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Hidden Hope – Hope On Fire

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22-001R – Auron

Auron’s here, just doing his job as a Guardian, and protecting one of your Forwards just like any Guardian would.

When Auron comes in, you choose a Forward, and the next damage dealt to it becomes 0.

At 2CP this is a card with great value, just because Auron has Back Attack, and that means you can play him during your opponent’s turn.

Let’s say your opponent casts a Summon or ability, Auron can swoop right in and guard the Forward being targeted.

You don’t even need to be playing a FFX themed deck, Auron can hop into any deck that has Fire in it and he’ll do great.

22-002C – Red Mage

Red Mage, your 2 cost Backup that has some pretty good abilities.

1) Choose a Forward of 5CP or less, and take away it’s ability to block.

Or

2) Discard a fire card, chuck Red Mage, and deal a Forward 8000 damage.

Even if Red Mage just had the first ability, I would have said that this card is great.

And, it’s only a Common.

All you have to do is attack, and when your opponent declares a blocker, just dull Red Mage, and take away that block.

22-003R – Ayame

Really?

I see Samurais making a comeback. Where did I put those Tenzens?

Ayame comes in with Brave, at 2CP/5000 power. But, everytime a Samurai enters the field, Ayame gains +4000 power.
Meaning that Ayame’s power can easily rise past 9000. Which is a good thing, because when Ayame attacks, and her power is over 9000, you get to choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 7000 damage.

Ayame might look small, but she packs a mean punch.

22-004H – Angeal

SOLDIERs Unite!

Angeal, the original Buster Sword wielder, here to help cause more damage to your opponent. I don’t know if that makes any sense, since he doesn’t actually like to use his Buster Sword in fear of ruining it. But, Zack’s life is worth just a little bit more, than his sword.

Angeal enters the field and you can pay (X), which allows you to search for a SOLDIER of cost (X) and play it straight to the field. That means it doesn’t even need to be a Fire SOLDIER. You can also search for Roche, who comes in with Haste and can attack right away.

And, when Roche attacks, the damage increases by 2000, because that is Angeal’s other ability. Add in the fact that if you have taken 3 points of Damage, Roche also gains 3000 Power, making his attack cause 9000 damage.

We won’t even get into the art. I like this card.

22-005R – Ignacio

That’s a big axe.

Ignacio your 5 cost Forward, coming in with 9000 power.

When Ignacio enters the field, you’ll put the top 3 cards of your deck into the Break Zone, and if all of those cards are Fire, you’ll deal one of your opponent’s Forwards 9000 damage.

I mean, .. ok.

Not great. Somewhat … I’ll pass.

22-006H – Garland EX

Is it just me or does Garland look like a dwarf here?

He might look like a dwarf, but this is a great card.

Garland comes in and allows you to grab a Knight from the Break Zone, making garland a 2 cost Forward with 8000 power. You’d think that that’s enough but it is not. When you decide to play that Knight. Or any Knight. You get to choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and hand that Forward 5000 damage.

These cards just keep getting stronger and stronger.

22-007C – Carla

Agito Cadet reporting for duty.

3CP/7000 power.

Carla is a decent Forward. has enough power to hold her own against most Forwards. She also has 2 abilities that can help out when the going gets tough. All you have to do is Dull her. No extra costs for these ones.

You can either deal a Forward 3000 damage, or you can buff an attacking Forward with +2000 power.

Either way she can stop an Attacker or help one of your Forwards.

Carla is a Forward that moonlights as a Backup. Kind of reminds me of Amon from Opus II.

22-008C – Clavat

Cheap Backup to play that allows you to look at the top card of your deck.

If you don’t like what you see, you can place the card at the bottom of your deck. If you do, just leave it where it is.

Bonus Points, Clavat is dressed as a Black Mage.

It could see some use.

 

22-009H – Jecht

Do you know what this is?

It is a Free Card, that will Break a Forward when Jecht enters the field.

