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Beyond Destiny – Ice Sculptures

21-021C – Red Mage

For 2CP and a Common, I’d like to say that this is a pretty good card.

Red Mage comes in and dull/freezes a Character. Same thing whenever Red Mage forms a party and attacks.

Now you can also play 3 Red Mages, have them all form a party and attack, and then you’ll be Dull/Freezing 3 Characters every turn.

Red Mage might not have a lot of Power, clocking in at 5000, but her ability to Dull/Freeze sure makes up for it.

21-022H – Astos EX

The Dark Elf. I haven’t seen how Astos looks in Strangers of Paradise, and after looking at this card, I have got to say they did a great job. That is very close to what I pictured Astos looking like. I don’t know why, but the art for the Character is spot on.
Anyway, on to the card.

Astos comes in with Brave, and whenever he enters the field of leaves the field you gain a Crystal.

And, if you have 3 Crystals, you can Dull all of your opponent’s Forwards and then deal 9000 damage to all of your opponent’s Forwards.

Astos is a ticking time-bomb.

Play Astos, Play Rinoa (6-041L), Bounce Astos, and you have 3 Crystals. Next turn you use his ability and hopefully you get a board wipe.

21-023L – Ultimecia

There’s a lot of text here. And there isn’t really a way to summarize it, but we’ll try.

Ultimecia comes in, you remove up to 5 Characters from your Break Zone with a cost of 5CP or more. Once they are removed you can Dull/Freeze up to 5 Characters. Your opponent also discards one card.

If you’re playing a deck with a lot of high cost Characters, Ultimecia can do some damage, if not then she isn’t really worth the price of admission.

 

21-024C – Scholar

The 3CP Backup that gives you a Crystal when she enters the field.

Also, if you have 3 Backups or less you’ll also draw a card.

Not Bad. Not Great either, just something to play when you don’t know what else to play.

 

 

21-025R – Kiros

If Ward is here, you know that Kiros is just around the Korner. And Laguna shouldn’t be too far behind.

But, we’re here to talk about Kiros.

All you want to do is warp. Over and over and over.

Not only is the cost cheaper, but when Kiros Warps in you can Dull and Freeze one of your opponents Characters. And, that’s not all. When any Forward Warps in you can Dull and Freeze a Character.

So, keep Kiros safe, and Warp.

21-026C – Bard

I mean, who doesn’t like that ability.

Best part it doesn’t cost anything, so I don’t see a reason not to have Bard on the field. Or at least in your deck.

Bard is a 4 cost Forward with 8000 power. And, once per turn you can use his ability for a total of 0CP. And have a Forward lose all of it’s abilities until the end of the turn.

That Forward that has protection from Summons, or abilities, or damage, well Bard is here to take care of that Forward, and allow your attacks to go through.

21-027L – Griever

That’s one way to search for a Witch. Plus side to this one is that you”ll play the Witch straight to the field.

Considering the cost, you’d probably want to search for a high cost Witch to play straight to the field. Like Edea (2-099L) or Ultimecia (7-133S), or like the one that is probably in this set that I just haven’t seen yet.

If you decide to keep Griever on the field, his ability let’s you break a dull Forward, or have your opponent discard a card.
There’s a tag team here. Griever and Amon (2-098L) Amon dulls and Griever Breaks.

Ice and Lightning do work well together.

21-028H – Shiva

This Shiva is like a reusable Ice Cube.

Once Shiva has been cast, You can remove 4 Ice Cards from your Break Zone, and put Shiva back in the Freezer … I mean your hand.

After that you can just cast Shiva over and over again, until you run out of Ice cards in your Break Zone. But by then you should have Dull/Freezed? all of your opponents Characters. If not proceed to a triple party attack from the 3 Red Mages.

 

21-029R – Squall

Mini-Squall.

Did I mention I have yet to play World of Fina Fantasy?

At first I thought this was a decent card. Then I took a closer look and actually read the card from top to bottom. And for a rare, it’s a great card.

