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Anniversary Collection Set 2024

What’s that? Announcing a new Anniversary Set, when the Dissidia Collection isn’t even out yet. Well, I’m sure you would do it too. Get on the Hype train, because Shinra SOLDIERS are on the box.

Plenty of Reprints, plenty of Promos, plenty of cards. Means Plenty of reasons to buy this collection. Number 1 being the paper playmat.

The Reprints will range from Opus I all the way to Resurgence of Power.

What I like about these Collections is that it is a great way to get into the game, as many staples are in it. I remember building a deck and just grabbing half the cards from the first Anniversary Collection Set, I just didn’t feel like searching for them.

This is actually coming out sooner than I expected as well. February 2024. That’s only 6 months away, 4 months after the Dissidia set comes out.

https://fftcg.square-enix-games.com/en/news/final-fantasy-trading-card-game-anniversary-collection-set-2024

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Dawn of Heroes – Spark in the Dark

20-085C – Assassin

1CP/3K body

Perfect if you want to swarm the board. Pay the additional cost and deal a Forward 3000 damage.

After that you can put Assassin into the Break Zone to break that same Forward.

But, then again, put into the Break Zone still confuses me, so I might be wrong on this.

 

20-086H – Alisaie

This card looks good so far, at least in my head. We still need to see it in action.

Alisaie comes in and you can play a 3 cost Scion from the Break Zone onto the field. Right away you get some value from her. Especially if you play her, and grab Alphinaud 20-106R from the Break Zone. You’ll technically only be paying 1CP for Alisaie, and Alphinaud.

And Alisaie’s second ability triggers when a Water Forward (Alphinaud) enters the field. That second ability says that when a Water Forward enters the field you can dull one of your opponents Forwards.

And when that Forward is Alphinaud, your opponents will select one of their dull Forwards and Break it.

Now if that Forward that you dulled is the only dull Forward, then you have chosen the Forward that will be Broken.

20-087R – Angeal

I always have trouble remembering what “Put into the Break Zone” means. And, during every Prerelease, I find myself asking the same question.

Must be old age.

Anyways, Angeal is a 3 cost Forward that likes to Break your opponents Forwards along with a couple of his SOLDIER buddies.

I’d think of Angeal more like a Summon that sticks around. Move over Odin, you ain’t got that strike like Angeal. Or something like that. Cause Angeal will stick around and block an attack or two before he gets sent t the Break Zone.
Angeal can also be put into the Break Zone and give one of your Forwards +3000 power.

20-088L – Estinien

Just looking at this card, you know it’s going to be good.

Warp Estinien in for 1CP. Then he comes in with Haste. And, until the end of the turn he has Brave, and can attack twice in the same turn. And, when he attacks he gains +10,000 power and First Strike.

That’s just … WOW!!!

You’ll want to play Estinien from the get go. Almost like Roche. If you don’t find Estinien in your opening hand, you should just Mulligan and hope to get him on your next draw.

This card will be heading straight to my Haste deck, with Haste.

20-089C – Kadaj

Kadaj is back.

4CP with an 8K body, and an ability that triggers when he enters the field, and enters the Break Zone. (That could be a song title “Enter the Break Zone” or album title.) Kadaj will make a Forward lose power, in other words Kadaj will cast Sap on a Forward.

Once he’s done with that he’ll stay on the field until he gets broken and cast Sap on another Forward. Well, technically it’s not Sap, but it’s close enough.

It’s decent.

20-090H – G’raha Tia

G’raha Tia is a great way to play a Scion onto the field, of an element that you are splashing.

Or any Scion that is not in your hand. As you’ll pay the cost of let’s say Alisaie, and if Alphinaud is already in the Break Zone, you’ll be able to play him as well.

G’raha Tia also gains 3000 power when there is a FFXIV Standard Unit Character on the field.

This is a card I’d like to see in action. And I’ll decide on if I like it or not afterwards. But, it’ll be too late for this article, as I only write my first impressions on each card, and at time of writing release is still a month away.

20-091C – Illusionist

2 cost Backup, that just buffs one of your Forwards attacks by 2000 power for one turn.

Can be used if your in a little pickle, attacking and being blocked by a Forward with a little more power than what you attacked with.

Would I use this card?

Probably not.

 

20-092R – The Emperor

The Emperor has new clothes.

And he’ll change them every time he is put into the Break Zone. He might even change into the same clothes, as you can search for The Emperor and play him onto the field dull. As long as The Emperor has 3CP or less.

With this one there are a total of 6 Emperors to choose from. One which allows you to search for an Emperor of cost 5 or less. Which is the highest CP for any Emperor.

I wonder if we can play The Emperor, the same way that we play Ultros. As the Emperor always seems like he has a way to come back to the field. I’m going to look into this some more at a later date.

