Tag: black mage

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Tears of the Ice Planet

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25-018C – Gimme Cat

I’m trying to figure out if Gimme Cat is worth playing.

You discard a card so your opponent is forced to discard a card.

Right? Yes.

So, why wouldn’t you just play a Forward or a Backup that will force your opponent to discard a card?

Maybe I’m just not seeing it.

But, you can also just pay 1 Ice CP and put Gimme Cat in the Break Zone, and your opponent will discard a card at random.
I think there’s better options.

25-019C – Necron

This is a little trick play, and you only need Necron to do it.

For 4CP, you can play Necron on to the field, and as long as he is on the field, you will grab one of your opponent’s Forwards. 5CP or less, and remove it from the game.

Now, your plan would be to try and keep Necron on the field, until your next turn. Or you can just find a way to give him Haste.

Next turn, If Necron is still on the board, you will use his ability and send the Removed Forward to the Break Zone. Thus breaking the Forward.

After all is said and done, Necron sticks around as an 8K body.

25-020R – Gippal

We’re getting ready for a Final Fantasy X comeback.

Gippal is reporting for duty.

YRP is coming back, along with Opus XVI Tidus, and that is pretty much all you’ll need.
Gippal gives all of your FFX Characters +2000 power and they cannot be chosen by your opponent’s abilities. That’s half the battle right there.

Gippal will also dull and freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Yes, that last part is just a little bit extra.

I’ll take 3. Full Arts if possible.

25-021R – Chimera Brain

This ain’t a Monster, it’s a Forward that acts like a Monster to get out of sticky situations.
Once per turn if your opponent has any dull Forwards, you can turn Chimera Brain into a Forward and have it attack with 9000 power.

Once Chimera Brain attacks, you will choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and Freeze it.

Which Forward will you choose to Freeze?

The one that’s already dull, that way it won’t activate on the next turn and Chimera Brain can turn into a Forward once again.

You get all this for 3CP. It costs 1CP for each head.

25-022C – Edward

You got 2 ways to get Edward’s abilities to activate. And they both depend on how many cards your opponent has in their hand.

If they have 1 or less, you choose 2 of your opponent’s Forwards and hit them with a Dull/Freeze.

If they have 3 or more, your opponent discards a card from their hand.

One thing is for certain. You won’t be playing Edward if your opponent has 2 cards in their hand.

For a Common this is pretty decent.

25-023C – Kurasame EX

The Instructor turned Forward with his pet Tonberry.

Kurasame comes in and you will flip the top 4 cards of your deck and add a Forward to your hand. The rest will go to the bottom of your deck.

You might say that 6CP is a bit high, but you do get a 9K Meat Shield after that.

And, we already know you won’t be paying 6CP for Kurasame, you’ll be Warping him in for 2CP. You’ll have to wait a turn, but it’s well worth it.

Let’s not forget this ability also comes off of an EX Burst.

25-024H – Zeid

They’ll have a hard time trying to get rid of Zeid.

Whenever Zeid is dealt damage by a Character, be it Backup, Forward or Monster, your opponent will choose one of their dull Characters and place them in the Break Zone.

At 5CP, for an 8K body, Zeid will be able to hold his own against any attacker. And, if you need extra firepower, you can remove 3 ice cards from your Break Zone and give Zeid +3000 power.

Zeid looks like he’ll always be one step ahead, and always breaking dull Characters.
Zeid can also come in with Back Attack.

25-025L – Sephiroth

Now this is a card that will make SOLDIER thrive this set.

Young Sephiroth comes in at 4CP, and gives all the SOLDIERs, besides himself, First Strike.

Why doesn’t he give himself First Strike, you ask?

Well, he already has First Strike, no need to double up on it.

And whenever another Forward with First Strike attacks, your opponent will discard a card. They’ll have an empty hand in no time.

We also have Astral Gate, which will deal a Forward 5000 damage.

This is simple, straight to the point, and something we can all get behind.

25-026C – SOLDIER Candidate

All these SOLDIER Candidates are all Commons, and they are all good cards. Especially since they all work together.

This SOLDIER Candidate is no different.

SOLDIER Candidate comes in and dulls one of your opponent’s Characters, and if you already have a SOLDIER Candidate in your Break Zone you can go ahead and Freeze that Character as well.

And, if you have received 3 points of damage, SOLDIER Candidate gains +3000 power.
That will give you an 8k body for 2CP.

These candidates, are on their way to becoming SOLDIER, and they are just one card away from becoming a great deck.

25-027H – Chadley

Chadley doing scientific research.

Chadley comes in for 2CP, and even though he doesn’t do anything when he enters the field, he will start doing research behind the scenes.

He’ll see what happens to your Forwards during your opponent’s turn, and every time one of your Forwards is sent to the Break Zone, Chadley will gain 1 Research Counter.

When you have 3 Research Counters, Chadley will grab a Forward from your Break Zone and play it onto the field. Yes, the cost of that Forward must be 4CP or less, but we’re pretty sure you’ll have some of those Forwards in your Break Zone.

This is an easy way to bring in a Forward of a different element as you don’t have to worry about paying the cost for that Forward.

I’m sure we’ll have some interesting plays with Chadley.

25-028C – Paladin

You have 2 options, either Dull a Forward, or draw a card.

And that’s what you get for 3CP.

Depending on your situation both options are decent.

If you’re playing this early draw a card.