First of all, Clo … I mean Squall comes in and has First Strike. And when he attacks, if you have at least 2 WoFF Characters, your opponent discards a card.

See like I said decent.

But, here’s where it gets good.

Squall attacks, and he gets blocked. You can use his ability to deal 3000 damage to the Forward that is blocking. And with First Strike already on hand, you’re 95% going to come out on top.

21-030C – Snow

Since when is Snow a Martial Artist?

To me he’s always been a Meat Shield that can punch.

Any ho, Snow will turn into a Meat Shield after you get 3 points of damage.

Up until then every time Snow attacks you can, you guessed it, Dull/Freeze a Character. You can just go ahead and party attack with Red Mage.

Plus Snow gets Haste, if you have another WoFF Character on the field.

21-031H – Setzer

“Are you a gambling man, Sandy Claws?”

I like this card, I actually played Ice just to play Setzer. Well not all Ice, it was Fire-Lightning while I splashed 6 Ice cards. I think.

Setzer comes in and you remove 2 Forwards from your Break Zone, from the game. After that you can play those 2 Forwards whenever you’d like.

Sure, if Setzer gets sent to the Break Zone you lose those 2 Forwards but they were already broken to begin with.
I’ll take it, and I’ll figure out how to make it work.

21-032R – Terra

Trying to figure out if this Terra is better than that Terra or the other Terra.

At 5CP, Terra comes in and allows you to search for 2 Ice Summons. And, that brings her cost down to 1CP.

For 1CP this is a great card. 8000 power and Magitek Laser.

What’s Magitek Laser?

Terra’s S Ability, where the cost is another Terra card and a Summon. Any Summon. You can play those 2 cards and deal 9000 damage to a Forward. Which has a decent chance of Breaking that Forward.

Or you can just cast the Summons you searched for.

21-033R – The Girl Who Forgot Her Name

The Searcher you didn’t know you needed. Well now you got it.

The Girl Who Forgot Her Name will search for Squall, and that will give Squall the 2 WoFF Characters he needs to have your opponent discard a card whenever he attacks.

Or if you want to go another route. I still haven’t seen Reynn or Lann so, we’ll have to wait on that.

 

21-034C – Fomor

Don’t F.O.M.O. on Fomor.

???

Never mind.

Fomor is a pretty decent Monster.

Fomor comes in and deals damage. Fomor leaves and deals Damage.

4k here, 4k there. You’d think we’re talking about televisions.

21-035C – Minwu

Minwu looks mad.

I always thought that Minwu was an older White Mage. this card clearly depicts him as a teenager. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just that I always thought that he was older.

Anyway, let’s get to the card.

Minwu comes in and Freezes a Character.

And then you can pay a CP and dull Minwu and send him to the Break Zone to Dull/Freeze a Character.

For a Common this isn’t bad at all, but unless you’re playing a Rebel deck, I don’t see you playing this Minwu, not when you have the Opus I Minwu which suits my play style a little bit more. And, I don’t even have that Minwu in the deck right now.
At least I don’t think so.

21-036H – Y’shtola

We got a new element for Y’shtola. Not only does this card look good, but I believe the Ice Blue suits her well.

Y’shtola here, is perfect for discard decks. The fewer cards your opponent has in their hand the more powerful Y’shtola becomes. 0 being the perfect number of cards that you want in your opponents hand. because each time Y’shtola attacks she’ll deal damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards, for a max of 9000. The damage will decrease by 1000 for each card that your opponent has in their hand.

I’d like to see how this will fit in the Scions deck.

21-037C – Reaper

Here’s a card you can play, right before you have Y’shtola attack.

Reaper comes in and forces your opponent to discard a card. Or you can go ahead and send a dull Forward to the Break Zone. Sure, it’s cost needs to be 3CP or less, but you’re still breaking a card, or forcing your opponent to spend CP in order to counter it.

