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Hidden Trials – Limit Break

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23-118H – Ardyn LB

The Chief Minister has grand plans.

Ardyn has found a way to bring himself back from the dead.

Simply put, when Ardyn enters the Break Zone, you can bring an Ardyn from your Limit Break deck onto the field.
The real question is, can you fill up your Limit Break deck with cards that aren’t LB? I doubt it, I’ll have to check out the rules to make sure.

This card is a turn 1 play.

As long as you have a Playset of Ardyns in your Limit Break deck, you’ll be good to go.

23-119R – Vincent LB

Well, Vincent looks like he’s ready to take on the Tsivets.

This is the Limit Break that Vincent starts the game off with, and that suggests that we will be getting the other 3 later on down the line.

Let’s take a look and see what Galian Beast does.

Vincent comes in with First Strike, and when he enters the field, you can throw a Fire Backup into the Break Zone, and deal one of your opponent’s Forwards 9000 damage. You’ll have a good chance at breaking it.

If my calculations are correct, we’ll soon have a Vincent deck equipped with all of his Limit Breaks. Might take a couple of years before we can get it, but it might be fun.

23-120R – Kuja LB

Kuja is a 5 cost Forward with 8000 power and the ability to get out of some of your opponent’s abilities, and maybe some of their Summons.

How?

It’s simple, you can just dull Kuja to Dull the Forward using that ability.

Dull/Freeze that Forward and your opponent will think twice before targeting Kuja.

 

23-121L – Cait Sith LB

Sometimes the first time you look at a card, you think it’s great.

then you look at it again and think, Huh? How is this a Legend.

It’s a decent card, don’t get me wrong, but Freezing all of your opponent’s Backups, and having them discard a card is not what I’d call Legend material.

On a side note, Cait Sith needs you to control 5 Backups in order for his ability to go off.

I’ll take a hard pass on this one.

23-122R – Cid Highwind LB

Roll of the dice. Or is it a flip of the cards?

Cid Highwind comes in on the Highwind, and gives you an airdrop right before he enters the field.

Flip three cards and if you find a Backup add it to your hand. If not well just put all the cards at the bottom of your deck. You might want to use Cid, when you only have 3 cards left. And, you better win before you run out of cards.

Is it worth playing?

Probably. You can just add it to your Limit Break deck, just so you have enough cards in it.

23-123 – Deathgaze LB

That’s a lot to pay to Break a Forward. And, that Forward also needs to be a certain cost in order for this to be effective.

There are 270 Forwards that cost 5CP. Yes, that’s a pretty big amount, but how many of those Forwards actually see play?
And there are only 2 Forwards that cost 10CP.

Unless Bhunivelze, and Garuda start seeing some play, i’d say it’s best to leave this card at home.

Odin (1-124R) costs 7CP and let’s you break any Forward you want.

23-124L – Eiko LB

Have you ever thought that you wish you had a certain Summon at a certain point of the game?

I’m sure you have, we’ve all had.

Well, Eiko here, is here to help you search for that Summon, and once you find it you can remove it from the game.

Not much help there, but once that Summon is removed from the game, you can cast it without paying the cost.

That’s a little bit better.

23-125R – Noctis LB

Even though Noctis costs 6CP, this is probably one of the better Limit Breaks.

Noctis allows you to grab a Forward from your Break Zone. Yes, there are plenty of cards that allow you to do this. The difference is that, you don’t need to rely on luck to draw the card that will grab a Forward from the Break Zone. Noctis is ready to go whenever you’d like, as long as you have the CP to pay for him.

Other than that, he’ll be a 7K body, lingering on the field.

.

23-126L – Edge

Are you Serious? Yes, serious with a capital S.

This card is amazing.

Mono-Lightning and Ninja themed decks are going to dominate in 2024 and beyond.

Might be why I’ve been selling plenty of Ninjas lately.

Edge gives you an advantage for one turn. Every Lightning Forward and Ninja deals 7000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards. That might be good enough to wipe the board. It might be good enough to get you the game.

Either way, you’re going to do some damage. Just need to find a way to give Edge Haste.

23-127R – Nyx LB

If you’re playing Mono-Lightning, or Kingsglaive, just throw Nyx into your Limit Break deck.

You’re bound to have a Lightning Character or a Kingsglaive Character hit the Break Zone, and when you do, you might as well play Nyx, for the whopping cost of 1CP. 0CP if you have Regis already on the field.

And, that’s all Nyx does. a glorified Meat Shield, ready to take on your opponent’s Forwards with his 9K body.