If your opponent has a Forward on the field that can cause block one of your attackers, dull it.

Good thing is that you can play more than 1 copy.

25-029R – Nooj EX

I remember Nooj, a lot more than I do Gippal or Baralai.

And, that’s all right because Nooj will search for one or the other.

And, if that’s not enough for you, Nooj can also deal 5K damage to all of your opponent’s dull Forwards.

This is where Paladin comes in. You play 3 of them back to back, and Nooj will deal all three of them 5000 damage.

Hopefully you’ll break some.

And, since we know that things don’t always go as planned, Nooj’s first ability also comes off of an EX Burst.

25-030H – Mateus, the Corrupt

Weren’t we just talking about this? Finding ways to get rid of Backups?

If we didn’t earlier, I know we did in past sets.

And, this is what Mateus, the Corrupt does.

You can remove one of your Backups from the game to reduce Mateus, the Corrupt’s cost by 2CP.

Once, you cast Mateus, she’ll Break a dull Forward, and Dull/Freeze another one.

Then you can cast another Mateus, and repeat the cycle, until you run out of Mateus.

Plus, the artwork by Ryoma Ito is amazing as well.

25-031C – Borghen

Borghen’s looking at you like, do you really want to play this card?

You might.

Borghen does one thing and he can do it twice.

Deal a dull Forward 8000 damage.

Once when he comes in, and once when you decide to put him in the Break Zone.

If you can Break a card on the way in, and another on the way out, I’d say this is a good play.

25-032C – Maenad

Did you ever want a way to recycle your Monsters?

Maenad is here to do just that.

Most of the time, your Monsters will be sent to the Break Zone, in order to activate their abilities. Maenad will be able to bring a Monster back at the end of every turn. As long as that Monster was put in the Break Zone on the same turn.

For 5CP this is a bargain, even at 5CP, you’ll be bringing back a Monster left and right.

Now, how to incorporate Maenad into my Bomb deck?

25-033R – Yuna

Half Black Mage, Half Gullwings, All Yuna!

Yuna comes right in and let’s you search for one of the Gullwings.

Now, I was on the fence of her second ability, thinking why would someone use this ability to play a Gullwing from their hand when you can just play the Gullwing from your hand without using the ability?

Then I realized, that you can play this card whenever you’d like. And, you don’t need the element of said Gullwing to play it. Meaning you can splash any color Gullwing and not worry about paying the cost.

Last but not least, we have Blizzara. Choose a Forward Dull/Freeze it, and then your opponent discards a card from their hand.

Effective.

25-034L – Lenne

We haven’t seen Lenne in quite some time. Well the Songstress is back, and she is interesting.

Once you go into your Attack Phase, you’ll be able to remove the top card of your deck from the game, and then you’ll be able to cast it. If you don’t cast it, well, then you’ll lose the card.

You can also remove Lenne from the game, and then remove a Summon from the game, then you can cast that Summon whenever you would like.

I’m kind of mixed on this card.

Let’s just wait to see it in action.

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Tears of the Fire Planet

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25-001C – Armstrong

What a way to start the set, the first appearance of Armstrong in Final Fantasy TCG. You can consider this the Rookie Card.
Armstrong is a Monster with a strong arm, and he’ll use that arm to deal damage to your opponent’s Forwards.

Once per turn, you can use a Fire Card as Ammo for Armstrong. Each shot will deal 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, if you run out of Ammo, you can always just use Armstrong a deal a Forward 7000 damage.

It’s a decent Monster, I’d like to try it out. Hopefully at Prerelease.

25-002C – Iron Eater

I remember trying to build a Warrior deck a while ago, and Iron Eater would have fit right in.

At 3CP, this 8k body doubles as the perfect Meat Shield. Meat Shields are useful. Very useful as they block your opponent’s attacks.

You’ll only be playing Iron Eater if you are already playing Warriors. And, if you already have at least 5 Warriors in your Break Zone.

You’ll like to try and break Iron Eater, just so you can play him again.

25-003C – AVALANCHE Member

For 2CP you get a Forward with 5000 power.

And, when AVALANCHE Member enters the field you can discard a Final Fantasy VII Character, and AVALANCHE Member wil deal a Forward 7000 damage.

It’s like AVALANCHE Member is throwing the FFVII Character to it’s target.

It looks like we’re getting a whole bunch of FFVII Standard Units.

Might be time to get some no name VII decks going.

25-004H – Ifrit

Do you remember, how we keep mentioning that we need ways to remove Backups?

Well, here is another way.

We all know that there are certain Backups, well a lot of Backups that come in and after the ability goes off, you have no more use for them. Ifrit is here to take care of that.

You can remove one of your Fire Backups from the game, in order to reduce Ifrit’s cost by 2CP.

When Ifrit does come in, Ifrit deals 9000 damage to one Forward and 4000 damage to another.

I’d probably just be using this card to recycle my Backups, the damage is just an extra bonus.

And, since you’re playing Ifrit, might as well add Ifrita 9-002H to your deck

25-005H – Ace

I don’t get how this Ace is just a Hero.

You can get Ace down from 6CP to 0CP, just by having Class Zero Cadets, and Fire Characters on the field. The gives you a Free 8K Forward that is ready to deal damage left and right. And, that includes your opponent. Cause if your opponent has less than 5 points of damage, Ace will deal them one point of damage at the end of each of your turns.

