Tag: backup

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Crystal Dominion – Starter Review

Wedge (15-131S)

Well, you know that these cards all go well together. You will most likely be playing 1CP for Wedge as you will have another Job AVALANCHE Operative. And you will be forming parties and attacking. Tifa must have made some great cocktails at 7th Heaven, because everyone is partying up.

Once you party up, Wedge will be able to Break 1 Dull Character of cost 4 or more.

Jessie (15-132S)

-Insert Wedge’s first paragraph here.-

Everyone will want to party up with Jessie, because she is the only girl on the team. Tifa doesn’t count unless you’re playing Tifa (14-120H). And then you might be able to pull off something really good. I don’t know what that is but it involves Jessie, Cloud and Tifa. Menage a …. I mean … Manage the Trio right and you’ll be putting a beat down on your opponent.

 

Barret (15-133S)

Barret works a little different as he doesn’t party. Could be because Marlene is always there, and he is trying to be a good role model. But, he still will still only cost 1CP as you’ll be playing AVALANCHE.

Now, I see Barret being held till the end of the Attack phase into Main Phase 2, and if one of your Forwards were broken, then you can simply dull Barret and Break one of the opponents Forwards.

Simple.

Biggs (15-134S)

Charlie Sheen here, is known for his partying. And, whether he’s going as Charlie, or Topper, or Rick Vaughn, or Biggs. I don’t know about you, but the first time I saw Biggs in the FFVII Remake, I thought Charlie Sheen was going to be his voice actor.

Now, from the party abilities, I think this one is one of the better ones. Drawing a card and protecting all the party members at the same time. I like it.

Sign me up. I’ll take 3

Tseng (15-135S)

Beef up your Turks with Tseng. Plenty to choose from. And when he enters the field you take a look at the top five cards of your deck. Add 1 Turk to your hand, and play a Turk from your hand on to the field. From what I’m reading you won’t be able to play a Turk unless you grab a Turk.

Wonder if they’ll include Vincent as a Member of the Turks?

 

 

President Shinra (15-136S)

Just a Backup that’ll let you search for a card once he enters the field.

Nothing much else to write here, I’m just pretending that I have something important to say about the card so we can fill up this blank space next to it.

That’s not saying that you shouldn’t play this card. It’s just a simple card that will let you search for what you need.
Rude (15-137S)

Ravishing Rick Rude, only this time he’s bald. Now you’ll want to have either President Shinra or Rufus. Give all the Turks Brave and +1K. And that’s only part of it.

You will want to be playing as many Turks as you can. Because if you have 4 or more on the field, at the beginning of each attack phase you will dull all the Forwards your opponent controls.

Rude will stop your opponent in their tracks.

Reno – (15-138S)

Reno is always teaming up with Rude.

So, it would make sense that these two cards will compliment each other. For one, If President Shinra or Rufus is on the field, Reno gives all the Turks +1K and First Strike.

And, at the beginning of each of your attack phase, with 4 or more Turks, all the Turks gain Haste.

 

Cloud (15-139S)

Another Set, another Cloud.

But, which one do you choose. Depends on the situation. This one works well with this deck, but would you use it in any other deck, when there are a couple of other Clouds that are far better? All you need is one Job Avalanche Operative, and we do have that in Tifa (14-120H) which might make Cloud a threat in the late game. You’ll Break a Forward and grab a AVALANCHE Operative from the Break Zone, throw it onto the field and well … let’s see what happens.

 

Rufus (15-140S)

Just when you thought it was all over. You’ve taken 5 points of Damage and all of a sudden, Shantotto comes out and wipes the board. What do you do? All the Turks are in the Break Zone.

Have no fear. For Rufus is in your hand.

Once you play Rufus and pay for the extra cost, Out comes the cavalry. All the different Turks that are in your Break Zone can come out to play. Straight to the field. No stopping for gas. And once you enter the Attack Phase. Hopefully you were smart enough to play Reno and give Haste to all the Turks on the field.

