Posted on Leave a comment

Hidden Legends of Fire

24-001L – Ifrit (XVI)

Coming in with Haste, Ifrit is ready to deal plenty of damage. You can play Ifrit straight to the field for 7CP or you can Prime Clive into Ifrit for 2CP. But, you’d have to have Clive on the field to do that.

And, we’re not talking about Clive, we’re talking about Ifrit.

And when he does come in, you’re dealing 10K to one of your opponent’s Forwards. If Ifrit deals damage to your opponent, Ifrit will deal another 10K to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Spitflare?

Deals 10K damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Whatever happens Ifrit will be dealing 10K damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

24-002C – Warrior of Light EX

At 3CP Warrior of Light comes in with an EX Burst. And, when it goes off Warrior of Light deals a Forward 5000 damage.

But, where are you at in the game?

Have you seen Bahamut?

Did you find the Rat Tail?

Do you have the power of the Crystals?

If you do, then Warrior of Light deals a Forward 8000 damage.

And, that’s about it. Simple and gives you a reason to produce Crystals.

Well, not really.

24-003H – Cyan

Am I reading this correct?

Cyan enters the field, and you can play a Final Fantasy VI character from your hand onto the field?

Sure it has to be 3CP or less, but you’re getting 2 cards on the field for 4CP. and if you play Gestahlian Empire Cid, you’ll also grab a FFVI Character from your deck, making Cyan’s total cost a whopping +1CP. That’s what it comes out to if you do the math.

Not only that, but Cyan also acts as protection from your opponent’s abilities. Yes, it only works for FFVI Characters, but if you’re playing Cyan you’re playing a VI deck. If you’re not, then you’re not playing Cyan.

Bushido Tempest?

How many cards can you fir into your Break Zone? That’s how much damage Cyan will deal to a Forward.

We also get a beautiful Full Art here.

24-004R – Deadly Nightshade

Looks more like a tomato.

1CP and you got your finger on the trigger. Ready to shoot, whenever one of your Forwards attack.

If you decide to pull that trigger, you’ll put Deadly nightshade into the Break Zone, and deal one of your opponent’s Forwards 7000 damage.

Might be a good way to get rid of a blocker that has more power than your attacking Forward. If not, you can always deal damage to one of your opponent’s other Forwards. 2 birds with 1 tomato.

And, now I’m hungry.

24-005L – Clive

Coming in with Haste, Clive is set to Prime.

As, we don’t know exactly what Priming is yet, we will wait until we write about it. But, I might forget to change this when the set comes out.

Clive gives all the Eikons and Dominants +1000 power, this includes himself.

And, when he deals damage to your opponent, you’ll discard your hand and draw 2 cards.

This is great for when you don’t have any cards in your hand.

24-006C – Clive

Coming in at 2CP with 5000 power, Clive becomes a powerhouse, if another Dominant or an Eikon is removed from the game. Making Clive a 9K Forward with Brave.

You can also use Clive’s ability to deal 5000 damage to a Forward.

That’s about it.

You can do far worse for 2CP.

 

24-007C – Black Mage

2CP and the ability isn’t that bad.

Black Mage can deal 5K damage to one a Forward but, you can only use his ability when a Fire Forward enters the field.
Not the best ability, but low cost and being able to remove Black Mage from the field, all while dealing damage to your opponent, making way for a better Backup to enter your field.

Might be worth playing if you can get Black Mage in early.

 

 

24-008C – Salamander (XII RW) EX

This Salamander looks more like a flying pig. That’s on Fire! Why are all these cards looking like food today. Add some Bacon to that tomato from earlier and now all we need is Lettuce.

But, that’s a conversation for a different time.

Salamander is Summoned and it deals 7000 damage to one Forward, and if you have 5 Backups on the field, 5000 damage to another Forward.

Not bad for 3CP, and an EX Burst on top of that.

Now where are we going to find that Lettuce?

