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Wave 1 – Red Mage – 1-003C

Red Mage (1-003C) is one of the easier card to distinguish between Wave 1 and Wave 2. But first, let me give you the links from the guides from the introduction post that will help you guide your way.

“Distinguishing Final Fantasy TCG Opus 1 Wave 1 from Future Waves”

“Differences in Opus I Wave 1 Printing vs Later Waves”

All you have to do is look at Red Mage’s Colon. And, if you look at his face you’ll see that he is not excited about that.

Which one is which? If you check the colon right after the cost to pay for the ability you can see that the one on the left is lower than the one on the right. It’s that little detail that shows up on all the cards that have an ability with a cost.

And if you look closer, you can see that Red Mage’s hair is lighter in Wave 1 and darker in Wave 2.

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Zalbaag, Lord Commander of the Hokuten

Zalbaag (1-136C)

3CP/5000
Lightning
Forward
Knight

“When Zalbaag enters the field, choose 1 Forward of cost 2. Break it.”

Taking us all the way back to Opus I, as the only Zalbaag card that was printed was printed back when the set first came out. We’ve gotten so many Ramzas, but not a lot of the supporting Characters. We recently got Meliadoul, so there might be hope for more Final Fantasy Tactics Characters. A great T.G. Cid would be a great start.

Let’s take a look at Zalbaag. For 3CP we get a 5K body. Perfect for blocking an attack. I don’t now if Zalbaag will survive, but at least he’ll block the attack from getting you a point of Damage.

Zalbaag also comes in with an Enter the Field ability, which will allow you to Break a 2 cost Forward. That’s not bad at all. Not for a Common, that’s pretty decent.

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Anniversary Collection Set 2024

What’s that? Announcing a new Anniversary Set, when the Dissidia Collection isn’t even out yet. Well, I’m sure you would do it too. Get on the Hype train, because Shinra SOLDIERS are on the box.

Plenty of Reprints, plenty of Promos, plenty of cards. Means Plenty of reasons to buy this collection. Number 1 being the paper playmat.

The Reprints will range from Opus I all the way to Resurgence of Power.

What I like about these Collections is that it is a great way to get into the game, as many staples are in it. I remember building a deck and just grabbing half the cards from the first Anniversary Collection Set, I just didn’t feel like searching for them.

This is actually coming out sooner than I expected as well. February 2024. That’s only 6 months away, 4 months after the Dissidia set comes out.

https://fftcg.square-enix-games.com/en/news/final-fantasy-trading-card-game-anniversary-collection-set-2024

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Krile’s Splinter

Krile, your Backup Warrior of Light. Taking Galuf’s spot on the team and she does a good job at it. We’re actually going to use 2 Kriles in this deck. Krile (7-068H) and Krile (18-055R). Both of these Kriles work around Summons, and the Resurgence of Power Krile also allows you to grab a FFV Forward from your Break Zone. Thus bringing us to the next Character, Galuf.

You know we had to bring in her Grandfather. And, we are going with Galuf (12-056H), any Forward that has the ability to attack twice in one turn, especially with +10K power, is a go. And when he is sent into the Break Zone, you can search for a 2 cost Earth Forward and play it onto the field.

Next we’ll add Kolka (7-069C) and Tyro (11-072R). Both are Backups and both allow us to search for Krile, or Galuf if Krile is already on the field. And since Tyro allows us to produce CP of a different Element, we will add in the rest of the Warriors of Light.

Bartz (7-059L), cause this is a great card that can attack up to 3 times. You’ll just need some extra Bartzes on hand in order to do so. 3 to be exact. So we’ll just go ahead and add Bartz (19-048C) Because he is easy to recycle back into your deck. And any other Bartz you like, we’ll go with Bartz (12-052H).

Lenna (12-109L), just help us grab a Forward from the Break Zone and play it onto the field. And, Faris to help us grab a FFV Character from the top of your deck when she enters the field. If Lenna is on the field, Faris gains +2000 power.

Ghido (3-131H)? What? Who plays Ghido? Well, Ghido can contact Krile telepathically and that is why he is in here. Ghido is a little bit of a Backup plan that can return high cost Forwards to their owner’s deck.

If we take a look back at Galuf’s ability of searching for an Earth Forward, we are grabbing Ewen (17-080R) and Aerith (16-067L).
We need some more Backups. Let’s get some protection here. Cait Sith (XIV) (6-072C) and Layle (8-088C), both of these cards will protect us from Summons.

Summons are next. We’re bringing in Syldra (3-035H) as it is the only FFV Summon that we have, and it does a pretty decent job so, we’ll keep it.

Fenrir (19-064R), because everyone likes free cards. And Titan (17-070R) to give everyone a 5K boost.

And we’ll grab Objet d’Art (12-064C) which can turn into a Forward, or give all your Forwards +2K and Brave.

Forwards

3x – Ewen (17-080R)
3x – Aerith (16-067L)
3x – Bartz (7-059L)
3x – Galuf (12-056H)
3x – Lenna (12-109L)
3x – Krile (7-068H)
3x – Faris (7-120H)
3x – Bartz (12-052H)

Backups

1x – Cait Sith (XIV (6-072C)
2x – Layle (8-088C)
3x – Ghido (3-131H)
3x – Kolka (7-069C)
3x – Krile (18-055R)
3x – Tyro (11-072R)

Summons

3x – Titan (17-070R)
3x – Fenrir (19-064R)
3x – Syldra (3-135H)

Monsters

2x – Objet d’Art (12-064C)

What would you do differently?

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Wave 1 – Auron – 1-002R

It’s been a while since we did this, but we’re back at it, with card number 2-002R. Before we start let me give you the links from the guides from the introduction post that will help you guide your way.

“Distinguishing Final Fantasy TCG Opus 1 Wave 1 from Future Waves”

“Differences in Opus I Wave 1 Printing vs Later Waves”

Auron (2-002R), is very easy to distinguish Wave 1 from Wave 2. Especially if you have them side by side. Let’s take a quick look at the cards. Can you tell which one is which?

All you need to do is look at the background picture. The transparency between the two is very noticeable. Wave 1 Auron looks more like the background color of the card, while Wave 2 has a bit of skin coloring. Which you can see better in this picture.