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Hidden Legends of Ice

24-019R – Umaro

I don’t see why anyone would play Umaro on to the field, when his ability goes into play when Umaro is in your hand.
For 3CP you can discard Umaro from your hand a break a dull Forward.

That’s it. Plain and Simple.

I mean you can play Umaro on to the field for 2CP, but that’s about it. He’ll just stay on the field producing 1CP per turn.

I’d say Umaro is more like a 3 cost Summon, and he should be treated as such.

24-020C – Ulmia

Can you here the Harps playing your song?

Ulmia is ready to Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters.

And if you got another Final Fantasy XI Forward on the field, Ulmia will make your opponent discard a card.

Ulmia will make Anselmo proud.

“Walk on home, boy!”

Maybe she can take Dime’s spot. Put some Distortion on that Harp.

24-021H – Kurasame

Deja vu?

I think we’ve seen this one before.

This time Kurasame is a Hero though, instead of a Legend.

Kurasame comes in and Freezes your opponent’s Characters. How Many? Depends on how many Backups you have on the field.

And depending on if your opponent has at least 4 dull Characters on the field, Kurasame will draw you a card every time he attacks.

You can run this one and the Hidden Hope Kurasame, and you’ll have 6 Kurasames that will Freeze your opponent’s Characters.

24-022H – Gogo

Gogo is back!

And s/he is better than ever.

Whatever FFVI Deck you’re playing, just throw Gogo into your deck. 3 copies will be perfect.

First line of attack, play Gogo, and protect Gogo at all costs.

Why?

Gogo casts Reraise on one FFVI Forward once per turn.

If a Final Fantasy VI Forward is put into the Break Zone, once per turn Gogo will bring them back!

If that’s not a great card, I don’t know what is.

24-023C – G Deleter

A backup that causes a splash.

Why a splash?

Because G Deleter is Ice splashing in Water.

G Deleter comes in and you draw a card, and if you have 4 Ice Backups, you can dull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters.

Not bad for 3CP, and you get 2CP back once he enters the field.

24-024R – Shiva (XVI)

Shiva comes in and you can Break 2 dull Forwards.

And at the end of each of your turns if 2 or more of your opponent’s Forwards are sent to the Break Zone, your opponent discards a card.

You get all of this and a Forward with 9000 power.

You’ll probably just want to Prime into Shiva instead of paying the 7CP.

 

24-025L – Genesis

First off the card is awesome. The art, the abilities and that we’ll finally have a great card to start off a SOLDIER deck.

Genesis comes right in for 5CP. Yeah, it’s your standard 5CP for a 9k body, but you get to choose from 1 of 3 abilities.

Have your opponent discard a card, choose 2 Characters to Dull and Freeze, or have your next SOLDIER’s cost be 3CP less.

The best part is that, you can choose more than once. Every time a SOLDIER enters the field one of Genesis’s abilities will
trigger, allowing you to choose which one you would like to do.

You should keep a playset of Genesis until Tears of the Planet comes out, that way you can use it in a Ice/Lightning deck with that Zack card that was spoiled for the next set.

24-026H – Zalera, the Death Seraph

4CP to break a Forward.

Not bad, when you consider that Summons that break Forwards come in at a high cost.

Zalera does hit a little different. You just choose the cost of the Forward. 4 or less, or 5 or more. After that your opponent will choose which Forward to break.

I wouldn’t say that this is a great card, it is good card, it’s just the chance of using it and getting what you want out of this Summon is slim.

Unless they only have 1 Forward that is 5CP or more, then you’ll know that you’ll hit your target.

24-027C – Shantotto

Shantotto coming in with a trombone, and I’m ready to crack a joke about rust. But, I’ll keep my mouth shut this time.

Shantotto reduces the cost of casting your Summons by 1, add Opus I Yuna to the mix, and all of your Summons cost will be reduced by 2.

And, that’s not all. Shantotto has the ability to Dull/Freeze a Forward if you have already cast a Summon this turn.

If I was a heavy Summon player, I would be playing a Yuna/Shantotto Combo.

24-028R – Jill

Lots of cost reducing in this set.

Jill is no different.

Jill’s cost is reduced by 2 if Clive or Torgal is on the field.

That means for 1CP you can Dull/Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards, and you’re still left with a 7K body.

After that, you can Prime into Shiva (XVI) and break 2 dull Forwards.

