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From Nightmares : Twisted Fire Starters

19-001R – Ifrit

What a way to start off the set. Coming in at number 1 is a Free Summon.

And everyone likes Free Summons. I know I do.

Once you play a Fire Forward onto the field, Ifrit comes in for free and deals 7000 damage to 1 Forward. Pretty simple. And, it’s even better because it’s free. Add Ifrita to the mix and things can get hot very quickly.

 

19-002L – Ace

Cadets getting back into it with this “Ace”

Ace comes in for 1CP, sure you’ll remove 5 fire cards from your Break Zone when he enters the field, but half the time you’re not going into your Break Zone to grab something.

When Ace attacks you deal 1 Forward 10K damage.

And, with Spiral Gambit, Ace can attack twice and deal 2 Forwards 10K damage. Plus he’ll probably be able to Break another 1 or 2 as well.

Talk about an “Ace” up your sleeve.

OK, I’ll stop now

19-003R – Edgar

Cheap Backup to play. For 2CP Edgar will come in bring his Auto Crossbow, if you need to deal damage to a few of your opponents Forwards.

Edgar is also carrying a Phoenix Down just for Sabin. If by any chance Sabin is sent to the Break Zone, Edgar will just bring him on back, and it’ll be like he never left.

Always good to have a “backup” plan.

 

19-004R – Kukki-Chebukki

Other than the art, this card seems like it’s just a basic card. 3 cost Forward with a 6K body.

Ability is just dealing 2000 points of damage to a Forward.

If it’s broken in the same turn, you can remove it from the game instead.

 

19-005C – Sazh

Haven’t seen Sazh in a while now.

But he comes in, searches for Dajh and has a 5k body.

Cheap searcher, even though Dajh usually only protects Sazh. But, do you really want to play Sazh if you’re now counting Category XIII cards for other abilities?

 

 

19-006C – Tifa

Tifa costs 5CP, but can Warp for 2CP. You just have to wait 3 turns.

And when she finally comes in, Tifa has 9000 power, Brave and can attack twice in the same turn.

Looks like we’re getting more and more cards with the ability to attack twice. Fire is getting most of them.

 

19-007C – Dajh EX

Discard a card draw a card.

Cheap Backup, that buffs Sazh.

Just like we mentioned earlier. Probably not worth playing.

 

 

19-008R – Buffasaur

This monster is waiting to pull the trigger on one of your opponents Forwards. You can deal damage to a Forward that just enters the field, but it comes at a cost.

All you need to do is figure out, if that 8000 damage that you’re going to deal to your opponents Forward, is worth a point of damage for you?

 

 

19-009C – Bomb

Bomb, acting more like a Bomb.

When he takes enough damage, instead of going peacefully, Bomb will Explode and deal damage to 1 Forward. It should have been “all Forwards”, but what do I know.

Any how, When Bomb enters the field you can dull 2 Fire Backups and search for another Bomb (2CP or less) and play it onto the field.

Technically, you can swarm the field with Bombs in no time.

Is there a Bomb deck out there? How many Bomb cards do we already have?

19-010H – Sabin

I mean, this could have been more than just a Hero.

Sabin comes in and if you’re playing a VI themed deck, he will do some Damage. Yes, capitol D. Depending on how many VI characters are in the Break Zone, Sabin will deal that many Forwards, 8000 damage. if there’s 4, then 4 of your opponents Forwards will be dealt damage.

It’s Suplex City here.

Let’s not forget about Sabin’s twin brother. This whole time we didn’t know how strong Sabin’s Enter the Field ability is. But, now that we know. We know that the 2 brothers will be a staple.

19-011C – Miyu

A backup that searches for an Agito Cadet.

Searchers are always welcome, as they allow you to search for a card. IF you don’t want to search for a card then, this isn’t the card for you.

During Pre-Release, I noticed 2 other Agito cadets in Ice and Lightning, all of which are Backups.

Might be useful if you want to run the FFXIII Custom Starter Set with all 3 colors.

19-012C – Monk

Cheap Backup to play.

