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Rydia of Mist

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An honest maiden, wise to the value of the heart.

A young summoner, able to call Eidolons from the Feymarch. Rydia bears hatred for Cecil, who indirectly killed her mother and set her village ablaze. But over time she is touched by the Dark Knight’s kindness, and opens her heart to him. Rydia is swallowed by Leviathan, king of the Eidolons, and is taken to the Feymarch, where time flows at a different rate. As a result, she matures into an adult in a very short time. Rydia rushes back to aid Cecil’s party when Golbez attacks them, rejoining their quest for the crystals.

-Taken from the Ultimania

You’ll first meet Rydia after you burned down her whole village, and as she is the sole survivor of Mist Village, she will attack you.

And with that, we’ll get into the cards.

“All that matters is what’s inside us. Isn’t that right, Cecil?”

2-094H – Rydia

Looking to add something a little extra to your Mono-Earth Summon Heavy deck? Well, look no further, Rydia here might be just what you’re looking for.

At 3CP, with a 7K body Rydia might not seem like much wight out the bat, but take a closer look at Gaia’s Wrath.

Gaia’s Wrath deals 7000 damage to every Forward on the field except for Earth Forwards. Which is why we said Mono-Earth.
Now, you’re probably wondering about the Summon Heavy part. Well that’s quite simple.

You can pay the (S) cost of Rydia’s ability with an Earth Summon, instead of another Rydia. Meaning, you might be able to cast Gaia’s Wrath once per turn.

You’ll eventually turn the tides in your favor with that.

“Enough! I can’t watch another person go off to die.”

2-095R – Rydia EX

After you’ve used all of your Summons, Rydia will go into the Feymarch (your Break Zone) and bring back a Summon for you.
Yes, it needs to be an Earth Summon.

And, yes this also comes off of an EX Burst.

And, yes you get this Backup for 4CP.

And, yes that’s about it.

“Coward, You’re a man, aren’t you? A grown man! Stop crying. I have.”

3-096R – Rydia

This one’s much better than the previous Rydia.

For 3CP you can search for any Summon that you’d like, and this Rydia only costs 3CP, making her total cost 1CP.

Sure, you can’t bring a Summon back from the Break Zone, but most of the time you probably won’t need to.

Unless the other 2 copies of that Summon end up in your Damage Zone.

“This battle is ours as much as anyone’s. Cecil said so himself. And having some Eidolons along can’t hurt, can it?”

9-077L -Rydia

Now this is a great card.

That is if you’re playing Summons.

Rydia comes in and you can look at the top 5 cards of your deck, If you find a Summon there you will cast it for free. And, there are a lot of High cost Summons that you can play.

Depending on what you find at the top of your deck, Rydia is the bargain that you’ve been looking for.

We’re not even done yet.

You can also use Rydia’s ability to look at the top X cards of your deck, and if you find a Summon that costs X or less you can cast it.

Yes, this one is more of a crap shoot, but once Rydia’s ability goes off when she enters the field, you’ll be in the money.

After that, everything else is extra.

You can probably just find a way to break Rydia, just to be able to play another Rydia.

“Think it’s sweet of you to say that, hotshot?”

11-083R/PR-051 – Rydia

Remember that time you were thinking of playing Monks, with Ursula and Yang?

Well, this is a card that you would have been playing if you did. And, if you didn’t, this is still a good Final Fantasy IV card.
Rydia gives all of the Final Fantasy IV Forwards, besides herself +1000 power and Brave.

And, if you play here after you already have 3 other FFIV Characters on the field, you can search for a 1 cost Summon, making her total cost 1.

Mono-Earth FFIV Monks with Cecil.

Plus there’s a whole lot of other FFIV Earth Characters that you can play.

Best thing is that you don’t need to limit yourself to Earth. I don’t even know why I started going on about Mono-Earth.

“I’m going to become a summoner just like my mother!”

13-065R – Rydia

“I don’t know if Rydia is cost effective. 6CP to play a summon without paying the cost. I’ll pass.”

I used to be terrible at this.

To be fair, I would probably say something along the same lines.

Unless there is a way to place Summon Counters on Rydia, this is a one trick pony.

I’d say you’re better off using that 6CP to play Opus IX Rydia.

I’ll leave it at that.

“Leave me alone! I hate you!”