I can see Jecht doing great with my Bomb deck, which upon release Jecht will be put in, and something else will be taken out.

Let’s explain. For every Fire Character you control Jecht costs 1 less CP. So, if you have 6 Fire Characters on the field Jecht is free. And when he enters the field, Jecht deals damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards. And they deal damage to each other.

Only thing missing here, is better art.

22-010L – Selphie

Selphie comes in and allows you to search for a FFVIII Forward.

But, that’s not a good reason to make Selphie a Forward. You can do that with a Rare, and it’ll still cost less than 4CP.

Then again, Selphie does a lot more than that.

Once per turn you can give a FFVIII Forward +1000 power, Haste and Brave. That means as long as Selphie is on the field, all of your Finla Fantasy VIII Forwards that come in will be granted Haste and they will be able to attack on the same turn that they came in. No more Summoning Sickness. Selphie has a cure for that.

Oh, and she has 7000 power. 8000 if you use her ability on herself.

22-011C – Warrior

Just your Standard Unit 3 cost Fire Forward with 7000 power.

But, if you have at least a couple of Standard Unit Backups on the field, Warrior gains +2000 power.

Making him a 9k body.

Effectively becoming a Meat Shield.

 

22-012C – Foulander

A Monster that becomes a Forward. That’s becoming more and more normal with every new set.

Foulander here is no exception. And, it deals up to 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards every time it attacks. Allowing you to soften up your opponent’s front line in the process. And, if you got 3 Foulanders on the field, that’s even better.

Don’t forget that Foulander only costs 1CP.

Throw this in any Fire deck and you’re good to go.

22-013C – Machina

You’re either playing this card early, or you’re not playing it at all.

Unless your board gets wiped and you have to start all over.

Machina does have a decent ability, dealing 7000 damage to a Forward.

Other than that, at least the art looks good.

 

 

22-014R – Belias, the Gigas

This is a great Summon if you want to get rid of a pesky blocker blocking your Attacking Forward. Once that happens, and you cast Belias, your Forward gains +3000 power and First Strike. And if that’s not enough Belias deals your opponent’s Forward 7000 damage. Thus reducing their power and hopefully breaking them.

One way or another your Forward shall survive.

Plus, if you paid with only Backups, you get to draw a card as well.

 

22-015C – Meeth

Meeth sure looks angry.

You would be too if all you did was remove a Backup from the game, to draw 2 cards.

Meeth wanted to come in and party, but one of his friends is forced to leave when he comes in. And that friend was the only reason Meeth wanted to come to this party.

But, for a 2 cost Backup, that lets you get rid of a Backup you don’t need anymore to draw 2 cards, there could be some use to Meeth.

22-016H – Minwu (FFBE)

Not that Minwu, this is the other Minwu from Brave Exvius.

They’re the same, but different.

And, this is a great card.

Bring in a card from the Break Zone, any time you’d like during your turn as long as you don’t have any cards in your hand.
It’s like you’re playing with an extra deck. Plus your Limit Break Deck, you got 3 different places where you can grab a card to cast.

I’ll take 3.

22-017C – Lilyth

Need a Crystal?

Play Lilyth. 2CP with 5000 power.

Not the strongest of cards out there, but if you need Crystals for abilities and what not, Lilyth is a decent play. You get a Crystal and a body that will hang out on the front line until needed.

Let’s not forget Hard Slash. If you look you don’t need to dull Lilyth to use the ability. Meaning if you have 2 Lilyths in hand, you can deal 7000 damage to 2 Forwards and you’ll still be able to attack.

I’ll try this one out.

22-018R – Luartha

At 1CP and a Crystal, Luartha can do some damage (especially if you already have taken 3 points of damage) before your opponent even knows what hit them.

Luartha will come in, and if you pay the Crystal she gains Haste. Once you attack, you can choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 5000 damage. Thus reducing the Power of a Forward that can break Luartha.

