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Beyond Destiny – Twistin’ Turbulence

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21-041C – Evil Weapon

Doesn’t look that evil. Evil Weapon looks like he belongs in the hit movie “Ghoulies”.

If you haven’t watched it, you should. If you like 80’s horror movies that aren’t actually that scary.

Let’s see now. Evil Weapon cost a a whole whopping 1CP. And, for what it does is pretty cheap. I know some people just play certain cards just to gain a Crystal. And Evil Weapon here, will give you a Crystal, and also deal 4000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Evil Weapon, is more like a side weapon, a pistol to your shotgun. If your Forward doesn’t Break your opponent’s Forward, just use this Evil Weapon to finish it off.

21-042H – Vaan

If you’re playing Mono-Wind, Vaan could be of some use. As he’ll be a free Forward, if you already have 7 Wind Characters on the field.

If not he costs a whopping 7CP to play a Forward with 9000 power.

Not much to say about this one. I’ll probably just leave it on the side to gather dust.

But, not all is bad.

If you already cast 3 cards, you draw a card. So, you might come up with +2CP.

But, is it really worth it?

21-043C – Viera

Now this is a decent card as well.

Play Viera onto the field and grab one of the top 2 cards of your deck. The other one goes to the bottom of your deck.
And when Viera is active on the field, you can dull Viera and do it once again.

3CP for a Backup with a great ability.

You can’t go wrong with Viera.

 

21-044C – Dancer

Technically, this is a free card.

A 4CP Forward, that gets reduced to 2CP if you already have a Dancer on the field. And if you paid the cost with a couple of Backups, you can choose to activate those Backups, by Dancer’s ability. Which goes off once she enters the field.

That brings us to a total of 0CP.

Not bad for an 8000 power Forward.

 

21-045C – Princess Goblin

This is the kind of Backup that everyone likes. A searcher.

Princess Goblin enters the field and allows you to search for a Warrior of Light, or a Princess Sarah.

She comes in does her job, and hopefully gets your board to where you need it to be.

If not, well, at least she’ll provide a Crystal Point once per turn.

 

21-046C – Cid (II)

Cid is here staring at you to make sure that you’re going to play this card.

And, as long as you have cards that can warp in, there’s a 94.38762% chance that you will. Yes, this conclusion came off of extended research and as of December, 5th 2023, this is accurate. It might not be in the next hour or so, but we’re sticking to our research. And stuff.

Cid (II) comes in and you’re searching for a card that Warps.

You Warp that card right away.

Next turn, you’ll be sending Cid to the Break Zone, in order to speed up the Warp process.

Simple, and effective.

I like it.

21-047C – Summoner

Summoner summons a Summon.

Well, that’s what Summoners are supposed to do.

Once Summoner comes in, you get to grab a Wind Summon from your deck.

And, Every time that you cast a Summon, Summoner gains +2000 power. From how I’m reading it, you can cast a couple of Summons and keep stacking that +2000 power on top of the other. Plus. it’s a Standard Unit so you can have 3 of these on the board at any time.

Combine this with Meia (16-123L) and you have a reduced Summon cost. Add in plenty of low cost Summons and you’ll have 3 Summoners who serve as Meat Shields, or attackers.

Meat Shield just sounds better.

21-048L – Princess Sarah

Look no further. If you needed a way to keep Feolthanos on the board, so he can see EX Bursts, Princess Sarah can help you out.

Once per turn you can choose a Forward and that Forward cannot be chosen by EX Bursts.

After that, just dull and discard a Princess to make the next damage dealt to it 0.

Now, you don’t need to have Feolthanos, but I’d say you play these cards together.

 

21-049R – Sarah (Mobius)

Yes, she gives a +1K buff to all of your Forwards.

Yes, she is a 2 cost Backup.

Yes, she is probably good for draft.

No, I will not be playing this card, actually maybe I will.

I would have said to just go ahead and play Opus I Maria, for 3CP and the same buff to all of your Forwards, but what’s stopping you from playing both at the same time.

