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Gunslinger in the Fire

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26-001R – Azeyma EX

Whats this “The Twelve” you speak of? Kind of reminds me of Knight of the Round, but I doubt that’s what these Twelve are.

Azeyma comes in and if you have at least 4 of the Twelve on the field she gains Haste and First Strike. That in itself is alright considering Azeyma is a Rare, but we’re not done.

Whenever Azeyma attacks, you get to pick one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 2000 damage for each member of the Twelve that you control.

Are we getting Soiree 2.0? I already think The Twelve will be fun to play.

26-002R – Ayame

It feels like I was just talking about Samurais.

Maybe I dreamt about it.

Anyways, Ayame is here to make Samurais better. And, what better way then to reveal the top 2 cards of your deck and hope for Samurais.

If both cards are Samurais you are in luck, as Ayame will let you play a Samurai up to 3CP straight to the field, and add the other Samurai up to 9CP to your hand.

And, if you hit both of those, and the Samurai you play is 3CP, then Ayame has just turned into a Free Play! If not, well then you paid for her.

Ayame also has an S ability where she deals 8000 damage to a Forward.

Samurais might be getting a jumpstart.

26-003R – Ifrit (XVI)

Priming is back, and it looks like it’s better than ever.

That’s not saying much as this is the second set that we have that has Priming.

Either way, Ifrit needs to be Primed into, by Clive.

First off, when Ifrit is blocked or if he is chosen by an ability, Ifrit deal your opponent 1 point of damage. That means that your opponent will need to find a way to get rid of Ifrit A.S.A.P.

We’re not done yet.

If Clive has primed into Ifrit, Ifrit is nearly untouchable. Because, all damage dealt to Ifrit that is less than Ifrit’s power becomes a big fat 0. Zero! Zero!

Can’t say I didn’t warn you.

26-004C – Elwin

Searchers are always great.

They’re even better when they don’t give you a specific Category or Job, just an element.
Elwin here does just that. I’m sure the main idea was for Eldwin to search for Clive, but the Archduke will do so much more. Elwin will search for a Fire Forward.

I don’t even think we had a card that searches for a FIre Forward before this. I will need at least 3 of these.

 

26-005H – Clive

Well Clive is back, along with FFXVI’s Priming!

Since we already know how Priming works, we now get more options. And Clive has plenty of them. When he enters the field, you will remove a card from either player’s Break Zone. That’s not very exciting. That’s cause we skipped the first part of Clive.
Clive gains all the special abilities of the Job Eikon you own removed from the game.
That means that Clive can use the Eikon (S) abilities and deal plenty of damage to your opponent.

Let’s not forget that you will also draw a card when Clive enters the field, making his total cost 1CP!

26-006C – Zack

If you ever needed a reason to throw Zack into a Fire deck, here it is.

For 4CP, you can play Zack and then play another Fire Forward from your hand that costs 3CP or less.

That in itself would be a good enough reason to play Zack, but we’re not done. Not yet.
When ever a Forward enters the field, that Forward will gain +2000 power until the end of the turn. This does exclude Zack.

The good thing is that you don’t need to place Zack in a Final Fantasy VII deck, you can throw him into any Fire deck, let’s say Samurais. Especially Samurais with Haste.

Zack is smiling like that because he’s thinking about all the possibilities for a great Fire deck.

26-007R – Sazh

Sazh comes in with his guns ablaze.

As soon as Sazh steps onto the field, Sazh will deal one of your opponent’s Forwards 4000 damage.

If he was sent in through an ability that came from a Final Fantasy XIII Character, that damage will become 8000.

I believe it was Lightning that brings in a Final Fantasy XIII character and form a party whenever she attacks. Sazh will fit right in there. You’ll be breaking a Character every time Lightning attacks. Maybe even 2 characters.

26-008C/15-007C – Samurai

Here’s a reprint, of a reprint, of a reprint.

So, we’re just going to, you guessed it, Copy/Paste from Opus XV Crystal Dominion.

“Exchanging 2CP for a Crystal.

Seems like an even trade. Now to find what we’re going to use these Crystals for?

Samurai has no abilities, that consume Crystals, but there are plenty other cards that do. Samurai’s job is to give you a Crystal and then hopefully you’ll find a way to Break Samurai so you can play the your real Backups.”

26-009L – Joshua

I feel like I just read this card.

Or, it was another card that was talking about Eikon in the Break Zone, or RFG.