I think we’ll have to see Priming in action before I get excited about it.

24-029C – Squall

Squall acting like he’s Opus IV Viking.

Getting things done when he enters the field and when he leaves the field.

Squall won’t draw you a card, but he will deal a dull Forward 5000 damage. Which can be more than enough to Break it.

And, let’s not forget Rough Divide, which gives Squall +1000 power and First Strike.

And it’s only 3CP!

Given Squall’s 8000 power, it would normally have been 4CP.

This is a decent Common to have.

24-030C – Terra

Theatrhythm is going strong in this set.

Terra comes in and grabs a Summon from the Break Zone.

This also comes off of an EX Burst.

You can then cast that Summon for one less Crystal Point with Shantotto.

After that Terra sticks around as a 5K body, ready to block. Or, attack.

 

24-031R – Torgal

Well here is the main card of your Final Fantasy XVI engine.

Torgal, the Wolf.

I don’t know much about Torgal, except for the fact that most of your FFXVI Forwards can be paid with CP from any element. This includes Priming costs as well.

Being a Backup, it is a little harder to have Torgal sent to the Break Zone, but, there are a couple of cards that can break Backups, but I think Torgal will be just fine.

This will be played.

And, it’s only 2CP.

24-032R – Piscodaemon

Why do I always go to write Psycho Demon when I’m trying to write Piscodaemon?

2 cost Monster that can be sent to the Break Zone when one of your Forwards attack.

And when Piscodaemon is put in the Break Zone, you can choose 2 Characters and Dull/Freeze them.

After that in your Main Phase 2, you can bring in Shiva (XVI) and break those 2 dull Characters. If they’re Forwards. Not Backups.

“Psycho Demon, Qu’est-ce que c’est?”

24-033L – Bhunivelze

Bhunivelze is back. It’s been a long wait since Crystal Radiance to get a new Bhunivelze card.

I can see this card being played in a Monster deck, especially if all those Monsters have effects that go off when the Monsters are sent into the Break Zone.

And, for every Monster or Forward that you’ll put in the Break Zone, your opponent will choose 1 Forward they control and send it to the Break Zone.

Mass Extinction going on here.

This could be Game Over for your opponent.

After all is said and done, you’ll still have a body with 10,000 power.

Just in case your opponent survives the onslaught.

24-034C – Velis EX

Well, this confirms it.

Warriors of the Crystal will be a thing here.

At least for a month or 2, just so everybody can try it out.

All you need is some Crystals to be able to bring in all the Warriors of the Crystal into play without worrying about color fixing.

Let’s talk about Velis now.

Whenever Velis or a WotC (imagine that) comes indull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

It will be a bunch of abilities going off at the same time.

I believe it’ll be fun.

24-035C – Mateus (XII RW) EX

2 cost Summon.

2 choices.

Which one will you pick.

Break a dull Forward that costs 3CP or less.

Or.

Dull a Forward, Draw a Card.

Choice is yours.

Ex Burst as well.

24-036C – Nu Mou

Nu Mou, just chilling in your back line until an Ice Forward enters your field.

After that you can put Nu Mou into the Break Zone, and you can Dull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

It seems like all the Ice cards were Dull and Freeze and dull and Freeze some more.

But that’s what Ice does.

Now you have more cards to choose from.

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

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Hidden Hope : Frozen Hope

22-019C – Ice Bomb

I Need More Bombs!

And, this one is pretty good on my opinion.

During your turn, Ice Bomb becomes a Forward, and whenever it attacks, you can Freeze one of your opponents Forwards.
And, if you already have received 3 points of damage, Ice Bomb will also Dull that Forward, thus making said Forward unavailable for your opponent’s next turn.

I’ll take 3, and put them in the Bomb deck.

22-020R – Vallaide

Who would have thought that Green Mages have these kind of abilities. And, what is a Green Mage anyway? I thought they were Red Mages.

Whatever it is Vallaide has a pass, because he’ll kick some …

It’s true. Just use his ability on a Forward, and whenever that forward is dealt damage, it breaks. Just like that.

Sure, you’ll need another way to deal a little bit of damage to said Forward, but that should be easy enough to figure out.

22-021R – Emina

This is what everyone likes. A Backup that searches for a card.

Sure, the card needs to be an Ice Character that costs 2CP or less, and I’m sure there are plenty of good cards to grab.

