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Hidden Trials Midnight Pre-Release

It’s that time once again. Hidden Trials is just around the Korner.

That means that the Hidden Trials Midnight Pre-Release is almost here as well. We’re looking at Friday, July 26th. Technically July, 27th. Just because we will start handing out the Pre-Release Kits for the event at 12AM.

And as usual, we will be giving out an extra kit to the winner. That means you’ll have 2 chances at pulling that Lightning Gold Stamped Signature Full Art. (That’s a mouthful.) Even if you don’t win, you’ll still walk away with something.

2nd and 3rd will split a kit.

4th will receive 3 packs.

5th-8th will each receive a pack each.

The event starts at 12AM, but you can show up from 10PM for free play. Casuals and not just for FFTCG, if you want to play Magic, go ahead. Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, anything you’d like.

We’ll just leave you with an address here. And, we’ll see you in about a month’s time.

9229 S. Cicero
Oak Lawn, IL 60453

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Did Someone Say Lightning?

We managed to pull some strings and get ourselves a small restock of the Final Fantasy XIII Custom Starter Set. Sure we only got 6 of them, but they are not exactly in print any more.

If you haven’t gotten one yet, what are you waiting for?

This deck is a great starting point for your FFXIII deck. All of the cards already work great together, and with a couple of upgrades to it, you will be unstoppable in no time.

Maybe not that unstoppable, but it’s still a great Starter Set.

Click here to grab them.

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Hidden Hope – Take It To the Limit

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22-112R – Zach LB

Zach out first Limit Break card, and I can’t say it’s anything special.

Zach comes in and deals a Forward 3000 damage.

Not much of a Limit Break per se.

Zach will stick around on the field as a body, So, 3CP isn’t terrible, but I’m sure there are better things to do.

 

22-133L – Mont Leonis LB

Now, this is more like it.

Even though I never liked Mont as a character, this is a card I would play.

Now, this will only work if you have 5 Fire Backups on the field when you bring Mont in.

For 8CP, you can grab a 3cost Forward and a 5 cost Forward from your Break Zone and play them straight to the field. They will both come in with Haste as well.

It still is a lot to pay, but you do get a lot in value from it.

8CP, 3LB points, and a Backup that you control.

As a last ditch effort, I will say that it can work. I mean that’s what Limit Breaks are supposed to be. Huge attacks, when you’re on your last legs.

22-114H – Viktora LB

Not bad.

I guess I’ll need to actually play a game with these Limit Break cards. Finding time is the problem.

Viktora needs, a discard deck around her, and you don’t need me to tell you that.

Luckily, Ice has the tools you’ll need to make Viktora a great play. Just like a Dragoon getting ready to Jump.

If your opponent has 2 cards or less in there hand, when Viktora enters the field, you get to choose a Forward and deal it 7000 damage.

And, if your opponent has no cards, Viktora gains +3000 power.

Much better than Zack.

22-115R – Serjes LB

Serjes, the lancer.

Now this was a decent Character in War of the Visions.

And, that is what this card is as well. Decent. Not great, not bad.

When Serjes enters the field, you can either Dull or Freeze a Forward.

And, then he’ll stick around as an extra body on your front line.

 

22-116L – Ace LB

Ace is looking like he will be a powerful card. Once Ace enters the field, Ace deals 1000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards. Just think for a second of what Ace can do if you’re playing Chocobos.

And, that’s not all cause when Ace attacks, you can reveal the top card of your deck, and if it’s a Wind card, which it will be if you’re playing Chocobos, you’ll add it to your hand.

Sure, Ace costs 8CP, but you’ll probably get that CP back, with the extra cards you’ll be drawing.

22-117R – Yuri LB

Yuri comes right in, and searches for Chelinka and Yuri brings Chelinka straight to the field. That way we’re bringing Yuri’s cost down a little bit. Sure, there are only 2 Chelinkas that you can choose, because her cost needs to be 2CP or less.

You’ll most likely be playing Chelinka (22-046R), and if you have another Crystal Chronicles Character on the field, Chelinka will give Yuri Haste, and you’ll be able to attack with Yuri right away.

Las, but not least, if you have 5 Backups on the field, Yuri also gains +4000 power, making him an 8K body.

22-118H – Shantotto LB

Shantotto, going back to her roots.

Shantotto comes in and breaks all the Forwards and all the Monsters. Every last one of them except for Shantotto herself.