Now, my friend. You can go to town on your opponent.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Opus XIV – Water Review

14-096C – Blue Mage

Would have been better if it read, “For each Monster you control … ” But, then it wouldn’t have been a common card.
And if there are no Monsters on the field you can always look for one in your Break Zone when you play this card.

 

 

 

14-097C – Ananta

Don’t like the cards you just drew? Just play Ananta with those 2 cards and hopefully get something better. And if that doesn’t work, Dull and Break and hopefully you’ll get something better once again.

 

 

 

14-098R – Ultimecia

Put a Forward into the Break Zone to grab one of your opponents Forwards of the same cost.

“Hey there, Cloud you look pretty glum over there. Why don’t you just come over here and sit down next to Ultimecia. She needs a Guardian. The other guy didn’t cut it.”

 

 

14-099C – Eiko

Technically, you’re just paying 5CP to search for a Summon.

 

 

 

 

14-100H – Octomammoth

The Monsters are becoming stronger. Why else would this Octomammoth have 8 arms? Well, it has 8 arms to grab to of your opponents Forwards and throw them back at him.

Plus, turning into a Forward isn’t bad either.

 

 

 

14-101R – Ultros

Ultros just won’t go away.

Actually, he does run away, and then comes back stronger. But, are 5 cards worth grabbing Ultros back from the Break Zone. I guess we’ll find out in Opus XV … I mean Crystal Dominion.

 

 

14-102L – Leviathan, Lord of the Whorl

These Primals are Crazy! Yes, with a capitol C.

For 9 CP you can return a Forward, a Backup and a Monster to your opponents hand. And when a Character is returnd to it’s owner’s hand you can choose 1 Forward and it loses 9000 Power.

That’s 3 Forwards if you return all 3.

And, a 9K body. I can’t wait to try these Primals out.

14-103R – Quina

Is it just me, or is this the first card where the head blocks out the line where the name is?

I like how they’re playing into the characters’ themes. Discard a Monster card. Pretty much Quina eats the Monster and gains abilities. Might not be a powerful card, but can draw cards and remove cards for you.

 

 

14-104C – Kraken (IX)

Kraken plays well into Water.

Draw 2 cards if you’ve got another Job Chaos to discard.

 

 

 

14-105C – Corsair

“Do you feel lucky, Punk?

Well. Do you?”

If you do, try your luck here and get a better card than the one that you started off with.

Is it just me, or can you see Clint Eastwood posing for this card?

 

14-106H – Golbez

They’re starting to pump out Golbez cards. But, it’ll never surpass the amount of Cloud or Lightning cards there are.
This card might eventually pay for itself. The longer this card stays on the field the more chances you have of being able to play a Forward on to the field for free.

And Kain, will be having nightmares with Golbez’s ability.

 

 

14-107C – Sahagin (XIV)

Simple Backup, that let’s you see what cards are coming up. That way you can either set up your opponent for an EX Burst, or play the cards you need.

 

 

 

 

14-108H – Jecht

Pair Jecht with Minwu.

Jecht Block will stop your opponent in their tracks.

And when he enters the field during your Main Phase 2, depending on how many Forwards were attacking you can either Break or return a Forward.

 

 

14-109C – Steiner

I don’t see anyone playing this card. Not when all the other Steiner’s are better plays at any given moment.

 

 

 

 

14-110C – Tonberry

Hmm, this one should have been like Mom-Bomb if you ask me. But, instead Tonberry acts like a searcher, where each Monster Counter is counted as 1 card that you can look at.

Because why would Tonberry have anything to do with dealing massive damage? /Sarcasm

 

 

14-111R – Lakshmi, Lady of Bliss

Draw a card at the end of each of your turns. Period

That and if you have 5 or more cards in your hand damage dealt to Lakshmi is reduced by 2K.

Your strategy, if you choose to accept it, is to play your cards down after your attack phase.