 

 

21-038R – Rinoa

A decent Backup if you’re plan on using Summons, or if you plan on saving your Summons in the Break Zone, from the chance of your opponent removing your whole Break Zone from the game.

Rinoa comes in removes a Summon from your Break Zone, and then you can use that Summon whenever you’d like.
It’s like an Ace up your sleeve.

 

21-039C – Lufenian

With a Job Title of Lufenian, Lufenian, is a the perfect card to play to start your game.

For 2CP, you play Lufenian, and if Lufenian is the only Backup you control, you’re opponent will discard a card, from their hand. Leaving them with one less card than the number of cards they had in their hand before you decided to play Lufenian.
Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I’m just surprised this isn’t a Standard Unit.

Decent card, Y’shtola will love working with Lufenian.

But, then again, Lufenian only has one job. And, if she doesn’t get it done right away, she’s worthless.

21-040R – Rursan Arbiter

All Ice cards look like they’re working well together.

Lots of discard, and abilities that go off when your opponent has no cards in their hand.

Y’shtola deals a Forward damage, and Cid here, I mean Rursan Arbitar, Breaks one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Now I”m looking at all these cards, and I’m wondering why I didn’t use more Ice at Prerelease.

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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.

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Crystal Dominion – Ice Review

15-022C – Amidatelion

Time to Ice your opponent.

Got yourself a way to remove some buffs. More specifically Haste, Brave and First Strike.

You can play Ice/Earth and have Robel-Akbel recycle Amidatelion.

 

 

 

15-023R – Werei

Werei is here, to draw you a card at the end of each of your turns.

Stick him in a discard deck.

 

 

 

 

15-024R – Orphan EX

Orphan here is a one man show, even though he is a Rare. For 5CP you can dull 1 Forward at the beginning of each of your Attack Phases. Hopefully your opponent won’t be playing Feolthanos (10-098L).

A good card to play with Orphan, you ask?

Physalis (13-028L), along with all the other Discard cards you might have available in your possession.

 

15-025C – Scholar

Cast a Summon

Dull Scholar.

Dull a Forward.

In that order.

 

 

15-026C – Kazusa

Just because, Orphan and Kazusa come from the same “Universe” per se, doesn’t mean that they will play well together.
But, they do.

Imagine being able to break a Forward, just because Orphan will be causing your opponent to discard a card at every Attack Phase.

After that 1(I)CP and dull Kazusa, throw him in the Break Zone, and Break one of your opponents Forwards.

 

15-027R – The Emperor

Is there a never ending recycle loop here with the Emperor?

Considering there are 8 The Emperor cards, including this one. You will be able to play Emperors left and right, discard them, revive them, break, search and destroy to bring back The Emperor from the Break Zone.

I lost myself there. It’s all a blur.

All I know is that you will be able to have 24 The Emperors in your deck. Where most of them can interact with each other when they hit the Break Zone.

15-028H – Gogo

I think Gogo will be interesting to play. Doubling down on some abilities by any Forward or Monster. I’d say the only drawback is that you can only use that ability once per turn. I’m sure there will be ways around that, but even so, It’s still a great ability

Gogo, will fit right at home in a FFVI themed deck.

And Mimic, allows you to use another Characters Special ability.

Physalis, I’m looking at you.

 

15-029R – Zalera

Cheap Summon, for a great Break.

Only thing is the Forward you chose needs to be dull already. Not a problem. Once that Forward attacks, it dulls itself, thus allowing you to use Zalera as you see fit.

But, then again this card is just a reprint. We should already know that.

 

 

15-030H – Shiva EX

The Ice version of Ifrita.

The more Shivas in your Break Zone the stronger this Summon gets.

0-1 Dull 1 Forward
2-3 Dull 2 Forwards
4-5 Freeze the dulled Forwards
6 or more, Your opponent discard 2 cards from their hand.

All this for 1 CP.

15-031C – Shiva

Choose one of two. Deal 9K damage to a dull Forward, or give all your Ice Forwards +3K.

