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Banon’s Returners

Where do we start?

Well we need to start off with Banon, it’s a deck built around him after all. Now, let’s see what FFVI Characters do we have in Water. None, that actually have anything to do with Banon, actually yes, Gau. Gau does help Banon with the battle at Narshe.

Gau (19-089H), even though Gau isn’t the best place to start building a Banon deck with, he is Water, comes in with Back Attack, and gives a FFVI Forward 1000 power x the FFVI Characters on the board. He’ll most likely help your Forward survive an attack, Summon or ability.

Next we’ll take a look at Edgar and Locke. And, no we’re not going with the Dawn of Heroes setup, that would be too easy. We’ll grab Locke (9-122H), that way we can grab more FFVI Characters, plus the +2000 power he gives to all the FFVI Forwards every time he attacks, is a plus.

Edgar (19-003R), cause we need Backups, and this Edgar can grab Sabin from the Break Zone, which leads us to Sabin (17-017H). Since you’ll probably already have a bunch of FFVI Characters on the field, you’ll probably be only paying 1CP to cast Sabin, or you’ll be grabbing him from the Break Zone with Edgar. We’re taking Sabin for his Chakra ability. And, since both of his abilities don’t require Sabin to dull as part of the payment, well add in another Sabin, anyone as it’ll be mostly used for paying the cost for Chakra, and Aura Cannon. We’ll go with Sabin (15-018C). And if you do decide to play it, during each of your turns you can choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 9000 damage.

Banon believed Terra would be the catalyst to destroying the Empire, because she is the light in his story. Or so he thinks. We’ll say she’s the fire and add Terra (10-132S). That way you can recycle a Summon, and deal 2000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards every time you cast a Summon.

Let’s not forget that Locke saved Celes and brought her to the Returners as well, and luckily we do have a Water Celes. Celes (11-118L), with 3 abilities to choose from every time she attacks. And, if you have received 3 points of damage, you can choose 2. Celes gains 2000 power, if Celes deals damage to your opponent draw 1 card, or return a Backup to your hand, and a Forward to your opponents hand.

Which leads us to Owzer (11-106H), (I can’t believe I forgot about this card, for my Ultros deck), You can return Owzer to your hand to play him again, and gain control one of your opponents 2 cost Forwards.

We’ll add Class Fourth Moogle (10-121C), to help us pay for Fire CP.

And, since we’re already buffing our Forwards power’s, well buff it some more with Aria (III) (10-108R). And, let’s add Minwu (1-171H) for a little bit of protection.

We’re going to add Ifrit (19-001R) and Leviathan (19-101R) because they are Free Summons. And in case you haven’t noticed, we like Free Summons.

Amaterasu (12-002H), because you need that protection Amaterasu grants.

Unicorn (20-118H), solely because it’s a FFVI Summon. Well, not solely, mostly. Activate a Forward, and Return a a Forward to your opponent’s hand.

Mog (VI) (4-140H), just so you can draw a card, if you have nothing worth playing.

Plan of attack would be to, buff up your FFVI Forwards and attack. Simple as that.

Forwards

3x – Gau (19-089H)
2x – Mog (VI) (4-140H)
3x – Banon (9-111H)
3x – Celes (11-118L)
3x – Locke (9-122H)
3x – Terra (10-132S)
3x – Sabin (17-017H)
3x – Sabin (15-018C)

Backups

3x – Aria (III) (10-108R)
3x – Class Fourth Moogle (10-121C)
3x – Edgar (19-003R)
3x – Minwu (1-171H)
3x – Owzer (11-106H)

Summons

3x – Unicorn (20-118H)
3x – Amaterasu (12-002H)
3x – Ifrit (19-001R)
3x – Leviathan (19-101R)

What would you play different?

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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 : 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.

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Physalis Attraction

Physalis is our card of the week, this week. One of the better cards in this set, and with a good cast around her, she will do some Damage.

On to the card

5CP – Ice
Forward
Job : Member of the Orders
Category : FFBE
9000 Power
Legend

When Physalis enters the field or attacks, if your opponent has 3 cards or less in their hand, select 1 of the 2 following actions. If your opponent has no cards in their hand, select up to 2 of the 2 following actions instead.

“Choose 1 Character. Dull it and Freeze it.” “Draw 1 card.”

Premium Physalis Bullet (S)(I)(I): Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 10000 damage. That Forward’s controller discards 1 card from their hand.

Physalis’ cost might be a little high at 5CP, but she makes up for it. 9K Power is good by itself, but it’s her abilities that make her shine. Being able to draw a card every time she attacks, is worth the 5CP you paid for her, because you will get it back in a couple of turns.

The characters that surround Physalis in this deck, support her, mostly by causing your opponent to discard their cards. And if you still need to get rid of a card in their hand, you can use “Premium Physalis Bullet” right before you attack as it does not cause Physalis to Dull.

There’s plenty of Forwards that will cause your opponent to discard a card from their hands. Argath (1-033C), Locke(4-048L), and Locke(12-116L) all have on entry abilities that will make your opponent Discard 1 card. Borghen(6-039H) will make them, discard a card when he enters the Break Zone. He’s basically a cheap blocker. Innocence (13-137S), dulls and makes your opponent discard 2 cards. Laguna (9-037C) searches for an Ice Forward. Squall (6-033H has effects depending on how many cards your opponent has. Baralai (12-114R) Has abilities that trigger when your opponent discards a card from his hand, or your backups activate. Vayne (9-022L) will make your opponent pay 1CP for each Forward they have, or they will be broken.

Laguna (9-037C) along with Ysayle (6-022R) will let you search for Physalis. And if she ends up in the Break Zone Devout (1-048C) will be there to bring her back. Gestahlian Empire Cid (4-026H) will let you search for Locke, and Setzer (8-036C) will grab him from the Break Zone.

Bard (1-036C) will dull and your opponent shall discard 1 card. Class Ninth Moogle (9-033C) will let you pay the Wind Crystal Point needed for Baralai and Locke, but will also let you cast Asura (2-049H) and Pandemonium (5-032H). Both which will activate your backups and let Baralai deal 3K Damage to all your opponents Forwards.

2 More Summons. Mateus, the Corrupt (5-044C) Just to Break a blocking Forward if you need to. And, Glasya Labolas (5-032H) so, your opponent can discard another card.

And, finally Scale Toad (8-034R) Your opponent will discard a card if they have more than 2 cards in there hand at the end of their turn.

The plan here is to have your opponent have no cards in their hand. Causing them to not be able to play anything. Physalis will shine, if you get your way in this match. Along with some powerful Forwards, it’ll be hard for you to lose this match.
Here’s the run down

Forwards

Borghen (6-039H) x3
Argath (1-033C) x3
Squall (6-033H) x3
Locke (4-048L) x3
Baralai (12-114R) x3
Innocence (13-137S) x2
Vayne (9-022L) x3
Laguna (9-037C) x2
Physalis (13-028L) x3
Locke (12-116L) x1

Backups

Bard (1-036C) x2
Class Ninth Moogle (9-033C) x2
Gestahlian Empire Cid (4-026H) x2
Devout (1-048C) x3
Ysayle (6-022R) x3
Setzer (8-036C) x2

Summons

Asura (2-049H) x3
Mateus, the Corrupt (5-044C) x2
Pandemonium (11-055R) x1
Glasya Labolas (5-032H) x2

Monsters

Scale Toad (8-036C) x2

Any ideas to improve this deck? Let us know in the comments.