24-009R – Joshua

Now that we’ve seen Joshua, it does not matter if you prime into Phoenix or just play Phoenix outright, if we’re just talking about cost.

(Yes, we wrote about Phoenix first, and we’re not going to edit it, because these are all first impressions.)

With that being said, Joshua is still a good card to play, as you can grab an Eikon or a Dominant from the Break Zone and put it back into your deck.

For 1CP this is a good play. Only downside would be the 3000 power that Joshua has, but, you’ll be Priming into Phoenix as soon as you can, because the only reason you’d be playing Joshua would be to grab that Eikon or Dominant from your Break Zone.

24-010C – Cetia

New Job? I can’t remember Cetia from War of the Visions, but then again, I haven’t played it in over a year. Did the story get better?

Cetia is your 4CP/8K body that is in every set.

If the cost is too high for you, you can always pay 2CP of any element and a Crystal.

You already know that there are going to be more Warriors of the Crystal, by Cetia’s ability to deal a Forward 4000 damage for each Warrior of the Crystal that you have on the field.

What I like is that if you’re paying using a Crystal, you can splash Cetia into any color deck that you’d like.

24-011H – Takatsugu

9CP?

He even looks mad, because his cost is so high.

Well, when Takatsugu enters the field you can search for 2, 2 cost Fire Forwards and you can play them straight to the field.
This might be a decent way to get bodies on the field.

Let’s take a look at his second ability. Which reads when another Forward enters your field, deal 2K damage to a Forward.
And those 2 Forwards come in to play, when Takatsugu enters the field.

So, you get 2 Fire Forwards and deal 2000 damage to 2 Forwards when Takatsugu comes in.

That might be worth 9CP.

It might not be worth 9CP.

It all depends on if you think it’s worth 9CP.

24-012C – Human

Do you have a way to get rid of Backups?

Do you have 4 Fire Backups on the field?

If so, then Human is the right card for you.

Human comes in and allows you to draw a card. And, if you have 4 Fire Backups on the field, Human deals a Forward 7000 damage.

And, that’s about it.

Standard Human Soldier.

Not even a Universal Soldier.

24-013R – Neon

Neon comes in and deals 5K damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

5CP is a little bit high, but you get a Crystal.

And, you can use that Crystal right away and deal a Forward 5Kdamage as well.

If you choose the same Forward you’re more than likely to break it.

If not, you can choose another Forward and maybe, you’ll break 2 Forwards in one turn.

Is that the best way to spend 6CP and a Crystal?

Probably not, but it has it’s uses.

And, let’s not get started on the art.

24-014H – Bahamut

2 options.

One is more powerful than the other, but that power comes in at a high cost. And, we’re not just talking about the 5CP you’ll pay to cast Bahamut.

Option A, choose a Forward deal it 20,000 damage. I’m pretty sure nothing will survive that. Unless you’re able to buff one of your Forwards pass the 20K mark, you will have a broken Forward on your hands.

And, Option B, deal 10,000 damage to all of your opponent’s Forwards. This will more than likely break all of your opponent’s Forwards. And it better, because you will be left with just 3 cards in your deck.

Bahamut would be a great end game play.

24-015C – Bahamut EX

A Bahamut Forward?

Of course it’s going to have a high cost. You think they would have let you play Bahamut for cheap. Nope and never.

Bahamut comes in and basically casts Mega Flare on one of your opponent’s Forwards. And, when that Forward is sent to the Break Zone, you will deal your opponent 1 point of damage.

And that is how you you will gain an easy advantage.

Why easy?

Bahamut will be able to attack freely, without worrying about a Forward blocking him, because when they do block and are sent to the Break Zone, you will still deal a point of damage to your opponent.

How can we give Bahamut Brave?

24-016R – Phoenix (XVI)

How is this a Rare?

Every time Phoenix attacks you can grab a Fire Forward of 2CP or less from the Break Zone, and play it onto the field
You don’t even need Joshua to say that you’ll be playing this card. I haven’t seen the Joshua card yet, but I can say you don’t need it. Sure, you can play it, and Prime into Phoenix, but Phoenix is playable all by itself.

