Tag: eiko

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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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From Nightmares – Earth Monsters Under Your Bed

19-052C – Undead Princess

Undead Princess is a cheap Forward to play that can block any attack. Even though she only has 2000 power, she can still block an attack to save you from taking damage.

But, Undead Princess I don’t think Undead Princess is meant to be played as a Forward. You can put her into the Break Zone to give a Forward +4000 power until the end of the turn.

And, once she is in the Break Zone, you can remove her from the game and give an Earth Forward +2000 until the end of the turn.

Undead Princess rises from the grave once again to give you a Buff.

19-053C – Vanille

This is a decent card.

When Vanille comes in, you can go through your opponents Break Zone and remove a card from there. Doesn’t matter which one, just grab a card and remove it. This is good when your opponent has a way of grabbing cards from the Break Zone.
What I really like though, is her ability.

When your opponent casts a Summon, you can dull Vanille, and if they don’t pay 2CP you can cancel the Summon.
Either way, if your opponent pays and it goes through or it gets canceled it is a win for you.

19-054C – Vincent

It looks like we’ve been getting more Vincents in the last couple of sets.

Theatrhythm Vincent is a Backup that deals 5000 damage to a Forward when he enters the field.

And, when you reach 3 points of damage, you can put him in the Break Zone and deal 7000 damage to a Forward.

I always like Backups that have a way to send themselves to the Break Zone, that way you can play another Backup with an enter the field ability.

19-055R – Eiko

Eiko is a Coupon Code. Instead of paying the cost to cast a Summon, you can just dull 3 active Summoners and cast the Summon. You can choose any Summon up to a cost of 7CP. That’s almost all the Summons in the game except for 5.

This also means you can play Summons that are out of your elements. As long as you have Summoners on the field, you are good to go.

Plus, Eiko is only 2CP.

 

19-056C – Graff

Are you playing Mono-Earth?

Then you should be playing Graff.

When he enters the field you can Break a Forward. Any one you’d like.

This effect will only go off if you only paid with Earth CP.

Still a good way to get rid of a pesky Forward.

 

19-057L – Kefka

You heard about Free Summons, what about a Free Forward?

Kefka, the Dancing Mad Mage, is here and he can be played for F-R-E-E.

Just like that if your opponent has 3 or more Forwards on the field, Kefka will come in for Free.

That means you can splash Kefka into any deck without worrying about finding a way to pay the cost as he will be free. Free like a bird, he’s going to fly straight onto the field with a 9K body.

Not only that, but when Kefka is sent to the Break Zone, you can play a Summon from your Break Zone for free as well.
That’s double the free, with no Crystal Points down.

And, let’s not forget about that Amano art.

Yes, I’ll take 3 please.

19-058R – Jenova SYNTHESIS

Big Body, Big ability, and a last name full of capitol letters. I meant CAPITOL letters.

Jenova Synt … SYNTHESIS (you have to yell it out to get the full effect.) comes in and deals damage to all the Forwards your opponent controls, If you have 5 Backups, it’ll be 8000. Pair this with From Nightmares Matoya, and you might have a board wipe.

5CP 9000 power. Could be useful

 

19-059R – Aster Protoflorian

You should be ready to pay 7CP to play Aster Protoflorian. If you don’t you might as well play a different card. You need to get both of his abilities off when he enters the field cause after that all he’ll do is be a decoration on your field.

He’ll also count as a Category XIII Character for certain abilities in the Starter Set.

 

 

 

 

19-060C – Animist

Animist doesn’t do much till you have 3 points of Damage.

Animist does have an ability that lets you play a Monster of 2CP or less straight to the field. That way you can play a Monster without worrying about paying the cost.

And, at 3 points of Damage when Animist enters the field, you can search for a Monster of 4CP or less and add it to your hand.

 

 

 

19-061H – Doga

Looking at the card it took me a second to realize that it was drawn from the top.

Doga will fit good into an Fire/Earth or Earth/Lightning Deck. Or any Earth deck if you have a way to produce Fire or Lightning CP.

When he enters the field, Doga allows you to discard a Summon for to Crystals. You can use those Crystals to cast his abilities. One is to deal 7000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards, the other is to Break a Forward.

As long as Doga stays active, this is a good card to play.

When I first read this card I was thinking how can you fit this into a deck, but then I remembered that there are Backups that pay for different elements. Let’s take Tyro for instance and Class Tenth Moogle.