And if you already have taken 3 points of damage, Luartha deals one of your opponent’s Forwards 5000 damage when she enters the field.

I like this card, I shall find some use for it, because you can throw it into any deck that runs Fire, and you’re good to go.

I’ll take 3, preferably foil versions.

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Busters R’ Us

This could have been a real easy article to write. I could have just said let’s throw Zack into your AVALANCHE deck and call it a day. But, where’s the fun in that?

Although there might be a bunch of cards that are the same, we”re going to try and do this a bit different. A lot different that is.

We’re going to go with 2 different Zacks.

Zack (10-007H), just for the ability to ping damage here and there and at least a couple of time per turn. Pair that with a Summon that Breaks all the Forwards that have damage on them and you got yourself a wipe.

Zack (20-009L) Because it is just a great card, if you’re running anything SOLDIER related. And, we’ll be running at least a couple of Soldiers other than Zack.

We’ll start off with Zack’s mentor Angeal (3-0989R), not only is he a 7K body, but he also searches for Zack when he is sent to the Break Zone. That way you can just keep attacking with Zack and Angeal until they break, just so you can replay them once again.

Next we’ll be handing off the Buster Sword to Cloud (1-187S), and you’ll be saying that there are better Clouds than that, and we’ll say you’re right. But, this is Zack’s deck and Cloud is just helping out. Plus the good Cloud’s are Earth, and we don’t really feel like color fixing.

Time to find Zack’s girlfriend, Aerith (11-139S) this way we’ll be able to grab a couple of FFVII Forwards from the Break Zone.

And as I’m looking for Backups, there aren’t really any, that have anything to do with Zack. So, we’re going to change it. It shall be all Forwards. We might change this again later.

Cue the music.

Bum-Bum Bum-Bum Bum-Bum Bum-Bum

Sephiroth (11-138S), Dulls all the low powered Forwards every time Sephiroth attacks. You have to pay taxes to keep Sephiroth on the field, 3 cards from the Break Zone. You should have these in there, unless you’re opponent finds a way to remove all the cards from your Break Zone.

Roche (14-095H), we’re just grabbing any SOLDIER right now. Roche has always been a great card. You’ll always want to go first with Roche and just play him right away for no CP and swing for a point of damage.

We’re actually going to add a couple of Backups right now.

Class Second Moogle (10-016C) to help us with Ice CP.

Genesis (3-033L), I still love this card, even though I probably haven’t used it in years. Dull and Freeze a Character, and when Genesis deals damage, your opponent discards a card.

Next we’ll add in our generic SOLDIERs. SOLDIER : 3rd Class (10-009C) and SOLDIER : 3rd Class (20-02C). These 2 will search for each other when one enters the field, and when the other exits the field. SOLDIER : 3rd Class (20-032C) also gains a +1K buff for each SOLDIER : 3rd class that you have in the Break Zone.

We’ll add Johnny (20-096C), another Backup to help us grab a Character from the Break Zone, and we can use his ability to grab a FFVII Character from the Break Zone.

Hedgehog Pie (20-019C), just to get all 3 of the Hedgehog Pies out at the same time. After that they are ticking time bombs, that go off when you decide you want them to go off.

Duke Larg (1-057R), Lebreau (1-030R) and Lulu (1-150R). All three for the 1K buff they give to their respective element’s Forwards.

All we need is to throw in some Summons. Knights of the Round isn’t an option, so we’ll just go with Ramuh (15-101R), Shiva (8-032R), Phoenix (3-020H) and Bahamut (16-016C).

That’s pretty much what we have for Zack. Not the greatest.