Depending on th Situation. You can probably always figure out which one to use. But, the +3K sounds real good. At least for now.

All this for as little as 1CP. If you’re carrying a Crystal that is.

 

 

15-032C – Cid Raines

You usually try and keep your Forwards alive, but Cid Raines here, is definitely a blocker.Just keep him on the field. Till he blocks everything he can, and then … you’ll realize you should just be attacking. That way he’ll either be dealing your opponent Damage, breaking Forwards, or worse case scenario. Cid Raines will be broken and sent to the Break Zone. And then your opponent will discard a card from their hand.

 

 

 

15-033C – Jumbo Flan

Jumbo Flan here has 2 Jobs.

1) Dull and Freeze a Forward.
2) Become a Forward in itself, and strike fast.

Doesn’t matter if Jumbo Flan deals damage or not, because once you turn Jumbo Flan into a Forward, he will Break at the end of the turn.

 

 

15-034R – Snow

We’re getting more than just flurries, here.

Pay a Crystal and either Freeze all the Forwards, or Freeze all the Backups.

Or Bounce Snow with Rinoa, pay an extra Crystal, and Freeze all the Forwards and Backups.

 

 

15-035H – Setzer

With Setzer you’re gambling with the odds on your side. 8 out of 10 times you’ll grab a Character from the top spot of your deck.

Other than that, Setzer will most likely be giving you Crystals at the end of your turn.

 

 

 

15-036H – Celes

This is a great looking card. There better be a Full Art Version.

The Rune Knight Celes has a thing for Locke, as she allows you to search for him when she enters the field. But, if you already have Locke in your hand you’ll just make your opponent discard a card from there hand.

Celes knows all about parties. And when FFVI Forwards form a Party and attack. You can either Freeze 2 Characters, or Find a Category VI Character in your Break Zone.

That Character will be Locke. Any Locke will do, as you’ll already have Locke (4-048L), and using his Special Ability will allow you to slowly chip away at your opponent.

15-037L – Terra

Some more great artwork.

Playing a Summon heavy deck? Terra is the card for you. You might be able to Dull and Freeze your opponents whole board. Might.

But, even if you just dull and Freeze the main pieces of your opponents board, you’ll still be in a good position.

And whenever you cast a summon Dull 1, Freeze 1. 1 Forward, one Backup. Choose and pick.

15-038C – Knight

Knight comes in, hands you a Crystal

Next turn, Knight Dulls himself and puts himself into the Break Zone dulling a 3 cost Forward.

Thus concludes the story of Knight

 

 

15-039C – Mime

It’ll be fun playing with Mime as his Power will change every time another Forward comes in. From the high powered forwards, to the 1000 power. But, it won’t really matter as long as Mime will be able to block a Forward. Does it really matter how much power Mime has?

 

 

 

 

15-040C – Larzos

Hmm, I don’t know. 5CP to Freeze Forward, but it’ll leave you with a 9K body on the field.

When he’s tossed into the Break Zone, you’ll get a Crystal for your troubles.

Larzos is just a common, which is probably why he costs 5CP.

In my opinion, I think there are better options, and worse ones as well.

Now prove me wrong as to why you should play Larzos.

 

15-041L – Lightning

Now this is an interesting card.

For optimum results you’ll want your opponents hand to have 0 cards. and the less cards you have Lightning is even stronger.

1CP/10K body with Haste.

That is what you’re looking at.

There are plenty of cards this set, that’ll help you achieve that

Orphan, Shiva (15-030H), Cid Raines, Celes, and Gogo for when you’re using these abilities. Not to mention cards from previous sets, but you should have a very good chance at achieving no cards in your opponents hand before you play Lightning.

15-042R – Locke EX

This card might …. No, he won’t replace Opus IV Locke, but you might want to throw in a couple if you’re running a FFVI themes deck.

Think about it. Play a VI card. reveal the top card it’s a VI card add it to your hand. Play that VI Card and grab the next VI card. It might work. FFVI themed deck is already a strong deck in my opinion.