctis, Prince of Lucis is a bit expensive, but I love value engines like this. Getting to recast artifacts from the graveyard, with the additional cost of three life, is going to overwhelm the opponent pretty quickly.

I think this could easily fit into a Simulacrum Synthesizer deck, as after your opponent works so hard to remove your synthesizer with their sideboard artifact removal, recasting it from the graveyard is going to be back breaking.

This also has inherit synergy with Repurposing Bay, which is putting aritfacts into your graveyard, then giving you the option to recast them with Noctis.

Does this deck need to be Esper and play Noctis? No probably not. And I’m not sure he solves any issues that the deck currently has, but I just love grind engines.

Vivi Ornitier

Vivi Ornitier gets out of hand very quickly. When you untap with this on turn four you can cast a couple of one mana spells, start growing Vivi and dealing damage to the opponent, and then once you run out of mana, activate that ability to get another three or four mana and keep going.

There is some silly pop off potential here, and while Standard and Alchemy may not have the tools to cycle through our whole deck in a turn, Vivi gives those decks a nice win condition, because unlike other creatures that ping when you cast a noncreature spell, Vivi also gives you the mana to keep going off.

In Standard/Alchemy, Vivi could easily be an inclusion in Izzet Prowess builds, giving you extra reach and the mana to keep going off on turns when you have to restock with Stock Up or other card draw.

Vivi could also have a separate build of Izzet built around it, I think it is that powerful that it can both fit into an existing deck and build a new deck. So keep your eye on this little guy.

Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital

Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital is a part of a cycle of rare lands that enter tapped but have an adventure, which is pretty sweet if you ask me.

I like this land a lot because control decks were already flirting with cards like Riverchurn Monument as a sideboard card for the mirror, so just putting one of these lands in your deck can really help break those mirror matches.

I probably wouldn’t play more than one or two since it always enters tapped as a land, but it depends what your decks needs are. Regardless if you are a blue deck you should consider playing this card in some number.

Starting Town

Oh Thran Portal you could never. Starting Town is our newest City of Brass, Mana Confluence, or Thran Portal Unlike Thran Portalthough, you can tap it for colorless without paying life, oh and you don’t have to limit it to one color.

While this will enter tapped on turn four even if you only have two other lands, most games you will be able to get it down in those early turns and enjoy it from there.

This is a big boon to two color aggro decks, especially in Alchemy which has fewer dual lands than Standard, giving you access to both colors untapped early in the game.

Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis

Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis is the green member of this rare adventure land cycle, and while I don’t think it is super strong I just wanted to shout out that if you are a slower deck you should consider playing these adventure lands in some small number.

Because they are always tapped you don’t want a ton of them, but sneaking more value and utility into your mana base is going to win so many random games. When top decking a land is actually top decking a 7/7 creature, you are going to feel pretty good about your decision to include it.

Wrapping Up

This looks like a pretty fun set so far. I’m worried about how these cards will fit in to the current Standard and Alchemy metagames that are warped around aggro decks, but I think I might have said the same about Cori-Steel Cutter and look where we are now.

So It will be interesting to see how the set shapes up and what the overall power level and speed of the set ends up being, and what archetypes benefit the most.

Like I said, spoiler season is just getting started, so I’ll be back next week to review whatever sweet cards we see between now and then.

Until then, best of luck in all of your matches!