 

14-112L – Larsa EX

This is interesting. You can actually grab a card from the Damage Zone and trade it with a card from your hand.
There are now ways to grab any card, from anywhere.

No, need to make sure that the card you’ll need later on is safe.

Larsa’s second ability is like icing on the cake, you should be able to get 3 EX Bursts into your Damage Zone, easily.

 

14-113R – Leviathan EX

Get rid of 2 cards, or get rid of 1 and grab 1 from your Break Zone.

Simple. It’ll be great if Leviathan comes off an EX Burst.

6CP isn’t that high of a cost to remove 2 Forwards from the field, might see limited play if you ask me.

 

 

14-114 – Luzaf

Easy way to get out of a sticky situation. Is one of your Forwards being Targeted by a Summon, or ability? Just have Luzaf enter with his Back Attack and return that Forward to your hand. Your opponent also Breaks one of their Forwards.
I like it.

Posted on by — 4 Comments

Opus XIV – Lightning Review

14-077C – Ovjang

Easy way to grab a Forward of cost 3 or less that was recently broken. Any Forward will do.

But, you’ll probably want to play Aphmau.

 

 

 

14-078H – Trap Door

Trap door, if you walk through it you’ll break a Forward.

Your opponent will think twice before breaking Trap Door.

 

 

 

14-079 – Aphmau

If you grabbed Aphmau from the Break Zone, you can play a card named Aphmau from your hand for 1 Lightning Crystal Point. Doesn’t have to be this one, but there aren’t any other cards named Aphmau.

 

 

 

14-080R – Exdeath

8CP is a bit high. But, you get to do 2 things at once. Break a Forward and grab a Forward from your Break Zone that is 4CP or less.

But, you’re probably going to be playing this card for the ability, Black Hole. For 1 Lightning CP and an Exdeath you can remove 1 Forward from the game.

 

 

14-081C – Puppetmaster

Hmm, this Puppetmaster needs his puppet to dull a Forward.

 

 

 

 

14-082C – Gnath

Don’t like the cards you just drew? Just play Gnath with those 2 cards and hopefully get something better. And if that doesn’t work, Dull and Break and hopefully you’ll get something better once again.

 

 

 

14-083C – Fachan

I’d call this a ticking time bomb. Every time it ticks it gets more power. But this time bomb, you can have it go off whenever you choose to.

 

 

 

 

14-084C – Schuzelt

For Mono-Lightning this card can be great. Deal a Forward 1000 Damage and then use Grim Reaper to Break it. You can use Grim Reaper more than once.

 

 

 

 

14-085C – Sylph (XIV)

A primal activates Sylph, and sylph can dull and reduce the Damage one of your Forwards takes by 2000.

I’m wondering, what a Primal deck would look like. Every time a Primal enters the field you can activate all of your Backups.

Hmm.. Let me look into it.

 

14-086R – Heidegger

Break a Forward when Heidegger enters the field, but you’ll need to discard 2 cards. 6CP, not bad for it. Cheaper then 8 that Exdeath had.

Next turn, you can pay 1 Lightning CP, and dull Heidegger and put him in the Break Zone to add 1 Forward to your hand. If you find one in the top 5 cards.

Even Heidegger is wondering if this is a good deal.

 

14-087L – Ravana, Savior of the Gnath

Ravana can attack 4 times???

Move over Gilgamesh, Ravana has taken your spot. It doesn’t really matter that Ravana can’t gain Brave when he activates every time a Character is put into the Break Zone. Yours or your opponents.

And the Damage that he is dealt is reduced by 5K.

Gilgamesh and Ravana. Ice/Lightning. The game can be over in 1 turn.

14-088C – Mneejing

This card was probably meant to help Aphmau, but it probably won’t be used for Aphmau.

You can choose any Forward 3CP and under to use it on.

 

 

 

14-089C – Ewen

For 1CP you can Break a damaged Forward.

Nuff said.