10k if you already have Lulu (1-150R) on the field.

You can’t go wrong here.

23-128R – Beatrix LB

Here’s another Knight for the Queen’s Guard.

God save the Queen, and the Forward that will be sent to the Break Zone whenever Beatrix attacks.

As long as you have 3 Knights on the field, Beatrix will be good to go, breaking a Forward once per turn.

It’s as simple as that.

Play Knights, Play Beatrix.

23-129H – Lunafreya LB

Look at the top 5 cards of your deck, and find the one with an EX Burst. Once you add it to your hand the EX Burst will go off.
This can be a great play where you grab a card with a great EX Burst that you can play right away, giving you double the EX, double the Burst. Double the damage. Double Trouble.

Or, you might get a card that you don’t need or want at that point in the game.

Now, I don’t know if these Limit Break cards are bounceable, but if they are, imagine what you can do if you keep bouncing Lunafreya.

23-130H – Luso LB

5CP to play Luso, who also searches for a Standard Unit, of a certain Element. That Element is chosen by you when Luso enters the field.

After that, whenever you play a Standard Unit onto the field, Luso gains +4000 power, giving him a 9k body until the end of the turn.

And, if you’re using Frimelda, you can play a Standard Unit each turn, giving Luso a constant 9K.

And, that’s all I got. I can’t focus anymore.

More Singles?

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Dawn of Heroes : Fiery Thoughts

20-001R – Ardyn

The Chief Minister starts off Dawn of Heroes, and it’s exactly what someone in charge will do.

What do I mean by that?

When Ardyn enters the field, you select 2 Backups that are now useless, as there entering abilities have already been used, and you can put them in the Break Zone, to play 2 new Characters onto the field. And depending what you get, well, it’ll be better than what you already have on the field.

Ardyn is one of those cards that can change the game in your favor.

“… you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

20-002H – Auron

Am I reading this right?

Can you use Auron’s ability to deflect the point of damage you’ll receive and just have Auron be dealt 8000 damage.

If so, then I might be wrong, because why would you use Auron’s ability to block a point of Damage, when you can just block the attack itself.

I think I figured it out now, it’s when one of your Forwards are dealt damage, Auron can come in like a guardian a take the hit himself, thus allowing the other Forward to survive the attack.

Either way, Auron will be blocking.

20-003H – Ifrit

A one cost Summon?

Yes, I’ll take it. Why, thank you.

You’re playing Mono-Fire? You’re playing Ifrit.

When you cast Ifrit, you can deal 5000 damage to one Forward. And, if you have more than 5 Fire Characters on the field, it becomes 5000 damage to 2 Forwards.

Or you can pick the same Forward twice and deal it 10,000 damage.

I’d say it’s worth having a few of these.

20-004C – Warrior of Light

Warrior of Light comes in, and you reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put 3 at the bottom of your deck and remover the other one from the game. At first you would think that this is part of an extra cost to play this 2 cost Forward, but nope.

The removed card can be cast this turn. So, it’s like drawing an extra card, but you can only use it this turn.

This would have been a great card, if it read, you can pay the cost with any element.

 

20-005C – Garland EX

6 cost Garland here, to provide you with a decent EX Burst. Comes in with Brave and that’s about it.

High cost because Garland is just a common.

I’d probably just keep this card in a deck, just so there is a chance for Garland to pop up, when you get hit for damage.

Other than that ….

 

20-006C – Blacksmith

Blacksmith is the Backup you didn’t know you needed.

The more Forwards you have on the field, the better Blacksmith becomes. For once Blacksmith enters the field, all of your Forwards will deal 7000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards, when they attack this turn.

Imagine, you have 5 Forwards on the field, your opponent has as many as they have, and you just start taking them down one by one.

As long as they don’t have an answer, you’ll be good.

20-007L – The Demon

The Warring Triad is finally here. Now to get Kefka to unleash their power.

The Demon comes in and starts having fun from the get go. And, the fun doesn’t stop there You can also choose one of his abilities every time The Demon attacks.

Just look at these abilities, all set to cause destruction to your opponents plans.

You can either deal damage to 1 Forward, up to as many cards that are in their Break Zone. Plus all those Break Zone cards are removed from the game as well.

Or you can choose an Element and deal 7000 damage to all those Forwards.

Or, you can choose a Job and deal 8000 damage to all of those Forwards.

Mono-Decks and Job Decks watch out. The Demon is coming …. The Demon is HERE!!!!