Forwards

3x – Roche (14-095H)
3x – Angeal (3-098R)
3x – SOLDIER : 3rd Class (10-009C)
3x – Sephiroth (11-138S)
3x – Genesis (3-033L)
3x – Zack (10-007H)
3x – Aerith (11-139S)
3x – SOLDIER : 3rd Class (20-032C)
3x – Zack (20-009L)
3x – Cloud (1-187S)

Backups

3x – Class Second Moogle (10-016C)
3x – Lebreau (1-030R)
2x – Duke Larg (1-057R)
2x – Lulu (1-150R)
3x – Johnny (20-096C)

Summons

1x – Ramuh (15-101R)
1x – Phoenix (3-020H)
1x – Shiva (8-032R)
1x – Bahamut (16-016C)

Monsters

3x – Hedgehog Pie (20-019C)

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Zack Fair

“Hey, would you say I became a hero?”

Shinra SOLDIER: Second Class. He left his hometown and came to Midgar with dreams of becoming a hero.

He tackles his assignments head-on as he aspires to one day be promoted to SOLDIER: First Class.

-taken from the website

We all know how this ends. If you don’t move along, nothing to see here.

Spoilers.

It’s raining, Cloud is useless due to the Mako poisoning, and Shinra is looking for the 2 escaped test subjects.

That is pretty much the ending to Crisis Core. Zack Vs the Shinra Army. I remember that battle. It felt like it would never end. The Soldiers just kept coming and coming, until they finally took Zack down.

Before all of that happened, Zack was a teenager, that ran away from home to join the Shinra army and became a SOLDIER. Angeal took Zack under his wings, and hands down the Buster Sword to Zack, who then passes it on to Cloud at the end of his story.

Zack met Aerith after falling down through the roof of the Sector 5 church. They began dating, but that all ended when Zack was sent on a mission to Nibelheim, alongside Sephiroth and Cloud. After the events that transpired there Hojo took Zack and Cloud for his new experiment the “Jenova Reunion Theory”. Zack escapes, helping Cloud escape as well.

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Dawn of Heroes – Spark in the Dark

20-085C – Assassin

1CP/3K body

Perfect if you want to swarm the board. Pay the additional cost and deal a Forward 3000 damage.

After that you can put Assassin into the Break Zone to break that same Forward.

But, then again, put into the Break Zone still confuses me, so I might be wrong on this.

 

20-086H – Alisaie

This card looks good so far, at least in my head. We still need to see it in action.

Alisaie comes in and you can play a 3 cost Scion from the Break Zone onto the field. Right away you get some value from her. Especially if you play her, and grab Alphinaud 20-106R from the Break Zone. You’ll technically only be paying 1CP for Alisaie, and Alphinaud.

And Alisaie’s second ability triggers when a Water Forward (Alphinaud) enters the field. That second ability says that when a Water Forward enters the field you can dull one of your opponents Forwards.

And when that Forward is Alphinaud, your opponents will select one of their dull Forwards and Break it.

Now if that Forward that you dulled is the only dull Forward, then you have chosen the Forward that will be Broken.

20-087R – Angeal

I always have trouble remembering what “Put into the Break Zone” means. And, during every Prerelease, I find myself asking the same question.

Must be old age.

Anyways, Angeal is a 3 cost Forward that likes to Break your opponents Forwards along with a couple of his SOLDIER buddies.

I’d think of Angeal more like a Summon that sticks around. Move over Odin, you ain’t got that strike like Angeal. Or something like that. Cause Angeal will stick around and block an attack or two before he gets sent t the Break Zone.
Angeal can also be put into the Break Zone and give one of your Forwards +3000 power.

20-088L – Estinien

Just looking at this card, you know it’s going to be good.

Warp Estinien in for 1CP. Then he comes in with Haste. And, until the end of the turn he has Brave, and can attack twice in the same turn. And, when he attacks he gains +10,000 power and First Strike.

That’s just … WOW!!!

You’ll want to play Estinien from the get go. Almost like Roche. If you don’t find Estinien in your opening hand, you should just Mulligan and hope to get him on your next draw.

This card will be heading straight to my Haste deck, with Haste.

20-089C – Kadaj

Kadaj is back.

4CP with an 8K body, and an ability that triggers when he enters the field, and enters the Break Zone. (That could be a song title “Enter the Break Zone” or album title.) Kadaj will make a Forward lose power, in other words Kadaj will cast Sap on a Forward.

