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SOLDIER 1ST Class

Reporting for Duty.

We got a troop of Zack’s here. So, let’s just start off right at the beginning.

Zack (1-012R)

3CP – Fire
Forward
SOLDIER
Rare

“If you control [Card Name (Aerith)], Zach gains +2000 power.

When Zack enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage.”

Not much here. The first Zack might have been good back when Opus I came out, but not anymore.

If Aerith is on the field, Zack will have 8000 Power.

And, when he enters the field you can deal a Forward 2000 damage.

Zack (3-012L)

5CP – Fire
Forward
SOLDIER
Legend

“When Zack enters the field, all the Forwards you control gain +2000 power until the end of the turn.

When Zack is put from the field into the Break Zone, you may search for 1 Card Name Cloud of cost 4 or less, and add it to your hand or play it onto the field dull.”

Zack comes in and gives a 2K buff to all of your Forwards.

Sure, Zack costs 5CP, but when he is put into the Break Zone, you can search for Cloud, that costs up to 4CP, and either add it to your hand, or play it onto the field.

Technically, Zack will cost you nothing, because searching for a card to add to your hand is +2CP and playing that Cloud is another +4CP.

Zack EX (4-013C)

3CP – Fire
Backup
SOLDIER
Common

“EX BURST When Zack enters the field, choose 1 Card Name Cloud or Job SOLDIER in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.”
Just a simple Backup that allows you to grab a card from the Break Zone. Either Cloud, or a SOLDIER.

Not much else to say, but this ability will also activate with an EX Burst.

Zack (10-007H)

4CP – Fire
Forward
SOLDIER
Hero

“When Zack or a Fire Forward enters your field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage.

When Zack or a Category VII Forward enters your field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage.”

Welcome to Ping City.

Zack enters the field, and deals 2000 damage x 2 to one of your opponents Forwards.

Combine that with another 2000 damage every time a Fire Forward enters the field, and anther 2000 every time a FFVII Forward enters the field.

And if that Forward that enters the field is a FFVII Fire Forward it’s another 2000 x 2.

Now I’m wondering why this card never made it. It’s actually a really good card.

But, what do I know?

Zack (11-007R)

1CP – Fire
Forward
SOLDIER
Rare

“At the end of each of your turns, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Discard 1 card from your hand. If you do so, deal it 5000 damage.”

An 8k body for 1CP point? Sign me up.

You can just throw this card into any Fire deck, and you’ll have a great Meat Shield, that won’t break the bank.

And if you have a surplus of cards in your hand, you can just discard one at the end of each of your turns and deal 5000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards.

Yes, Yes!! I’ll take 3.

Zack (16-089H)

5CP – Lightning
Forward
SOLDIER
Hero

“If you control a Category VII Character of an Element other than Lightning, the cost required to cast Zack is reduced by 2.

When Zack is put from the field into the Break Zone, you may play 1 Category VII Character from your hand onto the field. If its cost is 5 or more, Zack deals you 1 point of damage.”

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

“Zack looks like he’s ready to save Cloud once again.

He’ll come in take care of all the enemies and when he is ready to be sent to the Break Zone, Cloud will come in and finish the job.

It would have been nice if it was that easy.

But, still a pretty decent card for a FFVII deck.”

Well, maybe.

I mean Zack will most likely cost you 3CP, and with a 9000 body, you should have a great attacker.

Once Zack is broken or sent to the Break Zone, you can play any FFVII Character onto the field, regardless of cost. Although if the cost is over 5CP, Zack will deal you a point of Damage.

Zack EX (19-122C)

5CP – Fire/Lightning
Forward
SOLDIER
Common

“Warp 2 ― (F)(L)

EX BURST When Zack enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 7000 damage.

When Zack enters the field due to Warp, until the end of the turn, Zack gains Haste, First Strike, and Brave.”

At From Nightmares’s release we wrote,

“You will not play Zack unless you Warp him in.

First of all, it’s a 3CP difference. Paying 5CP to deal 7000 damage to a Forward is too much. You can do more damage with a well placed Summon.

Now, if you do Warp Zack in, he is worth every Crystal Point you pay. All 2 of them.

First off he will deal 7000 damage to a Forward, and when he enters the field, he has Haste, First Strike and Brave.

So, even if he just comes in and attacks. you will most likely deal your opponent 1 point of Damage. After that just keep Blocking until Zack is broken, just so you can Warp him in again.”

For 2CP this is a decent card. And, we’ll stick with what we said.

Zack (20-009L)

5CP – Fire
Forward
SOLDIER
Legend

“When Zack attacks, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 5000 damage for each Job SOLDIER you control.

When Zack leaves the field, you may search for 1 Category VII Forward of cost 4 or less and play it onto the field.

Meteor Shots (S)(F)(D) : Deal 7000 damage to all the Forwards opponent controls.”

Dawn of Heroes just recently came out, so not much has changed since then, and we’ll just keep what we said.