 

 

 

14-090R – Ramuh, Lord of Levin

Unless you’re playing Ramuh early on, he is coming in with Haste.

And, you’ll be breaking Forwards left and right. You can have Ramuh on the field and cast Raiden (Revenant Wings)
(10-100C), and Break all the active Forwards your opponent controls.

Remember you heard it here first.

 

14-091R – Ramuh

Same thing as above. If you already control Ramuh, Lord of Levin, you’ll be Breaking 2 Forwards each time you cast this card.

 

 

 

 

14-092C – Dragoon

Are you playing Dragoons? You might want to pass this card, unless you can find a way to play him for cheaper. But then you still have a body on the field.

 

 

 

 

14-093H – Luso EX

I can see some playing this card. For 2CP you get to search for a FFTA2 Character, and if that doesn’t work, at least you have a blocker. That will last through one round.

Engage on the other hand, is the same as his n entry ability, except for the fact that the FFTA2 Character is played straight to the field than to your hand.

 

 

14-094R – Ravus

Plenty of Captains to choose from but, one that stands out is Captain (12-094C). I can see some shenanigans that will come out of these 2 cards.

With that being said, 1CP for a 9K body, is what you would want to play every chance you get.

A Forward losing 5K when he enters either the field or the Break Zone isn’t bad either.

 

14-095H – Roche

Roche. The perfect play Turn 1.

If he is in your hand on your First turn, You will basically, just lay the card down and deal your opponent 1 point of Damage. If not, then there is nothing special about him. Except the first time you fight him in FFVII Remake.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Opus XIV : Earth Review

14-058C – Dark Knight

Play this card and deal yourself 1 point of Damage. If you already have 4 points of Damage, you might as well play this card as 5 points of Damage will give this card Brave.

You’ll have a 9K body with Brave, for a measly 3CP.

Just don’t play this card when you have 6 points of Damage.

 

 

14-059R – Wol

Opus V Wol is better all around. The only reason you’ll play this card is to play anther MOBIUS Forward from your hand at no cost.

At 3 points of Damage he becomes something like a Diet Opus V Wol. It’s similar, but just not the same.

 

 

14-060R – Carbuncle EX

Mono-Earth? Sure, +2K Buff to all the Forwards, and a free card. You’ll becoming out +1 on this transaction.

 

 

 

 

14-061H – Calbrena

Add this one to the Same deck as Carbuncle. Give me Mono Earth and a 9K Calbrena to knock off your socks. And if Calbrena gets broken for whatever reason. You can put her back together by discarding an Earth Backup.

Yes, Please and Thank you!

 

 

14-062L – Titan, Lord of Crags

It looks like Earth has a Diet Shantotto as well, but this one deals your opponent 1 point of Damage as well. I take that back. This card is just as good as Shantotto, just a little different. And this one is also a Forward. Titan can’t break himself, so he’ll be free to attack if he wipes the board.

 

 

 

14-063C – Chichu

Not as good as the other Monsters in this set, with Monster Counters. But, being able to give a Forward +2K power for each Monster Counter on Chichu, might be good.

Did I mention I know a guy named Chichu?

 

 

 

14-064R – Kitone EX

Hmm, War of the Visions has a great Backup. Just the on entry ability is great, you’ll be able to stop a powerful forward in it’s tracks. For one turn at least.

And, “Dream Within a Dream”, 4K Damage to one Forward, and you can recast it, with a single Earth Crystal Point, without paying the S cost.

 

 

 

14-065L – Cloud

Is this the chase card for the set? FFVII, Cloud, Legend, Full Art, they all come together in this one card.

I mean, just look at this card. If your opponent controls any Forwards, Cloud gains 2K. If your opponent didn’t have any Forwards, you wouldn’t need to play Cloud. You could have gotten the job done with Choobo (2-060C)

When Cloud attacks, choose one Forward and that Forward has to Block this turn. So, you can start picking off pesky Forwards that you want to get rid of.

Finally, discard a FFVII card and Cloud gains +1K and he can’t be chosen by Summons or abilities.