I’d say it’s worth paying the 6CP at the start of the game. Then your opponent will be trying to get rid of him before he does too much damage.

And, Jackpot Shot. Ace will deal 2000 damage to a Forward for every Class Zero Cadet and Fire Character that you have on the field.

Cadets are on Fire!

25-006L – Cloud

Of course Cloud is going to be OP!

5CP to play Cloud, and you can say that, that is a great deal, for what you will get in return.

Cloud has 5 abilities, and you get to choose 2 of them when he enters the field.

Deal a Forward 8000 damage. Break a Monster. Remove 2 cards from your opponent’s Break Zone and draw a card. Play a 4 cost or less FFVII Character from your hand onto the field.

You can not go wrong here.

Worse case scenario, you Break a Monster ,and draw a card.

Best case?

You start a Combo going that will fill up your front lines. And, that’s where the ball starts rolling into an AVALANCHE.

25-007R – Glenn

8CP to play Glenn! 8CP?

8CP for 8K power.

Is that worth it? Yes, you should read the whole card before you decide.

Glenn comes in and you can search for not 1, but 2 SOLDIERS and add them to your hand. That brings hid cost down to 4CP and that alone would make the cost well worth paying for.

But, Glenn’s not done yet.

You can then play 2 SOLDIERS of 2CP or less from your hand, straight to the field. And that technically makes Glenn a Free Play!

And, who doesn’t like Free Plays?

And, after all of that, you still have a Meat Shield on the field.

25-008C – Security Officer

Security Officer ready to check your badge when you come to the door.

For 3CP you can draw a card.

Or you can deal 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

You can choose either one.

Or you can choose to play another card.

This would have been a better card if it’s cost was 2CP, and you can play it off of Glenn.

25-009C – Sice

This is what I would call a throwaway card.

I’m not saying that cause I think it’s bad.

I’m saying it because, once you have 5 Cadets on the field, Sice will come in with Haste and deal 3000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, then when she attacks, she’ll deal another 3000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

She’ll probably get blocked and be sent to the Break Zone, but you already dealt 6000 damage to a Forward. I’d say that’s 1CP well spent.

25-010H – Salamander (III)

3CP plus an extra cost.

And, that extra cost is why you will be playing Salamander. For an extra 5CP, or 2 Crystals, you will be able to deal 9000 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Forwards.

We’ll go with Crystals, because we spent 8CP on Glenn earlier.

The good thing about Salamander’s ability is that it can go off every time that Salamander attacks. All you need to do is find your Crystal Generator, and start stockpiling those Crystals. If you can do that and have 2 Crystals available when Salamander is about to attack, your opponent will have a hard time trying to keep his front line filled.

If you would have asked me, which you didn’t, I would have had some type of Priming going on with Gutsco and Salamander.

25-011C – Deuce

Yes, … well are you playing Cadets?

If you are then Deuce will be of use to you.

When she enters the field, you’ll look at the top 4 cards of your deck, and if there is a Class Zero Cadet there, you can add them to your hand.

What? You’re not playing Cadets?

Then what are you reading this for?

Move Along.

25-012C – Trey

Class Zero reporting for duty!

Even as a Common, Trey will deal enough damage to break a Forward. 2000 x all the Class Zero Cadets that you control. And, if you’re playing Cadets, you’ll most likely have a board full of them by the time you decide to play Trey.

After that, you’ll probably just want to have Trey block a bunch of high-powered Forwards, just so you can play him again.

I’m thinking it’s time to build a new and improved Cadets deck.

25-013C – Palom

The child prodigy returns, but this time there’s nothing special going on.

This time Palom comes as a Backup, which he usually does stay on the back line, since his spells will cause the same amount of damage, whether he is on the front lines or the back lines.

I’ve gone off topic, but you get the picture.

Palom has 2 abilities, one deals 3000 damage, and the other 7000 damage.

And, that’s about it.

25-014L – Volker

We were just talking about Warriors.

Volker here, will be the glue that holds it all together.

At 7CP Volker’s cost might seem a little steep, but look at what you’re getting.

Volker enters the field, and you will search for 2 Warriors. Ok so far so good. That just brought Volker’s cost down by 4CP, thus making him a 3 cost Legend. But, we’re not done yet.

The Next Warrior that you play will have their cost reduced by 3CP. And, that makes Volker a Free Play.

Might we suggest that you grab and play Iron Eater. And then you’ll also be dealing some damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

But wait, there’s more!

Any time one of your Warriors gets sent to the Break Zone you will choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 4000 damage.

Add all this to a 8K body and you have one hell of a Legend.

I’ll take it!

25-015R – Hell House

First Armstrong and now Hell House. We’re building a neighborhood here on the front lines. Or is it the sidelines? Either way the front yard is where your Forwards will be ready to protect you.

Hell House comes in as a Monster, but once per turn Hell House can become a Forward with 7000 power.

At 3 points of damage, whenever Hell House attacks, it will deal 3000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

At 5 points of damage, Hell House will deal 5000 points of damage to your opponent’s Forwards whenever it attacks.

Just throw this into any Fire deck, and you’ll do good.

25-016R – Rubicante EX

Now this is interesting. I know that Golbez was spoiled with all of the Archfiends, and if the rest are like Rubicante, I can tell that Golbez and Co. are going to be fun to play. Against them will be a different story.