Once he’s done with that he’ll stay on the field until he gets broken and cast Sap on another Forward. Well, technically it’s not Sap, but it’s close enough.

It’s decent.

20-090H – G’raha Tia

G’raha Tia is a great way to play a Scion onto the field, of an element that you are splashing.

Or any Scion that is not in your hand. As you’ll pay the cost of let’s say Alisaie, and if Alphinaud is already in the Break Zone, you’ll be able to play him as well.

G’raha Tia also gains 3000 power when there is a FFXIV Standard Unit Character on the field.

This is a card I’d like to see in action. And I’ll decide on if I like it or not afterwards. But, it’ll be too late for this article, as I only write my first impressions on each card, and at time of writing release is still a month away.

20-091C – Illusionist

2 cost Backup, that just buffs one of your Forwards attacks by 2000 power for one turn.

Can be used if your in a little pickle, attacking and being blocked by a Forward with a little more power than what you attacked with.

Would I use this card?

Probably not.

 

20-092R – The Emperor

The Emperor has new clothes.

And he’ll change them every time he is put into the Break Zone. He might even change into the same clothes, as you can search for The Emperor and play him onto the field dull. As long as The Emperor has 3CP or less.

With this one there are a total of 6 Emperors to choose from. One which allows you to search for an Emperor of cost 5 or less. Which is the highest CP for any Emperor.

I wonder if we can play The Emperor, the same way that we play Ultros. As the Emperor always seems like he has a way to come back to the field. I’m going to look into this some more at a later date.

We haven’t even mentioned The Emperor’s ability, That requires your opponent to pay 2CP more for their Character’s action abilities. Looks like an easy way to drain your opponent of CP.

I like.

20-093H – Shadow Dragon

You can either pay 3CP to cast Shadow Dragon, or you can use Shadow Dragon as part of the cost to play Golbez. After that you can pay just 1CP of any element and play Shadow Dragon onto the field, straight from the Break Zone.

And, when Shadow Dragon enters the field, you can pick a Forward of 3CP or less and Break it.

Once all is said and done, you can turn Shadow Dragon into a Forward by paying a whopping 0CP.

Sure, it only has 3000 power, but you’re not playing this card so you can have an extra Forward.

Just bring Shadow Dragon out to block, just so you can recast it later.

20-094R – Cor

Cor was a Captain? How come I don’t remember that?

4 cost Lightning Forward with 8000 power.

Nothing to write home about so far.

But, if a King is on the field, Cor gains +2000 power. making him a 10K body.

When Cor is finally sent to the Break Zone, you can remove the top 10 cards of your deck and play Cor back onto the field dull.

Is it worth it? Probably not. Maybe if Cor was a better card, we’d think about it.

20-095C – Weaver

I’m beginning to think that these Backups were solely made to be played in draft.

I don’t think anyone would use these.

But, we have one for every element.

So, I’m writing a bunch of sentences to make it seem like they’re worth writing about.

 

20-096C – Johnny

It was only a matter of time until Johnny showed up. And as you know it Tifa is in this set as well.

Johnny is a decent Backup that can grab a couple of cards from your Break Zone. Easy way to get a couple of Forwards back, or a Backup that was previously sent to the Break Zone.

After that, whenever you need another FFVII Character that was in the Break Zone, Johnny will happily head into the Break Zone to grab them.

Even though he doesn’t specifically search for Tifa, you know that that, that’s what’s really on his mind.

20-097C – Sephiroth

For 7CP you can cast Sephiroth.

Or you can just Warp Sephiroth in for 1CP.

Spoiler alert.

And he’ll Warp down from the sky, thrusting Masamune down one of your opponents Forwards just like he did to …

I stopped myself there, cause sometimes people don’t pay attention to Spoiler warnings.

If you know, you know.

