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Lightning of Discovery

27-073R – Ardyn EX

The Chief Minister is here to do Chief Minister things.

The more you break your opponent’s Forwards the better Ardyn will be, and the less he’ll cost in the long run.
Let’s start from the beginning.

When Ardyn enters the field he will break one of your opponent’s Forwards. Or one of your own Forwards if your opponent doesn’t have any.

Now whenever your opponent’s Forwards are sent to the Break Zone, Ardyn will reveal the top card of your deck, and if it’s a Lightning card you can add it to your hand. This one also comes off of an EX Burst.

Mono-Lightning anyone?

27-074H – Adel (VIII)

Adel costs 4CP, but you can pay an extra cost to grant her +1000 power and some protection in not being able to be chosen by some of your opponent’s abilities. And this is a lasting effect.

What’s the cost? Another Witch you will remove her from the Break Zone and you’re good to go.

But, what does Adel actually do?

Well, every time she attacks, you choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and you will send it to the Break Zone.

And what happens when we send one of your opponent’s Forwards to the Break Zone? That’s when Ardyn comes in and well you can just read Ardyn again.

I do like it. Mono-Lightning is coming for you!

27-075L – Edea

I took a look, and there aren’t that many Final Fantasy VIII cards of 2CP or less worth playing. I was trying to see if there were any to play Edea Turn 1. The only one that looked decent was Squall (27-060H). When Squall enters the field, you’ll reveal the top 3 cards of your deck and add a Final Fantasy VIII character to your hand.

If this works. You’ll have 2 Characters on the field, and you would only have paid 1CP for it.

And at the end of your turns, you’ll draw a card if you have at least 4 Final Fantasy VIII Characters on the field.

That’s about it.
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27-076C -Kain

No need for introductions. Even as a Common, Kain is still a great card to play.

If you already have cast a Dragoon this turn, Kain’s cost goes down to 2CP.

And, if you saved CP this way, you might as well pay the extra cost of 1 Lightning CP to give Kain Haste and First Strike. Allowing him to attack as soon as he enters the field.

And with Kain’s power at 9000, you’ll be doing plenty of damage to your opponent. Especially with First Strike.

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27-077C – Machinist

Your one cost Standard Unit, Machinist.

Some of these Standard Units are good, and some just fall a little flat.

Take Machinist here, while the ability of dealing a Forward 8000 damage is good, the cost is not so much.

It’s a total of 5CP, to use Machinist’s ability. Which isn’t too bad, it’s just that you can get a similar effect by using less CP.

And yes, you’ll say, but Machinist stays as a Backup and will produce CP per turn.

That’s fair enough, but I will pass. You don’t have to, you can use Machinist and if you beat me using him, I’ll say well he’s not that bad, I guess.

27-078R – Kylma

A 2 cost Backup that Break a Forward. But at what price?

An arm and a leg, that’s the price. 2 cards from the top of your deck, for every CP needed to cast that Forward.

What happens when you’re trying to get rid of Opus XVI Chaos at 11CP? You’re going to remove 22 cards from your deck? That’s just Insane if you ask me. Yes, you don’t have to worry about paying the cost from your hand, but you’re getting rid of cards, that you will probably need later on.

Unless you’re sure you’re going to win the game, by using her ability, I would suggest you stay away from it.

This is a big fat no for me.

27-079H -Gilgamesh

Do you see what I am seeing?

Warriors were already turning up the heat, and now we add Gilgamesh into the mix.

And, I have to say that Gilgamesh is worth every Crystal Point you need to pay to play him.

Gilgamesh gives all of your Warriors, Brave and the ability to attack twice in the same turn.

And, that’s not all, when he enters the field, you will dull 2 of your opponent’s Forwards. Leaving them more suspectable to an attack.

And if that’s not all, Missile Barrage will Break one of your opponent’s Forwards, and give him Haste.

Meaning, that When Gilgamesh enters the field, and you use Missile Barrage, you will dull 2 of your opponent’s Forwards, Break one of their Forwards, and attack twice, and since you have Brave, Gilgamesh will be able to block, just in case you whiffed on the attacks.

This should have been a Legend, with some original artwork.

27-080C – Coeurl

Coeurl is one of the better Monsters that I’ve seen in a while.

Coeurl comes in breaks a Forward.

Coeurl goes to the Break ZOne, breaks a Forward.

That’s all you need to know.

And that is more than enough information to add it to your deck.

I might even add it to my bomb deck.

27-081C – Gladiator

Your best bet is breaking 2 low cost Forwards. One that costs 1CP, and if you have a Multi-Element Forward on the field, you’ll break a 2 cost Forward as well.

There are currently 99 Forwards that cost 1CP, and only a handful of them see any use.

So, I really don’t see Gladiator getting much play.

 

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27-082R – Koana

Just like Edea, Koana comes in and searches for a 2 cost Final Fantasy XIV Character and plays it to the field.

There’s are plenty of cards to choose from.

Koana also has the ability to dull a Forward on command. The best thing about his ability is that you don’t have to send him to the Break Zone, a simple dull will do.

And from what I remember seeing, there are a couple of cards that need Koana on the field, in order to get the full effect.

27-083R – Seifer

Look at Seifer, he’s telling you to “Bring it!” Cause he’s ready, even though he only has 4000 power, he’s ready to do some damage.

When he enters the field, he will Break one of your opponent’s Forwards. 2CP or less. But, if you have a witch on the field, it’ll go up to 5CP.

And let’s not forget his Special ability, where he will Break a Forward. Seifer won’t dull with this ability, so if you have plenty of Seifers in your hand and the CP to pay for it, you can Break as many Forwards as you please.

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27-084R – Thancred

Like we just mentioned earlier some cards need Koana on the field in order to get their full effect.

Thancred here is one such example.

