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From JRPGs to Quarter Boosters: Flea Market Finds

Back to Basics: Hidden Hope Restocks & Retro Finds

The hype from the latest release has finally settled, and while we love the midnight energy, it’s nice to get back to our regular programming. For us, that means one thing: The Restock.

We recently finished processing Beyond Destiny, and today we are officially moving on to Hidden Hope. We’ll be rolling these out across the website, TCGPlayer, and eBay throughout the day. If you’ve been looking for specific singles to polish off your latest deck, keep your eyes on our shop—they’ve been moving fast!

A Flea Market Score (and Some Sports-Game Skips)

I managed to hit the flea market today, and the retro gods were smiling. I found a nice little stack of original PlayStation (PSX) titles that I couldn’t pass up:

  • Star Ocean: The Second Story: A total JRPG classic.

  • Fighting Force: Perfect for anyone missing those old-school beat-’em-ups.

  • Resident Evil 2: Unfortunately, it’s just Disc 1, but for the right collector looking to complete a set, it’s a great find.

I did have to leave a pile of sports games behind—I probably could have grabbed them, but we all know the struggle of trying to move old Madden and FIFA titles!

The “Quarter-Pack” Gamble

I also found a few booster packs for just a quarter each. One was Kaijudo—which some of you might remember as Wizards of the Coast’s 2012 relaunch of the Duel Masters franchise. Even if it’s a “dead” game, seeing that Wizards logo for $0.25 makes it a mandatory buy.

I also snagged a Star Wars Rogue One booster. I was chasing an autograph, but I pulled a Shoretrooper Character Icon. It’s valued at about $2.00, so hey—I’ll take a 700% return on investment any day of the week!

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Dreamlike Limit Break

28-119R – Serah LB

Fire and Ice.

Serah comes on in and depending on how many Fire and Ice Characters you have on the field, will determine what she does.
IF you have 3 Fire Characters, Serah will deal a Forward 5000 damage.

If you have 3 Ice Characters, Serah will have your opponent discard a card.

And, if you have 3 and 3 then both of these abilities will go off.

Not bad, but I always feel like these Limit Breaks should be more like a Limit Break.

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28-120R – Ritz LB

How bad do you need that Crystal?

If you need it right away this is the Limit Break for you.

The cost for it is a bit high, when there are plenty of other cards that will get you a Crystal for much cheaper. The only difference is that Ritz is ready to go when you need her.

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28-121R – Gilgamesh LB

Gilgamesh is here.

Again. And, there’s nothing wrong with that, because we all like Gilgamesh.

Gilgamesh is a your body ready to attack, ready to block, and he won’t take much damage for Gilgamesh has First Strike.

This is a usable Limit Break to have, just in case you need to throw in a big body.

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28-122R – Rufus LB

Rufus comes on in, and if you pay the extra cost of 1 Earth CP and 1 Lightning CP, you can play a Final Fantasy VII Forward from your Break Zone onto the field.

Yes, please and thank you.

Not much else to say. Sure, the cost is a bit high, 7CP total, but you also need to take into account that you can play Rufus, whenever you’d like. You don’t need to hope you’ll draw him during the turn that you need him, because he is sitting there in your Limit Break deck ready to go.

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28-123R – Ashe LB

Might as well just play Ashe from the very start.

You’ll pay 6CP up front, but after that, most of your MBM characters will cost 1CP, but only at the beginning of your Attack Phase.

Let’s not forget that Ashe will look at the top 5 cards of your deck when she enters the field, and then you will select a MBM Character and add it to your hand.

If all goes as planned, Ashe will have paid for herself in two turns.

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28-124R – Bahamut LB

I don’t know, 9CP is a lot.

And, what do you get in return, maybe a broken Forward and a Meat Shield.

Well you’ll get a body on the field, but other than that, I’d leave this one at home.

 

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Darklike Light?

28-115L – Lightning

We just talked about Mono-Mono-Lightning a few days back, and this Lightning is a perfect fit for it.

Why?

Well, because it’ll search for the other Lightning.

But, first things first, we’ll take a look at this card by itself.

2CP, for a 9K body. That’s it. That is cheap. People would be happy to pay that even if Lightning didn’t do anything else.

No enter the field abilities, just a couple of abilities for when she is removed from the game.

First, if Lightning is in your Break Zone you can remove her from the game and search for another Lightning that’s 6CP or less and play it onto the field.