19-062R – Nacht EX

If you’re Warping, Nacht is a cheap play. If not, he costs 6CP.

Nacht is basically an Opus VI Titan with a body. Once he enters the field you pick 2 Forwards. One of yours and one of your opponent’s, and they deal damage to each other. This ability also comes off of an EX Burst.

 

 

 

 

19-063H – Barret

This Barret can be put in the AVALANCHE deck, but is it a better card than the Barret that is mostly used?

Probably not, but it does have some good things going for it.

If you’re playing a lot of Multi-Element cards it could be of use as when you cast a Multi-Element card you’ll deal 4000 damage to all the Forwards your opponent controls.

After that when he is put into the Break Zone, you can search for a Forward other than Barret and add it to your hand.

19-064R – Fenrir

Your Earth Free Summon.

Free is free. So, you might as well play this.Break a Multi-Element Forward or Break a Light or Dark Forward. The choice is your when Fenrir is cast.

There’s some use for it against some decks, but what about the decks that don’t have Multi-Element Forwards or Light/Dark Forwards?

 

 

 

19-065C – The Deathlord

The Deathlord will bring you closer to your death.

Or something like that.

I thought I found a good Combo, but then I realized it said Characters so you can’t cast Fenrir.

But, you can pull out a Kefka from the Break Zone, and play him straight to the field, if your opponent has more than 3 Forwards on the field. Now the other card can be anything you’d like, but I’m pretty sure there is something good here.

And, I’m sure someone already figured it out.

19-066C – Behemoth

Monsters, Plenty of Monsters.

We like this Monster, well I do at least.

When Behemoth enters the field you can Stop a Forward. They won’t be able to attack or block until the end of the next turn. But, they will be able to cast abilities.

Behemoth can also become a Forward once per turn, for the cost of 1 Earth CP. A 7K body for 1CP isn’t bad at all. Sure you’ll need to pay each turn, but you’ll usually have an extra CP laying around.

19-067C – Monk

Here’s a quick buff to all your Forwards. +2000 power can go a long way, add in Enna Kros from Opus I and you’ll have a 3K buff. Not only that but, you can play up to 3. That means that, technically you can have a 7K buff for all your Forwards.

Is there a way to pull it off? Paying 12 CP in one turn?

Let’s see. 5 Backups plus 7 cards in your hand, 3 are Monks so that leaves 4. Those 4 cards in your hand will pay for 2 of the Monks, while the 5 CP from your Backups will pay for the third. And you have one Backup left, which you’ll probably have no use for.

It can happen. Is it worth it? Probably not, but it would be fun when you pull it off.

Oh, and if you pay for the Monk with 3 different elements, you can choose a Forward, and Monk and the other Forward will deal damage to each other, possibly breaking a Forward.

19-068R – Rydia

A 5 cost Backup, that searches for a Job Summoner, and a Summon.

Both need to be of different elements.

Other than that, the art looks good, almost reminds you of Amano’s work. Sort of.

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Emissaries of Light – Thoughts on Earth

16-064C – Dark Knight

Not the best way to start off with Earth, but you can play 3 Backups in one turn at 3 points of Damage if you already have 3 Dark Knights in your hand.

Not much else to say.

 

 

16-065C – Amber EX

Here is the searcher your Soiree deck needs.

4CP to grab a card.

I’ll need to get all these cards together and figure out what’s going on.

 

 

16-066R – Heretical Knight Garland

I like this card.

Garland buffs up one of your Forwards into a Berserk Behemoth, or something of that nature.

+4K power and Brave, is no laughing matter.

And plus, if you keep enough CP available, Heretical Knight Garland is almost indestructible.

16-067L – Aerith

No need to grab your Phoenix Downs, Aerith will raise herself from the dead.

3 turns is all she needs.

She’ll be back in no time, Block, Attack all you want. You’ll probably be able to get into a rhythm here, and have all 3 Aeriths recycling themselves in a way that as soon as one is broken, remove from the game, and on the next turn, yours or your opponents she’ll be back on the field ready to block. All she needs is Haste.

 

16-068C – Eiko

10K Damage?

That’s a lot for a common Backup.

There might be some use to Eiko.

 

 

16-069C – Ciaran

Low cost Forward that can reach up to 9000 Power.

And, that Special Ability. Gets stronger with each Backup you control.

 

 

 

16-070L – Kirin

Kirin and the Shijin. Sounds like Hootie and the Blowfish.

