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Memories of Life

We’re jumping straight into the big news today—Opus XXX : Memories of Life has been officially revealed! This set is breaking tradition in a few ways and looks like a massive love letter to Final Fantasy IX.

Here is the breakdown of what we know so far:

Pack Art & Themes

For the first time in FFTCG history, we are getting three different pack designs in a single set! All three feature characters from Final Fantasy IX, confirming that this legendary title is the centerpiece of the set. Personally, I’m crossing my fingers that we finally get some Tantalus cards to round out the FFIX roster.

The Gold Signature: Shantotto

Our Gold Stamped Signature card for this set is the legendary Shantotto.

I’ll be honest—at first glance, I didn’t recognize her! I thought it was one of the Tarutarus from Opus XIX: From Nightmares, and I was genuinely confused why they’d give a Tarutaru the Full Art Signature treatment. But now that the dust has settled, I can say it is an absolutely gorgeous card.

The Return of Noir & Legacy Cards

The Noir collection continues to grow! This time, Sephiroth is getting the black-and-white treatment. Since both Noir cards so far are Final Fantasy VII characters, I’m starting to wonder if they are slowly reprinting the cards from the exclusive Noir art book.

We also have a killer lineup of Legacy cards:

  • Tifa (Dawn of Heroes)

  • Cyan (Beyond Destiny) — That Cyan card is definitely the standout for me.

  • Vegnagun (Tears of the Planet)

Multi-Element Comeback

Multi-Element cards (the non-Limit Break versions) are officially back! It’s been 11 Opuses since we last saw these in From Nightmares, so it’s about time they made a return to the meta.

 

Card Spotlight: Shantotto (30-080L)

Let’s look at the math on this new Shantotto, because it is potentially terrifying.

  • Cost/Power: 8 CP / 9000 Power

  • Element: Lightning

  • The “Free Play” Potential: Shantotto’s cost is reduced for each Lightning Character you control. If you’ve built your board right, she can effectively be a Free Play.

The Board Wipe: When she enters the field, she deals 1000 damage to all Forwards (excluding herself) for every Lightning Character you control.

The Math: If you have 8 characters out to make her free, she enters and deals 8000 damage + 1000 for herself = 9000 damage to the entire board.

The Value Engine: As if a board wipe wasn’t enough, every time she attacks, you reveal the top card of your deck. If it’s Lightning, it goes straight to your hand. She clears the path and then refills your resources.

Refia or Sephiroth?

Aside from Shantotto, the other card art revealed so far is top-tier. I’m currently torn between the new Sephiroth and Refia for my favorite art in the set—both look incredible.

What do you think of the new Shantotto? Is she a guaranteed inclusion in your Lightning decks, or is 8 CP too much of a gamble?

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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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