And, when Lightning is removed from the game, you can pay 4CP and remove one of your opponent’s Forwards from the game.

Either way it’s a win.

Hoe much did that Lightning Lightning cost?

28-116H – Louise

From what it looks like, Louise will never see the field. She might if you need a body real quick.

Louise is the Crystal Generator for the Warriors of the Crystal.

Simply put, you discard her from your hand and put her into the Break Zone, and you will gain a Crystal.

After that you’ll play a Warrior of the Crystal, and when that Warrior of the Crystal enters the field, you’ll remove Louise from the Break Zone and gain one more Crystal.

2 Crystals, in one turn. All it cost you was Louise.

Sounds like an even trade.

28-117H – Vayne

2 cards per turn?

Talk about giving your opponent a restraining order. Especially if they’re trying to swarm the field.

Vayne will do good in decks that play high cost cards, as you won’t really be able to play too much of them. The faster you can get Vayne on the field the better your chances.

And when Vayne is sent to the Break Zone, your opponent won’t be able to play any cards this turn. That’s just a little cherry on top.

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28-118L – Golbez

Got Monsters?

Golbez will help you search and play. Any Monster with a cost of 3CP or less. Perfect for my Bombs. They’ll be getting an upgrade.

And as long as Golbez is on the field, whenever a Monster enters the field, you can either Dull or Activate a Character.

We shall rebuild the Bomb Squad! And, it will be better than ever!

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Waterlike Oceans

28-096H – Alexander

Not bad, for 2CP.

Activating all you Forwards at the end of your Main Phase 2 seems like a good idea.

Or you can bait your opponent into trying to break a dull Forward, and then Alexander comes out and activates all of your Forwards, canceling it.

Yeah, that’s a long shot, but it could happen.

And your other choice is to reduce the damage dealt to one of your Forwards by 2000.

This card will work great against Dull/Freeze decks.

28-097H – Vaan

Even with all the Moogle Bounty Mayhem cards we have received. Vaan is here to take that deck over the top.

We, have removal, plenty of it, we have seek and play, but Vaan, he’s different.

Vaan can attack twice in the same turn, making him a Forward worth having on the field at all times.

And, if you ever need more cards, just discard a MBM character and you will draw 2 Cards.

28-098H – Garnet

Garnet comes on in, reveals the top 5 cards of your deck, and you get to grab a Final Fantasy IX Character and add it to your hand, if you find one there.

If you find one Garnet’s total cost will be 2CP, if not then 4CP it is.

After that she has an ongoing effect, that will make all of your opponent’s Summons cost 1 more CP.

And at 3 points of damage, your Summons will cost 1CP less.

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28-099C – Musician

A Backup with a bell?

Musician our elemental Water Backup, that needs 5 Backups on the field in order to use it’s ability.

And, what does that ability do?

It returns one of your opponent’s Forwards to their owner’s hand.

And that’s it.

It can be useful in a pinch, but I prefer abilities that break Characters.

28-100C – Sage

And, right after our Elemental Backup, we get our Water Crystal Backup.

Who does the same thing that the other Crystal Backups of this set do.

Enters the field, gain a Crystal.

Leaves the field, gain a Crystal.

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28-101L – Steiner

First off, these cards look great. Hopefully they’ll fix the foiling on these this set.

Steiner, a 6 cost Forward with 9000 power, that when Steiner enters the field, you can grab a Final Fantasy IX Character from your Break Zone and play it on to the field. Up to 4CP, which is plenty of Characters to choose. Depending on who you choose to play, Steiner’s cost can go down to 2CP.

And, that’s not all.

Nope. Steiner wouldn’t be a Legend if that were it.

All Final Fantasy IX Characters, except Steiner can not be chosen by your opponent’s abilities.

So, how will we protect Steiner?

Just use Alert, which does the same thing for himself, but only lasts until the end of the turn.

28-102R – Princess Sarah

This isn’t bad at all.

Princess Sarah, comes on to the field, and you’ll draw a card and gain a Crystal.

What makes this better than other cards that allow you to draw a card, is that you can look at the top card of your deck.
If you like it, keep it there.

If you don’t, you can send it to the bottom of your deck, and grab the next card.

It’s worth a play, if you have nothing else in your hand.

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28-103C – Astrologian

For 1CP you can gain a Crystal and a Meat Shield.

