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Hidden Trials – By Lightning

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23-077H – Azul

The Tsivets are coming strong, and Azul is about to kick some butts.

Azul has Counter, he will Counter any damage dealt to him to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

For the cost of 1 Crystal, Azul can also cast Berserk on a Forward. And, when he does, Azul gains +2000 power.

I’d say that’s a Crystal well spent.

 

23-078C – Alisae

Alisae is like a bloodhound. She’ll help you find the card you need, but only if you can show her what you’re looking for. And, the only way to do that is to already have a card with the same name in your Break Zone.

The only thing Alisae can’t search for will be Standard Units and Summons, everything else is fair game.

I’m sure she has some use, but there are plenty of other cards that’ll search better then she does.

 

23-079R – Estinien

I mean he’s no Opus VI Estinien, or Dawn of Heroes either, but Estinien is still a decent card to play.

Coming in with Haste, Estinien has the ability to attack from the get go, but you already knew that. So, why would we mention that?

It’s simple. Every time Estinien attacks, you get to grab a Scion Forward from your Break Zone. Making Estinien a great play, right away.

And, that’s not all!

At 3 points of Damage Estinien gains +1000 power. Add in Opus I Lulu and Hidden Trials Krile, and you’ll have a Forward that attacks for 11,000.

And this is just a Rare card.

23-080R – Odin EX

If this comes off of an EX Burst it’s great.

If it doesn’t it’s too expensive, and the Opus I Odin, along with the Opus I reprint from Opus VIII. is a couple of CP less.

Why would you play this one? Because you can cast it for 3CP if you remove 6 Lightning cards from your Break Zone. If you have no way of getting them back, then go right ahead.

Breaking a Forward still is a broken Forward your opponent can’t use.

23-081C – Puppetmaster

2 Cost Elemental Lightning Backup.

Puppetmaster is ready for action with his Puppet right behind him ready for orders.

Puppetmaster comes in and dulls a Forward. As with some of the other Backups of this set, he has greater power when you have a full line of Backups on the field. And, when that happens, Puppetmaster dulls all of your opponent’s Forwards.

I’m noticing a lot of great plays being brought in towards the mid-end game.

 

 

23-082H – King

Is this a new thing, where we remove cards to reduce the cost of casting a card?

Because King turns into a 1 cost Hero, if you remove 4 cards from your Break Zone.

And, whenever King attacks, you can discard 2 cards and Break a Forward of your choosing.

King’s cost evens out as the 4CP you save from removing the 4 Characters from your Break Zone.

There’s plenty of ways to get rid of cards, Lightning might become even more fast paced.

23-083H – Queen

Your Savior, Your Queen.

This is a great card. Cadets will be one the rise solely based off of this card.

At the small cost of removing 3 cards from your Break Zone. Queen will give a Class Zero Cadet a 2000 power buff, plus damage dealt to that Forward by your opponent’s abilities will become 0.

This card kinda makes me want to remake that Cadets deck I had made back during Opus XIII.

23-084C – G’raha Tia

At 5CP and 9000 power, G’raha Tia is just a regular Common card.

When he enters the field, and you have another G’raha Tia in the Break Zone, you can remove it from the game and deal 4000 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Forwards. You will also dull them as well.

If this card cost a little bit less, I would say that it’s better.

 

 

23-085R – Krile (XIV)

Look at the new card you’ll be putting in your Scions deck.

Nothing beats a 1K buff across your board. Especially when it comes to the Scions and they already work well together.

And if you still need a little bit of extra power, Krile can give a Scion another 1000 power when it deals damage to a Forward.

Can’t go wrong with that.

 

 

23-086H – Thancred

Thancred, reporting for duty!

Thancred is ready to go from the get go. (If you already have some Scions on the field.) He’ll break one of your opponent’s Forwards as he enters, and he’ll bring back a Forward from the dead as he enters the Break Zone.

Almost like a Viking, but different.

Scions being Scions.

 

 

23-087C – Jack

Yeah, you’re not going to play this card.

Unless there is another card that stated “this and this” if there are so many cards in your Break Zone.

I’m also pretty sure that the other Jacks are much better, I can say that without even looking for them.

Even at 2CP, I wouldn’t play this card.

At least the art is nice.

23-088L – Serah

Mono-Lightning XIII deck Incoming.

Your opponent will be using all their resources to get rid of Serah here.

Once she comes in all of your opponents Forwards will lose 2000 power, and if you have at least another 2 FFXIII Forwards their power will go down by 5000. And, this does not end at the end of the turn. As of my understanding, they lose that power until Serah is removed from the field.