20-008H – Kefka

I knew there would be a Kefka once I saw the Warring Triad.

Amano art? Check
Warring Triad? Check

Dancing Mad? You will be once you get this card to go off at the end of any turn.

Let’s just say, Kefka will use the Warring Triad to strike down your opponent, just like he struck down Mobliz.

9000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards, for each Magic Counter you remove.

20-009L – Zack

I remember reading somewhere. “Finally a Zack that can be played.” Or something along those lines. If you’re reading this and you are the one that said that, please let me know, so, I can add your name to the quote.

This one will fit right at home with AVALANCHE. You play Zack for 5CP, and every time he attacks you can deal a Forward 5K damage for each SOLDIER you control. Zack and Cloud, that’s 10k right there, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find a couple of SOLDIERs laying around somewhere.

When Zack leaves the field you can play a FFVII Forward of 4CP or less onto the field. With about 100 or so FFVII Forwards that cost up to 4CP there are plenty to choose from, Opus XIV Cloud, Tifa and Barret. If you’re still running AVALANCHE that’s an easy way to get them on the field.

And, let’s not forget Meteor Shots, where you can deal 7000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

Let’s keep an eye on this one.

20-010C – Samurai

What a reprint? I wasn’t expecting that. Let’s see what we wrote when Crystal Dominion came out.

“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 your real Backups. ”

Huh? What was I even writing, I had to edit it to make sense. In my defense, we didn’t know what Crystals would be doing back then. … Half the time I still don’t know.

Because apparently, if you actually read the card Samurai can put itself in the Break Zone.

20-011R – Jecht

That is a young looking Jecht, looks like he’s Tidus’ age. Actually younger.

This is a great card.

When Jecht is sent to the Break Zone, you can search for a Fire Forward of 7CP or more to play onto the field.

And there are some great cards to play depending on what you’re playing.

Philia (13-129S), Cyan (15-006H), Ramza (18-015R) and The Demon (20-007L).

Which one you chose is up to you. I might go with Philia.

20-012C – Goldsmith

Cheap Backup, that will buff a Forward when Goldsmith enters the field, and when Goldsmiths enters the Break Zone.
+3000 and Brave.

Should be more than enough to take down a Forward, hopefully the attack will go through and deal damage to your opponent.

 

 

20-013C – Culinarian

What else would you expect? A cook needs Fire, and the more Fire you got in the oven the better.

If you got 3 Backups already on the field, this Backup is free.

Other than draft, I really don’t see much use for this card, but I’ve been wrong before. Watch a Forward show up where you discard a Backup for a great ability.

 

 

20-014R – Tifa

We got another Tifa, even though it is only a Rare card, the ability is pretty good.

Whenever a FFVII Character … I read that wrong the first time. For some reason I read attacks. But, it’s still great. Whenever a FFVII Character deals damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards, you get to choose a Forward, and take away their ability to block.

Not it does not say Forward, it says Character. That means Forwards, Backups, and Monsters can be used to deal damage to your opponents Forwards. A simple ability from the back line to deal damage to a Forward will help you get passed that high powered Forward your opponent has, thus making it easier for your attacks to go through.

Somersault? Just a way to deal 8000 damage to a Forward.

20-015C – Morrow EX

Only 1CP if you want to wait a turn, and you probably will.

Why? When Morrow comes in due to Warp, you’ll be able to draw 2 cards. Even though you’ll discard a card when he enters, you’ll still be up a Crystal Point.

You’re getting paid to use this card. Might as well use it.

Let’s not forget Morrow comes in with Haste, and and a 7K body.

Yes, I’ll take it. I’ll find some use for it.

20-016R -Barret EX

This Barret won’t replace the Opus XIV Barret in the AVALANCHE deck. But, it will deal 3000 damage to one of our opponents Forwards x the FFVII Forwards you control.

It could be 3000, it could be 27,000.

I like that this ability can come up as an EX Burst. You might want a couple of these in your deck, just to have Barret pop out when your opponent least expects it.

Catastrophe, 10K damage to a Forward, and Barret doesn’t activate.

You get all this for 3CP.

I’ve seen worse cards for that price.

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.

 

20-018H – Phoinix

We’ll start off by saying, I haven’t gotten that far in FFXIV, before I stopped playing.

Monsters can be hit or miss.

Phoinix enters the field and deals 9000 damage to a Forward. Phoinix one doubles as a Forward, but at the cost of 4 cards from the Break Zone. Half the time if the cards are in the Break Zone, they’re dead cards anyway.