This card hold much value for your Crystal deck.

Not only does it give you a Crystal for 1CP, you can play 3 of them at the same time, and those 3 will block incoming attacks for you.

You can also use that Crystal to draw a card, but I suggest you put your EX Burst on top, and get a point of damage the next turn.

But, that depends on which EX Burst you put on top.

28-104C – Sorbet

This is your main Backup for MBM.

Also known as a color fixer.

Sorbet, can pay for MBM cards with any element. Making it easier to play all 6 MBM Monsters.

I would Mulligan if I didn’t get this card in my first draw.

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28-105C – Trion

At 5CP and 9K power, you’d think that Trion is just your typical Common Forward. And, I would say you are right.

The only difference is that if you have a Princess on the field, Trion’s cost goes down by 2CP to 3CP.

Which is a lot better that 5.

And every time Trion attacks, you get to draw a card.

And, then you get to discard a card.

That’s a bout it.

28-106R – Hurdy EX

Search for that Forward.

Add it to your hand.

If you haven’t noticed, there are a few MBM cards that search, grab from the Break Zone, or play to the field. And, that’s a good thing.

You’re going to be able to fill up that board very quickly with these cards.

Yes, we’ll take 3. Wait, we already have 3.

28-107R – Pylraster

Dinosaurs are coming back from extinction. We just got our second Dinosaur, and this one increases the damage Dinasours deal to Forwards by 5000.

Since our other Dinosaur doesn’t deal damage, Pylraster can only target itself with his ability.

Pylraster can also become a Forward as well.

Now there is one more target, and that is Bartz (1-081R). So, there is that.

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28-108R – Honey B. Lovely

Hmm, that’s different.

Honey B. Lovely comes in and everybody gets to draw a card.

And, at 3 points of damage, your opponent will then places a card from their hand to the bottom of their deck.

It’s not bad, especially for 2CP, and then you have a Meat Shield to protect you from your opponent’s attackers.

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28-109C – Penelo

You would have thought that this card would have been more than just a Common. A Rare perhaps, but I’m not complaining. Not much.

Penelo comes in and grabs an MBM character from the top 5 cards of your deck.

Which if you’re playing MBM, you’re going to find it 99.99% of the time.

It’s Penelo’s ability that makes her shine.

You can dull 3 MBM Characters, and your opponent will put one of their Forwards into the Break Zone. The good thing is that you can use this as many times as you want during your turn, as long as you have enough MBM Characters on the field.

And, if you need to grant Penelo a little bit of Protection, you can always have Mayakov (15-121R). Who can also play Penelo on to the field.

28-110C – Horne

Horne can become a Free Play quite easily.

If you already have another 2 MBM Characters on the field before Horne comes in you will draw a card.

It’s not bad, it’s just a free way to get another Backup on the board.

And, you can also put Horne into the Break Zone and give one of your MBM Forwards +1000 power.

There are better MBM Backups that you can play. And hopefully we’ll get some new ones in upcoming sets.

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28-111H – Yuna

I’ve been talking about YRP making a comeback for years. And, I’m not stopping now. We need a new YRP deck, and we need it now.

Yuna is here to help. Wind/Water/Gullwings/FFX. That is the basis of the deck, and Once per turn Yuna will search for a Gullwing and you’ll play it on to the field.

And, whenever a Forward of any element except for Water enters the field, you’ll choose a Forward and they will lose 4000 power. Possibly breaking them. Not all of them, but some for sure. Hopefully.

This is also our Gold Signature card, which looks amazing. I’ll be happy of getting a Full Art of this card, even without the Signature.
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28-112C – Lion

Am I reading this right?

When Lions enters the field play a Water Forward of cost 6 or less from your hand onto the field?

Lion costs 4 CP.

You’re getting 2 Forwards worth up to 10CP for 4CP. How is that possible? Actually, I don’t care. I’ll take 3 of these and put them in any deck that uses Water.

And, if you have at least 5 Water Forwards on the field. The Water Forwards gain +1000 power.

What’s not to like?

And, how is this a Common?

28-113R – Leonora

Not bad.

For 3CP and a Summon you can send a Forward to the Break Zone. Your opponent will choose which one, but it’s still one less Forward on their field.

If you don’t have a Summon in your hand, lucky for you that you will draw a card, before you discard a card. Meaning you might find a Summon there.