15-083L – Rydia

Rydia already has self protection against Summons and abilities.

Rydia gains 2 Growth counters when she or another FFIV Character enters the field.

Rydia can cast a Summon once per turn by paying with Growth counters.

Rydia is a 2CP Forward.

Rydia is a Legend.

I like Rydia (15-083L)

“Are you mad?”

17-083C – Rydia

We all now that Raise is a high cost spell, and that is basically what Rydia is.

For 5CP, you can bring back a Forward that has just been broken, or knocked out, if you want to use the Raise term.

And, that is basically it. You get one chance to use Rydia, unless you have a way to get rid of her after she enters the field.

There are other ways to get a Forward back from the Break Zone, and Rydia is probably not the best one.

“Are you joking? It’s a miracle Zemus didn’t end up using you!”

17-137S – Rydia

Search for a couple of Summons, one gets tossed to the Break Zone by your opponent.

After that each time you cast a Summon, you might be able to break one of your opponents Forwards.

Especially if they are high cost Summons.

At least the art work is good.

“That was an awfully fast recovery.”

19-068R – Rydia

A 5 cost Backup, that searches for a Job Summoner, and a Summon.

Both need to be of different elements.

Other than that, the art looks good, almost reminds you of Amano’s work.

Sort of.

It seams like they can’t top Opus IX Rydia, or Opus XV Rydia.

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Kain Highwind

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The prideful Dragoon, unable to show his true feelings.

Commander of Baron’s Dragoons, he is Cecil’s childhood friend and occasional rival. Kain’s secret feelings for his childhood friend Rosa allow Golbez to seize control of his mind and force him to become Cecil’s enemy. Once released from the brainwashing, Kain feels remorse and seeks to atone for his actions by joining the fight against the true mastermind, Zemus.

-Taken from the Ultimania

Commander of the Dragoons, Kain is no stranger to mind tricks, especially when they work against him.

Let’s take a look at all of Kain’s cards.

1-127H – Kain EX

At 6CP, this card is expensive for today’s decks. There are plenty of cards that will do what Kain does, and they will do it better.

But, this is still Kain.

Kain comes in and you choose a Forward and they lose 5000 power. That can be enough to break most Forwards. Especially the low cost ones.

We also have Dragoon’s Pride, which looks more like a Reverse Jump.

Kain will break a Forward, but Kain will not activate during the next Active Phase. Meaning that Kain attacks and then he jumps out of harm’s way.

2-103H – Kain

How did I never really read this card?

This is actually pretty good.

Kain comes in with Haste. You can then use his ability and your opponent will not be able to choose him with their Summons and abilities.

After that, during your next turn, Kain’s power will double. Which turns Kain into a 10K body. 12K if you have Lulu on the field. I’m sure there are also plenty of other ways to increase Kain’s power as well.

2-104R – Kain

How is this Rare, better than the Hero card of the same set?

If Rosa is on the field Kain gains Haste, First Strike and +2000 power. But, that is not the reason you’ll be playing Kain.

As Commander of the Dragoons, all Dragoons gain +2000 power.

You probably don’t even need Rosa to play Kain.

This makes a huge difference in how I see Dragoons.

I might even build a Dragoon deck for myself now.

Just to try it out.

6-090H – Kain

Golbez? There’s no Dark Golbez.

No wait actually there is. But, I doubt your opponent will be playing it. They’ll more than likely be playing Chaos.

For 3CP, you get a 9K body, which is good if your opponent isn’t playing any Dark cards. Cause if they are as soon as that Dark Forward enters the field, Kain gets his brain washed and your opponent takes control of him.

The only way to get him back is to send your opponent’s Dark Forward to the Break Zone.

I like it that it plays into the story, but I’ll pass on this one.

9-084H – Kain

It was something about Kain and Ranperre.

Discard Ranperre before paying the cost to cast Kain to make him 3CP, and then Ranperre plays a Final Fantasy XI Forward from your hand onto the field. Which would turn the tides a bit in your favor.

Other than that, for 3CP you get an 8k body, and when Kain enters the field, one of your opponent’s Forward loses 8000 damage until the end of the turn.

We already know that you will not be paying 8CP to cast Kain. So, is there any other Lightning Backup to toss and get a better effect?