I might give this one a try.

 

20-019C – Hedgehog Pie

You can get 3 Hedgehog Pies on the field in one turn. As long as you got 2 cards in your hand.

After that Hedgehog Pie will sit on the field until the moment that you would like to use his ability to deal 5000 damage to a Forward.

And, since you’ll already have 3 of these on the field, you can spread the love.

 

 

20-020C – Montblanc

Simple Backup, has one job.

Deal 5000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards. Or 8000 damage if you have 5 or more Fire Characters on the field.

After that just chuck Montblanc to the Break Zone when Ardyn enters the field to get 2 new Characters.

 

 

20-021R – Red XIII

Talk about a beast, cause that is what Red XIII is the jury is out on weather he is a cat or a dog, or both maybe?

A 2 cost beast with a 9K body that will take care of most of your opponents attacks.

Of course you won’t be able to play Red XIII unless you have another FFVII Forward on the field, but that shouldn’t be too hard to do.

Only draw back is that. That you can’t play Red XIII without another FFVII Character, meaning you probably won’t be able to play Red XIII turn 1.

When are we going to get a card named Nanaki?

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Resurgence of Power – Starter Thoughts

18-131S – Iedolas

6CP to play a 4CP Fire Forward from the Break Zone. Iedolas will technically cost you 2CP to play. I’m sure you can find plenty 4 cost Fire Forwards with on entry abilities to make Iedolas a great card to play.

After that you can have Iedolas as a Backup until you want to use his ability to deal 7000 damage to a Forward.

 

 

18-132S – Ravus

Captain! Captain?

Ravus here might be a good choice to use with Iedolas, if there are already a couple of Captains in your Break Zone. Deal a Forward 10K Damage and hopefully you’ll break it.

If not, Ravus does gain +1000 Power at 3 points of Damage. Add Opus I Lebraeu and he’ll be a 10K Forward.

 

18-133S – Ignis

Ignis is here to give Noctis and Co. protection from your opponent’s abilities. And technically give them Brave. As all the Characters are activated every time Ignis or Noctis attacks.

You’ll have plenty of CP available to you for Main Phase 2 and your opponents turn as all your Backups will be active.

So, play plenty of Backups.

 

18-134S – Prompto

This is a nice card. If you have the whole party out, Prompto is a 2CP/8K with Haste, and every time he attacks you get to draw 2 cards.

Along with Ignis’ protection from abilities, you can probably add Opus I Maria and your opponent will have a hard time getting rid of Prompto.

 

 

18-135S – Gladiolus

Gladiolus might not have Cyclone, but he can attack for up to 12K just from having Noctis on the field. And if you do, Gladiolus will only cost you 2CP.

At 3 points of Damage Gladiolus gains Brave.

Good blocker to have on hand.

 

 

18-136S – Titan

Hmm?

Well, you cast Titan remove a card a Forward from the Break Zone and deal damage to one of your opponents Forwards for the power of the removed Forward.

I might be missing something here, but I believe there are better Summons.

 

18-137S – Aranea EX

Haste, First Strike and the ability to break 2 of your opponents Forward when she enters. All this for 6CP.

Aranea is more like a Summon that sticks around after it has been cast.

Sure you can keep her on hand until you decide to use her when you get 5 points of Damage. Or you can keep Opus VIII Rinoa on hand and bounce her.

 

18-138S – Glauca

This is an interesting one. Just a regular card until he enters the Break Zone. Where he allows you to search for 2 Captains.

You don’t even need to wait for your opponent to send him there, you can put him in the Break Zone whenever you’d like, and you’ll Dull 2 of your opponents Forwards for doing so.

 

 

18-139S – Noctis EX

Search for a Retainer.

Play that Retainer and deal Damage equal to it’s power to one of your opponents Forwards. But this ability isn’t limited to the Job Class Retainer. It can be used for any Wind or Earth Forward.

Only downfall, which isn’t really a Downfall is that it can only be used once per turn.

 

18-140S – Ardyn

Coming in with Brave and a 9K body Ardyn would be a decent card without his ability. But, with that ability you can play a number of cards for a measly 1CP.

Imagine playing Iedolas or Aranea for 1 CP. And that’s just 2 cards that came in this deck.

I can see decks being made around this card.

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Crystal Dominion – Thoughts on Light/Dark

15-127H – Ace

You can cast Forwards from your Break Zone. But, only 2 per turn.

That is interesting. I’d like to see this in action.