We haven’t even mentioned The Emperor’s ability, That requires your opponent to pay 2CP more for their Character’s action abilities. Looks like an easy way to drain your opponent of CP.

I like.

20-093H – Shadow Dragon

You can either pay 3CP to cast Shadow Dragon, or you can use Shadow Dragon as part of the cost to play Golbez. After that you can pay just 1CP of any element and play Shadow Dragon onto the field, straight from the Break Zone.

And, when Shadow Dragon enters the field, you can pick a Forward of 3CP or less and Break it.

Once all is said and done, you can turn Shadow Dragon into a Forward by paying a whopping 0CP.

Sure, it only has 3000 power, but you’re not playing this card so you can have an extra Forward.

Just bring Shadow Dragon out to block, just so you can recast it later.

20-094R – Cor

Cor was a Captain? How come I don’t remember that?

4 cost Lightning Forward with 8000 power.

Nothing to write home about so far.

But, if a King is on the field, Cor gains +2000 power. making him a 10K body.

When Cor is finally sent to the Break Zone, you can remove the top 10 cards of your deck and play Cor back onto the field dull.

Is it worth it? Probably not. Maybe if Cor was a better card, we’d think about it.

20-095C – Weaver

I’m beginning to think that these Backups were solely made to be played in draft.

I don’t think anyone would use these.

But, we have one for every element.

So, I’m writing a bunch of sentences to make it seem like they’re worth writing about.

 

20-096C – Johnny

It was only a matter of time until Johnny showed up. And as you know it Tifa is in this set as well.

Johnny is a decent Backup that can grab a couple of cards from your Break Zone. Easy way to get a couple of Forwards back, or a Backup that was previously sent to the Break Zone.

After that, whenever you need another FFVII Character that was in the Break Zone, Johnny will happily head into the Break Zone to grab them.

Even though he doesn’t specifically search for Tifa, you know that that, that’s what’s really on his mind.

20-097C – Sephiroth

For 7CP you can cast Sephiroth.

Or you can just Warp Sephiroth in for 1CP.

Spoiler alert.

And he’ll Warp down from the sky, thrusting Masamune down one of your opponents Forwards just like he did to …

I stopped myself there, cause sometimes people don’t pay attention to Spoiler warnings.

If you know, you know.

And that’s not all, Zanshin, Special Ability that can be cast without dulling Sephiroth.

depending on how many Sephiroths you have in you hand, you can be breaking low cost Forwards left and right like there’s no tomorrow.

How is this a Common?

20-098R – Chadley

A simple 2 cost ability that will allow you to grab a Forward from the Break Zone.

But, you have to jump through so many hoops just to get to it. But you can eliminate half the process if you already have a Lightning Summon in your hand.

Lets see now.

1 – Play Chadley
2 – Discard a card
3 – Search for a Lightning Summon and add it to your hand.
4 – Next turn/ Dull Chadley
5 – Discard a Summon/
6 – Put Chadley into the Break Zone
7 – Choose a Forward in your Break Zone, add it to your hand.

Is it worth it? Aren’t there better ways of grabbing something from the Break Zone. Sure you can set it up before hand, and Chadley can be used for CP until you need him.

I guess it all depends on whatever you think.

20-099C/15-095C – Ninja

You’d think they’d at least try and get the serial numbers to match.

Would’ve looked a lot better reading 20-099C/15-099C.

Not that big of a deal but, at least you gain a Crystal when Ninja comes in.

After that you can send Ninja to the Break Zone, and deal a Forward 1000 damage.

*yawn

Maybe if it wasn’t a reprint I’d be more excited.

20-100R – Fusoya

Well one thing is for sure.

If you’re playing this card, you’ll have a whole bunch of 1CP and 2CP Summons in your deck. Just so you can spam them whenever you have Fusoya attack.

Isn’t there an Emissaries of Light Braska with an S ability that you can use a Summon instead of Braska?

*hint hint

I think these 2 will go well together.

20-101C – Behemoth

Common Monsters, that can do some damage. Behemoth here is a prime example.

Behemoth enters the field, and deals 7000 damage to one Forward.

Next turn, Behemoth can Break a damaged Forward.

Simple, effective, and probably won’t see much play, even though it is a decent card.

Prove me wrong.

20-102L – Mira

Well Maybe Behemoth will see some play, if it’s only to feed Mira’s ability.

1CP, 1 Monster, 1Miiiir-a

And say good-bye to that Forward that just entered the field. It’s even better if your opponent just spent a fortune on that Forward.

Mira is also able to bring herself back from the Break Zone, all you got to do is sacrifice a Monster, and she returns from the dead.

If you ever needed a reason to make a Monster deck, Mira is it.

20-103H – Ramuh

A 2 cost Summon that will give you 3 choices.

Best part, you can pick up to 2 of the 3 choices.

Which ones should you pick?

The choice is yours.