I started thinking this card wasn’t that great, it’s decent, but I started changing my mind the more I started writing about it.

I might give it a shot.

21-050H – Sophia (SOPFFO)

For a second there I read that Biker Mage.

You can throw Sophia and Summoner in the same deck. Both grab Summons, and when a Summon is cast they both have abilities that can go off.

Sophia here will deal 5000 damage to a Forward when you cast a Summon. Sure, you can only use this once, as you’ll have to dull Sophia, but that 5k can help out. Especially if the Summon you cast has dealt some damage to a Forward but not enough to Break it.

I wouldn’t call this a Hero, more like a Rare.

21-051R – Tiamat

Chocobos are going to make a comeback, just you watch.

I’m just saying that cause I can’t think of another Mono-Wind deck at the moment.

If you are playing Mono-Wind, you will be playing Tiamat. 4CP/8K body, throw in Opus 1 Maria and a bunch of Chocobos, and you have an unstoppable beast.

Hey, that’s pretty much what Tiamat is.

 

21-052R – Niini

This isn’t bad, especially for the cost.

1CP allows you to look at the top card of your deck. If you like what you see, you can keep it there. If not send that card to the bottom of your deck.

If you cast at least 3 cards this turn, you can grab that card, or grab the next one if you already sent it to the bottom of your deck.

Good thing about this is if you can check to see if you have an EX Burst coming up. If you do you can leave it there and when you take Damage you’ll know that you’ll have a surprise for your opponent.

21-053L – Balthier

Even though I’ll probably never play a Sky Pirates deck. This is a great card.

You can probably just throw it in any Mono-Wind deck, and you’ll do great.

Because every time a Wind Character comes in, you’ll be dealing 3000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards. And 3000 is enough to Break some Forwards, and then I’m sure you’ll have a way or two to finish them off.

Now if you’re playing Sky Pirates, Balthier will be able to Activate all of your Characters once per turn. Right at that moment when you get into your Main Phase 2, you can discard a Sky Pirate and have Balthier’s ability go off, and you’re left with a bunch of active Characters, ready to block, and what not.

21-054H – Pandemonium

And, here I thought this was a Backup.

For 2CP this is great card. Summon comes in and if you played a couple of cards this turn Pandemonium will deal 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s high cost Forwards, and Pandemonium searches for a high cost Forward for you.
If Pandemonium is the first card you played, you can pick one or the other.

Still great for 2CP.

 

21-055H – Penelo

These Sky Pirates just keep getting better and better.

Kind of wants me to make a Sky Pirate deck.

Penelo, a 2CP/5000 power Forward. that activates 2 Characters when she enters the field, as long as you have at least 2 Sky Pirates already on the field.

The best part is that when Penelo is sent to the Break Zone you can grab a 3 cost Sky Pirate from your Break Zone and add it to your hand. I think Balthier would be the perfect card to pick.

21-056R – Galeserpent General Najelith

Here we have the pixelated 3d graphics of FFXI. Even though this was on the PS2, the graphics look like they came from the FFVII era. Enough of the art.

It’s actually not that bad of a card.

Galeserpent General Najelith’s cost can be reduced by 2 if you already have a couple of Wind Characters on the field. Thus making her, a 2 cost Forward with 8000 power.

She cannot be chosen by your opponent’s abilities, giving her protection from that, and you can dull her and deal a Forward 4000 damage. This is where Penelo and Balthier come in.

Dull, 4000 damage, activate, Dull, 4000 damage, activate, dull, 4000 damage.

That’s 12,000 damage right there.

21-057R – Fran

Can’t go wrong with 1CP.

Especially since Fran grants protection to Balthier.

And, if Fran is in the Break Zone, you can play Balthier and grab Fran from the Break Zone and play her onto the field. At the small cost of 1 Wind Crystal Point.

Now I kinda, want to see what Balthier does.

 

21-058C – Machina

Finally a Machina that has synergy with your Type-0 Cadets.

And at only 2CP this is a great card.