Any way, by the time you play Joshua, you should have enough broken Eikons or Removed Eikons that you can break one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And that’s about it.

How good Joshua is will depend on Phoenix.

26-010C – Onion Knight (FFTS)

What’s Final Fantasy Tactics S?

Onion Knight, a 2 cost Backup that has an ability that needs ammo. That ammo will be a card. You can use any card for this.

This ability deals 3000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

But, if you discarded an Earth card that damage becomes 6000.

Just a simple Backup, that can deal damage on demand. As long as you have ammo for it.

26-011C – Naji

Well, we got a Naji that isn’t useless.

This one is actually a great Backup.

Naji will search for a Warrior. Either Job or Standard Unit, and you will add it to your hand. Plenty of Warriors to look for. I might even add this one to that Warrior deck that I made a while back.

And, let’s not get started on the art.

 

26-012H – Nald’thal

Part 2 of 12. Yeah, that sounded better in my head.

Depending on how many “The Twelve” cards you have on the field, will determine how good Nald’thal is.

The more you have, the better the card will be that you grab from the Break Zone to play to the field. Which in itself is great. And it looks like Nald’thal will help with color fixing, as it doesn’t include element in the description, just choose a Job The Twelve card from your Break Zone to play to the field.

Better yet, Nald’thal is a Backup that can send itself to the Break Zone, just so you can play another Nald’thal from your hand.

I can’t wait to see the other 10.

26-013C – Byron

The Warden of Port Isolde.

When he enters the field, Byron will grab either Clive or Joshua from the Break Zone and bring them back to your hand.

So far, so good.

On the next turn, if you decide to use Byron’s ability, you will be able to play either Clive or Joshua on to the field. I don’t know if this one is worth it unless you’re strapped for CP, but I would rather pay the 3CP or less for Clive and Joshua and keep Byron on the field.

We can always use a body. And, this one has 7000 power.

26-014L – Faris EX

Faris is back again, and this time she is ready to make your Pirates/Viking deck that much more powerful. Luckily we have Class Fourth Moogle to help with the color fixing for Faris.
When Faris enters the field, she will search for Lenna. Bringing her cost down to 3CP. And, 3CP is a great price for what Faris offers.

Other than being a 9K body that will be hard to get rid of, At the begining of every Attack Phase, Faris will play a Fire or Water Forward onto the field. Which Forwards depends on how many Backups you have. I would suggest at least 3 Backups, that way you can bring any Viking that is in your hand onto the field.

I’m hoping for a Full Art of this Faris, and I’ll take 3 of them as well.

26-015H – Fang

We finally got a Full Art Fang. I’ve been waiting for this since Opus IX, when Full Art cards first came out.

Let’s get to it.

Fang comes right in and searches for a L’Cie. And she also reduces the next L’Cie you play by 1CP. You know you’ll be looking for Lightning. Yes, the Lightning Lightning in this set.

Fang also searches for Bahamut, but in order to grab him, you’ll have to send Fang into the Break Zone. You’d think that they would have added a Bahamut to this set, considering you have a searcher for it, but nope.

That only brings me to one conclusion. We’re getting a new Bahamut next set. Full Art Final Fantasy XIII Summons. You heard it here first.

Fang is technically a free play, with all the cards that you’re searching for. And, the reduced costs that you will be paying will put your CP into the Green.

I’ll take 3. Full Arts.

26-016C – Bugenhagen

Bugenhagen finally makes his way to FFTCG.

And, it’s close to what we expected Bugenhagen to be.

First off, Bugenhagen comes in and you reveal the top 4 cards of your deck, and you can add 1 Final Fantasy VII Character to your hand. This in itself would be worth playing Bugenhagen, especially in a Final Fantasy VII themed deck, but you already knew that.
Next off the real reason you’ll be playing Bugenhagen is his ability to allow you to play Nana … I mean Red XIII from your hand onto the field.

We’ll go with Red XIII (14-019R) for this, then you can play 1CP and play another Forward from your hand onto the field.

And, if that doesn’t work for you, I’m sure we’ll be getting another Red XIII soon enough.

26-017R – Phoenix

Well I can see why Phoenix is just a Rare.

For 3CP you can grab a Fire Forward that costs up to 2CP and play it onto the field. If you don’t want to pay 3CP, you can always dull 2 of your Fire Forwards that are on the field.
This card would have been a lot better if the cost for the Fire Forward was at least 3CP, but then Phoenix wouldn’t be a Rare card.