Rubicante comes in and does nothing. But, whenever Golbez attacks, you can choose a Forward and deal it 8000 damage.
And, let’s take some Final Fantasy IV elements into the TCG by giving Rubicante the ability to be immune to certain elements at certain points. That point is whenever you’d like, as you can just pay the cost of 2CP, one Fire one any color, and Rubicante will not be dealt damage by abilities of that Element.

At 4CP, you get an 8K body that will keep attacking with Golbez.

Oh, and the first ability comes off of an EX Burst as well.

25-017R – Red XIII

At 1CP, any card is worth a shot. At least once.

Red XIII enters the field and gives one of your Forwards +3000 power.

After that, Red XIII is good to block an attack.

You can also play Red XIII from the Break Zone. But, only during your Main Phase, and only if you have at least 2 Final Fantasy VII Forwards on the field.

If for any reason Red XIII leaves the field, he will be removed from the game instead.

Like I said, it’s 1CP. You can try it out and see if it works for you.

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Palom & Porom, The Twin Mages

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Dauntless twins. Prodigious mages in the making.

Twin mages with vast magic potential, Palom and Porom trained daily to perfect their skills under the guidance of the Elder. The disobedient Palom often skipped out on his training, which frequently led his more diligent sister Porom to berate him. After Cecil arrives in Mysidia, the twins join the Dark Knight’s part to secretly monitor him. Once they realize Cecil’s trustworthiness, they join him in his fight.

You never know what you’re going to get with these two. One minute they’re spies, the next they’re trying to save you.

 -Taken from the Ultimania

2-015H – Palom

I’m looking at this card and I’m wondering why isn’t anyone using this?

Palom comes in for 3CP with 6000 power. Now, if he comes into the field through the Break Zone, or through Search and Play, Palom deals a Forward 7000 damage.

Up to here, this isn’t a great card.

But, let’s take a look at Comet.

Deal your opponent 1 point of damage.

Comet. That is one hell of an S ability, and the cost isn’t much either. 1 Palom card, dull an active Porom and dull Palom. No extra CP or anything else.

This card is worth a shot, especially if you’re playing with the Twin Mages.

“Blizzard! And that, my friends is how it’s done!”

2-016R – Palom

Here we are.

The perfect card for the previous Palom.

For 1CP you get a Forward that will attack and deal 2000 damage to a Forward.

So far so good.

Now, if Palom damages your opponent, or that Forward that was damaged is put in the break Zone, you can put Palom into the Break Zone, search for another Palom and play it onto the field.

And, there are plenty of Paloms to choose from that have decent Enter the Field abilities. Most just deal damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards. If you play Palom 5-018L you’ll also draw a card.

Give it a shot.

2-135H – Porom

Just like Palom 2-015H, you would like to play Porom off of a Search and Play or from the Break Zone. When she comes in you will return a Forward to it’s owner’s hand. This could be one of your cards as well as it doesn’t specifically say your opponent’s Forwards.

And, the S ability, is meh. You’ll much rather play Palom’s Comet, but if you want to use Pyroblast, you’ll deal a Forward 8000 damage.

That’s about it.

“You would expect him to try a little harder to fool us, wouldn’t you?”

2-136R – Porom

I like this one better than the previous Porom as it gives some sort of protection to the Twin Mages.

Whenever they are targeted by your opponent’s Summons or abilities, you can return them to your hand, instead of breaking them.

You can also just send Porom into the Break Zone, and search for another Porom and play it onto the field. I would probably pick Porom 3-140R, as it activates all of your Forwards.

“It was almost like we’d gained an older brother.”

3-016H – Palom

I can see why this one isn’t being used as much.

Whenever a Forward is dealt damage, that damage increases by 1000. Yes, there are ways to offset this, by playing Maria (1-083H) who gives all of your Forwards +1000 power, but you can also just use a different Palom and keep that +1000 power.
But, we’re not talking about Maria.

Palom does have a decent S ability, that deals damage to 3 of your opponent’s Forwards. 1st one gets 6000 damage, 2nd gets 4000 damage and the third one gets 2000 damage. Add in the damage increase of 1000, and that gives you 7K, 5K and 3K.

You might be able to take out a few Forwards with this ability.

It’s worth a shot.

3-140R – Porom

This card is still playable.

For 4CP you can Activate all of your Forwards. It would be a good idea to keep Porom on hand, and when you think you can win the game, you can go all out with your Forwards. If you don’t manage to win it, then just play Porom and activate all of your Forward in Main Phase 2.

That way, at least you’ll have some blockers on the field.

This alone makes Porom worth playing. Plus you get a Meat Shield after it too.

Curaga, will protect one of your Forwards from damage dealt to it this turn.

“That repulsive brat is my twin brother, Palom.”

5-018L – Palom

This is a great card to play off of Palom 2-016R, and only if Porom is already on the field.

If not, I would suggest to play a different Palom.

Palom comes in, and deals a Forward 7000 damage. And if Palom is on the field you will also draw a card from your deck.
The ability isn’t that great, just deals 1000 damage to a Forward.

You’d think this card would be a lot better, considering it is a Legend.

“Your goody-two-shoes attitude is gettin’ old.”

5-135L – Porom

Hmm…

Just like Palom, I don’t see much use for this.

Porom comes in, you look at the top 3 cards of your deck, grab one and put the other 2 at the bottom.

Ok, that just makes Porom a 2 cost Forward, with 5000 power.