“I remember reading somewhere. “Finally a Zack that can be played.” Or something along those lines. If you’re reading this and you are the one that said that, please let me know, so, I can add your name to the quote.

This one will fit right at home with AVALANCHE. You play Zack for 5CP, and every time he attacks you can deal a Forward 5K damage for each SOLDIER you control. Zack and Cloud, that’s 10k right there, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find a couple of SOLDIERs laying around somewhere.

When Zack leaves the field you can play a FFVII Forward of 4CP or less onto the field. With about 100 or so FFVII Forwards that cost up to 4CP there are plenty to choose from, Opus XIV Cloud, Tifa and Barret. If you’re still running AVALANCHE that’s an easy way to get them on the field.

And, let’s not forget Meteor Shots, where you can deal 7000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards.

Let’s keep an eye on this one.”

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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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Win-A-Box

If you can, but how will you know if you don’t try?

July 10th, 2022

We’ll be holding a Tournament along with Game Knight Chicago once again. Prizes for Top 8 once again. That means you’ll have a decent chance to walk away with something. Plus, you’ll get a couple of packs just for entering. Plenty of Vendors will be present once again. We’re sure someone there will have something that you’re looking for.

Let’s get down to it.

Pescodon Banquets
6254 S. Archer Rd
Summit, IL 60501

$25 Entry Fee, comes with 2 Booster Packs
Starts at 1PM – Registration from 11AM – 12:45PM

Standard Format
Swiss Rounds – 30 min, 1 match
Top Cut – 60 min, Best of 3

Prizes
1st Place – Emissaries of Light Booster Box and Foil Promo
2nd Place – Emissaries of Light Prerelease Kit and Non-Foil Promo
3rd Place – FFX Custom Starter Set, and Non-Foil Promo
4th Place – 4 Booster Packs and Non-Foil Promo
5th-8th Place – Booster Pack and Non-Foil Promo

And, there you have it. You all better come down and have a go. I’ll probably be entering the Tournament this time, dusting off the Kardboard and I’m getting ready to take you all down. I got a couple of Ideas for a deck, we’ll see which one I bring.

See you all there!!!

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Emissaries of Light – Light & Dark Thoughts

16-127L – Warrior of Light

Throw Warrior of Light into a Chocobo deck, and have Warrior of Light attack with almost unlimited power. 15000 power does not sound unreasonable here.

Once you have all your Chocobos on the field, You’ll attack with Warrior of Light, and during your opponents turn you will remove Warrior of Light from the game, granting protection to all your Forwards. None can be broken. …. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ll have to look into this, and I’ll update this if it’s wrong.

But, if I’m right, after your opponent is done swinging, you’ll have a full board of feathered Chocobos to take down your opponent.

16-128H – Bartz

This is one card that needs the Full Art treatment,

At 1CP/5K, Bartz doesn’t seem that strong, but his abilities are pretty decent.

You can Break a Forward for 4CP. That in itself is worth trying this card out.

And, once Bartz is in the Break Zone, you can pay 2CP and hopefully grab a card from your deck. We say hopefully, because you reveal the top 5 cards and see if you find a Job Warrior of Light.

16-129L – Chaos

Is this the answer to Soiree?

It, can be. If you know your opponent(S) will most likely be playing Soiree, the cost for Chaos is reduced immensely. You might even be able to play Chaos for free if they have all 6 elements on the board.

As soon as Chaos enters the field you can grab one of your opponents Forwards. They get to choose.

During your next turn, you can chuck that Forward and Break another Forward.

Maybe it’s not the whole answer, but you’ll be able to get rid of a couple of Forwards.

16-130H – Twintania

A Monster/Forward Beast, that can constantly target a Forward your opponent controls and deal it 7K damage.

Gigaflare Counters will be a hot commodity when your playing Twintania, as each Gigaflare counter equals 7000 damage. GigaFlare and attack.

I’ll take 3.

 

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Emissaries of Light – Water Thoughts

Here we go again, after I lost it all when my Computer Froze.

16-106R – Andrea Rhodea

Andrea Rhodea, Perfect for a FFVII deck. And that’s pretty much it. He might be a Dancer, but there doesn’t look like he has any Synergy with other Dancers. Maybe Mayakov, just cause he gives Rhodea Protection, and that you can play him once Mayakov enters the field.

But, FFVII is the way to go. Only question is which Cloud do we choose?

 

 

16-107R – Ezel

More like a Mathematician.

Ezel allows you to search for a Forward, as long as you can do some simple math.

Add up the CP of the cards you discard to find a Forward with the Same cost.

There should be an easier way to search for certain Forwards.

 

16-108C – Kimahri

Kimahri only job is to place a Ronso Counter on a Forward, and give that Forward some Protection against damage dealt by your opponents Summons or abilities.

Kimahri will come in and give a Forward a Ronso Counter. All you need to do is figure out a way to keep bouncing Kimahri.