That means that most of your opponent’s Forwards will be unusable. Sure, there will be ways that your opponent can raise the power of their Forwards, but Serah also has Dispel. Dispel removes any power gains that your opponent has given their Forwards until the end of the turn.

I’ll take 3 with all the bells and whistles.

23-089C – SOLDIER Candidate

Now, this is a Candidate I have a use for.

2CP/5K body, with Haste.

If you remember, I have built an all Haste deck, and this one fits perfectly into it.

2CP is perfect for it because you’ll only need to discard 1 card, since I don’t play any Backups. 5000 power isn’t bad, because you’re hoping to win in 2 rounds. And, half the time your opponent will not have any Forwards on the field.

And, most of the low cost Haste cards are Standard Units, SOLDIER Candidate will gain +3000 power, giving her an 8K body, the perfect “Candidate” for a Meat Shield.

23-090C/15-095C – Ninja

You know the drill.

“You’d think they’d at least try and get the serial numbers to match.

Would’ve looked a lot better reading 20-099C/15-099C.

Not that big of a deal but, at least you gain a Crystal when Ninja comes in.

After that you can send Ninja to the Break Zone, and deal a Forward 1000 damage.

*yawn

Maybe if it wasn’t a reprint I’d be more excited.”

23-091C – Fencer (XIII)

There’s a lot of good Monsters in this set.

Fencer is ready to Break a Forward on command, as long as you have an extra Monster on the field, because that extra Monster will be part of the cost you pay for Fencer’s ability to go off.

It’s a cheap play, and as long as the Monster you send to the Break Zone has done it’s job, you’ll be good to go.

 

23-092R – Black Widow

This Monster is interesting.

You’ll need 2 or more Monsters for Black Widow to become a Forward. And when Black Widow does become a Forward, when it attacks, you may put another Monster into the Break Zone, and that will allow Black Widow to deal 9000 damage to a Forward of your choosing.

You can splash Black Widow into your Monster deck with Relm, and after that Black Widow will slowly get rid of your Monsters to play more Monsters.

 

 

23-093C – Mog (XIII-2)

This Moogle makes that XIII Mono-Lightning deck easier to make.

Always good to have a couple of searchers, and this one is better, because you can get rid of Mog once he finds what you’re looking for.

Mog comes in for 2CP, and just hangs out until it’s time for you to use his ability.

After that, you can play Mog once more, and he’ll do the same thing once more.

Yes, this card is needed.

23-094C – Y’shtola

How is this a Common?

If you’re playing a Scions deck, you will be dulling your opponent’s whole front line.

And, this only costs 3CP.

All I see is, you play Y’shtola, and block with her as soon as possible, in order to play her again.

Find a way to grab her from the Break Zone as well, and you’ll be golden. Just like the S(ci)un of the Seventh Dawn … Ok, maybe that wasn’t that great.

23-095R – Rosso

Rosso, the Crimson.

Vincent is in trouble here.

The Tsivets are coming for him and all of his allies, and Rosso is coming hard. For every time she attacks, she deals 4000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, if you have a stash of Crystals, you can use them to give one of your Tsivets Haste, allowing them to go from the get go.
Tsivets might finally have some decent cards to get a fun deck going.

Singles?

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Dawn of Heroes – Air, Wind and Gusts

20-043R – Brother

4 cost Forward, 8000 power, that gains another 2000 power if Rikku is on the field.

Just a normal rare here, nothing to see here.

Wait what’s that ability?

Activate all the FFX Characters? Oh, sign me up. Along with Opus II Rikku, we can activate, and reactivate.

Get ready for some traffic.

20-044L – Edge

Just like a true ninja. Edge doesn’t break he just hides in the Break Zone, until he’s ready to come out again. As you can just pay 2CP and a Crystal to play Edge onto the field.

With 3 enter the field abilities, there’s always something that you can do to help yourself out this turn. Buff a Forward, remove 2 cards from either Break Zone, or give Edge Haste.

Luckily when you cast Edge from your hand, you don’t need to choose you can do all 3. If it’s from the Break Zone, or search and play, you can only choose one.

I’d like to see Edge play out.

20-045C – Botanist

Planting Backups like planting seeds.

Time for Copy/Paste

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.

 

20-046C – Ghost (VII)

Who said Ghosts can’t hurt you?

This one clearly can, as when it enters the field, Ghost deals a Forward 3000 damage.

