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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?

 

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From Nightmares – Winter is Coming

19-018R – Waltril

A 2 cost Forward with 5000 power. I mean, cheap to play. Can block a Forward, might deal damage to your opponent.
And, at the end of each of your turns, you gain a Crystal.

 

 

 

 

19-019R – Vincent

I was writing a whole paragraph, and then I realized I read the card wrong.

Vincent Freezes Backups when he enters the field. I was reading Forwards for some reason.

This is actually a great card, in my opinion. Vincent comes in Freezes 3 Backups, blocks a Forward and gets broken.
After that replay Vincent for some more Frozen Backups.

Find a way to keep getting Vincent back, and you’ll be giving your opponent a hard time.

Might be a good fit for that Shinra deck.

19-020H – Umaro

The Abdominal Snow Man, or just plain Yeti.

Umaro has Brave and he just wants to attack your opponents Forwards, he doesn’t even want to come onto the field, just straight to the Break Zone and deal a Forward 8000 damage.

Once he’s in the Break Zone, you can discard 2 FFVI cards and play him onto the field.

This will work in any FFVI deck. You don’t even need to have the right elements to play Umaro.

Just Throw Umaro into the Break Zone, and then pay the cost with 2 Category VI Characters and you are set.

19-021C – Cloud of Darkness

Pesky Monsters bothering you?

Take them out with this Cloud of Darkness. For only 5CP, you get to choose one of your opponents Monsters and break it.

While she already has the fire power. At 3 points of Darkness … I mean damage. Cloud of Darkness gains Brave. Giving you an extra blocker.

 

 

19-022R – Shiva

FREE SUMMON!!!

Yes, we’ll take 3 please.

When Shiva is cast, select 1 Forward. Dull and Freeze.

And, if you already played an Ice Forward, she’s free.

Simple as that.

Oh, and you get to draw 1 card.

19-023C – Snow

Discard and gain more power.

Snow can fit into any Discard deck.

If your opponent has 1 card or less in their hand, Snow gains+2K power.

And, when Snow blocks your opponent discards a card.

“With more discard comes more power.”

 

19-024L – Sarah (MOBIUS)

“Sarah can’t attack,
Sarah can’t block,
the only thing about her is the way that she stops”

Auto-abilities that is.

Well, not necessarily, but she might.

If one of your opponents Auto-abilities goes off, they’ll have to pay 2CP or else it will cancel.

Other than that, Sarah’s other abilities are, dulling 2 Forwards, and giving a Forward +2000 power.

19-025R – Sephiroth

Technically, you can play Sephiroth for free, but I don’t think you’ll want to wait until you have received 6 points of damage to do so.

Either way, his entry ability is pretty good, but at what cost?

Would you pay 6CP to Break a dull Forward at the beginning of your game, or would you wait until the cost is more reasonable.

Personally, I think there are better choices for this ability.

Oh, and he does have Back Attack

19-026H – Curlax

Here’s a card that will help Snow out. All you have to do is … oh, wait. It’s any Dream Stooge. If a Dream Stooge is sent to the Break Zone, your opponent discards 1 card. And, once there sent, they can be brought back by Laragorn.

Other than that, once per turn, if you control all 3 Dream Stooges, you can Dull and Freeze 1 Forward.

I really like the Dream Stooges. I’m going to give them a go.

 

19-027R – Chocobo Eater

Simple Monster that does some damage in the form of removal.

Once he enters the field, Chocobo Eater will remove a low cost Forward from the game, for as long as he is on the field.

If nothing else, Chocobo Eater will just stall your opponent for a bit. Unless that’s the only copy of the Forward that they’re playing. Even then, it probably isn’t that important to their deck.

It’s still a cheap play, with a good ability.

19-028C – Terra EX

Did you just cast Shiva, and now need to bring her back to cast her again for free?

Well Terra here, can dig through the Break Zone and find her. Not just Shiva, but any Summon you need to look for.

4 cost Backup, and if you don’t need to grab a Summon you can deal 8K damage to a dull Forward.

Is there a way to bounce Backups?

 

19-029C – Tohno

You can use a little Tohno in your deck.