I’m already thinking Fire Warriors, and a whole bunch of 2 cost Standard Units alongside Maria (17-128L).

We’ll call it Mono-Fire Standard Unit Warrior and Co.

24-017C – Firion

Firion the Tambourine man is here.

I’m liking these new Theatrhythm cards, each Character is carrying an instrument … Maybe we can get a band going. We’ll start off with covers … I’m getting ahead of myself.

3CP, Firion can gain either First Strike or Brave during every Attack Phase.

Either way, Firion will have 8000 power to attack and block.

Maybe, just maybe we’ll get a Theatrhythm deck going.

24-018R – Josef

Search and Play.

Perfect way to get a 2 cost Rebel on the field. And, I’m thinking of Maria 17-128L, which is a very under rated card if you ask me. But, you’re not and we’re talking about Josef.

Josef is a Backup, costs 5CP, and when you have no more use for him or you need to free up space, you can use his ability and send him to the Break Zone, while you’re also giving a Rebel Forward +2000 power.

Not too shabby.

Shop for these Singles and more at our TCG Player Store.

Posted on Leave a comment

Dawn of Heroes – Spark in the Dark

20-085C – Assassin

1CP/3K body

Perfect if you want to swarm the board. Pay the additional cost and deal a Forward 3000 damage.

After that you can put Assassin into the Break Zone to break that same Forward.

But, then again, put into the Break Zone still confuses me, so I might be wrong on this.

 

20-086H – Alisaie

This card looks good so far, at least in my head. We still need to see it in action.

Alisaie comes in and you can play a 3 cost Scion from the Break Zone onto the field. Right away you get some value from her. Especially if you play her, and grab Alphinaud 20-106R from the Break Zone. You’ll technically only be paying 1CP for Alisaie, and Alphinaud.

And Alisaie’s second ability triggers when a Water Forward (Alphinaud) enters the field. That second ability says that when a Water Forward enters the field you can dull one of your opponents Forwards.

And when that Forward is Alphinaud, your opponents will select one of their dull Forwards and Break it.

Now if that Forward that you dulled is the only dull Forward, then you have chosen the Forward that will be Broken.

20-087R – Angeal

I always have trouble remembering what “Put into the Break Zone” means. And, during every Prerelease, I find myself asking the same question.

Must be old age.

Anyways, Angeal is a 3 cost Forward that likes to Break your opponents Forwards along with a couple of his SOLDIER buddies.

I’d think of Angeal more like a Summon that sticks around. Move over Odin, you ain’t got that strike like Angeal. Or something like that. Cause Angeal will stick around and block an attack or two before he gets sent t the Break Zone.
Angeal can also be put into the Break Zone and give one of your Forwards +3000 power.

20-088L – Estinien

Just looking at this card, you know it’s going to be good.

Warp Estinien in for 1CP. Then he comes in with Haste. And, until the end of the turn he has Brave, and can attack twice in the same turn. And, when he attacks he gains +10,000 power and First Strike.

That’s just … WOW!!!

You’ll want to play Estinien from the get go. Almost like Roche. If you don’t find Estinien in your opening hand, you should just Mulligan and hope to get him on your next draw.

This card will be heading straight to my Haste deck, with Haste.

20-089C – Kadaj

Kadaj is back.

4CP with an 8K body, and an ability that triggers when he enters the field, and enters the Break Zone. (That could be a song title “Enter the Break Zone” or album title.) Kadaj will make a Forward lose power, in other words Kadaj will cast Sap on a Forward.

Once he’s done with that he’ll stay on the field until he gets broken and cast Sap on another Forward. Well, technically it’s not Sap, but it’s close enough.

It’s decent.

20-090H – G’raha Tia

G’raha Tia is a great way to play a Scion onto the field, of an element that you are splashing.

Or any Scion that is not in your hand. As you’ll pay the cost of let’s say Alisaie, and if Alphinaud is already in the Break Zone, you’ll be able to play him as well.