After that, you can remove ghost from the game, remove another Monster from the game, and then play the other Monster onto the field at the end of the turn.

You can either blink a Monster for their enter the field ability, or save a Monster being targeted by an ability or Summon.
I like this one.

20-047H – Jenova Dreamweaver

Is it a Monster? Is it a Forward?

Jenova is both, and does a good job doing it.

Jenova is already protected from Summon, so the only real way to get rid of Jenova is abilities, or just block it with a Forward that has more power.

But, how can you block it when you can also search and remove a Jenova Dreamweaver from the game to deal 7000 damage to all the Forwards your opponent controls?

Either way this is a Monster worth having multiples of.

20-048R – Stiltzkin

2 cost Backup that grants a 2K buff to both Chelinka and Yuri.

Sure they both have to be on the field in order for them to be granted the buff.

I don’t see how that could be a problem, since they both play well together. Especially this set, as all they have to do is keep forming a party and attacking.

 

20-049R – Chelinka

There’s either a really good Yuri card in this set, or we’re bringing it back to Opus VII. Probably not, so I’m guessing at least a decent Yuri.

Chelinka comes in and you can discard a card, search for Yuri and play him straight to the field.

And, as you can see Chelinka is here to party. Cause once she is in a party the damage dealt to the party is 0.

Now where is this Yuri card?

20-050C – Chocobo

Get your Gysahl Greens, this Chocobo is ready to power up. And he will have +4000 power for as long as Chocobo is enjoying the Gysahl Greens.

By Gysahl Greens we mean the Forward that you choose when Chocobo enters the field. Keep that Forward safe and Chocobo will have a 9k body.

 

 

20-051H – Fat Chocobo

You can probably get Fat Chocobo’s cost down to 4 if you’re playing Mono-Wind.

A decent Summon that deals 8000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

8CP is a bit much, but it can get you out of a pickle when you really need it.

If only it had an EX Burst attached to it …

 

20-052C – Gnash

Gnash is perfect for Wind.

You should be playing cards left and right. And, after you cast 3 cards, you play Gnash.

For 2 CP you can break a 5 cost, or more, Backup. That’s pretty cheap if you ask me. There are 55 Backups that are 5CP and up, so far, not counting this set. One of them is Tyro, who has become a pretty important card in a lot of decks.

If that’s not enough, you can use Gnash’s ability and send Gnash and another Backup to the Break Zone.

20-053H – Number 128

Number 128 needs damage. At least 4000 of it. After that it can unleash it’s counter attack, and deal 7000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

Can’t wait to get damaged?

Just pay the cost for Gale Cut, and you can just deal 7000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

Sure the first one is free, but maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to cast it twice this turn. Maybe even 3 if you really need to.

20-054R – Nono

4CP to activate all of your Wind Character?

You can play a card, play Nono, play some cards, Play Brother, play some cards play Opus II Rikku, and I’m sure there are plenty of other Wind Characters that Activate your Characters. Find a way to keep drawing cards and you got yourself ready to beat your opponent during the next round.

I’m sure someones going to come up with an infinite combo, if they haven’t already.

And at the end of any turn, you can activate 1 Forward.

I’ll take 3 please.

20-055C – Prompto

Decked in snow gear and what looks like a machine gun. I haven’t gotten to that point in the game, even though it’s been over 5 years since the game came out. Might also be in one of the DLC episodes too.

Anyways, a 2CP Backup that when Prompto is put into the Break Zone you draw a card. Simply put, it’s a free play.
And, you can also get rid of Prompto yourself, and reduce the damage dealt to a Forward by 5000.

I don’t know if this will be a better card, for the Noctis deck, but it can probably be used in any deck that needs some protection for it’s Forwards.

20-056H – Bel Dat

Adding another card that will allow you to play your opponents cards.

I like these cards as they are part of my main deck. It’s not the greatest deck at the moment, but it’s able to grab your cards and use them against you.

I don’t see any reason for you not to Warp Bel Dat, she Warp’s and each time you remove a Warp Counter your opponent puts the top to cards of their deck in the Break Zone.

And when Bel Dat enters the field, you can remove one of your opponents Forwards from the game, and cast it as if it was your own.

I like it, along with Zidane (16-048H), Mind Flayer (15-120H) and Lani (12-018H). I just need to find a way to play Exdeath (7-087R) onto the field and I’ll be set.

20-057L – The Goddess

The 2nd Member of the Warring Triad. The Goddess comes in and she spells DOOM. Yes, with capital letters. D-O-O-M!!!
Well, something like that.