If you have at least 2 Cadets on the field, Machina has 8000 power, Haste and Machina cannot be chosen by your opponent’s Summons.

Let’s not forget Armor Break, if you need to you can break a high cost Forward.

I do like it. It’s probably time to dust off that old Cadets deck and see what happens when we add Machina.

21-059C – Dragoon

Play Dragoon early, as your second or third Backup. As, that’s when you’ll get the most value from Dragoon.

Once he comes in you’ll gain a Crystal, and if you have 3 or less Backups on the field you get to draw a card. Which makes Dragoon cost a total of 1CP.

And, that is all. Simple, effective and straight to the point.

Not much else going on here.

 

21-060R – Rikku EX

Most of these Wind cards work well together.

Rikku here is another example of why you should be playing Mono-Wind.

When she enters the field, you’ll reveal the top card of your deck, and since it’s a Wind card, and you’re playing Mono-Wind you’ll just go ahead and add that card to your hand.

This also activates as an EX Burst when you get that point of damage, and Rikku pops her head.

And at 3 points of damage, Rikku gains +2000 power making her a 7000 power Forward.

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Resurgence of Power – Mixing Elements

18-107L – Akstar

A is for Akstar, and he learned the 3-step. I was surprised myself but it’s true. Akstar can dance the Waltz. Just look at all those 3s.

First off Akstar comes in and Dull/Freezes all the Forwards, including your own, that don’t cost 3CP.

When he comes in you can also play a 3 cost Ice or Fire Forward onto the field.

And when he attacks or enters the field you deal 1 Forward 3000 damage for all the 3 cost Forwards that you control.
That’s a whole lot of 3s. Even Akstar himself costs 3CP.

Are we getting new deck ideas, where every card in your hand costs 3CP? Can it work? Someone make this happen.

18-108H – Caius

It seems like Caius cards always have a drawback to them.

Sure, you can get a 2 cost 9K body, but you’ll have to discard your hand when he enters the field.

What can we do then?

Just play your whole hand, and then play Caius last.

Let’s look at his abilities. Whenever Caius attacks, you can either have your opponent discard a card, or double the damage Caius deals either to a Forward or your opponent.

He also comes in with Brave. I might have to try this card out and see how it works.

18-109C – Snow

Snow allows you to possibly cast an extra XIII card, when he enters the field and each time he attacks. Though, you’re not drawing the card, you’re actually removing it from the game, and if you don’t cast it this turn, you will lose it.

You basically have a 50/50 chance of casting or removing.

And, at 3 points of damage, Snow gains Haste and +3000 power.

 

 

18-110H – Xande

Ok, so, we’ll be playing Xande towards the end of our turn. Trying to get as many cards in the Break Zone so we can deal 9000 damage to as many Forwards as we possibly can. 4CP will already be 2 Characters. And if you play any other cards before hand, count those Characters as well.

You can also play Xande from the Break Zone, for the cost of 2CP and 5 Backups. Is it worth it? or are you better off just playing Xande from your hand?

Those 5 Backups are 5 Forwards that you can deal damage to.

 

18-111L – Basch

The question is, Is it worth 1 point of damage to search for a Fire or Earth Character?

I’m sure there are plenty of other cards that will search for the card that you’re looking for, without getting a point of damage.

3 points of damage, Basch gains +1000 power and Brave.

5 points of damage, when Basch attacks you deal 8000 damage to 1 Forward.

You do have an incentive to receive that 1 point of damage. Early on it might be a good idea to use it, but later on I would pass.

Or you can just not pay the extra cost, and play Basch as is.

18-112C – Leon

It looks like more and more cards are dealing you a point of damage.

Just how backed up to the wall do you want to be?

Sure, some cards excel when you’re fighting everything off at 6 points of damage, but why would you need to get there in order to hope that you win.

Anyways, Leon here comes in with Brave.

 

18-113H – Cid Haze

Cid comes in and gives you the ammunition to use his ability on the same turn that he comes in. Reducing the cost of casting your next card by 2. It doesn’t say it cannot become 0, so your next card could be free. After that you play 1 more card.

