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Journey of Ice

27-019H – Yshe

Warriors are getting some good cards.

Yshe here for example, when she, or a Warrior, enters the field she will Dull/Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, even though there aren’t that many Warriors in Ice, we did get some in this set, there is that Class Moogle that can produce Ice CP.

Yshe isn’t done yet, when she enters the field, you will reveal the top 3 cards of your deck and add a Warrior to your hand.

Fire/Ice Warriors will become more deadly.

27-020R – Ellone

Just a girl. Que No Doubt.

This is actually the first Ellone that we got in 27 Opus. Always good to be adding new characters. And it looks like Final Fantasy VIII is getting a whole bunch of them.

No enter the field ability, but Ellone’s ability keeps on giving.

You’ll remove Ellone from the game, and you’ll grant one Forward +2000 power, and whenever they attack, they will draw a card, and this does not end at the end of the turn. They’ll be drawing cards for as long as they are on the field.

And, let’s not forget that you can have 3 Ellone’s in your deck. Meaning that you can give that ability to three seperate Forwards, and you’ll be drawing an extra 3 cards per turn.

You’ll have plenty of resources to burn through.

Just remember you can’t end a turn with more than 5 cards in your hand.

27-021C – Ilmatalle

Really.

Add this to your Warrior deck as well.

When Illmatale or a Warrior is chosen by an ability, your opponent will discard a card.

It’s a perfect way to deplete your opponent’s resources.

I’d say for 3CP, this is a great addition.

At 3 points of damage Ilmatelle gains +2000 power.

Not bad.

27-022C – Kall

After seeing Yshe and Ilmatalle, Kall is just the icing on the cake.

He’s a 2 cost Backup that will sit around and do nothing, until you need to use his ability.

And, just what does his ability do?

I’m glad you asked, cause I’m about to tell you.

Kall will grab a Warrior from your Break Zone and add it to your hand.

He’s a recycling guru.

27-023C – Bard

Two abilities for the price of one.

They’re actually the same ability, but with two different targets. Ones a Forward, they other is a Backup. Although your second target will only get hit if you have a Multi-Element Forward on the field.

What exactly is this ability?

Dull/Freeze.

We’re talking about an Ice Backup, what else did you expect Bard to do?

27-024C -Bard

For 1CP you can dull a Forward.

What else can you ask for? This is more than enough to play a Backup real quick, and hopefully stop that overpowered Forward that your opponent controls. At least for one turn.

Now, there is also an extra cost that you can pay when Bard enters the field. 4CP, where one has to be an Earth Crystal Point. Which should be easy to do, as a lot of players have been playing Iced Earth. No not the band. I meant Ice/Earth. Iced Earth does sound better though.

Where was I?

Ah, yes. If you do pay the extra cost, Bard will also Break that Forward.

27-025C – Klara

More Ice Warriors.

Klara will come in and dull 2 Characters. Forwards, Backups, Monsters, you name it, Klara will dull it.
Now if you have at least 3 Warriors on the field, Klara will also Freeze them. Allowing you to act freely, with no worrying on if those 2 Characters will be able to disrupt your plan.

And, when that is all said and done, Klara will play the role of Meat Shield, cause everyone needs a good Meat Shield on the field.

Hey, that rhymes.

27-026C – Gesper

They couldn’t keep Gesper down for long, so now Gesper is back, and he is a War Machine.

He’ll put a stop to two of your opponent’s Forwards when he enters the field, as he will Dull and Freeze them.

And, after Gesper is Activated, you can use his a bility to break a dull Forward.

This card looks good to me, and I don’t see it being banned any time soon.

This is another card that needs the Full Art treatment.

27-027L – Kefka

Que the organ.

For some reason “One Winged Angel” popped in my head instead of “Dancing Mad”.

8CP, is not a lot to pay to play Kefka, but then again you won’t have to. Not if you play your cards right.
Get it?

Yeah, it’s a bad one.

Anywho, Instead of paying 8CP, you can pay one Ice CP, one Earth CP and one Lightning CP produce by Backups, and you an get 63% discount.

You’ll get even a bigger discount once Kefka’s enter the field ability goes off.

