Tag: pictologica

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Beyond Destiny – Twistin’ Turbulence

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21-041C – Evil Weapon

Doesn’t look that evil. Evil Weapon looks like he belongs in the hit movie “Ghoulies”.

If you haven’t watched it, you should. If you like 80’s horror movies that aren’t actually that scary.

Let’s see now. Evil Weapon cost a a whole whopping 1CP. And, for what it does is pretty cheap. I know some people just play certain cards just to gain a Crystal. And Evil Weapon here, will give you a Crystal, and also deal 4000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Evil Weapon, is more like a side weapon, a pistol to your shotgun. If your Forward doesn’t Break your opponent’s Forward, just use this Evil Weapon to finish it off.

21-042H – Vaan

If you’re playing Mono-Wind, Vaan could be of some use. As he’ll be a free Forward, if you already have 7 Wind Characters on the field.

If not he costs a whopping 7CP to play a Forward with 9000 power.

Not much to say about this one. I’ll probably just leave it on the side to gather dust.

But, not all is bad.

If you already cast 3 cards, you draw a card. So, you might come up with +2CP.

But, is it really worth it?

21-043C – Viera

Now this is a decent card as well.

Play Viera onto the field and grab one of the top 2 cards of your deck. The other one goes to the bottom of your deck.
And when Viera is active on the field, you can dull Viera and do it once again.

3CP for a Backup with a great ability.

You can’t go wrong with Viera.

 

21-044C – Dancer

Technically, this is a free card.

A 4CP Forward, that gets reduced to 2CP if you already have a Dancer on the field. And if you paid the cost with a couple of Backups, you can choose to activate those Backups, by Dancer’s ability. Which goes off once she enters the field.

That brings us to a total of 0CP.

Not bad for an 8000 power Forward.

 

21-045C – Princess Goblin

This is the kind of Backup that everyone likes. A searcher.

Princess Goblin enters the field and allows you to search for a Warrior of Light, or a Princess Sarah.

She comes in does her job, and hopefully gets your board to where you need it to be.

If not, well, at least she’ll provide a Crystal Point once per turn.

 

21-046C – Cid (II)

Cid is here staring at you to make sure that you’re going to play this card.

And, as long as you have cards that can warp in, there’s a 94.38762% chance that you will. Yes, this conclusion came off of extended research and as of December, 5th 2023, this is accurate. It might not be in the next hour or so, but we’re sticking to our research. And stuff.

Cid (II) comes in and you’re searching for a card that Warps.

You Warp that card right away.

Next turn, you’ll be sending Cid to the Break Zone, in order to speed up the Warp process.

Simple, and effective.

I like it.

21-047C – Summoner

Summoner summons a Summon.

Well, that’s what Summoners are supposed to do.

Once Summoner comes in, you get to grab a Wind Summon from your deck.

And, Every time that you cast a Summon, Summoner gains +2000 power. From how I’m reading it, you can cast a couple of Summons and keep stacking that +2000 power on top of the other. Plus. it’s a Standard Unit so you can have 3 of these on the board at any time.

Combine this with Meia (16-123L) and you have a reduced Summon cost. Add in plenty of low cost Summons and you’ll have 3 Summoners who serve as Meat Shields, or attackers.

Meat Shield just sounds better.

21-048L – Princess Sarah

Look no further. If you needed a way to keep Feolthanos on the board, so he can see EX Bursts, Princess Sarah can help you out.

Once per turn you can choose a Forward and that Forward cannot be chosen by EX Bursts.

After that, just dull and discard a Princess to make the next damage dealt to it 0.

Now, you don’t need to have Feolthanos, but I’d say you play these cards together.

 

21-049R – Sarah (Mobius)

Yes, she gives a +1K buff to all of your Forwards.

Yes, she is a 2 cost Backup.

Yes, she is probably good for draft.

No, I will not be playing this card, actually maybe I will.