And that’s not all, Zanshin, Special Ability that can be cast without dulling Sephiroth.

depending on how many Sephiroths you have in you hand, you can be breaking low cost Forwards left and right like there’s no tomorrow.

How is this a Common?

20-098R – Chadley

A simple 2 cost ability that will allow you to grab a Forward from the Break Zone.

But, you have to jump through so many hoops just to get to it. But you can eliminate half the process if you already have a Lightning Summon in your hand.

Lets see now.

1 – Play Chadley
2 – Discard a card
3 – Search for a Lightning Summon and add it to your hand.
4 – Next turn/ Dull Chadley
5 – Discard a Summon/
6 – Put Chadley into the Break Zone
7 – Choose a Forward in your Break Zone, add it to your hand.

Is it worth it? Aren’t there better ways of grabbing something from the Break Zone. Sure you can set it up before hand, and Chadley can be used for CP until you need him.

I guess it all depends on whatever you think.

20-099C/15-095C – Ninja

You’d think they’d at least try and get the serial numbers to match.

Would’ve looked a lot better reading 20-099C/15-099C.

Not that big of a deal but, at least you gain a Crystal when Ninja comes in.

After that you can send Ninja to the Break Zone, and deal a Forward 1000 damage.

*yawn

Maybe if it wasn’t a reprint I’d be more excited.

20-100R – Fusoya

Well one thing is for sure.

If you’re playing this card, you’ll have a whole bunch of 1CP and 2CP Summons in your deck. Just so you can spam them whenever you have Fusoya attack.

Isn’t there an Emissaries of Light Braska with an S ability that you can use a Summon instead of Braska?

*hint hint

I think these 2 will go well together.

20-101C – Behemoth

Common Monsters, that can do some damage. Behemoth here is a prime example.

Behemoth enters the field, and deals 7000 damage to one Forward.

Next turn, Behemoth can Break a damaged Forward.

Simple, effective, and probably won’t see much play, even though it is a decent card.

Prove me wrong.

20-102L – Mira

Well Maybe Behemoth will see some play, if it’s only to feed Mira’s ability.

1CP, 1 Monster, 1Miiiir-a

And say good-bye to that Forward that just entered the field. It’s even better if your opponent just spent a fortune on that Forward.

Mira is also able to bring herself back from the Break Zone, all you got to do is sacrifice a Monster, and she returns from the dead.

If you ever needed a reason to make a Monster deck, Mira is it.

20-103H – Ramuh

A 2 cost Summon that will give you 3 choices.

Best part, you can pick up to 2 of the 3 choices.

Which ones should you pick?

The choice is yours.

Dull a Forward, Deal 5000 damage to a Forward, or give Haste to a Forward.

It can also be any Forward that you can choose from.

Dull a Forward attacking, while dealing 5000 damage to another Forward, or even the same Forward.

Or maybe even, dull a Forward blocking and giving Haste to one of your Forwards to attack next.

The possibilities are there.

20-104R – Ramza

All you need is a Crystal in your possession. You don’t even nee to use it. If you don’t have a Crystal then you shouldn’t be playing Ramza. Play another Ramza

Ramza comes in with a Crystal (Maybe that Crystal is a Zodiac Stone.) Ramza gains Haste, and when he is sent to the Break Zone, you can break one of your opponent’s Forwards. Not limited to a certain CP either.

Bring Ramza in and attack right away. Don’t worry if he gets sent to the Break Zone, there’s more Ramzas where that came from.

You can probably find a way to grab him back from the Break Zone.

Ramza Army of One is a go.

As long as he can Shout.

20-105C – Reeve EX

It’s a 3 card trick.

Reeve comes in sets up his little table and shows you the 3 cards. One of which you can add to your deck, the others get sent to the bottom of your deck. Not seeing the light of day again, unless you shuffle your deck.

Ok, I know that’s not how it works.

4CP to grab a card from the top 3 of your deck At least you’ll know what you’ll be missing.

And, why did I always thought it was Reeves?