If you’re in a pickle, go ahead and cast this Mage. 4CP + 7LB. That’s all of the rest of the cards in your Limit Break deck. Last ditch effort to save yourself.

If you’re just looking to get rid of all of the Forwards, just play Opus I Shantotto instead.

Or you can have both in your deck and use whichever one works better for you.

22-119R – Maat LB

Maat comes right in and gives all of your Forwards +1000 power and Brave.

That might be enough to finish the game for you, and if you end up striking out, at least you’ll still have Forwards that will be able to block.

Maat comes in with Brave himself.

This is a Limit Break card that I would gladly add to my deck.

 

22-120H – Cloud LB

Of course, we have cloud in the first set of Limit Break cards, what’s next Lightning?

Cloud comes in and Breaks a Forward, 3CP or less. After that Cloud will stick around with an 8K body, wheeling and dealing damage to your opponent.

And if you’re feeling a little CP rich, you can use Limit Burst.

For 4 Lightning CP and a Cloud card, you can Break one of your opponent’s Forwards and also deal your opponent 1 point of damage as well.

Do that 7 times and you won the game.

It’s possible.

22-121R – Lightning LB

Well, I was right. Lightning was next.

And when she enters the field, she will look for a Lightning summon.

And that is about it.

You’d think they’d have Lightning do something better.

 

 

22-122L – Tidus LB

I’m trying to think if this is worth it.

If you don’t pay 3CP does that mean you can’t choose any of these effects?

8CP, to Send a Forward to the bottom of it’s owner’s deck, a Backup to the top of it’s owner’s deck and draw 2 cards.

I can’t think of a reason to play this card, but I know I’ve already sold a few of them, so someone thinks that it’s a good play.

 

22-123R – Leo LB

Would you like to draw a card?

Well there’s better ways to get yourself to draw a card than Leo.

Only difference is that you can play Leo at any moment, because you already know that you can just grab him from the Limit Break deck.

Still, Leo will probably just be used to pay for other Limit Breaks.

Like Maat.

22-124H – Little Leela LB

This is a better Limit Break card.

Better than most of the cards we’ve seen in this set.

Little Leela comes in at 5CP with an 8k body.

You’ll say so what, nothing special about that.

And, I’ll say yes, but whenever Little Leela attacks, you will choose one of your opponent’s Forward and it will lose 7000 power until the end of the turn.

Now that makes it better. Better than Leo, better than Zack, better than Yuri, and I hate to say it but, better than Lightning.

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Hidden Hope – Electricity, Hopefully?

22-073L – Ultimecia

Lightning is starting off with a wonderful card.

Ultimecia protects all the cards in your Break Zone, not allowing your opponent to remove them from the game, which is good, because if you have at least 15 cards in your Break Zone, you will be able to choose 1 of your opponent’s Forwards and take control of it.

Any Forward that you like.

You might also want to stock up an a couple of different variations of Ultimecia as well for Maelstrom. Ultimecia’s ability is great as you don’t need to dull Ultimecia as part of the cost. That means you can keep casting Maelstrom as long as you have an extra Ultimecia on hand. That’s a Forward that loses 10k power everytime you cast Maelstrom.

Ultimecia will do plenty of damage.

22-074R – Alba EX

Here’s another card for that Warrior of Darkness deck.

Alba, coming in at 3CP with a 7K body. When Alba enters the field due to an ability, namely Nacht (22-067L) you get to choose one of your opponent’s Forwards with a cost of 4 or less, and send it to the Break Zone.

Also, when she enters the field, she gives one of your Warriors of Darkness, Haste.

Pretty decent if you ask me, and plays well with the other Warriors of Darkness.

 

 

22-075H – Edea

The Witch, the Sorceress, Edea.

Edea comes into the field, and let’s you search for a Final Fantasy VIII Forward. Searchers are always good, and when it comes from a Forward it makes it even better, because that card will still have some use even after you searched for the Forward.

Edea comes with an 8k body. Which is great.

And another ability that causes one of your opponent’s Forwards to lose 4000 power. 8000 if you have 10 cards in your Break Zone.

Only downside is that you have to discard the top 2 cards of your deck to use this ability, and you don’t know which cards those will be.

22-076R – Odin

3 cost Summon, that breaks a 3, or a 4 cost, Forward or Monster.