After that you have a body with 5000 power on the field ready to attack or block.

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28-114L – Rosa

You see this?

Rosa is bringing everyone out to play.

Rosa enters the field for 6CP, and searches for a Final Fantasy IV Forward and adds it to your hand.

After that you can play 2 FFIV Forwards from your hand on to the field. Only thing is that their combined cost has to be 4CP or less. Which isn’t that hard to do, considering we have a plethora of 2 cost Forwards, you should be fine.

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Dreamlike Lightning

28-077R – Wicked Thunder

Lightning in a bottle.

Wicked Thunder will break one of your opponent’s higher cost Forwards when she enters the field. Which one? Your opponent gets to choose.

You will also have to break one of your higher cost Forwards as well.

And at 3 points of damage, Wicked Thunder can not be broken by abilities that don’t deal damage. Meaning you get to keep this 9K body on the field just a little while longer.

 

28-078H – Ulmia

For 4CP you can search for a Character that costs 6CP or more.

And, that’s more cards than you can shake a stick at. Or a harp.

Ulmia’s 2nd ability gives Haste to a Forward that costs 6CP or more.

I think I see a pattern here.

I won’t say no to this card.

 

28-079C – Elena (FFBE)

Need a Crystal?

Throw Elena on to the field, and block the first Attacker.

If you already have a Crystal, you can give a Brave Exvius Forward +2000 power and Haste.

And, that’s all you need to know.

Elena is just a Meat Shield that can generate a Crystal.

 

28-080C – Gurdy

This is a great card.

I did play MBM during our Midnight Prerelease, and it was great how easily this deck is played.

Gurdy comes right in and grabs a Moogle Bounty Mayhem Character from the Break Zone and you add it to your hand. That means you can grab another Gurdy from your Break Zone. And, you can keep recycling them.

Why would you need to recycle them?

If you look at Gurdy’s second ability, you will break a Forward. Which Forward? Well that will depend on how many MBM Characters you have on the field.

I have a feeling that Gurdy has a high chance of getting the ban hammer.

28-081L – Kain

Now this is a great card.

Kain will break a Forward whenever he enters the field through a Summon or an ability.

That being said, Kain can Warp on to the field. And, he will Break a Forward.

At 3 points of Damage Kain gains +1000 power, Haste and First Strike.

Now, let’s get to Jump. Kain’s S Ability. Kain will jump out of the field and Remove himself from the game, but then he will come back at the end of the turn. And, when Kain comes back, he will Break one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Kain Warps in, Breaks a Forward, then you play Rinoa (6-041L) which will bounce Kain. And when he comes back you will Break another Character. Then use Kain’s S ability, to Jump out and Jump back in to Break another Forward.

How many Kains can you fit in a deck?

28-082R – Cait Sith EX

Cait Sith is here ready to stall your opponent with his fortune telling.

And, what does your opponent’s fortune come out to?

One of their Forwards is dull.

And, then your fortune says, you can draw a card.

When are we getting the moogle as a card?

 

28-083C – Onion Knight (FFTS)

Onion Knight has one job, and that is to mine for Crystals. They’ll grab one when they enter the field, and another one when they are sent to the Break Zone.

Other than that, Onion Knight will produce 1CP per turn as that is what all Backups do.

Maybe they’ll finally retire the cards they’ve been reprinting since Crystal Dominion.

 

 

 

28-084R – Nono

This is a great card as well, and can be played for Free!

Nono’s cost is reduced by one for each Moogle Bounty Mayhem Character that you control. Meaning that if you already have 6 on the field, Nono is a Free Play!

And, what a Free Play! (Yes, we have to Capitalize Free Play, cause we’re excited.)

Nono comes right in and breaks one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, after that, you have a Meat Shield on the field, that you will want to get rid of.

Why?

So, you can play another Nono.

And another.

Gurdy, will have his work cut out for him.

28-085C – Baknamy

Another Backup that has a good ability, but that ability is locked by the number of Backups that you control.

That was a mouthful.

Now, that ability breaks a Forward of 3CP or less.

If you can build your Backups fast, you can use this whenever you’d like.

If not then you’ll have to wait.

And, wait.

28-086R – Basch

This Moogle Bounty Mayhem deck just keeps getting better and better.

Basch comes in at 2CP with 5000 power.

If you have 5 MBM Characters on the field, Basch will gain +5000 power and Brave. Giving him a 10K body.