Once you’ve played your third card, and enter your Attack Phase, you choose 2 of your opponents Characters and you dull and Freeze them.

Farewell to the Blockers that your opponent has set up. At least for this turn.

 

18-114C – Maria

I would be trying to get Maria onto the field as soon as possible. And then just trying to find a way to send her to the Break Zone.

Worst thing that could happen is you block a Forward and your opponent discards a card.

Or, you block a Forward and activate all your Characters. Win/Win

 

 

18-115L – Melvien

I would put Melvien in the same category as Opus XVI Tidus. Even if she is put in the Break Zone, your opponent will never really be able to truly get rid of her.

Every time Melvien is put into the Break Zone, you can simply remove her from the game and put 2 Warp Counters on her. 2 turns later she comes back into the field.

And, every time she enters the field, you can Activate 2 of your Backups and Freeze up to 2 of your opponents Backups.
Not much else to say, but I like this card.

 

18-116L – Sephiroth

Kingdom Hearts Sephiroth is back. And, once again with Back Attack.

No, I didn’t plan that.

Sephiroth is coming, and he has entered Attack Mode. One Winged Angel, Demi-God, and whatever else you’d like to add.
When Sephiroth enters the field he Breaks 1 dull Forward.

And every time he attacks, your opponent will either discard 1 card, or you can Break a Forward of cost 2 or less.
Sephiroth will be leaving bodies left and right.

18-117H – Lightning

The Savior is here. For your deck, not your opponents.

Lightning comes in with Haste and starts attacking left and right, dulling, Breaking and dealing damage across the board leaving no Forward unscathed.

Well, that’s what we’re hoping for.

Every time Lightning attacks, you can pay 1CP to dull a Forward, and then pay 2CP to Break a dull Forward. Which in itself is a good reason to play this card.

I shall be trying out this card. At some point.

And if you don’t want to attack, you can use Lightning’s 3rd ability and have your opponent discard a card.

18-118C – Laguna

High cost to play Laguna, but he might be worth it.

When Laguna enters the field or attacks you can a) Deal an active Forward 5000 damage. or b) Dull a Forward.

I’m thinking there are plenty of cards that can chip away at multiple Forwards, chip damage is making a comeback. Or, maybe I’m just beginning to notice it. I can see FFVIII decks becoming stronger. Ever since Opus XVI. And now with Seifer, Fujin and Raijin, there should be plenty to play with.

Let’s not forget Satellite Laser. Well nothing to crazy, but you can deal 9000 damage to a Forward.

18-119C – Chelinka

Need to break some of these new Monsters that came out this set? Look no further than Chelinka. Chelinka Breaks a Monster when she enters the field.

You can throw her in the new Noctis deck and you’re set.

 

 

 

18-120H – Tifa

Tifa comes in a has Protect already cast on her, reducing the damage dealt to her by 2000. And, that’s a good thing. For when Tifa enters the field she goes 1-on-1 with another Forward. You can choose any Forward you would like.

Meteor Strike, is also pretty good in itself. You are able to deal 8000 damage to 3 Forwards. Cost might be a little high, but it can be worth it.

 

 

18-121L – Fran

I think I said earlier that Sky Pirates will be making a comeback. (Not in this post, probably in Wind.) And, Fran here proves it. Whenever Fran attacks, or enters the field, you can play a FF XII Character of cost 4 or less from your hand onto the field. And, Fran only costs 3CP!

Think about it, you’ll be able to build your offense faster than what you would have. A free card once per turn.

And if Balthier is on the field, Fran gains +1000 power and Brave.

Yes, I shall try out a Sky Pirate deck, all thanks to Fran.

Thank you, Fran.

18-122H – Vanille

2 cost Forward that can cancel an auto-ability. We can never have to many cards like this. Vanille is more of an insurance card. I don’t think you’d be attacking with Vanille unless you knew the attack will go through. But, you’re better off just keeping her active, in order to dull her, when an auto-ability goes off.