I also like the fact that you can get rid of him by using his ability. Even if you are just using it to get rid of Monk in order to play the Backup you really need to play.

And that really isn’t a problem, unless you already have 5 Backups on the field.

Who cant use a +4K buff, when your Attacking Forward is Blocked.

19-013C – Lilty

I’ve seen a couple of these types of Forwards in this set. Where if the cost is paid with more than 3 elements, the Forward gains an enter the field ability.

Lilty’s ability is to deal 8000 damage to a Forward.

Lilty also comes in with Brave.

 

 

19-014C – Luneth

A simple 4 cost Backup that deals 5000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

I believe with the new Warrior of Light, and all the Warrior of Light Jobs we have this set we’ll see some synergy between all of them.

By itself it’s a decent Backup that can break down your opponents defenses.

 

19-015R – Ruby Weapon

If you remember anything about Final Fantasy VII, it’s that 99% of the people that played it, haven’t beaten Ruby Weapon. Including me.

Ruby Weapon was a pain to deal with because he would remove 2 of the party members and you would have to fight him with 1 Character. Hopefully that Character had Knights of the Round and Phoenix Materia equipped. After that you might have had a chance.

Why am I bringing this up?

Ruby Weapon will remove one of your opponents Forwards with his ability. But, only if they have 2 or more Forwards on the field.

Other than that Ruby Weapon is a 6 cost Forward that has high defense. Considering that any damage dealt to Ruby Weapon is only 1000.

Might be worth a shot, if you need an extra Fire card in your deck.

19-016H – Laragorn

One of the three Dream Stooges. Taking his name from one of the original Stooges Larry. And that’s why I like this card before I even read it. Plus, the Amano art is great as always.

When Laragorn enters the field you can search for a Dream Stooge. Either one of the two, and play it straight to the field. You’re pretty much getting a Buy One Get One Free here.

Laragorn can also grab a Dream Stooge from the Break Zone, and the best part is you don’t have to send Laragorn to the Break Zone to do it.

Maybe, just Maybe the Dream Stooges can become a thing.

19-017R – Leon

I’ve seen plenty of Rebel cards this set.

Leon searches for his sister, Maria, and depending on how many Rebels are on the field, Leon does gain some buffs.
If you have 4 or more Rebels, Leon gains +4000 power and Haste.

You’ll most likely be caught between the choice of playing Leon early to find Maria, or waiting until you have 4 Rebels on the field to play him.

Sure you can also play Leon early on, and then allow him to get broken to play him again, but if he’s already on the field, I don’t see a reason to sacrifice him, unless you need to.

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Emissaries of Light – Thoughts on Fire

16-001R – Vaan

I have been seeing a lot of cards recently that say “if you have cast 3 or more cards this turn”, Which is something that is very possible given the low cost Forwards and Backups that we already have for Sky Pirates.

I just realized that Vaan is a Backup as well, I’ve been looking for how much Power he had and was wondering why it was missing from the card.

Vaan is the Backup that will keep on giving. He comes in and deals Damage to one of your opponents Forwards. 3K or 8K depending on the cards you’ve cast. And after that, he’ll either give you a Crystal Point each turn, cause that’s what Backups do, or he’ll deal 7K Damage to 1 Forward.

16-002H – Ace EX

Another Ace up our sleeve?

Ace here can work good in an Fire/Wind/Lightning Cadet deck. Like the one I’ve been trying to build since Opus XIII.

Deal Damage to a Forward, at least 3K if you have one Element and up to 9000 if you’re playing the aforementioned deck.
And his Power can get up to 10K in the same deck.

Doesn’t mean that you should play the deck that I’m mentioning, simply because it doesn’t exist yet.

16-003C – Elbis EX

Elbis is useless unless you have Morze’s Soiree Member on the field.

Speaking of which, I’ll need to see these other cards before I comment further.

But, I only write down my first impressions of each card, as I read them for the first time.

 

 

16-004C – Onion Knight

Switch out a couple of cards for 2 new ones.

Onion Knight also becomes an attacker because he is a Forward. A 4CP/8K Forward with a pretty decent ability. And, it’s only a Common.