G’raha Tia also gains 3000 power when there is a FFXIV Standard Unit Character on the field.

This is a card I’d like to see in action. And I’ll decide on if I like it or not afterwards. But, it’ll be too late for this article, as I only write my first impressions on each card, and at time of writing release is still a month away.

20-091C – Illusionist

2 cost Backup, that just buffs one of your Forwards attacks by 2000 power for one turn.

Can be used if your in a little pickle, attacking and being blocked by a Forward with a little more power than what you attacked with.

Would I use this card?

Probably not.

 

20-092R – The Emperor

The Emperor has new clothes.

And he’ll change them every time he is put into the Break Zone. He might even change into the same clothes, as you can search for The Emperor and play him onto the field dull. As long as The Emperor has 3CP or less.

With this one there are a total of 6 Emperors to choose from. One which allows you to search for an Emperor of cost 5 or less. Which is the highest CP for any Emperor.

I wonder if we can play The Emperor, the same way that we play Ultros. As the Emperor always seems like he has a way to come back to the field. I’m going to look into this some more at a later date.

We haven’t even mentioned The Emperor’s ability, That requires your opponent to pay 2CP more for their Character’s action abilities. Looks like an easy way to drain your opponent of CP.

I like.

20-093H – Shadow Dragon

You can either pay 3CP to cast Shadow Dragon, or you can use Shadow Dragon as part of the cost to play Golbez. After that you can pay just 1CP of any element and play Shadow Dragon onto the field, straight from the Break Zone.

And, when Shadow Dragon enters the field, you can pick a Forward of 3CP or less and Break it.

Once all is said and done, you can turn Shadow Dragon into a Forward by paying a whopping 0CP.

Sure, it only has 3000 power, but you’re not playing this card so you can have an extra Forward.

Just bring Shadow Dragon out to block, just so you can recast it later.

20-094R – Cor

Cor was a Captain? How come I don’t remember that?

4 cost Lightning Forward with 8000 power.

Nothing to write home about so far.

But, if a King is on the field, Cor gains +2000 power. making him a 10K body.

When Cor is finally sent to the Break Zone, you can remove the top 10 cards of your deck and play Cor back onto the field dull.

Is it worth it? Probably not. Maybe if Cor was a better card, we’d think about it.

20-095C – Weaver

I’m beginning to think that these Backups were solely made to be played in draft.

I don’t think anyone would use these.

But, we have one for every element.

So, I’m writing a bunch of sentences to make it seem like they’re worth writing about.

 

20-096C – Johnny

It was only a matter of time until Johnny showed up. And as you know it Tifa is in this set as well.

Johnny is a decent Backup that can grab a couple of cards from your Break Zone. Easy way to get a couple of Forwards back, or a Backup that was previously sent to the Break Zone.

After that, whenever you need another FFVII Character that was in the Break Zone, Johnny will happily head into the Break Zone to grab them.

Even though he doesn’t specifically search for Tifa, you know that that, that’s what’s really on his mind.

20-097C – Sephiroth

For 7CP you can cast Sephiroth.

Or you can just Warp Sephiroth in for 1CP.

Spoiler alert.

And he’ll Warp down from the sky, thrusting Masamune down one of your opponents Forwards just like he did to …

I stopped myself there, cause sometimes people don’t pay attention to Spoiler warnings.

If you know, you know.

And that’s not all, Zanshin, Special Ability that can be cast without dulling Sephiroth.

depending on how many Sephiroths you have in you hand, you can be breaking low cost Forwards left and right like there’s no tomorrow.

How is this a Common?

20-098R – Chadley

A simple 2 cost ability that will allow you to grab a Forward from the Break Zone.

But, you have to jump through so many hoops just to get to it. But you can eliminate half the process if you already have a Lightning Summon in your hand.

Lets see now.