Only thing that might be worth it is Porom’s ability to cancel an action ability.

It’s like a Mini-Amaterasu. Just different.

“Right!”

8-041H – Palom

Here’s something different. Palom is ready to put a cog in your opponent’s gears. Especially if he comes in during your opponent’s turn as a response to anything that your opponent tries to do. How can you do this? Palom 2-016R. Yes, we’re throwing that card everywhere.

Palom will come in and you can both discard a card, you freeze on of your opponent’s Forwards, or you can dull all of their Backups. And, if you’re playing something along the lines of Turbo Discard, they won’t have any moves this turn.

Fire/Ice? It should work.

“Geez. Why are adults so pigheaded?”

9-115R – Porom

Here we have a miniature White Mage, whose sole purpose is to grab a Summon from your Break Zone.

This will also come off as an EX Burst.

Simple. Effective.

And you’ll have a tiny meat shield on the field ready to be sent to the Break zone at all times.

“Tellah, look after Cecil for us!”

11-121C – Porom

If you need to shuffle some cards in your hand, you should play Porom.

You’ll discard a card, and whether it is a Final Fantasy IV Character or not, will determine how many cards you will draw.

Maybe 1, maybe 2.

If it’s 2 you’ll discard another card from your hand.

It’s the old Switcharoo.

Porom also protects a Forward with her ability, which reduces the damage dealt to it, by 2000.

“Break!”

13-013C – Palom

“Cheap Backup with an enter the field ability. Needs Porom to be any good, but then there are a few other Palom cards I would rather play than this one.”

I don’t know if I was wrong on this card, but years later the Foil version of this card is going for a pretty penny.

And, when I look at it right now, I would say the same thing I said back then.

Go figure.

“Break!”

15-011L – Palom

Now this look interesting. Palom almost looks like George from Peppa Pig. The way he’s holding that Dinosaur, I mean Dragon. But the card looks interesting as well.

George … I mean Palom here, has an ability that gets stronger after a couple of turns. Palom gains 1EXP Counter at the end of each of your turns. With each EXP Counter Palom gains 1K power.

The longer Palom remains on the field the stronger he gets. I would say that this is a great turn 1 card.

And Palom’s ability. For a total cost of 0CP, Palom can deal either 2K damage or 8K damage to one of your opponents Forwards.

Yes, Please. I’ll take 3.

15-119L – Porom

“Porom here, getting an EXP Counter Every turn. And Every turn you can choose 1 Forward of 5CP or less and it loses all abilities. And at 3 EXP Counters it’s power becomes 1000.

After that you just use Palom (15-011L) and finish that Forward off. Just Like that.

It’s called Twincast.”

Basically, what that says.

More EXP, more breaks. Just like the game.

20-017R – Palom

Kind of looks like this card was drawn with MS Paint. And, I don’t mean that in a bad way.

At 2CP, Palom won’t steal the show this set, but it’s still a decent card if you got the Crystals. That’s why we need the Samurai reprint this set.

Palom will come in and deal a Forward 8000 damage, with the help of a Crystal.

I’m figuring Porom will have a similar enter the field ability, after that they can both be sent to the Break Zone to deal a Forward 10,000 damage.

“Be thankful that the Mysidian genius Palom is going to help you!”

20-113R – Porom

Lots of recycling here, Water should be called the Recycling Center today. Cards for cards.

We’ll give you a card and then you’ll give us a card back.

More like a trade center?

Anyway Palom’s twin sister Porom comes in or leaves the field, and you get to draw and discard 1 card.

If you discard a FFIV Character you can also get a Crystal. Two for the price of one.

21-098R – Palom

I’d say this is a pass.

There are far better Paloms out there.

Sure, this one is Lightning and deals 9000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards that cost 3 CP or less.

I’d say the only good thing about this card is that the ability can go off from an EX Burst. And, that’s about it.

Leave this one at home, unless your drafting. Then you might want to use it.

23-018R – Palom

Palom, one half of the twin mages.

Palom is a free play, if Porom is already on the field.

If not he’ll only cost 2CP. Palom comes in with 5000 power and allows you to place 2 EXP Counters on a Forward. That Forward will gain +2000 power.

And, if the twins work together, I think Porom will be something like this as well.

“Grown-ups. They like trouble!”

23-110R – Porom

Porom, the other half of the twin mages.

Same thing here, Porom is a free play if you have Palom already on the field.

And, just like Porom she comes in with 5000 power.

When Porom comes in you can place 2 EXP Counters on a Forward, and that Forward gains a shield of sorts. Damage dealt to that Forward will be reduced by 2000.

You’ll be able to splash one or the other of these twins, as there is no cost to pay, if the other is on the field.

Looking for the Twins?

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Hidden Legends of Lightning

24-073H – Valigarmanda

Lightning is kicking off things with a Summon, and a beautiful Full Art as well.

Valigarmanda is a 4 cost Summon that comes in dulls a Forward, and Freezes it as well.

That Forward loses 9000 power until the end of the turn, and then Valigarmanda also deals it 9000 damage.

99.99% of the time it will break the Forward that Valigarmanda is targeting.

At the very least, Valigarmanda will disable that Forward for this turn.

24-074C – Odin EX

Odin is ready to break a Forward.

Any Forward?

Yes, any Forward, but the cost might be a bit high for some Forwards.

It’s 5CP to cast Odin, plus the top card of your deck times the CP required to play the Forward that you’re looking to break.