10-134S – Kain

Coming in with Haste, this Kain does not receive damage unless he blocks an attack, or his attack gets blocked.

That means that in order to keep Kain safe, he should not attack or block.

And, we know that’s not going to happen.

Gungnir? Yes, Kain gains +5K power and First Strike until the end of the turn. This gives you another way to keep Kain alive.
Here’s an idea. Fill you deck with 50 Kains. and just keep using Gungnir over and over again.

Hey, it might work.

11-054R – Hooded Man EX

There’s a reason why you can’t play Hooded Man and Kain at the same time. I won’t tell you but, you probably already know.
When Hooded Man comes into play you can grab a Final Fantasy IV Forward from your Break Zone. Which by itself is a great reason to play Hooded Man. Let’s not forget that this comes off as an EX Burst as well.

And, that’s not all. Hooded Man has one more ability that will make him a mainstay in any Final Fantasy IV deck. At the end of every turn, yours and your opponent’s Hooded Man wil activate all of your Final Fantasy IV Forwards.

What’s not to like?

13-073H – Kain

Kain is a great card if you can play him straight from the Break Zone. Cause once he gets broken, he’ll be under your opponents control.

Thancred (12-124L) and Y’shtola (13-134S) can play him straight out of the Break Zone.

15-048L – Kain EX

Attack and choose. Draw a card or Activate all the Characters other than Kain?

All the Characters? Characters?

Every time Kain attacks you can Activate your whole board?

Screw the extra card. Get me some blockers, and Edge, Opus I Maria, and anyone else that can help protect Kain.

Oh. And, some characters that will give me Crystals. Don’t want to lose Kain at the end of my turn.

17-102L – Hooded Man

This time Hooded Man comes in with Haste, and when he enters the field you can remove either a Kain or a Hooded Man from your Break Zone, if you do so, you can activate all of your Backups, and you can draw a card as well. Bringing Hooded Man’s cost down to 2CP.

How is this a Legend?

What am I missing?

You’re just paying to activate your Backups and have a Meat shield on the field.

17-131S – Kain

Haste? Check

Way to reduce the CP cost? Check

Buffs self when attacking? Check

All in all Kain here is a decent card. You might end up only paying 1CP for Kain, and if you do he’s an attacking Forward with 9K power.

 

17-136S – Kain

Kain allows you to grab a FFIV Water Character from the Break Zone.Plenty of Characters that you can choose from.

Other than that he can come in with Haste depending on the field situation.

3CP, 7000 power.

How badly do you need that Water Character in your Break Zone?

 

 

19-073C – Kain

Have we had a Kain as a Backup before?

Either way, this one isn’t half bad. Actually pretty useful with Back Attack.

If you have a Forward that is blocking another Forward, and your opponent buffs it to match the your Forwards power, you can play Kain and give your Forward First Strike. That way your attack will go through first. Breaking your opponents Forward.

Other than that, there really isn’t much use for it.

22-041C – Kain

Haste, and First Strike for a Common?

Activate 2 Characters when Kain Attacks?

+1000 power at 3 points of Damage?

How is this a common?

Whatever Rarity Kain has, this card is great. Actually it’s GRRRRREAT!

And, don’t get me started on the artwork, because we’re not here to talk about the artwork.

Just throw Kain into any Wind deck and you’ll do fine.

23-003C – Kain

Haste, and First Strike?

Kain is ready to strike!

Remember when we were talking about an all Haste deck? Well, Kain here is the perfect fir for it. Cause, every time he attacks, all of the Forwards with Haste or First Strike gain +2000 power.

Your opponent won’t know what to block, when to block, who to block, where to block, and most importantly, how to block.

Double Jump, is just a regular Jump attack, if it was double, Kain would be dealing damage to 2 Forwards.

Looking for Kain?

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Opinion on Starters : Rebellion’s Call

17-131S – Kain

Haste? Check
Way to reduce the CP cost? Check
Buffs self when attacking? Check

All in all Kain here is a decent card. You might end up only paying 1CP for Kain, and if you do he’s an attacking Forward with 9K power.

 

 

17-132S -Zemus

Kind of plays like Don Corneo from a couple Opus back.

But, as before to remove 7 or 1 cards from your deck is quite the number.

Unless you’re sure you’re going to win this game, it’s best to avoid using these abilities. But, you’re playing Fire. Go on Aggro yourself ahead and hope for the best.