1 – Play Chadley
2 – Discard a card
3 – Search for a Lightning Summon and add it to your hand.
4 – Next turn/ Dull Chadley
5 – Discard a Summon/
6 – Put Chadley into the Break Zone
7 – Choose a Forward in your Break Zone, add it to your hand.

Is it worth it? Aren’t there better ways of grabbing something from the Break Zone. Sure you can set it up before hand, and Chadley can be used for CP until you need him.

I guess it all depends on whatever you think.

20-099C/15-095C – Ninja

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.

20-100R – Fusoya

Well one thing is for sure.

If you’re playing this card, you’ll have a whole bunch of 1CP and 2CP Summons in your deck. Just so you can spam them whenever you have Fusoya attack.

Isn’t there an Emissaries of Light Braska with an S ability that you can use a Summon instead of Braska?

*hint hint

I think these 2 will go well together.

20-101C – Behemoth

Common Monsters, that can do some damage. Behemoth here is a prime example.

Behemoth enters the field, and deals 7000 damage to one Forward.

Next turn, Behemoth can Break a damaged Forward.

Simple, effective, and probably won’t see much play, even though it is a decent card.

Prove me wrong.

20-102L – Mira

Well Maybe Behemoth will see some play, if it’s only to feed Mira’s ability.

1CP, 1 Monster, 1Miiiir-a

And say good-bye to that Forward that just entered the field. It’s even better if your opponent just spent a fortune on that Forward.

Mira is also able to bring herself back from the Break Zone, all you got to do is sacrifice a Monster, and she returns from the dead.

If you ever needed a reason to make a Monster deck, Mira is it.

20-103H – Ramuh

A 2 cost Summon that will give you 3 choices.

Best part, you can pick up to 2 of the 3 choices.

Which ones should you pick?

The choice is yours.

Dull a Forward, Deal 5000 damage to a Forward, or give Haste to a Forward.

It can also be any Forward that you can choose from.

Dull a Forward attacking, while dealing 5000 damage to another Forward, or even the same Forward.

Or maybe even, dull a Forward blocking and giving Haste to one of your Forwards to attack next.

The possibilities are there.

20-104R – Ramza

All you need is a Crystal in your possession. You don’t even nee to use it. If you don’t have a Crystal then you shouldn’t be playing Ramza. Play another Ramza

Ramza comes in with a Crystal (Maybe that Crystal is a Zodiac Stone.) Ramza gains Haste, and when he is sent to the Break Zone, you can break one of your opponent’s Forwards. Not limited to a certain CP either.

Bring Ramza in and attack right away. Don’t worry if he gets sent to the Break Zone, there’s more Ramzas where that came from.

You can probably find a way to grab him back from the Break Zone.

Ramza Army of One is a go.

As long as he can Shout.

20-105C – Reeve EX

It’s a 3 card trick.

Reeve comes in sets up his little table and shows you the 3 cards. One of which you can add to your deck, the others get sent to the bottom of your deck. Not seeing the light of day again, unless you shuffle your deck.

Ok, I know that’s not how it works.

4CP to grab a card from the top 3 of your deck At least you’ll know what you’ll be missing.

And, why did I always thought it was Reeves?

 

Posted on Leave a comment

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.

Posted on Leave a comment

Dawn of Heroes : Straight Out the Freezer

20-022C – Alhanalem

I feel like I just wrote about this card.

Alhanalem is a cheap Forward to play. Very cheap. At 1CP and a 3000 body, he can block any attack that you throw at him. Surviving the attack is another story.

Alhanalem also comes with 2 abilities. All you have to do is dull Alhanalem, and you can either Dull or Freeze a Forward.

I don’t see any reason not to have a couple of these laying around.

20-023C – Armourer

The Common card between all the elements.

Let’s just Copy and Paste here.

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.

20-024H – Calbrena

Rerouting damage to the nearest Forward.

Calbrena comes in whenever it wants to come in. Your turn, your opponents turn, or whenever one of your Forwards is being targeted by one of your opponents abilities.

You can now reroute that damage to Calbrena.