Odin is useful in certain situations, but why not just play the Opus I Odin that will break any Forward for 7CP flat.

No extra charge.

I’ll pass.

24-075C – Guardian

I just realized we have similar Backups in every element.

Guardian comes in and you draw a card.

After that, depending on if you have at least 4 Lightning Backups on the field, Guardian will allow you to choose 2 Forward, and dull them.

Other than that, Guardian is just a simple Backup that will give you a Crystal Point each turn.

But, you already know that.

24-076C – Juggler

Wicked Clowns?

Juggler, the Backup you knew that you might need.

Juggler will come in and hang out until you need to get rid of a 2 cost Forward.

Juggler only costs 2CP, the only draw back if you call it that, is that a Lightning Forward needs to enter your field, in order for Juggler’s ability to go off.

I see some use for this.

Probably, more than some.

24-077H – The Emperor

Who would have thought, that the only reason the Emperor is here is to gain Crystals.

Look at it. The Emperor comes in you gain a Crystal. If your opponent has a Crystal, gain a Crystal. That’s two from the get go.

Add in one more Crystal from another Backup, and you’ll be able to use The Emperor’s second ability.

But, first let’s take a look at the first one. Or, the top one.

Break a Forward that costs 4CP or less.

Yeah, that’s pretty straight forward. Nothing groundbreaking, but very useful.

Now let’s take a look at the second ability.

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Do you see that? Break all the Forwards and the Monsters opponent controls. That would wipe your opponent’s whole board, leaving it wide open.

If you don’t win the game after that ability goes off, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Plus, we get a Full Art version of this card in the Prerelease Kits.

24-078R – Cidolfus (XVI)

3 cost Forward that allows you to search for a Lightning Summon.

And, that is pretty much it with Cidolfus.

You’ll get a 5K body that sticks around on the field.

Other than that what else is there?

Oh yeah, Priming.

Cidolfus Primes into Ramuh.

What does Ramuh do?

Guess we’ll have to wait to find out.

24-079L – Jack Garland

Jack is ready to turn your opponent’s front line upside down.

All of your opponent’s Forward must attack, and they must block.

This will either leave their front line open for your attacks, or all of your opponent’s Forwards will be broken.
Just make sure you at least have bodies on your field to block the attacks your opponent will be throwing at you.

And, every time one of your opponent’s Characters is put into the Break Zone you will gain a Crystal.

Sooner or later, you’ll have enough Crystals to use the Emperor’s ability to wipe out your opponent.

I’ll take 3.

Full arts preferably.

24-080R – Chime

Here we go, the King’s Minister is here to give you a great deal.

Buy one Get on Free.

Chime comes in and you reveal the top 4 cards of your deck, and play a Character of 2 or less onto the field.

I’d say it’s worth taking a chance on this.

Either way Chime is only 2CP, and you can get some decent value if you find a 2CP Character in the top four cards.

After that, Chime is a 5K body, ready to be taken out, just so you can play Chime once again, and hopefully find another 2CP Character.

24-081R – Noel

This Shadow Hunter is attacking from the shadows.

Noel comes in and he starts going to town. Striking with precision and going back to the shadows from which he came.

Yes, Noel only has 3000 power, but you won’t need to worry about that unless you decide to block with him.

Noel’s attacks will go through, just because he cannot be blocked.

I’ll take 3.

Throw them into your FFXIII deck, and once this Noel is gone, you can play another Noel.

Take your pick. Rebellion’s Call, From Nightmares or Hidden Trials.

All of them will do well.

24-082C – Vivi

Vivi is ready to come in and deal some damage to your opponent’s Forwards.

2000 across the board isn’t much, but let’s not forget about Summons that break damaged Forwards.

Or abilities that dull damaged Forwards, and what not.

Plus, if there is already a damaged Forward on the field, you can use Vivi’s ability and deal it an additional 4000 damage.

After everything is said and done, Vivi sticks around with a 5K body.

24-083H – Firion

Let me start by saying, if you’re playing Lightning you’re playing Firion.

Why? First off, you can only pay with CP produced by Lightning Backups.

Now, once Firion comes in you can pay 2CP more, and give him Haste and First Strike.

Then you can go ahead and attack with Firion.

Now, it’s time to cast Drain. Break a Forward, Activate Firion, and attack one more time.

Firion is going all out here. Time to start building that Rebel deck.

24-084R – Behemoth

Let’s up the stakes.

Behemoth is just that a Behemoth.

No power, unless you make it a Forward, but when a Forward of yours attacks, you can put Behemoth into the Break Zone and give a Forward the ability to deal 2 points of damage to your opponent.

Now, you can give that buff to Noel, who can’t be blocked. Or what about Firion, who can attack twice this turn.

And, that’s just 2 Forwards from this set, think about all of the other cards that can make use of Behemoth here.

24-085C – Mid (XVI)

I like this.

And, it’s only 2CP to bring Mid in.

She’ll stay on the board, and whenever you’d like you can put her in the Break Zone and grab a Forward. 4CP or less and add it to your hand.

That right there would have made this card playable.

But, Mid isn’t done. No. Not at all.

If you grab Cidolfus from the Break Zone, you’ll have a chain of Events that will start to go off one by one.

Let’s see how that will go.