I’m sure we’ll see a couple of Onion Knights in a couple of Decks.

 

 

16-005C – Cloud

Another Backup Cloud.

I mean what’s the point? No one, in their right mind will play a backup Cloud. Even if that reason is that you don’t think Cloud should be a Backup. He’s a Forward, and so, I’ll only play Cloud as a Forward. Then I can use Omni-Slash and defeat Sephiro …

Sorry, got carried away.

For a Common, it’s a decent card. It’s only drawback is that this card is named Cloud.

16-006C – Crimson Hound

3CP to deal 8000 Damage.

After that just chuck Crimson Hound into the Break Zone and look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Then you can play Onion Knight and grab those cards if you’d like.

 

 

 

16-007R – Black Waltz 2

There’s more to this card than just the Beautiful (yes, a capitol B) artwork.

Black Waltz 2 can work wonders all by himself.

Black Waltz 2 discards Black Waltz 2 from your hand. And you deal 4000 Damage for discarding Black Waltz 2 from your hand, and 5000 Damage when you discard a Job Black Mage from your hand.

You’re either Breaking 1 or 2 Forwards with this ability.

16-008C – Black Mage

Black Mage here is pretending to be a Summon. For 3CP you can deal up to 5000 Damage to 1 Forward.

After that Black Mage sticks around to block, or even attack.. The choice is yours.

 

 

 

16-009C – Samurai

Easy way to get back that one Samurai Forward that you just lost.

Especially if that 1 Forward was Cyan (11-003R). Play him onto the field, deal 2000 Damage to all Forwards. Search for another Samurai to add to your hand, and when a couple more Samurais attack, deal 1000 Damage to all the Forwards opponent controls for each Samurai that attacks.

 

 

16-010H – Djinn

How would you make Djinn a Monster?

I guess it’s ok since you can turn him into a Forward when you receive 3 points of Damage. Maybe it’s one of your 3 wishes.
Djinn here will also gives your Fire Forwards +1000 Damage done to the Forwards they attack. Djinn, Warrior (5-014C), Lebreau (1-030R) and Lava Spider (8-022R) will all work together very well.

 

16-011L – Squall

The one card that deserves the Full Art Treatment did not get one.

Anyways, this card is a beast onto itself.

Once Squall attacks he deals 4000 Damage to all of your opponents Forwards, and if that’s not enough, if your opponent chooses to block, Squall will deal an additional 4000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

Should I block or take the Damage?

16-012R – Suzaku EX

Part of the Shijin 4.

Every time Suzaku attacks deal 5000 damage to one Forward.

Cost can be paid by and Element if there is a Shijin in the Break Zone.

 

 

16-013H – Sol

Crystals are back once again. And this one is a good one. Play Sol and and pay a Crystal, and you can play a 4CP Forward or less from your hand onto the field.

Sol also gives you a way to gain Crystals every time a party attacks.

And you can use that Crystal you just gained to pay for Sol’s abiity to give 2000 Power to all the Forwards you control.

I’d like to see what kind of Decks people will come up with that will utilize this card.

16-014R – Delita

At 5CP/9K Delita is finally Fire(d) up, after being Earth for so long.

Delita comes in and deals 4000 damage to all the Forwards, even your own. And if any of those Characters gets sent to the Break Zone, you’ll gain a Crystal for each Character.

You can also raise his Power by 2000 if you remove a Forward from the game. A little saving grace, just in case you need it.

 

 

16-015H – Morrow

I had to stop for a second and just look at the art.

Morrow comes in with Haste forms a party and attacks. You discard a card from your hand and you draw 2 Cards. And if it’s late in the game your opponents receives 1 point of Damage as well.

I like this card, and not just for the artwork either. I’ll add it to the AVALANCHE deck from Crystal Dominion and call it a day.

 

16-016C – Bahamut

For a Common, this card is not bad at all.

Deal a Forward up to 12000 Damage. Other than that not much to write about.

 

 

 

16-017R – Ramza

Sol and Delita will bring Ramza in and get him Fired up as well.