This technically makes Emina a 2 cost Backup as well.

Search and Play.

 

22-022R – Quistis

Do you remember Opus I Jihl Nabaat?

Well Quistis here, does a much better job than what Jihl Nabaat did.

Of course you’ll have to be playing a FFVIII themed deck, but with a card like this, and plenty of other great FFVIII cards that won’t be hard to do.

Now, what does Quistis do?

Depending on how many FFVIII Forwards you have on the field, you can dull that many of your opponent’s Characters. And if you have 3 or more, you’ll also Freeze them.

And, the artwork? It looks great. Can’t go wrong with a good looking card with a great ability.

22-023C – Bard

Bard, a low cost Backup that will dull a low cast Forward.

And, if you have another Bard (22-023C) on the field, you can use Bard’s other ability and Break that Forward.

Is it worth the price?

Depends on what you’re Breaking.

You can’t go wrong with a 2 cost Backup, that has a couple of decent abilities. Unless your opponent isn’t playing low cost Forwards. Then you might be out of luck.

22-024L – Kurasame

At 7CP, Kurasame is a quite expensive, but he can be worth it depending on how many Ice Backups you have on the field when Kurasame enters.

Go ahead count your Backups.

I’ll wait.

5 Ice Backups, well that is perfect. You shall either Dull and Freeze, 5 of your opponents Characters. Backups? Forwards? Monsters? Yep. Yep and yep.

Or, you can have your opponent discard a card for each Ice Backup that you have.

We said 5, right?

Well your opponent is discarding 5 cards from their hand. And, what was that card that was just released in the Anniversary Collection Set 2024? I don’t have the card in front of me, but I think it said, deal 5000 damage to a Forward every time your opponent discards a card, due to your Summons or abilities.

Now, at that point I’d say it’s very well worth playing Kurasame, as it will put you in a winning position. If you can’t beat your opponent when you made them discard their hand and laid waste to their front line, I think it’s time for you to pick up another game.

I like it.

22-025C – Cloud of Darkness

This is a decent card, for a Common.

Cloud of Darkness comes in, and since you’ll already be playing Discard because you’re already playing Ice, your job will be to have your opponent have as little cards as possible in their hand before you play Cloud of Darkness. Cause when Cloud of Darkness comes in and your opponent has only 2 cards, or less, in their hand, they will send one of their Forwards into the Break Zone.

And, that is pretty much it.

 

22-026C – Seymour EX

Almost like a Summon. Seymour comes in and breaks a dull Character.

After that Seymour will just hang out on the field producing a single Ice CP once per turn.

Good thing is that this ability can come off of an EX Burst as well.

Now, where did I put that card that gets rid of my Backups.

 

 

22-027R – Shiva

Let’s talk about Ice.

It’s so cold, that it will make all of your abilities stop working. Nothing moves, and your opponent’s Characters reset to 0.

No Haste, No First Strike, No Brave, no buffs no nothing.

Plus you get to draw a card if you only paid the cost with your Backups.

The twins are your best bet at starting a frozen empire.

22-028H – Cissnei

The Turks just got a little bit better with Cissnei.

She might not look like much, but in a Turk heavy deck, she’ll be lying in the shadows waiting to attack. And she can attack twice.

Sure, Cissnei comes in dull, but she also comes in with Haste. All you need to do is activate her and she’s ready to go. Luckily, The Turks are here to give a helping hand. (And you thought that they were the bad guys.) Every time a Member of the Turks attacks, you will activate Cissnei.

Here is the battle plan, Cissnei comes in, Reno attacks, Cissnei activates, Cissnei attacks, Rude Attacks, Cissnei activate and attacks again.

For 2CP, you get a 6K body that dual wields Shurikens.

I’ll take it.

22-029R – Jihl Nabaat EX

It’s Jihl, but which Jihl will you like to play?

Is PSICOM going to become a great deck to play? Who will be in it? How many PSICOM cards are there? Why are there so many questions?

After looking up all of PSICOM there are a total of 3 Characters with that Job, One which is Jihl Nabaat. The other 2 are Rygdea and Yaag Rosch.

“Who you gonna call?”

Not the Ghostbusters, that’s for sure. You can flip a coin and see which one you’ll get.

But, at 3CP you get a Forward with 7000 Power, and you get to search for a member of PSICOM.