You put Mid into the Break Zone, grab Cidolfus and play him straight to the field. Cidolfus searches for a Lightning Summon. Cidolfus Primes into Ramuh. Ramuh casts a Summon from your hand without paying the cost, and deals one of your opponent’s Forwards 8000 damage.

All that for 2CP plus the cost to Prime into Ramuh.

24-086C – Lightning

Coming in with a 9K body, Lightning is the prefect Meat Shield for your front lines.

You’ll also be able to discard a card and give Lightning Haste and a +1K buff giving her a 10K body, that’ll be tough to break.
And that pretty much covers everything.

You’ll pay a total of 6CP, which includes the discarded card, for a Forward that’s ready to go, from the get go.

 

24-087C – Ranan

Another Warrior of the Crystal.

When Ranan comes in, he grants another Warrior of the Crystal, Haste.

And, that’s about it.

I’ll have to check with the other Warriors of the Crystal to actually see how this deck runs.

 

 

24-088R – Ramuh

Coming in at 5CP, but thankfully you won’t be paying 5CP, you’ll be Priming into Ramuh.

Ramuh comes in and you can cast a Summon from your hand, any element will do, and you won’t have to pay the cost to cast it.

If the Summon you cast is a Lightning Summon, you will deal 8000 damage to a Forward of your choosing, as long as it’s active.

I’d say it’s still worth paying the 5CP to cast Ramuh.

24-089C – Ramza

Ramza stands alone. While leaning up on a tree.

Decent artwork, taken from the game, but what about the card?

If Ramza is sent to the Break Zone, you gain a Crystal. Ok, not bad. You can probably just throw Ramza in just to block and gain a Crystal with him.

And if you need to give Ramza a quick buff, you can remove 2 cards in your Break Zone from the game.

Not bad, for 3CP.

24-090L – Leon

Leon being Leon, almost like Kain going back and forth between the Rebels and the Empire.

Leon comes right in for 1CP, and deals a damaged Forward 4000 damage. Possibly breaking it.

Your opponent has the choice of taking control over Leon, by targeting him with an ability. Once Leon is targeted he will switch sides. You can get Leon back by targeting him with your own abilities.

But, why would you?

You actually want your opponent to have control over Leon, because if they don’t have any other Rebels on their field, Leon will deal them 1 point of damage at the end of their turn.

And, at the end of yours as well.

This is a card that will eat up your opponent from the inside.

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Hidden Legends of Wind

24-037R – Ashe EX

High cost Forward troubling you?

Ashe will take care of that for you, but not for long. You’ll be able to put that Forward on top of it’s owner’s deck. That means Ashe can also choose one of your Forwards, if you want to get the effect of it’s enter the field ability.

Which can be useful.

Now, if you put your opponent’s Forward on top of their deck, just make sure you deal a point of damage this turn. That way you’ll be able to send that Forward to the Damage Zone and then you won’t have to worry about it again.

This also comes off of an EX Burst.

You can also put Ashe into the Break Zone to activate a Forward while giving it +1K power.

24-038H – Valefor

Valefor makes a comeback, after being on hiatus since Opus I.

At 1CP it looks promising, let’s take a look.

Pay X, reveal the top 7 cards and play a Character of X or less.

…

I don’t know if I like it.

It’s almost a search and play to the field, but it is limited. And, that’s probably why it only costs 1CP.

It might work here or there, but either Opus I Valefor will work better for me.

24-039C – Vaan

Vaan and his trumpet.

At 5CP, Vaan can become a Activating Machine.

When Vaan enters the field Activate 2 Backups.

When Vaan attacks, Activate 2 Backups.

That’s 4CP right there. You paid 5CP.

One more attack and Vaan will be paying you to be on the field.

Vaan comes with a 9K body, and Aeroga Blade which deals a Forward 9000 damage.

I would play this card. I might even play it at Pre-Release. Midnight Pre-Release to be exact.

24-040C – Viera

Pay 2CP to activate 2 Backups later on.

Viera is more like a bank.

She’ll keep your CP and give them back to you when you need them later on.

In the mean time, Viera will produce 1CP per turn as any Backup will do.

And, when the moment is right, and you would like to use your Backup’s abilities you can use Viera to activate them.

I’d say a definite maybe.

24-041C – Onion Knight

Warp 1 for 1CP instead of paying 3CP! You’re already ahead.

Onion Knight is a recycling machine, ready to be removed and warped back in. This will be perfect if there is ever a threat to Onion Knight.

And at 3 points of Damage Onion Knight gains +1000 power.

That’s a 9K body, that can be recycled back into the game for 1CP.

Let me give this a try.

24-042R – Garuda (XVI)

5CP to activate all of your Backups.

Or, you can just Prime into Garuda with Benedikta. I haven’t seen Benedikta yet, but she’s coming up.

Activating your Backups already seems popular this set. Add in Bismarck, Lord of the Mists. And then you have a way of drawing cards, returning cards to your opponent’s hand. And when you have returned cards to their hand, you hit them with some Ice, and have them discard cards from their hand.

Ice/Wind for 2025

24-043C – Thief

Here’s another way to draw a card. Making Thief a 1 cost Backup

After that, once thief enters the field and if you already have 4 Wind Backups on the field, you can choose 1 of your Forwards, and it cannot be blocked for this turn.

Is it worth it? Having thief take up a spot in your deck for the chance that you might come across the perfect situation in order to use him?

I don’t know, probably better to leave this one out.