Dull a Forward, Deal 5000 damage to a Forward, or give Haste to a Forward.

It can also be any Forward that you can choose from.

Dull a Forward attacking, while dealing 5000 damage to another Forward, or even the same Forward.

Or maybe even, dull a Forward blocking and giving Haste to one of your Forwards to attack next.

The possibilities are there.

20-104R – Ramza

All you need is a Crystal in your possession. You don’t even nee to use it. If you don’t have a Crystal then you shouldn’t be playing Ramza. Play another Ramza

Ramza comes in with a Crystal (Maybe that Crystal is a Zodiac Stone.) Ramza gains Haste, and when he is sent to the Break Zone, you can break one of your opponent’s Forwards. Not limited to a certain CP either.

Bring Ramza in and attack right away. Don’t worry if he gets sent to the Break Zone, there’s more Ramzas where that came from.

You can probably find a way to grab him back from the Break Zone.

Ramza Army of One is a go.

As long as he can Shout.

20-105C – Reeve EX

It’s a 3 card trick.

Reeve comes in sets up his little table and shows you the 3 cards. One of which you can add to your deck, the others get sent to the bottom of your deck. Not seeing the light of day again, unless you shuffle your deck.

Ok, I know that’s not how it works.

4CP to grab a card from the top 3 of your deck At least you’ll know what you’ll be missing.

And, why did I always thought it was Reeves?

 

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Fusoya – Lunar Summon Co.

I was between 2 Fusoyas for this deck, and then I just decided to use both of them. Fusoya (20-100R) and Fusoya (9-094L). Both Fusoyas are Summon based. One allowing you to play low cost Summon whenever Fusoya attacks, and the other one let’s you pay for your Summons with CP of any Element. This gives us an idea for part of the deck.

Now, in order to stay true to Fusoya, we’re going to bring in his nephews Cecil, and Golbez. This is going to be a family affair.

Cecil (9-109H) in order to protect Fusoya, When he’s casting those Summons, and Golbez (9-087H) to use his ability to play a Forward from the top of your deck onto the field, without paying the cost. It’s a Crap shoot.

Since we’re going to be adding a whole bunch of Summons, we’re going to add Yuna (20-117L) to the deck, to use Holy due to having so many Summons in our Break Zone. And, since we’re going to be spamming Holy, we need as many Yuna’s in our hand to help us cast Holy. We added (1-214s), (2-138L), (1-177R). We doubt we’ll be using these Yunas on the field, as they’ll only be used to cast Holy.

We’ll need to protect that Break Zone, so we’re using Kalmia (18-090R).

Class Sixth Moogle, as it can produce Water CP, Summoner (4-136C) for protection against some of your opponents Summons. Chadley (20-098C) so we can grab a Forward we need from the Break Zone.And Red Mage (12-073C) to let us break a Forward whenever we cast a Summon.

The rest can be filled with Summons, 1CP or 2CP, so Fusoya can cast them whenever he attacks. And, those Same Summons will be used to calculate the power of Yuna’s Holy whenever she casts that.

And, that is the plan. Spam Summons, and Holy whenever you can.

Forwards

Yuna (1-214S) x3
Fusoya (20-100r) x3
Yuna (2-138L) x3
Cecil (9-109H) x3
Golbez (9-087H) x3
Yuna (20-117L) x3
Fusoya (9-094L) x3

Backups

Yuna(1-177R) x3
Summoner (4-136C) x3
Class Sixth Moogle (9-097C) x3
Chadley (20-098C) x3
Red Mage (12-073C) x3
Kalmia (18-090R) x3

Summons

Raiden (10-100C) x2
Diabolos (15-053H) x3
Valefor (1-0198S) x3
Neo Bahamut (6-018R) x2
Cu Sith (10-068C) x2
Ramuh (10-102H) x2
Ixion (17-090R) x2
Unicorn (20-118H) x2

And that is the Fusoya deck and plan.
What would you play? Let us know in the comments.

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Fusoya – Card Analysis

Now that we have more than one card, we’re going to look at all of them. Starting off with Opus II.

Fusoya (2-116R)

“When Fusoya enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 5000 damage

When Fusoya is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Forward from your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.”

3CP to deal 5000 damage to one Forward. Not bad for 3CP, there are some Summons that do less, for more CP.

Now if you’re able to find a way to send him to the Break Zone you’ll be able to grab one of your Forwards from your Break Zone as well.

Just leave him on the field to produce CP until you send him to the Break Zone to grab that Forward that you need.

Fusoya (2-146H)

“(D) : Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 7000 damage. Fusoya deals you 1 point of damage.”

A Light Backup here.

And I can see why this Fusoya has never really been used.

Sure, he only costs 3 CP, but to use his ability to deal 7000 damage to a Forward in exchange for a point of damage, doesn’t seem like a great deal to me.

There are better cards to use with similar effects.