I would have said to just go ahead and play Opus I Maria, for 3CP and the same buff to all of your Forwards, but what’s stopping you from playing both at the same time.

I started thinking this card wasn’t that great, it’s decent, but I started changing my mind the more I started writing about it.

I might give it a shot.

21-050H – Sophia (SOPFFO)

For a second there I read that Biker Mage.

You can throw Sophia and Summoner in the same deck. Both grab Summons, and when a Summon is cast they both have abilities that can go off.

Sophia here will deal 5000 damage to a Forward when you cast a Summon. Sure, you can only use this once, as you’ll have to dull Sophia, but that 5k can help out. Especially if the Summon you cast has dealt some damage to a Forward but not enough to Break it.

I wouldn’t call this a Hero, more like a Rare.

21-051R – Tiamat

Chocobos are going to make a comeback, just you watch.

I’m just saying that cause I can’t think of another Mono-Wind deck at the moment.

If you are playing Mono-Wind, you will be playing Tiamat. 4CP/8K body, throw in Opus 1 Maria and a bunch of Chocobos, and you have an unstoppable beast.

Hey, that’s pretty much what Tiamat is.

 

21-052R – Niini

This isn’t bad, especially for the cost.

1CP allows you to look at the top card of your deck. If you like what you see, you can keep it there. If not send that card to the bottom of your deck.

If you cast at least 3 cards this turn, you can grab that card, or grab the next one if you already sent it to the bottom of your deck.

Good thing about this is if you can check to see if you have an EX Burst coming up. If you do you can leave it there and when you take Damage you’ll know that you’ll have a surprise for your opponent.

21-053L – Balthier

Even though I’ll probably never play a Sky Pirates deck. This is a great card.

You can probably just throw it in any Mono-Wind deck, and you’ll do great.

Because every time a Wind Character comes in, you’ll be dealing 3000 damage to one of your opponents Forwards. And 3000 is enough to Break some Forwards, and then I’m sure you’ll have a way or two to finish them off.

Now if you’re playing Sky Pirates, Balthier will be able to Activate all of your Characters once per turn. Right at that moment when you get into your Main Phase 2, you can discard a Sky Pirate and have Balthier’s ability go off, and you’re left with a bunch of active Characters, ready to block, and what not.

21-054H – Pandemonium

And, here I thought this was a Backup.

For 2CP this is great card. Summon comes in and if you played a couple of cards this turn Pandemonium will deal 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s high cost Forwards, and Pandemonium searches for a high cost Forward for you.
If Pandemonium is the first card you played, you can pick one or the other.

Still great for 2CP.

 

21-055H – Penelo

These Sky Pirates just keep getting better and better.

Kind of wants me to make a Sky Pirate deck.

Penelo, a 2CP/5000 power Forward. that activates 2 Characters when she enters the field, as long as you have at least 2 Sky Pirates already on the field.

The best part is that when Penelo is sent to the Break Zone you can grab a 3 cost Sky Pirate from your Break Zone and add it to your hand. I think Balthier would be the perfect card to pick.

21-056R – Galeserpent General Najelith

Here we have the pixelated 3d graphics of FFXI. Even though this was on the PS2, the graphics look like they came from the FFVII era. Enough of the art.

It’s actually not that bad of a card.

Galeserpent General Najelith’s cost can be reduced by 2 if you already have a couple of Wind Characters on the field. Thus making her, a 2 cost Forward with 8000 power.

She cannot be chosen by your opponent’s abilities, giving her protection from that, and you can dull her and deal a Forward 4000 damage. This is where Penelo and Balthier come in.

Dull, 4000 damage, activate, Dull, 4000 damage, activate, dull, 4000 damage.

That’s 12,000 damage right there.

21-057R – Fran

Can’t go wrong with 1CP.

Especially since Fran grants protection to Balthier.

And, if Fran is in the Break Zone, you can play Balthier and grab Fran from the Break Zone and play her onto the field. At the small cost of 1 Wind Crystal Point.

Now I kinda, want to see what Balthier does.