At the end of the day, Cloud is an 11K Forward that deals Mass Destruction with his Cross-Slash. Even though there is no ability names Cross-Slash on the card.

14-066C – Kobold

Activate Kobold, each time a Primal enters the field. You can also dull Kobold and give a Forward +1K power. And then activate him and repeat when another Primal enters the field.

I’m guessing not so much.

 

 

14-067H – Shantotto

Made for Earth/Wind decks.

Well thank you Captain Obvious.

Now, is the 5CP worth it to potentially draw another 2 cards?

 

 

14-068C – Dark Elf

Only way to Break this card is with a precise 8000 damage.

Now if you find a way to buff him up to a 9K body, he is unbeatable.

“Kobold, I was wrong about you, come back.”

 

 

14-069R – Noctis

The Prince is back, as a backup.

4CP to grab a XV Forward from the Break Zone and play it onto the field. Sounds like a good deal to me. You can actually grab another Noctis (12-121R) who in turn will let you grab another XV Forward, other than Noctis, from the Break Zone.

You’ll actually gain a Crystal point by doing this. I don’t know if it’s efficient but, it’s something you can do.

 

14-070C – Ba’Gamnan

Time to get rid of that pesky forward you can’t get rid of. Force it to block and attack him with your strongest Forward.
14-071C – Paladin

Don’t like the cards you just drew? Just play Paladin with those 2 cards and hopefully get something better. And if that doesn’t work, Dull and Break and hopefully you’ll get something better once again.

 

14-072R – Hojo

Hojo finally makes his appearance. And he comes with an experiment. A trade off where you can change a Forward you control with a Forward from your Break Zone. Only stipulation is that it’s cost needs to be inferior to the one you removed from the game.

Play a Forward with an upon entry ability, once it’s played out recycle the Forward.

 

 

14-073R – Muraga Fennes EX

At first I thought this card was a Summon. It would have been a decent card if it was. But, now that I’ve seen that it’s a Forward it makes it very playable. I would keep this card on hand, to bring back a forward that has just been broken.

 

 

 

14-074C – Monk

If you’re playing Monks you’re playing this card. And, if you’re playing Monks, you’re playing Sophie (13-119L).

You’ll have plenty of Earth Forwards on the field, so this card should read. When Monk enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Break it.

 

 

14-075H – Mont Leonis

For 11CP – 1CP for each Forward you control you can play 1 Earth Forward of Cost 6 or less from your Break Zone.

Now this wouldn’t be one of the first cards you play, but later on in the game when you’ll have 5 Earth Backups, and a bunch of Forwards on the field, you might just play 2CP for Mont.

I thought Mont would have had some synergy with Macherie, but I was wrong.

Oh, well.

14-076C – Lich (IX)

Discard one card Job Chaos and deal one forward 8000 damage. Is it worth it? I’m sure there are Summons that can do this more efficiently. But, for a common I’ll take it.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Opus XIV – Wind Review

14-039R – Adelle

The more Wind Backups you have, the better this card is. But, you don’t necessaraly need to have 5 Wind Backups as there are cards that provide the same effect. 3 should be the optimal choice as you’ll give her 8000 power and Haste. And, you only paid 2CP to play this card.

 

 

 

14-040C – Abquhbah

Play him early on, and he’ll usually be buffed up every turn. Other than that not much to say.

 

 

 

 

14-041C – Ixali

Activation guaranteed, with a Primal.

 

 

 

 

14-042L – Bismarck, Lord of the Mists

Return to hand. Return to hand. Return to hand.

Bismarck need to tag team with Leviathan. more on that later.

But, when a Character is returned to your or your opponents hand, you draw 1 card. And you can choose to return a card to your hand at the end of each turn.

As if Wind/Water needed more ammunition

 

14-043C – Cactuaroni

Just a common?