Tohno comes in with an enter the field ability which lets you Freeze a Forward. Doesn’t have to be your opponents Forward either. But, why would you want to Freeze your own Forward.

What I like about this card is that you can send Tohno to the Break Zone. That way your opponent will discard a card, and you can play another Backup.

It’s called Backup Management.

If you have any complaints, don’t tell me about them.

19-030R – Norschtalen

If you have Waltrill in the set, you know that Norschtalen isn’t too far behind.

A nice little combo, as Norschtalen allows you to play Waltril straight from the Break Zone. And, if Waltril is not in the Break Zone, you can just grab a Crystal Chronicles Character instead.

For 2CP, Norschtalen is also a decent blocker.

 

 

19-031C – Flan

Cheap card to play.

1CP Monster that can become a Forward for an additional 0CP. Quick blocker if you need it, or just an attacker when your opponent runs out of Forwards.

Plus, Flan recycles itself, as when he is sent to the Break Zone you can search for another Flan and add it to your hand.

 

 

19-032C – Yuke

Yuke and the Multi Element Payment. MEP. I’m going to claim that term. Let’s see if it catches on. Probably not.

When Yuke enters, if you used 3 different Elements for your MEP, you get to dull 1 Forward.

Other than that he has First Strike.

 

 

19-033C – Lean

Discard = no cards in your opponents hand.

And that’s where Lean comes in. IF you decide to play him. For when he enters the field, and your opponent has no cards in their hand, you can search for a card and add it to your hand.

The good thing is that you can search for any card. be it Character or Summon. Forward or Backup, or even a Monster.
What card you search for is up to you.

 

19-034C – Nu Mou

Like Nu Mou here. If you already read Lean, you know that Nu Mou can help you achieve the goal of your opponent having no cards in their hand. Sure, you need to have received 3 points of damage for your opponent to discard a card when he enters the field, but if you’re playing Discard, you’re going to surely have more cards that will make your opponent discard all their cards.

And, if they know you’re playing Discard, your opponent will most likely be trying to get rid of all their cards so you won’t be forcing them to discard any cards.

Makes sense?

I hope so.

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Emissaries of Light – Opinion on Lightning

16-085C – Assassin

2 cost Backup that serves as a backup plan and a Backup.

Deals Damage to a Forward that entered this turn.

8K should be enough to break most Forwards coming in.

 

 

16-086C – Ixion

This is a pretty decent Summon. 4CP to have a Forward lose 8000 Power. And, if you’re playing a tri-color deck, it’ll also cause all of your opponents Forwards to lose 2ooo power. Including the first Forward you chose, so that will make it 10K.

 

 

 

16-087C – Puppetmaster

Puppetmaster enters the field, you discard a card and grab a better one from the Break Zone.

I like this card, and it doesn’t cost much.

Grab that Forward from the Break Zone that just got broken, and use it again as your opponent just watches as he just used all of his resources to get rid of it.

Or, something like that.

16-088L – Black Waltz 3

Black Waltz is coming out in full force. (Yes, I know that everyone already knows that, but these are what I see when I first look at the card. I’ve been very behind this Opus,)

All the Black Waltzes are helping each other come back from the dead. And, this time there is no timers on them.

It would be interesting if there was. Roll of the dice or flip a coin, and they just Stop.

Time to head to Black Mage Village.

16-089H – Zack

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.

 

16-090R – Seymour

Summon heavy?

Seymour, (I always end up typing Seymore) is a card you’ll play later on in the game, as with depending on how many you have in your Break Zone, Seymour will Break a Forward when he enters, and after that, he simply deals your opponents a point of Damage for removing 6 Summons from the Break Zone.

Sounds good to me.

 

16-091C – Chadley

Now, this is a decent Backup.

Lightning is getting some cards that will help you retrieve cards from the Break Zone.

For 4CP, Chadley can grab you 2 Forwards from the Break Zone. And, you don’t need to use his ability right away.

You can use it as soon as a Forward you need is sent to the Break Zone.

16-092C – Noel EX

For an expensive Common, this is a decent card.