What you don’t already know is that Kirin has the “Power of Love”. Just ask Doc Brown.

He’ll buff up the Shijin with +1K power, and when he comes in, Kirin allows you to play a 4 cost Forward from the top 5 cards
of your deck. That’s almost like grabbing Marty McFly to play at your Prom.

 

16-071C – Gladiator

Another Backup on Standby.

Keep Gladiator on the field till you have received 5 points of Damage. After that dull, return to your hand, play Gladiator, put him in the Break Zone and give all your Forwards +10K and Brave.

And, this is just a Common.

 

16-072C – Beastmaster

Looking for an Energy drink?

Beastmaster will let you grab a Monster when he enters the field.

Yeah, that one was cornier than the other ones.

 

 

16-073C – Benjamin

They finally added a Mystic Quest character to the game. All we need now is 8bit FFI characters. Come on Square-Enix you can do it.

High cost, high power. And Benjamin gets stronger at 3 points of Damage.

Throw him in late in the game and you’ll also Break one of your opponents dull Forwards.

 

 

16-074C – Cactuar

Break a Forward with this Summon, but Cactuar carries some drawbacks. Unless you want to deal yourself some Damage to get the benefits of all these Earth cards.

 

 

 

 

16-075R – Shinju

I think this card is the base of Soiree, as she allows all the different elements to be paid using any element.

Grab Shinju with Amber and watch Soiree unfold before your very eyes.

 

 

 

16-076R – Sophie

She was banned, but now she’s back with a Vengeance.

Sophie’s first ability comes off of Sophie’s Second ability.

If you’re playing high cost Characters, Sophie will be dealing 10K damage to one of your opponents Forwards. 12K if you have Enna Kros as a Backup.

 

 

16-077R – Terra

Terra might fit in a Fire/Ice Category VI deck. Or you can just go all out and grab all the VI Characters and go 6 element FFVI.

Someone out there, already knows how to use this card, and that person is not me.

 

 

16-078C – Demonolith

I remember a card like this in an earlier Opus, but that was a Summon.

Demonolith stays on the field until you want to see your next draw. And if you ;like it, you can keep it. If not just chuck them to the bottom of your deck, and hope for 2 better cards.

 

 

 

16-079H – Hades

The 2 cost Monsters in this deck are something. Each one I keep seeing is a card you’d easily add to your deck.

Hades here, let’s you discard a Backup to draw a card. And, you already know that there are plenty of Backups whose only purpose is to come in and use their on-entry ability. Now you have a way to get rid of them to play another Backup.

But, that’s not all.

Hades can make some of your opponents Forwards vulnerable.

As, whenever a chosen Forward is dealt Damage, that Forward will be broken, and sent to the Break Zone.

Relm is going to have some fun this Opus.

16-080H – Madam Edel

Madam Edel has been name dropped throughout this set, and now we can finally see what she is made of.

Madam Edel is the Forward your opponent will be trying to remove once she is on the field.

Madam Edel grants Protection to all the Morze’s Soiree Members. No Summons or abilities will be able to lay a finger on them.

And for 4CP, you’ll be able to grab a Morze’s Soiree Member from the Break Zone and play it on the field.

16-081R – Mira

We mentioned Relm earlier, but Mira here, will be able to take the reigns just as well.

Mira comes in and lets you play a Monster onto the field, and it all depends on how much Damage you have received. The more Damage the stronger the Monster.

 

 

16-082H – Mont Leonis

Well, you’re always going to be using that first ability. And, we mean always. There’s no reason not to. It doesn’t cost you any CP, and at the same time it gives Mont protection from damage dealt by Summons and abilities.

Taunting Blade? Yeah, it has some use. Mont attacks and uses the ability to take down the Forwards that are blocking him.

I still don’t like Mont.

16-083H – Layle

Depending on which side you’re on, Layle can either make or break you.

Everyone will attack and block, unless there are no more attackers for the blockers to block.

And, with Brave, Layle will be pulling double duty on both sides.

If you need to, you can always give Layle +1K to help him survive.

 

16-084R – Leslie

Leslie is your infiltrator, allowing him to dispose of your opponents Forwards from the inside. He’ll sit perfectly in a Mono-Earth deck as that will be the only way to be able to pass Leslie on to your opponents field.

Once he is there, your opponent will need to choose 2 Forwards and hopefully they’ll be sent to the Break Zone along with Leslie.

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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.