The goddess comes in and casts Doom on your opponents Forwards.

After that your opponent has 1 turn to figure something out, because it is bye-bye for all of their Forwards.

This can go both ways, as your opponent will probably just start attacking you as they have nothing to lose. It might even go in their favor, when they’re playing with their backs up against the wall.

And at the end of every turn, your opponent removes their Break Zone.

I was on the end of both sides during Prerelease. It certainly adds some spice to the game.

20-058C – Melphie

This isn’t a bad card at all.

For 3CP you can cast Melphie and search for Sonon. Total cost 1CP

1CP for a 7K body isn’t bad at all.

After that she can just stay on the field and whenever a high cost Forward enters the field *cough The Goddess *cough, you can just dull Melphie, and send both Melphie and the other Forward to the Break Zone.

Yes, I’ll take it, if I ever decide to build a Wind deck. Maybe I’ll bring back the Chocobos.

20-059C – Carpenter

I’m lost with all these Free Backups that don’t do anything. I mean you could play them just to have extra Backups on the field.

Or you can just skip them, like the Opus I Evokers.

 

 

 

20-060R – Yuri

There he is.

See, if i read this Yuri card first, I would have said the same thing about Chelinka. And I was right, Yuri here is a decent card. Same as Chelinka you can discard a card and search and play Chelinka straight to the field.

Yuri, too likes to party, and from the looks of it, Chelinka and Yuri are a good pair as always. Sure you can play these 2 independently of each other, but why would you?

When Yuri forms a party and attacks, you can either break a 4CP Forward (or less) or activate all of your Characters. Either way you’re getting a good deal here.

20-061C – Yuffie

More Shuriken Counters, I’m betting big on Cissnei.

Yuffie comes in with 2 Shuriken Counters. And, when she attacks, you can throw a Shuriken at your opponent and deal a Forward 8000 damage.

2CP/5K body, after you use up her Shuriken Counters she can still block.

Or you can just use her to feed Cissnei Shuriken Counters.

 

20-062R – Ritz

Ritz comes in deals a Forward 3000 damage. Then …. I’m not really sure about this, but I’m guessing you just take Ritz and put her in the Break Zone to draw a card. Or do you block and have her sent to the Break Zone and then draw a card?

Either or, if you play this right, you’ll come up ahead with an extra Crystal Point.

1CP for a simple blocker isn’t bad at all. Is the Ritz worth playing over previous Ritz’s? That’s another question for another day. But, probably not.

 

20-063C/15-058C – Dragoon

Crystals and more Crystals.

Use this reprint Dragoon to generate one Crystal and then use his ability to get him off the field.

See, I actually wrote something this time.

No Copy/Paste.

Nope.

I might Copy/Paste this for the next one though.

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Shara, Viera

Here comes Shara, wind Legend of Opus XIII. As in the game Shara protected Ritz, and that is pretty much what she will be doing.

On to the Card

2CP/Wind
Forward
Job : Archer
Category : FFTA
4000 Power
Legend

Cheap card to play, and let’s you grab a card form the Break Zone. Basically, Free.

“EX BURST When Shara enters the field, choose 1 Card Name Ritz in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.

When a Category FFTA Character other than Shara enters your field, place 1 Viera Counter on Shara.

(D), remove 1 Viera Counter from Shara: Choose 1 Category FFTA Character. It gains “This Character cannot be chosen by your opponent’s Summons or abilities.” until the end of the turn.”

You’ll want to play as many Final Fantasy Tactics Advance cards as you can get. To keep adding Viera Counters on Shara. And then you’ll just keep using her ability on Ritz.

Right off the bat, we’ll add Marche (11-017H) and Ritz (11-063L) and you’ve won the game. But, we’ll need more cards to complete this deck. Might as well add Llednar (13-108L) because he’s shiny and new. The other Llednar might work as well, both are good cards in my opinion. Doned (11-053H) Will allow you to search for Marche, which will in turn allow you to play Ritz. You’ll need at least one Fire Backup, Black Mage (8-007C) might be a good pick as he’ll add a Viera Counter on Shara. Or you can always play Princess Sarah (11-128H)

The other cards are up to you. You can throw in the Shikarees and your opponent won’t know who to go after first. Fill your deck up with Chocobos and you’ll swarm your opponent.

Of course you’ll want to add some Wind staples. Maria (1-083H), Aerith (1-064R), and Rikku EX (2-071R).
Any ideas? Let us know what you would do in the comments.