 

21-058C – Machina

Finally a Machina that has synergy with your Type-0 Cadets.

And at only 2CP this is a great card.

If you have at least 2 Cadets on the field, Machina has 8000 power, Haste and Machina cannot be chosen by your opponent’s Summons.

Let’s not forget Armor Break, if you need to you can break a high cost Forward.

I do like it. It’s probably time to dust off that old Cadets deck and see what happens when we add Machina.

21-059C – Dragoon

Play Dragoon early, as your second or third Backup. As, that’s when you’ll get the most value from Dragoon.

Once he comes in you’ll gain a Crystal, and if you have 3 or less Backups on the field you get to draw a card. Which makes Dragoon cost a total of 1CP.

And, that is all. Simple, effective and straight to the point.

Not much else going on here.

 

21-060R – Rikku EX

Most of these Wind cards work well together.

Rikku here is another example of why you should be playing Mono-Wind.

When she enters the field, you’ll reveal the top card of your deck, and since it’s a Wind card, and you’re playing Mono-Wind you’ll just go ahead and add that card to your hand.

This also activates as an EX Burst when you get that point of damage, and Rikku pops her head.

And at 3 points of damage, Rikku gains +2000 power making her a 7000 power Forward.

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Senior Chief Engineer

Cid Pollendina (2-057C)

“(D): Your opponent shows his/her hand.”

Need to take a look at what your opponent has in store?

Cid here will let you take a look, Best part is you can use it once per turn.

You’ll never be in the dark again.

 

 

Cid Pollendina (5-056H)

“When Cid Pollendina enters the field, your opponent reveals his/her hand.

If Cid Pollendina deals damage to a Forward of cost 5 or more, increase the damage by 4000 instead.

If Cid Pollendina is dealt damage by a Forward of cost 5 or more, reduce the damage by 4000 instead.”

Almost like the Opus II Cid, but this Cid let’s you take a look at your opponent’s hand when he enters the field.

Other than that, Cid is great against high cost Forwards. His attacks do more damage and the damage he takes is less.
Add that to the 8000 power he already has. I’d say it’s not a bad card.

Not great either.

Cid Pollendina (13-039C)

“EX BURST When Cid Pollendina enters the field, you may search for 1 Job Engineer Forward and add it to your hand.”

Let’s take a look at what we wrote when Opus XIII came out.

“I didn’t realize how many Cid’s there are. Or Engineers. At first glance, I thought this card would be so-so. There are 17 Engineers including Cid Haze. And, 11 Cids. 12 if you count Cindy.

You can probably put together an Engineer deck. And have Cid Haze attack to Activate all of your cards. It might work. Or a Cid Deck. Who wants to build a Cid deck.”

Well, yes. We’ll keep it like that.

We’ll finally try our hand at an Engineer deck.

Maybe.

Cid Pollendina (17-049C)

“When Cid Pollendina enters the field, you may search for 1 Category IV Forward and add it to your hand.”

This is probably the most Common Cid you’ll see on the field. (See what I did there?)

Mr. Pollendina comes in and searches for a FFIV Forward. And, we all like searching for cards, cause you get to grab what you need.

Grab that Wind Legend Cecil, and call it a day.

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Retired Blitzball Player

Wakka (1-180R)

3CP/Water
Backup
Blitzballer
Rare

“The Water Forwards you control gain +1000 power.”

I like these cards that buff you elemental Forwards by +1K. 90% of the time, if I’m building a deck, these cards are in there. At least one copy.

But, preferably 3.

Wakka (1-216S)

4CP/Water
Forward
Blitzballer
Starter

“When Wakka attacks, choose 1 Forward you control. Until the end of the turn, it gains +1000 power for each Forward you control.

Status Reels (S)(Wa): Choose 1 Forward. Until the end of the turn, it loses all its abilities and its power becomes 1000.”
Attack and Buff at the same time.