 

24-044H – Zidane

Zidane doing Zidane things.

He’s stealing cards from your opponent.

For 3 CP you can grab and Character from your opponent’s Break Zone. Yeah, you do remove it from the game, but you can cast it at any time you would cast it. Makes Sense?

Why is this one better than the other 2 Zidane’s that allow you to grab a card from your opponent?

Simple, you get to choose which one you grab.

And, at 5 points of damage, your Backups produce CP of any color.

I’ll be adding at least one to my deck that plays your deck.

24-045C – Jeume

Jeume, your Wind Warrior of the Crystal.

I was hoping for something better, after seeing Fire and Ice, but we have Jeume.

She’s not bad, she still allows here comrades abilities to go off when she enters the field.

She just doesn’t have any abilities that go off.

Nothing wrong with that, just because she can’t be chosen by your opponent’s abilities.

And, you have an 8K body.

24-046R – Leech Bat

I’m seeing a pattern here. I almost forgot about the Elemental Monsters that are all the same, but different.

Leech Bat hangs around, and when one of your Forwards attack, you can toss it into the Break Zone, making your opponent reveal there hand.

You’ll then pick the card you like, and toss that one to the Break Zone.

Your opponent will then draw a card.

That’s the only thing I don’t like about it.

After that, you’ll play Zidane, remove that card you selected from the game, and now it’s yours to cast whenever you’d like.

24-047R – Sophia (SOPFFO)

Sophia’s Choice.

Was that a band, or a movie?

But, you do need a Crystal in order to choose.

Sophia can either Break a high cost Forward, or she can break a monster.

The choice is yours.

Not Sophie’s. I mean Sophia’s

After that you have a 8K body that’ll hang out on the field.

24-048L – Tidus

“It’s Warping Time”

Coming in like a substitution right when you need him.

You can actually just play Tidus right away from the get go. At 0CP there is no reason not to.

Yes, Tidus has 5 Warp counters, but every time a Warp Counter is removed from a any card that is Warped, Tidus will have a Warp Counter removed from him, making his wait a little bit shorter.

When Tidus finally enters the field, all of your Forwards with Warp will have Haste, and they will not be able to be chosen by your opponent’s Summons.

All this for a grand total of 0CP, because you won’t be paying 5CP. You could, but what’s the fun in that?

24-049C – Nono

I’m just trying to figure out what Nono is doing here.

Nono isn’t bad at all, especially for a Common.

Nono enters the field and deals your opponent 2000 damage. Yes, that’s not a lot, but remember you’re playing Wind. And, what does wind do?

If you’ve been reading this, you already know Wind has been activating Backups this set, and drawing you cards.

And, if Nono is the 3rd card that you have cast this turn, Nono deals your opponent damage equal to his power. 3 points of Damage, gives Nono +2K power.

Add in Opus I Maria, and you’ll be dealing a Forward 8K damage.

All this for 2CP.

24-050C – Bartz

I read this once, and thought it was bad.

Reread it, and realized it’s not that bad.

the first time I understood that you had to have 2 cards removed from the game this turn, then I realized it doesn’t say this turn.

If you have 2 Cards removed from the game, Bartz can come in and Activate 2 Backups.

Like the Backups that you used to play Bartz.

Personally, I think there are better ways to Activate your Backups, but this still might be useful.

24-051R – Benedikta

With 3CP you get a Forward with 8000 power, First Strike and at 3 points of Damage Benedikta gains Haste.

That by itself would make it a decent Common.

Meat and Potatoes, nothing to fancy just a good body, or as I’d like to call it, a Meat Shield.

Benedikta can also Prime into Garuda (XVI) and will then Activate all of your Backups. And, return 2 Forwards to their Owner’s hand.

Benedikta will bring the cost of Garuda down by 1CP.

For a body, you can probably just play Benedikta by herself, usually a card with this much power costs 4CP.

24-052L – Belgemine

Automatic protection from Summons, and the more Summons you cast the better Belgemine is.

Cast 2 Summons, deal 2 Forwards 4000 damage each.

Cast 3 Summons, send 3 of your opponent’s Forwards to the bottom of their deck.

And, once you do that, there’s a good chance that you wiped your opponent’s front lines.

Now it’s time to go all out, and know that this was 1 Crystal Point that was very well spent.

Something tells me that YRP will be making a comeback. Add in that Opus I, Legend, Tidus, and I can see it now.

24-053H – Minwu

The Rebels are about to get a deck. Maybe not this set, but when they do Minwu and Opus XVII Maria will be a part of it. I haven’t really looked into it, but I can see the pieces slowly falling into place. IT just needs that one card the Rebels can all rally behind.

Minwu is a 4 cost Forward with 7000 power.

And, yes it is worth paying 4CP for Minwu, as you will grab a Final Fantasy II Character from the Break Zone and play it onto the field. Their cost just need to be equal or lower than the number of Backups you control, and it can’t be Minwu.

All of your FFII Forwards also cannot be chosen by your opponent’s abilities.

I’m going to be looking into a Final Fantasy II deck.

24-054C – Wing Wraith EX

Although Wing Wraith isn’t that powerful as a Summon, you will still be able to hit your opponent with a quick triple succession of 3000 damage to one of their Forwards.

At only 1CP and an EX Burst.

Wing Wraith deals 3000 damage and searches for another Wing Wraith.

Summon again fellow Summoners.

It’s worth a shot.

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