Sure, it won’t out right cancel it, your opponent will need to pay an extra 2CP for it to go through.

And when you’re done with Vanille, you can just chuck her to the Break Zone to grab a Backup.

18-123L – Sonon EX

Getting rid of your own Backups is always a plus. Especially when they come in do their on entry ability and then do nothing, but sit around.

Sonon comes in and allows you to remove 2 Backups instead of paying the cost. After that you can replay 2 new Backups and hopefully get another on entry ability.

He can also come in with Back Attack, although I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody actually use Back Attack, but you can. You can even remove the 2 Backups during your opponents turn.

Sonon also comes in with an EX Burst, hopefully helping your Forward that is blocking or attacking overcome the other Forward.

I can see some use with Sonon.

18-124C – Billy Bob

Billy Bob comes in and let’s you grab a Forward from the Break Zone. Any Forward. Doesn’t have to be a certain Job, Element, or Category. A little different than Search your deck, but will still see plenty of use.

Best part is that Billy Bob is a Common.

After that Billy Bob just hangs out on the field with an 8K body.

 

 

18-125H – Onion Knight

Onion Knight has a lot going on for him.

First off he enters the field and either Breaks a damaged Forward, or return’s a Forward to your opponents hand. Either way your getting rid of one of your opponent’s Forwards.

The best thing though, when Onion Knight is put into the Break Zone, you can pay 1CP and search for another Onion Knight and play it onto the field.

Very Ultros if you ask me.

 

18-126L – Lightning

Another card that doesn’t want to go away.

After Lightning is sent to the Break Zone, you can pay the 2CP, remove a Lightning and an Odin from the Break Zone and then you can play Lightning onto the field.

Sure, it’s the same cost as paying Lightning on to the field, but what if you don’t have a Lightning in your hand. This way you can just simply play her, straight from the Break Zone.

She also comes in with Haste, dulls a Forward when she enters and you draw 1 card.

What’s not to like?

18-127C – Lilisette

Some of these Commons are actually really good.

Take Lilisette her, she Breaks a low cost Forward when she enters the field.

After that she can dance. And, boy does she dance. Once she’s done with her Sensual Dance, your opponents Forwards will all be week at the knees, and will have lost some of there power. Some will have lost it all.

 

 

18-128H – Arciela

How many of your cards do you want to show your opponent?

Depending on the answer, you can either deal 7000 damage to a Forward, draw a card, or both.

But do you really want to show your opponent your hand just to cast the abilities?

I think I’ll take a pass on this one.

 

18-129C – Jecht

Jecht is just a Common, but we already said we have some good Commons this set. This is another one. Once he enters the field you can pay the extra cost and give Jecht Haste, Brave and First Strike. With the 9000 body he can lay waste to a Forward, or deal your opponent a point of damage.

We also have Jecht Beam, that deals a Forward 8000 damage.

Decent card.

 

18-130L – Firion

Low cost, low power. But, if you have at least 5 Characters on the field Firion, gains Haste and whenever he attacks you draw a card.

I don’t know if you’ll be attacking much with Firion, but you can discard a card and give him +2000 power. Depending on what element the card is you can either give Firion First Strike, or activate him.

Not the greatest Legend, but could see some use.

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Opus XIV – Wind Review

14-039R – Adelle

The more Wind Backups you have, the better this card is. But, you don’t necessaraly need to have 5 Wind Backups as there are cards that provide the same effect. 3 should be the optimal choice as you’ll give her 8000 power and Haste. And, you only paid 2CP to play this card.

 

 

 

14-040C – Abquhbah

Play him early on, and he’ll usually be buffed up every turn. Other than that not much to say.

 

 

 

 

14-041C – Ixali

Activation guaranteed, with a Primal.

 

 

 

 

14-042L – Bismarck, Lord of the Mists

Return to hand. Return to hand. Return to hand.

Bismarck need to tag team with Leviathan. more on that later.

But, when a Character is returned to your or your opponents hand, you draw 1 card. And you can choose to return a card to your hand at the end of each turn.