Well that is what Odin is known for. Coming down riding his horse from the sky, whipping out Excalibur, and slicing the enemy in half, for an instant K.O.

Plus, if you only paid the cost with Backups you draw a card, making Odin cost just 1CP.

It wouldn’t hurt to have 1 or 2 of these in your deck.

 

 

22-077H – Garuda (III)

Garuda comes in, and you get to pick a number. And after that you’ll get to deal 8000 damage to all of the Forwards that their CP cost is the same as the number you’ve chosen. So, don’t go picking a random number, make sure there are Forwards on the field that have that number as their CP cost.

This is actually a good way to get rid of a bunch of Forwards that came in due to an ability by let’s say Golbez (1-135L). You’ll be able to get rid of all the 2 cost Forwards that just came in. Plus the other 2 cost Forwards that were already on the field.

And the Crystal ability. For the cost of 2 Crystals, you can deal 8000 damage to a Forward of your choosing.

You can’t go wrong with Garuda.

22-078C – Sice

1CP or 3CP or 3CPO?

Either way Sice is a great card. Especially if you can get her in for 1CP. Which you probably will, because the Class Zero Cadets usually come out all together.

Sice enters the field, and depending on how many Class Zero Cadets you have on the field, Sice will sen that Forward to the Break Zone.

And after that, she’ll stick around as an extra body.

I’ll take 3. Simple and effective. Let’s just find a way to bounce Sice a couple of times per turn. I’m sure there must be a way.

22-079L – Seifer

The other Gunblade Wielder.

When Seifer comes in, you can put the top 2 cards of your deck in the Break Zone and, you’ll be able to grab a Final Fantasy VIII Forward from your Break Zone. It’s like paying 4CP to grab that card that you just lost, and you don’t even need to have the extra 4CP in your hand.

Seifer starts to shine when you have at least 10 cards in your Break Zone. Because when you do, every time Seifer attacks, you get to send one of your opponent’s Forwards to the Break Zone. Slowly thinning the enemies front lines, to make it easier for your attacks to go through.

This might be the best Seifer yet.

22-080C – Selkie

The card that let’s you look at the top card of your deck.

If you like it, you can keep it there.

If you don’t send it to the bottom of your deck.

Selkie is part of this set’s Common Card for all elements. Meaning that each Element has this card.

If you need more information. We’ll just Copy/Paste once again.

“Simple, basic and straight to the point.

Selkie 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.”

22-081R – Diana

“Dirty Dianaaaaa, Nah”

Is it just me or is Diana actually doing one of Michael Jacksons moves?

Woo!

3CP for a 7K body, but you won’t be paying 3CP, because if you do, Diana won’t do much.

Instead you shall play Nacht, look for Diana and another 2 Warriors of Darkness. And, once Nacht attacks, you will play Diana from your hand, and draw a card at the same time. Giving you +2CP when she enters the field due to Nacht’s ability.

After that, you can dull a Warrior of Darkness, and dull a Forward. Any Forward, including yours, which can be like a cancel effect, if your opponent plays a card that says something along the lines of Break an active Forward.

I must say, I like it.

“I know your every move
So won’t you just let me be”

22-082C – Drace

Did you ever find yourself looking for a searcher, the searches for a low cost Forward?

Well if you did, Drace is the right card for you.

Because Drace let’s you search for a Forward that costs 2CP or less.

It’s a great Backup to have.

Only thing that would make Drace better is his cost was 2CP, but then he wouldn’t be a Common.

I’ll take it.

22-083C – Ninja

A ninja with Haste.

For 2CP you can have yourself a great Forward.

Sure, Ninja only has 4000 power, but if you have a couple Standard Unit Backups on the field, Ninja also gains 4000 power, making her total power 8000.

2CP for an 8k body is great in my book.

Now all we have to do is find a couple of Backups that will compliment her.

22-084R – Fujin

If you’re playing Seifer, then Fujin is a must have.

Once you have 10 cards in your Break Zone,which is where you will want to be if you are playing Seifer. Fujin gives Seifer and Raijin, and herself +2000 power and First Strike. Which is great combined with Seifer’s ability to Break a Forward whenever he attacks.

And when Fujin is put from the deck into the Break Zone, you can play Fujin onto the field. So, those abilities that require you to put the top 2 cards of your deck into the Break Zone, have a little upside to them.