But that’s not all.

If you still need more power, you can discard a Moogle Bounty Mayhem Character and give Bach another 5000 power, for a grand total of 15,000 power.

And, I’m sure there are more ways to bring up his power even more.

28-087H Bahamut SIN

Really?!?

4CP to cast this Summon?

Never mind the extra cost of 2 Crystals, but this is great. I expect this one to be in almost every Lightning deck.

Bahamut SIN comes in and breaks 2 Forwards. Period.

Yeah, you have to pay 2 Crystals to break the second Forward. And, I would pay it with a smile on my face. Every single time.

This card might be the reason we have more Crystal generators in this set.

28-088H – Balthier

MBM.

What’s Moogle Mayhem Bounty? How come I’ve never heard of it?

Anyways, Balthier is here to make MBM a threat. First off, he comes in with Haste.

Second if you have 5 MBM Characters on the field, Balthier will give a Forward Haste every time he attacks.

And, lastly, Whenever a MBM Forward attacks, you will dull a Forward.

That last one by itself is great. I’d pay 5CP just for that ability.

Now, I want to go back and check out all the other MBM cards.

28-089C – Palom

Palom is here to deal some damage.

All you need is a Crystal for when he enters the field.

At only 2CP this might be a steal, cause most of the time, you will be breaking that Forward.

Wait a second.

Since when was Palom in Crystal Chronicles?

I’m going to have to look into this.

28-090C – Fran

And right next to Balthier is Fran who is the perfect card for him. As always.

Fran comes in and grabs a MBM Forward from your Break Zone.

More than likely you will grab Balthier. You will then use Fran’s second ability to play Balthier. Balthier comes in with Haste and attacks. And since you already have 5 MBM cards on the field, Baltheir will give Fran Haste. Balthier will also dull one of your opponent’s Forwards. Fran will now attack. And since Balthier is still on the field, she will dull a Forward as well.

You get all this for a grand total of 5CP, minus the 2CP of grabbing a card from your Break Zone. Actual cost is 3CP.

Not bad.

28-091R – Vorpal Bunny

More MBM.

Vorpal Bunny is a crap shot.

Vorpal Bunny comes in, you choose a Forward of 3CP or less, and you put the top card of your deck into the Break Zone. If it’s a Forward you get to Break that Forward. If it’s not you just picked a Forward for no reason.

Vorpal Bunny also turns into a Forward, giving Balthier an extra shot to dull one of your opponent’s Forwards.

 

28-092C – Montblanc

Montblanc is here to help you play your MBM Monsters on to the field. Or any MBM Character, as long as their cost is 3CP or less.

I mean this is a great card to play early on. And if you play let’s say Gurdy, you’ll grab another card from your Break Zone, and Montblanc will have become a Free Play as well.

He also has this small ability that deals 4000 damage to a Forward of your choosing.

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28-093H – Lightning

This card is amazing as well. Lots of great cards in this set, and Lightning is no exception.

For 6CP you play Lightning, once she is on the field, you’ll reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. All Odins and Lightnings will be added to your hand. The rest go to the bottom of your deck.

Meaning that if for some reason there are 5 Odins and/or Lightnings, you’ll be up 4CP from the play.

And when Lightning enters the field you may discard a card to break one of your opponent’s Forwards. If that card is named Lightning, then you will also draw a card.

Now picture this.

Mono-Mono-Lightning. Fill your deck up with 30 Lightnings and 20 Odins, and see if that works.

It doesn’t even matter which Lightning cards you grab, cause they’re just fodder for Lightnings ability whenever she attacks.

28-094C – Dragoon

4CP and a Crystal to Break a Forward?

I’ll take it.

And, since we have a bunch of Dragoons that generate Crystals, you’re good to go.

After that you got an 8k body on the field, and you should be good to go.

 

 

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28-095L – Lumina

Ok, Ok.

This is a wonderful card.

It’s a great card.

It’s Lumina, she can’t get a bad card, can she?

Lumina comes in for 2CP and amd she will break a Forward. Which Forward? Depends on how many Final Fantasy XIII Characters you already have on the field.

This one also comes off of an EX Burst.

And, you can discard a Final Fantasy XIII card, and exchange it with another Final Fantasy XIII card that is in your Break Zone.

What’s not to like?

I’ll take 3. Full Arts.

Electrifying Singles!