Unless you’re trying to rack up those Points of Damage, leave this one at home.

But, I do like the artwork.

Fusoya (9-094L)

“The cost required to cast your Summons can be paid with CP of any Element.

When Fusoya enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Reveal the top 2 cards of your deck. Deal it 1000 damage for each CP required to play the revealed cards. Add all the revealed cards to your hand.”

7CP to play this Lunarian. I’d say it;s a good deal, because once he comes in you’ll grab the top 2 cards of your deck and add them to your hand. Making Fusoya a 3 cost.

Not only that, but when he does come in you choose a Forward, and the combined CP of the 2 cards you just grab will deal it x000 damage. The x being the combined amount of both cards.

It’s like Opus II Fusoya but better, it can be 5000, it can be 2000 or it can be 20000 depending on what you have in your deck.

Fusoya (16-119H)

“When Fusoya enters the field, select the following actions from top to bottom up to the same number of Elements other than Water as the cost you paid to cast Fusoya.

“Draw 1 card.”

“Choose 1 Summon in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.”

Choose 1 Character opponent controls, Return it to it’s owner’s hand”

Choose 1 Forward. Put it on top of it’s owner’s deck.”

Let’s see what we wrote when Emissaries of Light came out.

“A Five color deck?

It can work. You already have Soiree going all out this set.

Just add Fusoya to the mix, and you’ll probably choose up to 4 abilities to cast.”

And we’re going to keep it like that. Is Soiree still a thing?

If not you can always add Fusoya to a Warrior of Light deck.

Fusoya (20-100R)

“EX Burst When Fusoya enters the field, if you have 2 or more Summons in your Break Zone, draw 1 card.

When Fusoya attacks, you may cast 1 Summon of cost 2 or less from your hand without paying the cost.”

Well one thing is for sure.

If you’re playing this card, you’ll have a whole bunch of 1CP and 2CP Summons in your deck. Just so you can spam them whenever you have Fusoya attack.

Isn’t there an Emissaries of Light Braska with an S ability that you can use a Summon instead of Braska?

*hint hint

I think these 2 will go well together.

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Lumina – Deck

As we take a look at Lumina’s ability it reads, “When Lumina enters the field, you may search for 1 Category XIII Forward and add it to your hand.”

That simply means, we need to fill up this deck with as many FFXIII Forwards that we can. And we do have a lot to choose from. But, we’re going to keep this as Characteristic as possible. We’ll Start off with Lightning and Serah. In the beginning I was trying not to use Lightning (19-138S), but for a deck filled with FFXIII Forwards, you need to use this card. Buffs and draws, and damage.

Serah? We went with Serah (16-032H). Ice Forward, that if played after you have 2 Ice Characters on the field, your opponent discards a card. If you have a XIII Forward you draw a card.

Moving on forward. Noel (19-136S) is our next Forward. Coming in with Haste and a buff for every FFXIII Character you control. Cid Raines (19-135S) is also here. You can tell we’re pretty much using the FFXIII Custom Starter Set for most of it. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.) So, we’ll just add Vanille (19-129S), Fang (19-131S), and Snow (19-132S) to round it out.

And, that’s still not enough. Especially cause there’s hardly any Lightning Forwards and Lumina is Lightning. We’ll just roll the dice and grab Lightning (19-082H), Anima (11-099H) and Cid Raines (19-135S), Yes they are all FFXIII Forwards. This way Lightning’s abilities will go off, and so will Serah’s when she enters the field, and also Noel’s. These 3 will be your main attackers.

For Backups, we’ll add Lebreau (5-151S). I usually go for the Opus I Lebreau, but we don’t have enough Fire Forwards to warrant that card. Class Second Moogle (10-016C), to help us with Ice CP. Mog (XIII-2) (1-196S), because he acts just like Lumina and searches for a FFXIII Forward. and Jihl Nabaat (1-193S) cause that still is a great card.

As For Summon, we’re just grabbing Bahamut, because with Fang on the field he becomes a Free Summon. And both Odins for Lightning’s (19-082H) ability.

All in all, this deck is made to get as many Forwards out on the field as fast as possible. After that just keep attacking and attacking, with at least 3 Forwards per turn.

Or something like that.

Deck List

Forwards

Noel (19-136S) x3
Lightning (19-138S) x3
Serah (16-032H) x3
Vanille (19-129S) x3
Anima (11-099H) x3
Fang (19-131S) x3
Snow (19-132S) x3
Lightning (19-082H) x3
Cid Raines (19-135S) x3

Backups

Jihl Nabaat (1-193S) x3
Lebreau (5-151S) x3
Class Second Moogle (10-016C) x3
Mog (XIII-2) (1-196S) x3
Lumina (13-085R) x3

Summons

Odin (15-090H) x3
Odin (13-072R) x3
Bahamut (19-130S) x2