Kefka will break on of your opponent’s Forwards, and then depending on how much that Forward cost, you can grab a Backup from your Break Zone of equal cost or less, and play it onto the field. Meaning that if you decide to grab Exdeath (14-080R) from your Break Zone, you would have paid 3CP to play 2 8CP cards onto the field. That’s 13CP that you got for free. And, that’s not even close to finished, because Exdeath will play a 4 cost Forward from your Break Zone onto the field as well. And, we’re not even going to get started on that.

This card has got me thinking.

27-028H – Seymour

Seymour looks like he is ready to get married.

The first time I saw this card, I misread it.

Not that I’m looking at it again, I realized that I should have played this at Prerelease.

When Seymour comes into the field or attacks, you can choose 2 of his 4 abilities.

Dull a Forward, Dull/Freeze 2 Characters, reduce your next Summons cost by 4CP, or your opponent discards a card.

All of these abilities are great, and will allow for some sneak attacks.

All you got to do is find a way to give Seymour Haste. And then you can use all of his abilities in one turn.

Or you can use the same 2 abilities over again.

27-029R – Cid Aulstyne

The Grand Marshall is here for one thing only.

Actually it’s two things.

Dull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters, and have your opponent discard a card.

Other than that he’ll stay on the field, ready to attack, or block.

Cause that’s what Forwards do.

27-030H – Squall

The way I see it, is that this Squall is a place holder for another Squall. Which Squall is totally up to you, but this Squall has a job, and he does that job good.

Squall comes in and he’s a gambling man. He’ll reveal the top 3 cards of your deck, and you can add 1 Final Fantasy VIII card to your hand. The rest will go to the bottom of your deck.

You can also use Squall’s ability to play another Squall, like we mentioned from your hand since you’ll be sending Squall to the Break Zone. I’m looking at Squall (16-011L) as the perfect (SeeD) Candidate. Yeah, I know that was terrible.

Let’s not forget that Squall’s first ability also comes off of an EX Burst as well.

27-031H – Moomba

There’s more than one way to play Moomba.

One is by paying it’s cost, the other is by dulling 2 Final Fantasy VIII Forwards.

Moomba will break one Forwards, as long as that Forward is dull or has received damage.

Nothing else to say about this one. Except that we like the art.

Yeah, we needed to fill up some space here.

27-032R – Laguna

Well, this is the card they want you to play with Squall’s ability.

 

If Laguna is played using Squall’s ability, Laguna will break a dull Forward, and your opponent will discard a card. If not, then Laguna does one or the other.

 

Not too sure about this one, but as long as Laguna is being played from Squall’s ability, it can be worth it. Otherwise your 4CP is better spent elsewhere.

 

27-033C – Reaper

A 2 cost Backup that can possibly Break one of your opponent’s Forwards in one turn.

You’ll have to jump through a hoop to get it done, but it is possible.

Reaper enters the field and deals one Forward damage equal to half of it’s power.

Reaper will stay on the field dull. So you will find a way to Activate Reaper.

Once Reaper is activated, you can then use Reaper’s ability to deal the same amount of damage to that Forward.

Meaning that, that Forward is sent to the Break Zone.

27-034R – Rinoa

 

Rinoa is showing you how many Summons you will search for when she enters the field.

 

After that when you cast a Summon, Rinoa will Dull/Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters. And, not just once per turn, any time you cast a Summon.

 

Let’s not forget Vega Blast, where Rinoa will Dull/Freeze 2 Characters. Rinoa does not Dull when she uses this ability as well, meaning that if you have the CP, you can Dull/Freeze your opponent’s whole board, with a couple of Rinoas.

27-035R – Raine

Let’s see now.

Raine will search. That much is for sure.

You can either search for Laguna and add him to your hand.

Or, if you already have Laguna on the field, you can search for Squall and play him onto the field.

Raine’s second ability does have an additional cost, but 2CP to play Emissaries of Light Squall on to the field straight from your deck is a win for me.

27-036L – Locke

Locke is going to change things up for your opponent.

When he enters the field your opponent will draw a card, and then randomly discard a card. That means, they might discard the card they plan on using, putting their plans on hold for a bit.

And, now Locke has a bilites that trigger anytime your opponent discards a card. If it’s a Character, you will Dull/Freeze one of their Characters. Forwards, Backups and Monsters are all eligible to be Dull/Frozen.

If they discard a Summon, you will draw a card.

The best part is that Locke only costs 2CP. And, you will get that back when they discard a Summon.

We won’t even get into the Amano art.

Cool Singles!

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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.