As if Wind/Water needed more ammunition

 

14-043C – Cactuaroni

Just a common?

“Need some activation tactics? Cactuaroni is your macaroni. For the cost of a simple Monster Counter you can activate one Character.” /endcommercialannuncervoice

This card is great, simple and to the point. You can end up activating your whole board if you wait long enough. But, why wait if you can just find a way to grab Cactuaroni from your Break Zone.

 

14-044C – White Mage

Activate 2 Backups of any element other than Wind.

YRP making a comeback? Don’t call it a comeback, YRP never left.

 

 

 

 

14-045H – Sin

What would you call this? Silence? Paralyze? Stop? Probably Silence. Casts Silence on opponents Forwards. And now, they can’t use any abilities.

Probably not silence, cause that’s just Magic.

I had said the other Sin was better, but now that I’m re-reading it. This is interesting.

 

 

14-046C – Sniper

Like I said before, I’m not to sure on the wording, but if this goes off when Sniper dulls from attacking. It’s a great card card. If not, I still like it.

 

 

 

 

14-047R – Choco/Mog EX

Almost sounds like a candy bar.

The first part is easy. Having a Chocobo and a Moogle on the field when he shows up, is pretty easy too.

 

 

 

14-048C – Tiamat (IX)

Hmm, I’m seeing a pattern here.

“Discard one card Job Chaos and deal one forward 8000 damage. Is it worth it? I’m sure there are Summons that can do this more efficiently. But, for a common I’ll take it.”

 

 

 

14-049H – Typhon

I’m still waiting for a Typhon that has synergy with Ultros.

Other than that, You’re playing Mono-Wind, you’re playing this card. Plus removing a Forward and placing him in a spot where you (probably) won’t see him for a couple of turns.

This is another great card.

 

14-050R – Naja Salaheem

Double up on all the counters that are on any character whenever Naja deals Damage to your opponent.

+Naja cannot be chosen by your opponents Summons or abilities.

 

 

 

14-051C – Vanu Vanu

Don’t like the cards you just drew? Just play Vanu Vanu 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.

 

 

 

14-052C – Fran

You can easily cast 3 cards a turn with Wind, and all the activate your Backups and Characters and Monsters and Summons and anything else you want. Because that’s what wind does. So, you’ll probably end up drawing a card when you play Fran.

3 points of Damage +2K Power

 

 

14-053R – Mjrn

Did I mention, I like these Black & White cards?

For 2 Cp you can activate Fran and Jote.

You can also pay 3 Wind CP and Break a Forward of cost 5 or more.

 

 

14-054R – Jote EX

Just a simple searcher that searches for Fran or Mjrn. You can also search for them off of an EX Burst.

 

 

 

 

14-055C – Lezaford

Took me a second to realize this Lezaford was a Forward. I should start paying more attention.

Now, it makes sense that this is a 5 cost. At first I thought it was 5CP to play a Backup, which if the cost to play was paid with at least 3 different elements, than you can break a Forward.

I was going to say how this Lezaford is terrible and that the Opus VI Lezaford is so mucch better. But, this one is Forward and that changes everything. It can work. Someone will find a way. It’s simple if you play Light and Dark actually.

14-056R – Garuda, Lady of the Vortex

Here’s an answer to some cards. 6CP isn’t that much to pay for the on entry ability Garuda has.

Sorry, Sophie, it was fun.

Bhuni, Get out of here.

Neo-Exdeath, don’t make me laugh

Ark, No one played with you anyway.

Now, if this card was an Ex it would have been amazing.

14-057H – Rosa

Great artwork once again. You can tell apart the Amano artwork. I remember seeing a Magic card with his art on it, and recognized it immediately. But, that’s another story.

Just like we said before, activate all the Backups, if you’ve cast 3 cards this turn.

With Fran (14-052C) you’ll also draw 1 card.

All those activations will lead you into a 5th card cast this turn, which you’ll end up playing the top card of your deck. Unless it’s a Summon. Then it just goes back to the tops of your deck.