And, for the cost of 2 Crystals Ramza becomes “T.G. Cid” 9000 Power with Haste, First Strike and Brave, and he can attack twice in the same turn!

Looks like a Legend to me.

 

 

16-018C – Lilty

Keep Lilty on call, on the field producing CP until you’re ready to use Lilty’s ability.

Once you reach 5 points of Damage, return Lilty to your hand, play Lilty on to the field and put him in the Break Zone to deal 10K Damage to one Forward.

 

 

 

16-019R – Luneth

Not a bad card at all, but how many Warrior of Light decks are actually played?

But, Luneth here will compliment any Warrior of Light card. At the beginning of each Attack Phase, you can either choose a Warrior of Light and boost it with Haste, First Strike and +1K. Or you can strike down one of your opponents Forwards by dealing it 1000 Damage for each Warrior of Light card you control.

 

 

16-020L – Luso

A card to play, when you’re playing with your back against the wall. Luso is not a great card to play during the beginning of your match, Unless you plan on taking Damage left and right just to receive those 6 points of Damage.

Because at 6 points of Damage, in a Mono-Fire Deck, you’ll probably be playing 2 cards onto the field at the beginning of each of your Attack Phases.

 

 

16-021C – Rain

This is not one of the better Rain cards.

Costs too much, for the ability that you are getting.

Probably why this is only a Common as well.

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Emissaries of Light

We finally got the reveal of “Opus XVI”!!!

But, it’s not Opus XVI anymore, no more Opus. There is only the title now. Emissaries of Light. Serah shares the Box Art with her sister Lightning and, this is the 4th time Lightning appears on the Box. 3 times more than anybody else.

Release Date is set for March 25th, 2022. Emissaries of Light comes with 130 cards. Plus the 10 Starter cards in the FFX Custom Deck. And we get 166 Premium cards. Or Foils. 24 of the Foils will be Full Arts. That leaves us with 2 cards. Which are most likely the Premium Crystal Cards that will make their first appearance in “Crystal Dominion”.

The sample artwork we got is, once again a card from each element. Other than the cover art card, which will probably be Serah, just because of the Ice element, unless the have the Farron Sisters as one card. Luneth, Fire original art there. Sort of looks like Tom Cruise from “Interview with a Vampire” Wind gives us Cecil which is probably the best looking card out of the 6. Layle is the sample Earth card, nice art work there as well as Water, with Sarah from Mobius. And Reeves, looks like a leftover from the Shinra VS AVALANCHE Starter decks. Upon closer look you can tell that Reeves is the only Backup, while the rest are Forwards.

It also looks like some of the Starter cards will get the Full Art Foil treatment, and these ones will also get new artwork.And, we can’t forget about the Legacy Full Arts.

Lightning (1-141L)
Lenna (3-144L)
Vayne (9-022L)

Here’s the link to the original article.

 

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Opus XIII – Fire Review

13-001R – Irvine

Weighing in at 2CP-5k. Irvine is an OK Forward, but his ability to deal 5000 damage to another forward, just by putting him in the Break Zone. You can deal unsuspecting damage to your opponents forwards that have just attacked. Might see some play, but this one is not for me.

 

 

 

13-002L – Akstar

The Fire Legend. Actually, just a Mercenary. His enter ability allows you to trigger an EX
Burst in your Damage Zone. Depending on what is in your Damage Zone, will decide if that ability is any good or not. You’ll probably just end up holding that card until you find something good to use. At Damage 3, you can search for 1 FFBE character other than Akstar and add it to your hand. Plenty of cards to choose from, but I would pick 13-017H Rain. I would say that Akstar is a glorified searcher.

 

 

13-003C – Imaginary Soldier

Cloud here, … well he was pretending … (Just like I pretend to know what I’m talking about.)

Basically, you can swarm your field with Manikins, just like Chocobos. But the more Manikins you have Cloud … I mean Imaginary Soldier just gets stronger. It would be pretty easy to pair this one with a couple of Manikins from this set and Opus II and III, just to make him a power house. And depending on when he enters the field, you might be able to Break your opponents strongest Forward. Except Feolthanos and probably a handful more, but it’s a start.

