New final fantasy cards come in Magic: Gathering December 5 in the form Chocobo set and four scene boxes. The Birdie set features a ton of promotional reprints of cards from the standard set with stylish anime-style artwork, while the Scenes sets feature mostly new cards that come together to form iconic scenes from the Birdie movie. Final fantasy 1, Final fantasy 8, Final Fantasy 9And Final fantasy 15 (along with several game boosters). They are undoubtedly a coveted collector's item for fans of each game, and while the quality of the new cards is mechanically all over the place, FF1''s Garland in the Temple of Chaos scene goes all out with a favorite game mechanic: Party.
“Party” first debuted in the 2020s Zendikar Rising set and relies heavily on the classic fantasy party composition, namely the typical Dungeons & Dragons lineup of Warrior, Priest, Rogue, and Wizard. Many of the cards in this set offer benefits based on the number of party members, or even having a “full party” with one creature of each type. It has reappeared in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate commander decks in 2022, especially in the white/black Party Time deck, which has a heavy focus on mechanics.
All four creature subtypes are introduced in the Final Fantasy core set without explicit use of the Party mechanic, but Garland in the Temple of Chaos changes that with the four Warriors of Light.
For Commander mode play, the Destined Warrior is the obvious choice as a party leader and commander. A white, blue, and black that costs four mana, he's a 3/3 with incredible abilities for such a cheap mana, including First Strike, Vigilance, and Menace. It also makes all Cleric, Rogue, and Wizard spells cost one less mana. And during combat, your creatures get +1 Strength until the end of the turn, but with a full group it becomes +3.
Intended White Mage, Thief, and Black Mage cost 3 mana each and fall squarely into the Warrior color palette, so they can easily fit into a Commander deck where he is the leader. White Mage has Lifelink, Thief can't be blocked, and Black Mage has Death Touch. And for one mana and turn, they can lend those abilities to the target creature.
Basically, if you have a full party with all four of them on the board, you can pay one white, one blue, and one black mana to give the Warrior Lifelink, Deathtouch, and make him unblockable (Deathtouch and unblockable at the same time are useless, but it's still worth considering). To top it all off, all attacking creatures get +3 from the Warrior, so he'll be an unblockable attacker with level 6/3 and lifelink.
White Mage also gives out a +1/+1 counter whenever you gain life, and three of these counters when the group is full. This way you can strengthen each party member over time. Thief allows you to draw and then discard a card when one of your creatures damages an opponent, or you draw three cards as a group. Essentially, the Black Mage receives a modified version of the core. Vivi Ability: It deals one damage to each enemy whenever you cast a noncreature spell, or three damage to the entire group.
Simply put, in four-player Commander, these cards can completely ruin the game. Probably the best strategy is the Voltron approach, focusing on buffing and buffing the Destined Warrior as your main solo attacker. The only downside is that other players will deal direct damage to it or destroy the creature's spells.
For players who received this scene box and want to build a deck, it's probably a good idea to purchase some Zendikar Rising cards, as well as one or all of the Battle for Baldur's Gate decks. But if they're going for the Final Fantasy feel, there are other Final Fantasy cards to look at, whether we're talking about the core set, Through the Ages, or some Commander decks.
Destined Warrior traps you in a white, blue and black world, and while there aren't many rogues in Final Fantasy, Magicthere are some very strong clerics, quite a few wizards, and a LOT of warriors to look out for.
Blue-black Locke Cole (Rogue) is an unusual character that many people probably have. With Deathtouch and Lifelink, it fits perfectly into the overall strategy. For Clerics, the obvious choices are Aerith Gainsborough and Rose, the “Resolute White Mage”. Both help the party grow by generating +1/+1 counters. And since this will be a deck with a lot of legendary cards, if and when Aeris dies, she copies all of her tokens onto all the other legendary cards on the board. Minwu, White Mage will also be needed: every time you gain life, it adds +1/+1 to each priest you control.
Firion, Warrior of the Wildrose and Rauban, Bull of Ala Migo – both Warriors – are a must-have if the deck relies on the Gear for Voltron tactic. Between them, you can freely attach one piece of equipment and create a temporary copy of each piece of equipment you play on. There's also Absolute Virtue, a powerful but expensive 8/8 Warrior that costs eight mana but gives you protection against each of your opponents. Again, in a four-player game this is a huge advantage.
The lack of red mana in this theoretical deck puts a limit on the number of Final Fantasy wizards you can consider, but there is still Venat, Heart of Hydailyn, which allows you to draw a card every time you play a Legendary card. And for seven mana, you can exile any permanent so you can turn it into a Mother Crystal, handing out counters and making one of your creatures indestructible (a great way to protect your Destined Warrior).
Indeed, the possibilities for building a really strong deck with these cards are endless, but for players who like to have fun, Garland in the Temple of Chaos looks like the best stage box.