 

 

16-109C – Kyrie EX

I always liked the cards that allow you to look at your opponents hand.

They won’t be discarding anything, but you’ll be able to look at the top 2 cards of your deck and see if you like what you’ll get.

If you don’t just send them to the bottom of your deck, and hope for something better.

 

16-110C – Clavat

Another backup Backup.

Clavat here lets you draw a couple of cards when he enters the field and gets sent to the Break Zone. And with you being able to play 3 Clavats you might be able to Draw 6 cards.

Imagine what kind of Damage you can do with up to 11 cards in your hand.

 

 

16-111R – Genbu EX

Along with the same abilities the other Shijin have. Genbu comes in with “Protect”

The damage dealt to Genbu is reduced by 3000. And it is a constant reduction.

 

 

 

16-112C – Corsair

Don’t like your cards, play Corsair.

You’ll draw 2 cards and discard 1 card from your hand.

After that you can always use his ability and draw 1 more card.

 

 

16-113C – Sahagin

Sahagin will come in use water gun on your opponent. Blinding one Forward you choose, just enough to send him back to your opponents hand.

After that it’s a Switcheroo as you grab a card and discard a card. All this for 3CP.

After that, need to look at the top cards of your deck?

Sahagin will jump into the Break Zone to allow you to do just that.

16-114C – White Mage

White Mage is here to have some fun with Sahagin.

Whenever you discard a card from his on-entry ability, you’ll draw 1 card.

And it doesn’t stop there. This can happen anytime you discard a card, but only once per turn.

 

 

16-115H – Sarah (MOBIUS)

Sarah is hungry for Crystals. And every time you find one, she just might be able to get you a Backup to add to your hand.

Now, you do gain a Crystal when she comes in, but it’s not just that Crystal, it’s any Crystal you can get.

And then just keep feeding her 1 Crystal per turn, and she’ll gain +1000 power and Protection from damage that is less than her power.

16-116L – Tidus

Tidus is the gift that keeps on giving.

As long as you play it safe, Tidus will always be around, and it will seem like there is no way around him. Only a slight reprieve when your opponent manages to get him off the field for a second.

Tidus cannot be blocked, so you know that you won’t be blocking with Tidus because you will be constantly attacking, chipping away at your opponent.

Oh, and every time you send Tidus to the bottom of your deck, you draw 3 cards.

Now it doesn’t specifically say only this Tidus. If your opponent has a Tidus and you send it to the bottom of their deck, do you also draw 3 cards?

16-117H – Tros

Do I see an Octopus deck coming into play?

Tros will easily let you draw cards when Ultros sends himself back to your hand.

Octopi/Tidus or Octopidust, yes that is what I shall call it. When I finally get around to making it that is.

You know it’s going to work.

16-118C – Fiona EX

For some reason I thought this was a Backup.

So, you’ll be basically paying 2CP for Fiona and you got an 8K body.

You can also draw a card off of an EX Burst.

 

 

16-119H – Fusoya

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.

 

 

16-120C – Firion

There are a lot of cards that help you draw cards. Water is Turbo Draw.

Just don’t mill yourself out.

 

 

 

16-121R – Vesvia EX

It seems like there’s a certain way to play Soiree.

Well you can play any way you’d like, but depending on how many Soiree Members are on the field, you can draw up to 2 cards. Thus, making Vesvia a free card.

 

 

 

16-122R – Marche

I’m on the fence about this Marche. Due to the cost, and if the Opus XI Marche is better.

But, you’ll probably be playing a different strategy if you play this one.

You’ll grab a 2 cost Character right off the bat, and after that every time Marche attacks, you draw 1 or 2 cards.

 

 

16-123L – Meia

Here is your discount card.

Meia comes in with Haste, and even though she cannot attack or block, she lets you cast a Summon from your hand for up to 3CP less. You’ll be playing 1CP for 4 cost Summons.

Who else can we pair Meia with?

 

16-124H – Lightning

Lightning comes in when you’re at a slight disadvantage. Depending on how many Forwards you and your opponent have, you’ll be able to remove one of their Forwards from the game.

With Switch Schemata, you’ll be able to save Lightning from being sent to the Break Zone, and have her just come back in at the end of the turn and Remove another one of your opponents Forwards from the game.

 

16-125C – Leviathan

It’s like your going fishing, and throwing the fish back into the sea.

Either that, or another fish you already caught.

Choose a 5 cost or less Forward and place it at the top or bottom of it’s owner’s deck. And maybe draw a card. But, you’ll be losing 2 cards.

Meh, I probably don’t see it.

16-126R – Leo

A what now?

More Math? Not exactly, but you’ll have to have Characters of cost 1-6 already on the field to play this 1CP/7K Forward.

And when Leo enters the field you can play a card from the top 5 cards of your deck. So, you’ll basically be coming up positive in the CP count with Leo.

After that return Leo to your hand, there are plenty of cards that will allow you to do that. Then rinse and repeat.