And, this one isn’t just a measly +1000 power, not saying that +1000 isn’t good, it’s +1000 power for each Forward you control. So you can take that Tidus (1-163L) and buff him by as many Forwards times two. And, if you have your back up against the wall, Tidus will do what he’s supposed to with Blitz Ace.

But, wait I thought we were talking about Wakka.

Wakka (7-126C)

2CP/Water
Backup
Guardian
Common

“(D): Choose 1 Category X Forward you control. It gains +1000 power until the end of the turn.”

Compared to the other Wakka’s this one just isn’t cutting it.

I wouldn’t use this one, when you have so many other choices.

Wakka (16-138S)

2CP/Water
Forward
Guardian
Starter

“You can remove 3 Reel Counters from Wakka to use Wakka’s special ability without paying the cost.

When Wakka or a Category X Forward enters your field, place 1 Reel Counter on Wakka.

Aurochs Spirit (S)(Wa): Choose 1 Forward. It loses all abilities until the end of the turn. Break it.”

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

“I don’t know. I still think the Opus I Wakka was the best one. Same can be said about Shantotto.

But, being able to Break a Forward for a couple of Reel counters isn’t too shabby.”

The question is, how many FFX Characters can you get on to the field, and how fast can you get them on the field. Remember each one gives Wakka a Reel Counter, and with 3 of those counters, you can break one of your opponents Forwards.

Bring on the Aurochs!!

Wakka (18-102C)

3CP/Water
Backup
Blitzballer
Common

“EX BURST When Wakka enters the field, reveal the top 3 cards of your deck. Add 1 Water or Category X card among them to your hand and return the other cards to the bottom of your deck in any order.”

Resurgence of Power came out less than a year ago, and this is what we had then …

“A backup to play if you’re playing a FFX themed deck, or mostly Water.

Wakka let’s you reveal the top 3 cards of your deck and hopefully you’ll grab a card. There’s a good chance you will if you’re playing this Wakka.

This ability also comes off an EX Burst so there’s that as well.

But, from the 4 other Wakka’s available, 3 of them are better than this one.

Prove me wrong.”

Well, we can’t say we were wrong. I still stand by that.

But Mono-Water/X with the Dawn of Heroes Yuna, and Emissaries of Light Tidus,it might be worth having this Wakka on board.

Wakka (20-126C)

7CP/Water
Forward
Guardian/Blitzballer
Common

“The cost required to cast Wakka is reduced by 1 for each Backup you control.

When Wakka attacks, you may put 1 Backup you control into the Break Zone. When you do so, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 8000 damage.”

Dawn of Heroes, is more like Dusk of Heroes since Beyond Destiny is right around the corner.

“Well, at least we figured out what to do with all those free Backups that we were getting.

You now have a way to use them as fodder for Wakka when he goes into attack mode.

Every time Wakka attacks, he grabs a Backup and throws it like a Blitzball at one of your opponents Forwards for 8000 damage.

Sure 7CP might be a bit much to play Wakka, but it is reduced by 1 for each Backup that you have on the field.
You should be only paying 2CP to get Wakka on the field. Maybe a little bit more.

“Wakka, wakka, wakka”

We’re just going to keep that like that.

“Wakka, wakka, wakka”

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Dawn of Heroes – Water Recycling Center

20-106R – Alphinaud

We already spoke about Alphinaud a little in Lightning.

As long as you play Alphinaud, when your opponent has a dull Forward on the field, you’ll be ok.

If not then you will have just wasted 3CP. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, just an inconvenience.

And at 3 points of damage, Alphinaud gains 3000 power.

By itself, this isn’t the greatest card. But, with Alisaie, this is a great card.

20-107H – Urianger

There’s always removal, and that means you’ll have a place in your Scions deck for Urianger.

When he enters the field, you can search for a XIV Forward and add it to your hand. But, only if one of your cards have been removed from the game.

Other than that Urianger is a 2 Cost with a 5K body.

 

20-108C – O’aka EX

If you don’t have three Backups on the field, you are not playing O’aka.