The only thing I don’t like with Fujin is the extra cost required when she enters the field, which is the top 2 cards of your deck.

22-085C – Moth Slasher

For 2CP this is a great card.

A Monster that turns into a Forward that searches for itself when it is sent to the Break Zone, and plays itself for free.

What’s not to like.

And, at 3 points of damage Moth Slasher has an 8k body.

Of course you’re putting this in your deck, why wouldn’t you.

22-086C – Yaag Rosch

Yaag Rosch is the protector of Backups, excluding himself.

And, that’s pretty much it. There aren’t even that many cards that can break a Backup.

So, we’ll just talk about the artwork. It’s gorgeous, simple yet it portrays Yaag Rosch perfectly.

We just have to ask him one question.

“Why So Serious?”

Yeah, I’m just trying to take up space here.

22-087R – Raijin

And, finally the last Disciplinary Committee Member.

Now that we have the trio out, we can see what these cards all do together as a team, the Disciplinary Committee.

Same as before you need 10 cards in the Break Zone for everything to work.

Raijin gives the other 2 and himself +2000 power and Haste.

That gives Seifer 11,000 power and Fujin and Raijin 9000 power. Making these 3 a force to be reckoned with. (No wonder Squall and Co. always had trouble with the Disciplinary Committee.)

And, same as before again, If Raijin is put from your deck into the Break Zone, you can play him straight onto the field. But, you’ll have to pay the cost of putting the top 2 cards of your deck into the Break Zone.

Now I do see why these cards are like this. If you’re lucky enough you can have all three members on the field, in one play. And then you’ll be taking everyone on a a little ride as you’ll be breaking Forwards when Seifer attacks, and Fujin and Raijin will just stand around as your blockers, while Seifer gets the job done.

22-088C -Rygdea

I always thought Rygdea was part of the Cavalry.

Rygdea comes in and you get to choose one of 2 abilities. Either break a Forward, 2CP or less, or grab a Lightning character from the Break Zone.

Both are pretty good abilities, I do prefer the second one, but there shall be times you will want to break that pesky Forward that is sitting on the front lines.

This might be a good addition to the FFXIII Custom Starter Set.

 

 

22-089C – Dragoon

Add another Dragoon to the Back line. This one isn’t half bad.

Dragoon enters the field and gives a Forward +3000 power and First Strike.

After that you can pay the cost, discard a Lightning card, put dragoon into the Break Zone, break a 5CP Forward, Play Rygdea, grab Dragoon from the Break Zone, and start all over again.

I mean it could work, but there are better ways than this to Break a Forward.

With Dragoons though, I’d say the second ability is just a bonus.

22-090H – Lulu

How many Summons do you need in your deck in order for Lulu to be effective?

Because if your take away that ability you really don’t have much going on here.

Just a 2 cost Forward with 5000 power.

Maybe I’m missing something, because the cards I don’t think are good, end up becoming great.

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Final Fantasy XIII and a Sale of Sorts

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What do we talk about today?

Snow? Lightning? Final Fantasy XIII?

Just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean we have to talk about Shiva. Or Snow for that matter.

But, he’s a Hero, you’ll say. And, I’ll say. Tell that to Hope.

I’m not going to get into Final Fantasy XIII at the moment, but I feel like I kind of have to just because of Hidden Trials. And, how I believe that it will be a great set. Well, that’s how all sets look like when they are first announced months in advance. Just like Hidden Hope, we have a new Mechanic that will be debuting in just a couple of months.

And, then I heard something about a side board, but I can’t remember where I heard that, or seen that. I’m just wondering when they’ll start adding Weapons. And, spells, where you can add Omnislash to any Cloud that you control. It would be a good mechanic, just ask Cloud, he’ll tell you it would work great.

And, as we’re waiting on Hidden Hopes, and Hidden Trials, we’re also waiting on some news for the Magic : The Gathering Final Fantasy set. It was first announced a couple of years ago. I was expecting it to have been out already, but the only thing we know is that it should be released this year.

And, since we’re on the topic of Final Fantasy XIII we have a sale going on for the Final Fantasy XIII Kai Art Museum boxes. $25 off your order if you order one by 02/08/2024. Just use Coupon Code FANG

Don’t know what’s in it? Well we decided to open one up on camera.

Let’s see if we can embed it.

There we are.

Get your Pre-Orders Here.