At least the artwork is spectacular. I like these Final Fantasy IX Summons that we’re getting.

26-018H – Phoenix (XVI)

Phoenix is ready to raise the dead … err the Knocked Out?

Of course your going to prime into Phoenix, cause if you don’t, well, there’s no point in playing this card.

Once Joshua primes into Phoenix, you’ll reveal the top 4 cards of your deck and add a couple of Fire cards or Final Fantasy XVI cards to your hand. Any cards, doesn’t have to be a Character, a Forward, a Summon, or a Monster or anything. just pick the two that you prefer.

Joshua and Phoenix will do well in any Mono-Fire deck. Or a FFXVI deck.

We still have Flames of Rebirth. Simply grab any Final Fantasy XVI Forward in your Break Zone and play it on to the field.

We’ll be seeing plenty of Phoenix.

26-019C – Behemoth

A Monster that becomes a Forward. This isn’t something new, but this Monster comes in with Haste.

So far so good, the question is “Can Behemoth deal damage to your opponent?” Cause that is where these new Monsters will shine.

If Behemoth does deal damage to your opponent, you will send Behemoth to the Break Zone and you will deal 8000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

You can also have 3 of these on the field at the same time.

26-020C – Lanista

Ready to bulk up your Forwards. Lanista is here to help.

Any time one of your Forwards attack they’ll gain +1000 power to give them that little extra oomph they need to take your opponent out.

And, if you take a better look at this card, it only costs 3CP, and you get an 8K body.
If you have 3 of these on the field, and let’s say 3 Warriors (5-014C) you can get some Fire Forwards with +9000 power. Let’s not forget Lebreau (1-1030R) and that’s 10k.

I’ll be keeping an eye on Lanista.

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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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Damageplan!

Back to Opus V for this Rare card, not that rare, just a rare rarity.

On to the card

3CP/Fire
Job : Samurai
Category : XI
Forward
7000 Power
Rare

“Brave

If you have received 5 points of damage or more, Ayame gains +3000 power.”

Simple card.

Gets more powerful toward the end of the game, where Ayame gains 3K power just because you received 5 points of damage.

Tenzen is a no brainer. You will play Tenzen whenever you play with Samurais. You’ll most likely be grabbing an extra card at the end of each of your turns. But, that is a given. What else can we do with Ayame?

Look no further than Final Fantasy XI Volker (5-020R), Cornelia (6-007R) Iroha (8-004R) are all good ones if you ask me.

But, are you playing Mono-Fire? Are you playing Samurais? Or are you going to play a deck that focuses on the Damage you receive? Playing with your back against the wall, where the more Damage you received the more powerful your Forwards get. Cards like Morrow (11-013R) which will attack twice per turn at 3 Damage. Gabranth that gains +1K for each point of Damage you have.

And since we’re talking about Damage, Tifa (14-120H), cause everyone loves Tifa. And at Damage 6 you can play a category VII character on to the field. So, you might as well play Cloud (14-065L) and Barret (14-121L).

Fire/Earth is the way to go as you already have Gabranth, and FFVII in your hands. Don’t forget Lebreau (1-030R) for that +1K Power.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

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Ayame, the Samurai

Going back a little to Opus V. Ayame, don’t know much about this character so we’ll go straight to the card.

3CP – Fire
Forward
Job : Samurai
Category – XI
Rare
7000 Power

Brave

“If you have received 5 points of damage or more, Ayame gains +3000 power.”

There you have it.

Ayame has Brave so, that is a plus, and after 5 points of Damage she gains +3K. Ayame plays best when you have your back against the wall.

Now we already know that Samurai’s are a great Tribal deck. So, we’re looking straight at Tenzen, as if you didn’t expect that. You also have 3 Cyans to choose from. Don’t worry about Cyan (4-007H) as he fits better in a FFVI deck. From the other two, I would go with Cyan (11-003) as his ability revolves around Samurais. You might as well add Hien (8-138S) and Gosetsu who searches for Hien.

And if you would like to stick with the FFXI theme, you can also add Shadow Lord (4-148L) a decent legend that comes in with Brave. Volker (5-020R) whenever a category XI Forward enters the field, you choose a Forward opponent controls and it can not block this turn. And Naji (10-011R) simply because he costs 1CP, and is a 7K blocker for you.

Anything that you would do different? Let us know in the comments.