“Need some activation tactics? Cactuaroni is your macaroni. For the cost of a simple Monster Counter you can activate one Character.” /endcommercialannuncervoice

This card is great, simple and to the point. You can end up activating your whole board if you wait long enough. But, why wait if you can just find a way to grab Cactuaroni from your Break Zone.

 

14-044C – White Mage

Activate 2 Backups of any element other than Wind.

YRP making a comeback? Don’t call it a comeback, YRP never left.

 

 

 

 

14-045H – Sin

What would you call this? Silence? Paralyze? Stop? Probably Silence. Casts Silence on opponents Forwards. And now, they can’t use any abilities.

Probably not silence, cause that’s just Magic.

I had said the other Sin was better, but now that I’m re-reading it. This is interesting.

 

 

14-046C – Sniper

Like I said before, I’m not to sure on the wording, but if this goes off when Sniper dulls from attacking. It’s a great card card. If not, I still like it.

 

 

 

 

14-047R – Choco/Mog EX

Almost sounds like a candy bar.

The first part is easy. Having a Chocobo and a Moogle on the field when he shows up, is pretty easy too.

 

 

 

14-048C – Tiamat (IX)

Hmm, I’m seeing a pattern here.

“Discard one card Job Chaos and deal one forward 8000 damage. Is it worth it? I’m sure there are Summons that can do this more efficiently. But, for a common I’ll take it.”

 

 

 

14-049H – Typhon

I’m still waiting for a Typhon that has synergy with Ultros.

Other than that, You’re playing Mono-Wind, you’re playing this card. Plus removing a Forward and placing him in a spot where you (probably) won’t see him for a couple of turns.

This is another great card.

 

14-050R – Naja Salaheem

Double up on all the counters that are on any character whenever Naja deals Damage to your opponent.

+Naja cannot be chosen by your opponents Summons or abilities.

 

 

 

14-051C – Vanu Vanu

Don’t like the cards you just drew? Just play Vanu Vanu with those 2 cards and hopefully get something better. And if that doesn’t work, Dull and Break and hopefully you’ll get something better once again.

 

 

 

14-052C – Fran

You can easily cast 3 cards a turn with Wind, and all the activate your Backups and Characters and Monsters and Summons and anything else you want. Because that’s what wind does. So, you’ll probably end up drawing a card when you play Fran.

3 points of Damage +2K Power

 

 

14-053R – Mjrn

Did I mention, I like these Black & White cards?

For 2 Cp you can activate Fran and Jote.

You can also pay 3 Wind CP and Break a Forward of cost 5 or more.

 

 

14-054R – Jote EX

Just a simple searcher that searches for Fran or Mjrn. You can also search for them off of an EX Burst.

 

 

 

 

14-055C – Lezaford

Took me a second to realize this Lezaford was a Forward. I should start paying more attention.

Now, it makes sense that this is a 5 cost. At first I thought it was 5CP to play a Backup, which if the cost to play was paid with at least 3 different elements, than you can break a Forward.

I was going to say how this Lezaford is terrible and that the Opus VI Lezaford is so mucch better. But, this one is Forward and that changes everything. It can work. Someone will find a way. It’s simple if you play Light and Dark actually.

14-056R – Garuda, Lady of the Vortex

Here’s an answer to some cards. 6CP isn’t that much to pay for the on entry ability Garuda has.

Sorry, Sophie, it was fun.

Bhuni, Get out of here.

Neo-Exdeath, don’t make me laugh

Ark, No one played with you anyway.

Now, if this card was an Ex it would have been amazing.

14-057H – Rosa

Great artwork once again. You can tell apart the Amano artwork. I remember seeing a Magic card with his art on it, and recognized it immediately. But, that’s another story.

Just like we said before, activate all the Backups, if you’ve cast 3 cards this turn.

With Fran (14-052C) you’ll also draw 1 card.

All those activations will lead you into a 5th card cast this turn, which you’ll end up playing the top card of your deck. Unless it’s a Summon. Then it just goes back to the tops of your deck.