And when Calbrena is dealt damage by one of your opponents Forwards, you can deal damage to your opponent equal to Calbrena’s power, which will usually be 7000.

A nice little counter to have in your hand.

20-025C – Juggler

Backup.

Back Attack.

Juggler enters and dulls a Forward.

‘Nuff said.

You can actually play Juggler, when your opponent attacks and dull the Forward that is attacking.

20-026C – Edward EX

The Spoony Bard is back again, as a Backup.

And with his trusty harp, he will take a dull Forward, and break it.

As long as your opponent has 2 Dull Forwards on the field, that is.

For 2CP, I’d say this is a good deal.

 

20-027C – Genesis

We Finally got another Genesis card. We’ve been waiting since Opus III. Let’s see if it’s been worth the wait.

5CP for a 9K body.

Common.

Either Freeze 2 Characters, or have your opponent discard a card.

If Genesis comes in with Warp, you can use both abilities. Warp cost is 2 Ice CP.

It’s worth a try. At least in draft.

20-028R – Cissnei

This is interesting.

Cissnei uses Shuriken Counters, just like Edge.

Cissnei can use Shuriken Counters from other Characters to use her ability.

Edge (11-045H) gains a Shuriken Counter every time a Ninja enters the field.

Are there any Ice Ninja’s. Besides Vanilla Ice in TMNT 2.

We’re either throwing Edge (19-070C) in a Turks deck, or finding a way to put Cissnei in a Ninja deck.

20-029C – Jihl Nabaat

Am I the only one that still likes to play Opus I Jihl Nabaat? If I am, I might not after this set is out, as this Jihl has the same Enter the Field ability, but better.

Jihl comes in and if you pay the extra 2CP you can not only Freeze 2 of your opponents Characters, but dull them as well. That way you won’t need to pick from the dull Characters, cause you will dull the Characters you want to Freeze.

Jihl Nabaat is also a Forward, and if you’re playing Mono-Ice, well she’ll gain +2000 power.

I don’t know how well she’ll do in the XIII Custom Starter Set.

I guess we’re about to find out.

20-030R – Setzer

Setzer deck incoming.

First off, all the FFVI Ice cards look amazing this set.

Setzer comes in and allows all of your VI Forwards to form a party together regardless of element. Combine this with Locke, and get that table of four, to combine their attacks into one big party and get Locke’s ability to go off.

And with a party of 2 you get to dull and freeze a Forward.

Yes, please, I’ll take 3.

Is this a Full Art as well?

20-031R – Celes

If you’re playing Celes, you’re playing Locke, and whole bunch of FFVI Characters. Might be time to dust off my Setzer deck and update it.

Celes gains Haste if Locke is on the field, and Locke gains Haste if Celes is on the field. A win-win for these two.

Other than that, when Celes enters the field, you can dull all of your opponents Forwards, if you have enough FFVI Characters on the field.

And you get that for only 2CP. After that Celes is a 5k body, able to block an attack, get sent to the Break Zone, and then you can just play her again.

20-032C – Soldier : 3rd Class

Cloud’s old SOLDIER buddies are here.

These one’s gain 1000 power for each SOLDIER : 3rd Class in your Break Zone. They also search for each other when they enter the Break Zone, + you get to play them straight to the field.

Pair these SOLDIERs with the Opus III Soldiers and you can have up to 5 SOLDIER : 3rd Class in your Break Zone, to make this Soldier an 11k power house.

 

20-033C – Cerulean Drake

I was going to say, How come I don’t remember Cerulean Drake from FFVII? Then I realized it’s from the Remake.

Cerulean Drake is a 1 cost Monster that will Freeze a Forward when he enters the field.

Not much to write home about, but it does have some abilities that will allow you to dull a Forward, or break a dull Forward.
If you got 2 of these on the field, you can use the abilities back to back and Break an active Forward.

20-034R – Terra

There is a nice combo right here. Along with Lock and a couple more FFVI Characters. And, I probably won’t even scratch the surface here.