If you already got your 5 Backups on the field, I can see Ace being played late in the game. Try and get back your heavy hitters for one last dance.

 

 

15-128L – Noctis

Just in time for the holidays. Noctis is the gift that keeps on giving. But only if you join the party. As long as you keep the party going, you’ll be able to choose up to 2 of Noctis’ actions.

Break a Monster. Dull and Freeze. Deal Damage. Draw a card. Gain Haste.

Rinse and Repeat.

And with Lunafreya, Noctis will have added protection.

15-129L – Ardyn

At 5CP Ardyn is sure to put your opponent on Ice.

Depending on how many cards you discard from your hand, your opponent will need to choose your discarded card plus 1, of Ardyns action abilities.

Break Characters, Remove cards from their deck, Deal Damage. You name it Ardyn’s got it.

You can tell by the smug look on his face that he means business.

15-130H – Nox Suzaku

Once Nox Suzaku comes on to the field, you probably will be playing a Forward at the end of each of your turns. Sure it might sound like you’re playing a card for free, but in reality you are paying for it with the 2 cards that end up in your Break Zone.
It’ll be a race to the finish, as you’ll be bleeding cards every turn, but you’ll also have plenty of Forwards coming on to the field at every turn.

An all Forwards deck might be the perfect spot for Nox Suzaku.

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Opus XIV – Multi-Element Review

14-119C – Ardyn

How is this just a common? At 2CP? Is it because it’s Fire/Earth?

Anyway. Ardyn here is a 7K body which comes in with 2 great abilities. You get to choose 1. Either is good. He’ll fit in good with the VII Forwards in this set.

 

 

 

14-120H – Tifa

If you remember from the video when they first revealed this card, we spoke about how Cloud is going to be a great card without knowing what the text was on Cloud’s card. Now that we know. Tifa and Cloud go hand in hand together. So, all you Cloud/Aerith shippers know that you are wrong. It’s Cloud/Tifa.

But, yeah. 3 of these and 3 Clouds, add a Barret and you got yourself a deck. Just throw in the rest of Avalanche and you’re good.

 

14-121L – Barret

It is highly unlikely that Barret will succumb to Damage, since any Damage dealt to him below 9K becomes 0. And if he is buffed up +X power, I can’t find any Forward that would be able to defeat him, save for a couple.

Now, all the AVALANCHE Operative Forwards gain Haste, and you can discard 1 card and grab an AVALANCHE Operative card from your Break Zone.

You can probably grab Tifa, which in turn will let you grab Cloud.

 

14-122L – Al-Cid

Al-Cid is up to his usual self here. And, buy that I mean, it’s a great card once again.

You’ll actually play 2 cards when you play Al-Cid on the field, so it’s pretty much a Buy 1 Get 1 Free. #BOGO

Other than that, depending on who enters the field you can Freeze or Dull your opponents Forwards.

 

14-123C – Sephiroth

Simple Sephiroth.

Simple Power.

Great ability. Second one is better than the first. Should play well with Physalis.

 

 

14-124H – Zeromus

Huh? It’s like all these new cards are great and powerful, and then you think, what do I do against this card. How am I going to block if all my cards are dull? How do I get rid of Zeromus? I’d like to see how this plays out.

Ice/Lightning FTW!

 

 

14-125L – Vaan

Activate. Activate. And play a Sky Pirate.

And then, activate some more.

 

 

 

14-126C – Aerith

Pick 1

A) Bounce a Forward

B) Protect a Forward

Either way, I still think Opus 1 Aerith is better. But, with all the Wind Activating going on, there might be some room for a different Aerith.

 

14-127H – Zidane

At 2CP this card should be a Legend.

It’s like this Zidane is Opus I and Opus III combined. And it’s only a Hero. Only a Hero

Think of the Shenanigans you can pull off with this.

Can’t be blocked. Return a Forward to their owner’s hand. Reveal your opponents hand, choose 1 card remove it, and then play it yourself.

I’ll take 3. Foils. Please let us get a Full Art.

14-128H – Prishe

From far away it looks like she’s sticking her tongue out at you.

For an extra 3CP you can play an Wind or an Earth card onto the field.

At 3 points of Damage, Prishe gains Brave and +1K. I like the other Prishe better. Which one? Not this one.

 

 

14-129H – Gessho

Another card that reveals your opponents hand, only this time you just remove 1 card from the game.

 

 

 

 

14-130H – Cloud of Darkness

Do it right, and you’ll have an 8K body played for free.Other than that just Dull and Freeze a Character when she enters the field.