 

17-133S – Scarmiglione

Interesting.

If you’re playing against a Mono-build this card is a perfect choice. If not, it’s still a good choice.

Scarmiglione comes in and you pick an element. Scarmiglione becomes twice as strong against that element.

And, Blood Tap? Yes that damage will increase as well. It’s a Special ability and since you don’t need to dull Scarmiglione, you can keep using it till you run out of Scarmigliones. With this one there are a total of 4 different Scarmiglione. Multiply that by 3, and you can see how many times you’ll be able to use Blood Tap.

17-134S – Baigan EX

Not much here, but Baigan does allow you to search for Golbez.

After that you can put Baigan into the Break Zone to break a Forward.

4CP/8K power. Average card.

 

 

17-135S – Edge

Same thing with Scarmiglione. Edge has an ability that triggers when he enters the field. Depending on how many FFIV Characters you have on the field, Edge can break a Forward. You can quite easily pick apart your opponent using Mirage over and over.

Plenty of Edges to keep on hand for this ability.

 

 

17-136S – Kain

Kain allows you to grab a FFIV Water Character from the Break Zone.Plenty of Characters that you can choose from.
Other than that he can come in with Haste depending on the field situation.

 

 

 

17-137S – Rydia

Search for a couple of Summons, one gets tossed to the Break Zone by your opponent.

After that each time you cast a Summon, you might be able to break one of your opponents Forwards. Especially if they are high cost Summons.

 

 

 

17-138S – Rosa

Decent card, better card if Cecil is on the field.

Even though Rosa is a Forward, she plays like a Backup, casting White Magic on your Forwards. Activate and a buff. All for a total of 0CP. You know you’ll be using her ability each turn.

 

 

17-139S – Cecil

There are better Cecils, but every time I say that, someone comes up with a way that makes this one even better than the other ones.

So, I’ll just say that Cecil here can have up to 10K Power with Brave.

That and if you dull your FFIV Characters, you can dull Forwards and deal damage and stuff.

 

17-140S – Golbez

Same thing with Cecil, but Golbez can act like a Summon as well.

Which unless you’re searching for another Golbez I don’t see the point in not paying the 2CP and keeping Golbez on the field.

But, you might say 6CP is a lot to pay for this card. But so is the 7CP Odin and all he does is break a card.

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Opus XIII – Multi-Element Review

13-105R – Lasswell

Your opponent discards a card, and you get to deal extra damage every time a Fire or Ice Forward attacks.

Will go perfect in a Fire/Ice VI Deck

 

 

 

13-106H – Onion Knight

You can just keep recycling Onion Knight, every time he is put into the Break Zone. Plus, deal 9K Damage to three Forwards, by removing 3 Onion Knights from the Break Zone. Doesn’t even have to be this Onion Knight. You could remove any of them, including the 1CP Onion Knights from Opus X.

 

 

 

13-107C – Cater

Most of the time, you will only be using the first ability. Activate 3 Backups to either use the other Backup’s ability, or to add more bodies on the field.

 

 

 

 

13-108L – Llednar

Talk about a way to get your opponent to Discard 2 Cards. And, then you still need to deal with Llednar. Add this to Marche/Ritz and you have a good chance at winning.

 

 

 

 

13-109R – Hope

Freeze and Activate, either way this card packs a punch. Dull a card it is now Frozen.
This is one of the better Hope cards. If not the best one yet. Even beats out the Opus IV Hope (4-068H)

 

 

 

 

13-110H – Unei

Let your opponent pick their poison. They get to choose which Summon you’ll cast.
As for Holy, Holy Moly!!!

Deal a dull Forward 20K Damage. That’s sure to knock anyone out. Even Behemoth K (13-079L). Sacrificing Unei is a worth getting rid of Behemoth K.

 

 

 

13-111C – Delita

This Delita would go well in the Tactics Deck. Although you’ll end up playing 4 different colors, but with Tyro (11-072R) You shouldn’t have a problem getting around that.

 

 

 

 

13-112L – White Tiger l’Cie Nimbus

If you’re playing Ice/Earth, sure. But, I believe Genesis (3-033L) would be a better play.

 

 

 

 

 

13-113R – Gudon

Yes, Please and Thank You.