 

13-004C – Clavat

This one won’t see play in a Mono-Fire Deck. You don’t need Big brains to figure that out, but Fire/Ice or Fire/Lightning could work. Well, duh. That’s what the card says. Maybe throw Clavat in a Fire/Ice VI Deck. Or alongside a Class Zero Moogle or .. just don’t see much play for this one. Prove me Wrong.

 

 

 

13-005C – Black Mage

This card will work if you splash a single Lightning or Water card. Because then you’ll now exactly what you’ll end up with. Other than that. NEXT.

 

 

 

 

13-006C – Xande

Xande searches for Xande (10-008L) and at Damage 5, Xande plays 3 cards onto the field from your Break Zone. Nuff said. You can also choose to receive a point of damage to get you closer to 5 points of Damage.

 

 

 

 

13-007R – Cinque

Cinque deserves a spot in your Cadet Deck, play her on the field with Warrior (5-014C) and Lebreau (1-030R), and Cinque could be swinging for 12K with Brave. Break a forward on top of that.

 

 

 

 

13-008R – Vermilion Bird l’Cie Caetuna

I don’t see this one as being better than Vermilion Bird l’Cie Caetuna (6-010H), but in a few circumstances might be able to break one of your opponents forwards.

 

 

 

 

13-009H – Selphie

Make way for the Multi-Element forwards that don’t have Haste, because they now have Haste, if you decide to pay the extra Fire Crystal Point. 2CP/5k decent for what it is, and The End. “This is the end. Beautiful friend.” You can sing that song when you cast this ability.

 

 

 

13-010C – Onion Knight (FFT)

Have three of these tucked away at the end of the game and you’ll have 3 Forwards with 9k and Haste. Go in for a quick strike and you might make it out alive. If not you’ll have a couple of meat shields to take some Damage.

 

 

 

 

13-011C – Iron Giant

1CP/7k body. Monster that turns into a forward at 3 Damage. A cheap forward, with an enter ability that might, but probably won’t, break a forward.

 

 

 

 

13-012R – Bahamut EX

FREE BAHAMUT!!! FREE SUMMON!!! Late in the game, if you’re at 5 points of damage you can basically summon Bahamut EX for free. Yep, because his cost is reduced by 3, if you have Fang (1-020R) on the field his cost is reduced by 2. Although it can’t become 0. That’s where Mootie (11-012C) comes in. Just Dull Mootie and activate it once Bahamut is cast.

FREE BAHAMUT!!! FREE SUMMON!!! #freebahamut

 

 

13-013C – Palom

Cheap Backup with an enter the field ability. Needs Porom to be any good, but then there are a few other Palom cards I would rather play than this one.

 

 

 

 

13-014R – Larkeicus

A Cheaper Deathgaze (IX) (8-056R), but Larkeicus might be harder to remove. I like it, Fire/Wind coming soon. Deathgaze (IX) and Larkeicus Tag Team Champions of the …. It might work.

 

 

 

 

13-015C – Luneth

Need a quick attack, Luneth is your man. Gives Haste to a recently entered Forward. Well not any forward. Just a Standard Unit, or Warrior of Light. Gives you less of a choice. Now if you’d be able to cast it on Braska’s Final Aeon (11-015L) or Neo Exdeath (12-110L) that would be a different story.

 

 

 

13-016H – Rubicante

Just add Golbez (13-115L). Simple counter attack after Rubicante is put into the Break Zone. Up to 8k damage.

 

 

 

 

13-017H – Rain

The real Fire Legend in this set. Just like Lani was in Opus XII. (Well, that’s just my opinion. It should be your as well.) Rain gets cheaper the more backups you have. And the more Backups you have make Rain even more powerful. Up to 5k damage to a Forward every time he attacks, you’ll want to be swinging away A.S.A.P and when you have 3 points of Damage, he’ll also come in with Haste, and deal 5k damage, then attack and deal 5k damage. Might be a quick way to get rid of Illua (5-099H).