I’m guessing they’ll be adding more PSICOM members in the next set, Especially since Lightning is on the box.

22-030C – Shinryu Celestia

This is nice, a decent 2 cost Backup that will give one of your Forwards +4000 power.

Sure, you can only use this ability if you have 5 Backups on the field, but you should be trying to get to 5 Backups as soon as you can. Because Backups equals more CP.

Now, if you can find a way to activate Shinryu Celestia after she used her ability, then you can use it again, giving another Forward, or the same Forward, another +4000 power.

 

 

22-031H – Squall

How is Squall just a Hero?

Because he is a Hero. Just play Final Fantasy VIII to see why.

At 4CP/8000 Power, Squall becomes even more powerful, if you have 4 FFVIII Characters on the field. Not only that, but he is protected from your opponent’s abilities that deal damage.

And if you need to get more Final Fantasy VIII Characters on the field, Squall will help you with that as well. During the beginning of each of your Attack Phases, you will be able to play a Final Fantasy VIII Forward from your hand onto the field. Just as long as that Forward costs 4CP or less.

You can get the four Final Fantasy VIII Forward on the field, by the beginning of your next turn, If you play Squall right away. After that, it’ll be easy sailing.

22-032L – Sephiroth

The card that everyone is looking for. Not the one you see, but the one with the Gold Stamped Signature. It is a good looking card.

Now, lets talk about the card itself.

At 3CP with 7000 power, you would think that this card is undeserving of the Legend status. Well, we’re here to tell you that it is. And, that we can see why Squall is just a Hero.

Whenever Sephiroth is in your hand, you can pay 3CP and break one of your opponent’s dull Forwards. Which in itself is a great ability to have. Although you’ll have to remove Sephiroth from the game.

But, that doesn’t mean that Sephiroth is lost, he just went into the Lifestream like he usually does. Once he is in the Lifestream, and only during the turn that he entered the Lifestream, you may play Sephiroth onto the field for his cost. And, once Sephiroth enters the field, your opponent will discard a card from their hand.

Sephiroth will cost you a total of 6CP to play this way. There are a couple of Summons that will Break a dull Forward. One is Titan (21-071H) who will break a dull Forward for 3CP, and Hades (6-038R) who will break it, and have your opponent discard a card from their hand for 5CP. The difference is that Sephiroth stays on the field as a body.

22-033C – Time Mage

Time Mage is a simple 2 cost Standard Unit Backup that is actually pretty good.

Time Mage enters the field, and will Dull/Freeze a Forward, and if you have one more Standard Unit Backup on the field, Time Mage will Dull/Freeze a Character as well.

If you have 3 of these in your hand you can Dull/Freeze up to 6 Characters, and at 2CP each, it will only cost you 6CP or 1P per Character.

That sounds like a steal to me.

22-034H – Medusa

We finally have a new spell. Stone has arrived to Final Fantasy TCG. They’re just calling them Petrification Counters.

Medusa comes in and casts Stone on a Forward. Once that Forward has turned to stone, they cannot attack or block. And they will not be able to turn back to normal once Medusa is gone.

Nope, they will have to use a Gold Needle, and the price for that Gold Needle is 5CP.

This will put a cog in your opponents plans.

22-035C – Yuke

Simple, basic and straight to the point.

Yuke comes in for 1CP and allows you to look at the top card of your deck. If you like it you can keep it there. If not send it to the bottom of your deck.

It does have plenty of benefits.

Depending on what you see there, your game plan will change for this turn.

Do you see an EX Burst that will cause plenty of damage to your opponent. Leave it there and take a point of Damage. Do you see the card you need to put your plan into motion, play that card that allows you to draw a card.

Worst case is that you don’t like the card, and you can just recycle it to the bottom.

22-036C – Rinoa

Final Fantasy VIII, has had some great cards showing up. And, we still haven’t had a Starter Set made for 8.

Good thing is that, we already have plenty of cards to make a great deck. Is Rinoa a good card to add?

Probably not. There are far better Rinoas in other sets, so, I don’t really see you playing this one, unless you’re playing a Discard deck. Or, you just like the art and you’ll just throw it in your FFVIII deck, just to show off with the Full Art. I know I’ve done that before.

If Squall is already on the field when you play Rinoa, her cost goes down to 2CP from 3CP, which makes this card more affordable, and her ability forces your opponent to discard 2 cards.