But, if you do you can play him and draw 2 cards.

And, then discard a card.

Might be good if you’re looking for a card, and ran out of searchers.

I don’t know. Could see some use here or there. Might just end up in a deck as fodder for other cards. But, then why would you put it in a deck if you’ll never use it.

20-109H – Cecil

The other Cecil is better in my opinion.

This Cecil is basically a Crystal Generator.

Once per turn, if Cecil or a FFIV Character enters the field you gain 1 Crystal.

And, you can use that Crystal to give one of your FFIV Forward +1000 power and protection from your Forwards abilities.
Are the Golbez and Cecil decks going to shoot up in value soon?

20-110H – Hippokampos

Monster/Forward that attacks all the Forwards in sight. In other words AoE.

Once Hippokampos is in you can dull 3 Characters and deal 1000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards for every 2 Characters you control.

Sounds like Algebra to me.

At least you’ll be dealing some damage to those pesky Forwards.

 

20-111C – Blugu

For 1CP this is a pretty great card.

On entry Blugu either Fulls or Activates a Forward.

And after that you can choose to cancel an Auto Ability. All you got to do is 1(Wa) CP and dull Blugu and send it to the Break Zone. Voila! Canceled auto ability.

Best part is you can have 3 of them on the field, waiting for the chance to cancel an auto ability.

Wasn’t there someone that can grab monsters from the Break Zone? Infinite supplu of Blugus.

20-112C – Frimelda

Frimelda the recycler, don’t like your hand, just attack with Frimelda.

For every time she attacks, you get to draw a card and then discard a card.

And if that discarded card is a Forward, Frimelda gains 3000 power, and a Forward of your choosing loses 3000 power.
It’s a win-win.

But, you can only attack so many time before you run out of cards.

Nothing to worry about, we got another 49 cards in the deck.

20-113R – Porom

Lots of recycling here, Water should be called the Recycling Center today. Cards for cards.

We’ll give you a card and then you’ll give us a card back.

More like a trade center?

Anyway Palom’s twin sister Porom comes in or leaves the field, and you get to draw and discard 1 card.

If you discard a FFIV Character you can also get a Crystal. Two for the price of one.

20-114L – The Fiend

After seeing all 3 of the Warring Triad, it’s hard to decide which ones better than the other. Cause they are all better than each other.

The Fiend, has so much potential, he can become an unstoppable force by the time you have taken 5 points of damage.

From the beginning your opponent will cancel the first Summon they cast. At 3 points of damage all abilities choosing The Fiend for the first time will be canceled, and at 5 points of damage, the Fiend gains Brave, + 1000 power and any damage deal to The Fiend will become 0 if that damage is less than The Fiend’s power.

“Finally, The Fiend has come to FFTCG.”

20-115R – Mist

I can’t really think of another reason to play Mist, other than so you can look at the top card of your deck at the end of the turn.

If it’s the end of your turn, you’re hoping to see an EX Burst. If it’s the end of your opponents turn, you’re hoping to see the card that you want to draw.

Kind of like a Fortune teller that allows you to slightly change your future.

And since the Warp cost is 0, you’ll actually come out ahead as you don’t send any cards to the Break Zone.

20-116R – Meliadoul

I don’t know why I got excited when I saw Meliadoul, but I did. We need more Characters that everyone forgot about.
Meliadoul enters the field and casts Dispel on a Forward, even though they don’t call it Dispel, it is Dispel.

And, at 3 points of Damage Meliadoul gains 1000 power.

Support Character Supporting.

 

20-117L – Yuna

This is a Great card. I like it.

This card goes to prove that you only need this Yuna and Emissaries of Light Tidus. And you can probably just fill out the rest of your deck with Summons and Yunas.

In theory it can work. For if Yuna is chosen by your opponents abilities, all you need to do is discard 1 Summon, and you’ll cancel it’s effect.

Whenever you cast a Summon you’ll draw 1 card.