Noel comes in and Dulls 2 Forwards. This also works off of an EX Burst as well.

Other than that, you can dull and sacrifice Noel, and Dull all of your opponents Forwards.

What did they call him in Lightning Returns? The Shadow Hunter?

 

16-093R – Noctis

You are playing a FFXV deck for certain. Kingsglaive or Noctis and Friends, or a mix of both.

Noctis here will shine in either deck.

You’ll be dulling Forwards left and right, and with the new Noctis/Ardyn deck coming out later this year, I’m sure there will be plenty of use for this one.

Noctis can watch it all happen while he sips his coffee.

16-094C – Palmer

The way Palmer is sitting there, about to sip his tea, you know that he’s got something up his sleeve. You think you have him backed into the corner, but nope.

Palmer gives you a way to grab two cards when you run out of cards.

For 2CP, I think this is a good play. He’ll grant you a CP every turn until you decide to use his ability.

 

 

16-095R – Vivi EX

Are we getting the pieces to make a Black Mage deck possible?

Grab a Black Mage from the Break Zone, when Vivi enters the field.

And deal Damage to a Forward, which increases with each Black Mage that you have on the field.
Is this the first Lightning Vivi?

 

16-096R – Byakko

Another Shijin for Kirin.

We already know, Byakko comes in and you can search for a Shijin other than Byakko.

After that, every time Byakko attacks, you can choose 1 Forward and Dull it.

 

 

16-097H – Hyoh

You can play Hyoh for 1CP, but he’s not that great. Not yet.

Hyoh becomes more valuable, the more you put into him.

You’ll want to spend another 4CP on Hyoh to make him a devastating threat.

1CP to give Hyoh Haste and up his power to 7K. After that another 3CP to up his Power to 10k and when he deals damage to your opponent you will deal 2 points instead of 1.

Just watch out for a possible Double EX Burst that might come your way.

16-098H – Spectral Keeper

Spectral Keeper is a Keeper.
Yeah, that was lame.

But, this Monster is a Monster.
OK, I’ll stop there.

But, dulling a Forward at the beginning of each Attack Phase is more than enough to place him in your deck.

And, at 3 points of Damage, Spectral Keeper becomes a Forward and every time it attacks,you will dull a Forward as well.

16-099C – Merald

Soiree Members coming out in full force.

Let’s give this Common some great enhancements, depending on how many Soiree Members are being played.

2 for Haste.
4 to Break.

I’ll need to check out some of these Soiree decks.

16-100L – Y’shtola

Every time I see a new Y’shtola card, I think to myself, I should start playing FFXIV again.

Can Scions make it once again in the Meta? I don’t really follow it, but I haven’t really heard about Scions recently. First it was Marche/Ritz, then it was Samurais, Sky Pirates, Kingsglaive and and now Soiree and The Black Waltz.

But, I believe Y’shtola can give Scions a new Pulse.

 

16-101C – Yuke

Another backup Backup.

Keep Yuke on the field until you need to use him.

After that dull, return to hand, play and Break a Forward.

 

 

16-102R – Lann

For the cost of a Monster, Lann becomes a decent card.

If you decide to remove a Monster from the Break Zone after you play Lann, he’ll gain 2K power, and you’ll dull a Forward during each of your Attack Phases.

You can also use that same Monster to pay for the cost to play Lann, thus killing 2 birds with one stone.

 

16-103C – Larva

Like this Monster.

Larva has some use, but he’ll be perfect for Lann.

Or, just play Larva to Break a Forward, and then put him in the Break Zone to see what your next draw will be.

 

16-104R – Reeve

This Reeve is more like Reeve from the game. Think about it.

Reeve comes in and you play a Forward from the Break Zone onto the field. That Forward could very well be Cait Sith.
Reeve cannot activate during the Active Phase simply because he will be controlling Cait Sith, and will be too busy to be doing anything else.

Which makes me think if we’ll be getting a decent Cait Sith in the near future.

Resurgence of Power, I’m looking at you.

16-105R – Reynn

Just like Lann, Reynn has pretty much the same abilities as her brother.

Only difference is that she gives another Forward Haste.