This card should not be a Rare, it should be at least a Hero.
Brave – Check
Attack twice – Check
Doesn’t Dull – Check

What more can you ask for.

 

13-114H – Kunshira

Early in the game this card is a Beast. 2CP/9K with Haste. And Tempest Spellblade? Add in Behemoth K, and another 44 cards. Doesn’t matter what the other cards will be. You have a winner here.

And, it’s only a Hero

 

 

 

13-115L Golbez

How fast can you get yourself to 6 Damage, and how many Archfiends will you have in your hand? Considering there’s only 4, it’s up to you to find out which one is the best one when your playing with your back against the wall. That’s when we play our best. High risk, high reward.

Technically, you can search for four Forwards of 2CP, and all four of the Archfiends have a variation that is a 2 cost. You won’t even need them to be in your hand as you can just search for them and play them.

Just play all four from this set, and you should be good to go. Definitely worth a try.

13-116C – Lightning

2CP/5K is OK, but other than have her search for Odin, Lightning (5-116H) is a much better play in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

13-117R – Wol

+2K to all Mobius Forwards, plus a way to grab Mobius characters from the Break Zone. This Wol might give Wol (5-075L) a run for his money.

 

 

 

 

13-118C – Sarah (MOBIUS)

Decent card for 2CP, you can either Break a Forward, or Draw a card.

 

 

 

 

 

13-119L – Sophie

This is the card Sarah (Mobius) (13-118C) was made to be paired with. As Sophie gains 2K power for each Earth or Water Forward on the field, you can easily bulk her up to 10K in which she will be able to defeat all Forwards. Minus one or 2.

The real treat comes at the end of the turn. If Sophie has 10K Power or more, you get to Draw a card and your opponent gets 1 point of Damage.

Watch out for that EX Burst.

 

13-120H – Doga

You’ll get 3 cards back if you discard Summons to play Doga. And, with those 3 Summons in your Break Zone, Doga gains 1K.

That would be enough to play him, but there’s more.

9 Summons in your Break Zone means you can cast a Summon when Doga attacks.

 

 

13-121R – Ramza

If you’re playing a Tactics Deck, Ramza seems like he’ll be a good card. Choosing which 2 cards your opponent can choose from in which they have to discard 1.

If you’re not playing Tactics, this Ramza is too expensive, and there are plenty of other Ramza’s to choose from.

 

 

 

13-122H – Aldore Emperor

Most of the time, you’ll be Breaking at least 1 Forward. At Damage 5 it’ll be 2 Forwards. Is the 5CP worth it? I’ll say … Yes. After you’re done with the abilities, you’ll still have a 9K body on the field.

 

 

 

 

13-123L – Nine

If you’re playing Cadets this is a no brainer. You don’t even need to pay the cost to play Nine. Just Dull 2 Cadet Forwards, one Lightning and one Fire, and you have a 9K body to throw around. And every time Nine attacks for 9K, his ability comes into play and one of your opponents Forwards loses 2K for each Class Zero Cadet that you control.

Nine for 9K. Sounds like a special

Nine here, and Cinque (13-007R), shall be the basis of my new Cadets Deck.

 

13-124C – Noel

Hey, might as well use this card to give Nine (13-123L) Haste and 2K. And it’s not just because I’m excited about Nine.

 

 

 

 

13-125R – Yuzuki

Fire, Water, Burn. Have all your Fire Forwards be Damage Free from abilities, and reducing Damage to Water Forwards by 2K.

Does Yuzuki count as both a Fire and a Water Forward?

Not a Cadet but could be a good addition.

 

 

13-126C – Ultimecia

Either way you’ll have an advantage. As you can bring back a card to your hand and recast it for it’s on entry ability. At 2CP it’s a good card to keep on hand.

 

 

 

 

13-127H – Chime

Yes, and if you have enough CP to play this twice in one turn, than Ultimecia (13-126C), will work out well. Dull and Freeze 2 Forwards, and Return another 2 to your opponents hand. There’s a good chance you’ll have a couple of free shots. And, who doesn’t like Free.

 

 

 

13-128L – Celestia

Your opponent will think twice before casting a Summon on your Ice Characters, as it will cause one of there Cards to Dull and Freeze. Just having Celestia on the field should cause your opponent to play a little more cautiously.