And then we have Holy. A Special ability in which you don’t have to dull Yuna in order to cast it. Read that again. You don’t dull Yuna when you cast Holy!

Think about it. That’s why all you need is Yuna and Tidus. Yuna will just sit back and blast all of your opponents Forwards with Holy. As soon as they enter the field. New Forward coming in, nope react with Holy. If you got at least 3 Summons in your Break Zone, you’ll be fine.

You probably don’t even need Tidus.

Just Yuna. Multiple copies of multiple Yunas. And Spam Holy like there’s no tomorrow!

20-118H – Unicorn

If you’re playing a VI themed deck, you’re probably going to play Unicorn. Not me. Not that I don’t like this card, but I’ll probably be playing Ice/Fire. Unless I find a way to pay for Water CP I’ll leave this Unicorn be a mythological being.

Unicorn comes in, And since you’re playing VI, you’ll have a FFVI Forward on the field that will allow you to use both abilities.
The first being to activate a Forward, and draw a card. The second return a 4 cost or less Forward to your opponents hand.

That sounds like 3 abilities to me.

20-119C/15-123C – Oracle

Didn’t we say recycling center earlier? Maybe we meant the Printers, reprinting cards and such.

Not that I have anything against reprints, I just would rather have a new card that does something similar instead of having reprints.

Anyways, Oracle gives you a Crystal when she comes in, and reduces the next damage dealt to a Forward by 1000.

That’s about it.

20-120C – Fisher

Talk about catching a bite.

You’ll probably draw up to 3 cards with Fisher, if you get it right.

If not you’ll at least draw one card, unless someone decides to RFG your Break Zone, when you put Fisher in there.

Best thing about fishing, is probably the beer.

 

20-121C – Lunafreya

A quick one-two punch, all for 1CP.

You pay the CP. and Warp Lunafreya. When she comes in after a turn and a half, you can disrupt your opponents plans when you send one of their Forwards to their hand and they send one of their Forwards to the Break Zone.

They won’t know what hit them. Especially if you lose count of the Warp Counters. It’ll be Magnificent.

20-122R – Leslie

Let’s see.

Leslie enters the field, you discard a card, and then return one of your opponents Forwards to their hand. If you discarded a FFVII card you also draw a card.

Quickish, easy enough and at almost no cost to you.

Might be good if Lunafreya just warped in as well.

That’ll be 3 Forwards, Sir.

Have a good day.

20-123C – Loporrit

This card is way better than the other cards that let you draw 2 cards and discard a card.

Why?

The answer is quite simple.

You don’t discard a card. You just put it at the bottom of your deck.

And that way you won’t be worried about running out of cards. Not that that happens a lot, but it’s always better to have an extra card or 2 towards the end of a long grueling match.

Yes, I’ll play around with Loporrit. Help me find Yuna faster.

20-124C – Alchemist

Well it’s technically not recycling. It’s just adding more Backups for free.

Why would you want to have 3 Alchemists on the field, when they don’t actually do anything.

Unless that’s your plan.

It might work.

 

20-125R – Rosa

Here is the missing piece for the ultimate FFIV deck.

You can actually splash any element that you’s like, without worrying about how you’re going to pay for the cost. No more relying on Tyro, and how are you going to get Tyro on the field if you’re not playing Earth.

For 1CP you get to play Rosa and draw a card when Cecil enters the field.

All you got to do is find a way to recycle Cecil.

We did say that Water is the Recycling center, right?

20-126C – Wakka

Well, at least we figured out what to do with all those free Backups that we were getting.

You now have a way to use them as fodder for Wakka when he goes into attack mode.

Every time Wakka attacks, he grabs a Backup and throws it like a Blitzball at one of your opponents Forwards for 8000 damage.

Sure 7CP might be a bit much to play Wakka, but it is reduced by 1 for each Backup that you have on the field.

You should be only paying 2CP to get Wakka on the field. Maybe a little bit more.

“Wakka, wakka, wakka”

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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?