Terra comes in and you can grab a Summon from the Break Zone. This makes Terra’s CP go from 4 to 2. And once Terra forms a party and attacks, you’ll be able to cast that Summon for Free.

And along with the Free Summons from the last set. You can cause a lot of damage.

Considering this Terra is only a rare, it’ll be easy to get a playset.

20-035C – Knight

Ice Reprint Standard Unit.

Just find what I wrote for Samurai and change the word Samurai to Knight.

 

 

 

20-036H – Number 24

Number 24? This card is Number 36. They should get their facts straight.

All jokes aside Number 24 in the Royal Rumble is pretty good.

No?

Ok, Number 24 is a great blocker. Just keep a Barrier Counter on him and block any attack that comes your way. Add a Barrier Counter at the beginning of the Main Phase, and you’ll always have a constant supply of Barrier Counters.

Just make sure you keep blocking, because once those Barrier Counters are 3 or more, Number 24 will become dull at the end of each of your turns. But, he should activate during the beginning of your Main Phase, so you should be good.

20-037H – Mateus (FFTA)

2 cost Summon that will either Freeze all of your opponents Forwards, or all of your opponents Backups.

Pick and choose, but the end result will always be the same.

Mateus will be removed from the game.

No way to save this one.

20-038H – Wicked Mask

Chris Isaak would have had a field day with this card.

“Such a Wicked Mask to play”

3 cost Monster that reroutes a Summon from one Character to another Character of your choice. I’m seeing plenty of Counters this set, even if they aren’t called counters.

After Wicked Masks enter the field ability is used, Wicked Mask stays on the field until you decide to turn it into a Forward.

And, let’s not forget – Back Attack.

20-039R – Rude

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can play an ability if it doesn’t have the dull icon.

I’m 99% sure of that, so that means, Rude enters the field, Dulls and Freezes a Forward. After that you can use Haymaker to Break it.

Only drawback I can find with this card is that, you can only use Backups to pay for this card. Other than that, Shinra should be getting stronger this set.

 

20-040L – Rufus

Rufus, President of Shinra, doing Presidential things.

You can lower the cost to cast Rufus by 2 if both Reno and Rude are in the Break Zone. Making Rufus a 2 cost Forward with a 7K body.

Once Rufus enters the field, you can grab one of the Turks from the Break Zone, making Rufus a Free Card. And, we all like Free cards.

After that whenever Rufus attacks, you can choose from 3 different abilites. Dull and Freeze a Forward, grab a Turk from the Break Zone, or you can make your opponent discard a card.

Rufus is the President that keeps on giving, even after he has been elected.

Doesn’t Weiss (18-019R) have an ability that activates when your opponent discards a card. (hint hint)

20-041R – Reno

Just goes to show you that the Turks are here to stay.

You play Reno for 3 and pay the extra cost to give Reno Haste. After that you can attack with Reno, search for Rude and play Rude onto the field.

It’s almost Buy 1 get 1 Free.

This even works better if you play Rufus first.

Let’s take a look.

Reno and Rude are in the Break Zone. You play Rufus for 2CP and grab Reno from the Break Zone. You play Reno, pay 1CP and give Reno Haste. Reno Attacks and searches for Rude and Rude gets played straight to the field. That’s pretty much comes out to 4CP for 3 Forwards.

Bright Spark? Dulls 2 Forwards.

20-042L – Locke EX

Really?

Now I’m definitely dusting off that Setzer deck.

Locke comes in and you get to grab a FFVI Character from the top 4 cards of your deck. Which should be pretty easy to get since most of your deck should consist of FFVI Characters.

Once Locke is on the field, get as many FFVI Forwards on the field, and form a a party of 4 FFVI Characters. Do that once per turn and your opponent won’t ever have any Forwards to attack or block. Which should work in your favor. Cause, even if you form a party with only 2 FFVI Characters, you’ll still be dealing your opponent a point of damage.

Yes, I’ll take 3. Hopefully we get a Full Art here.

Posted on Leave a comment

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?