When he enters the field, he will deal 4000 damage to a Forward, if Koana is on the field that damage becomes 7000.
We also have the ability to activate one FFXIV Forward that we control.

Meaning you can use Koana’s ability twice in the same turn. 2 dulls for the price of one.

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27-085L – Zoraal Ja

Now this is a card. Add this to your The Twelve deck, and you will be set to go.

Coming in at 3CP and 7000 power, Zoraal Ja gains +2000 power and Haste if you have at least 4 FFXIV Characters on the field.
And every time he attacks, you will Break one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And when you have received 5 points of damage, Zoraal Ja will break an additional Forward when he attacks.

Breaking 2 Forwards per attack is enough to slowly take down your opponent’s offenses.

Let’s not forget to add Hein in here as well, allowing Zoraal Ja to attack twice in one turn. Is that 4 broken Forwards if you have received 5 points of damage?

27-086H – Nine

We’ve been getting plenty of Cadets in recent sets, and Nine is top notch as always.

From the looks of it Cadets are tri-color, Fire/Wind/Lightning. And Nine is here to show you why.

When he enters the field, if you have a Fire Character, Nine will deal 9000 damage to a Forward, and if you have a Wind Character, Nine will activate all of your Backups.

Either one of these is great, but both together makes putting Nine in your deck, worth every CP you’ll pay for him.

What’s even better, is that if you have 5 Backups and use them to pay for Nine, Nine will become a free play.

And, that is something we here at Kardboard Korner love playing.

Full Arts please.

27-087C – Fujin

It always seems like Seifer, Fujin and Raijin are always on the verge of becoming a force to be, but they always seem to fall flat.

Fujin here, is a great Backup to Seifer and Raijin as she grants them +1000 power.

Is it enough to make them a top tier line up?

Not yet, But, they will one day.

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27-088C – Raijin

And, here is Raijin back to back.

Raijin comes in for 3 CP with 8000 power, plus the 1000 from Fujin we have 9000.

That’s all right so far.

When Raijin enters the field, he will deal 3000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, if you want more.

You can dull Fujin, and deal 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Does this man that Raijin is using Fujin as a projectile?

27-089H – Ramuh

Well we did get one more Final Fantasy III Summon, I just thought that all six would have been FFIII.

Here we are, The Lord of Thunder is ready to deal 6000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

After that you will reveal the top 3 cards of your deck, and if you find another Ramuh there, you will add it to your hand, making Ramuh a free play.

Are there enough Ramuhs to make this something that we should build a deck around.

Yes, but is it worth making?

Everything is worth making. At least for one game.

27-090C – Dragoon

If you’re playing Dragoons, Dragoon is worth playing.

For it’s a Dragoon.

It will also let you reveal the top 2 cards of your deck, and if there is a Dragoon there you will add it to your hand.

Yes, this Dragoon will be sent to the Break Zone, but you will get another Dragoon that will take it’s place. Probably.

 

 

Electrifying Singles!

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Journey of Ice

27-019H – Yshe

Warriors are getting some good cards.

Yshe here for example, when she, or a Warrior, enters the field she will Dull/Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, even though there aren’t that many Warriors in Ice, we did get some in this set, there is that Class Moogle that can produce Ice CP.

Yshe isn’t done yet, when she enters the field, you will reveal the top 3 cards of your deck and add a Warrior to your hand.

Fire/Ice Warriors will become more deadly.

27-020R – Ellone

Just a girl. Que No Doubt.

This is actually the first Ellone that we got in 27 Opus. Always good to be adding new characters. And it looks like Final Fantasy VIII is getting a whole bunch of them.

No enter the field ability, but Ellone’s ability keeps on giving.

You’ll remove Ellone from the game, and you’ll grant one Forward +2000 power, and whenever they attack, they will draw a card, and this does not end at the end of the turn. They’ll be drawing cards for as long as they are on the field.

And, let’s not forget that you can have 3 Ellone’s in your deck. Meaning that you can give that ability to three seperate Forwards, and you’ll be drawing an extra 3 cards per turn.

You’ll have plenty of resources to burn through.

Just remember you can’t end a turn with more than 5 cards in your hand.

27-021C – Ilmatalle

Really.

Add this to your Warrior deck as well.

When Illmatale or a Warrior is chosen by an ability, your opponent will discard a card.

It’s a perfect way to deplete your opponent’s resources.

I’d say for 3CP, this is a great addition.

At 3 points of damage Ilmatelle gains +2000 power.

Not bad.

27-022C – Kall

After seeing Yshe and Ilmatalle, Kall is just the icing on the cake.

He’s a 2 cost Backup that will sit around and do nothing, until you need to use his ability.

And, just what does his ability do?

I’m glad you asked, cause I’m about to tell you.

Kall will grab a Warrior from your Break Zone and add it to your hand.

He’s a recycling guru.

27-023C – Bard

Two abilities for the price of one.

They’re actually the same ability, but with two different targets. Ones a Forward, they other is a Backup. Although your second target will only get hit if you have a Multi-Element Forward on the field.

What exactly is this ability?

Dull/Freeze.

We’re talking about an Ice Backup, what else did you expect Bard to do?

27-024C -Bard

For 1CP you can dull a Forward.

What else can you ask for? This is more than enough to play a Backup real quick, and hopefully stop that overpowered Forward that your opponent controls. At least for one turn.

Now, there is also an extra cost that you can pay when Bard enters the field. 4CP, where one has to be an Earth Crystal Point. Which should be easy to do, as a lot of players have been playing Iced Earth. No not the band. I meant Ice/Earth. Iced Earth does sound better though.

Where was I?

Ah, yes. If you do pay the extra cost, Bard will also Break that Forward.

27-025C – Klara

More Ice Warriors.

Klara will come in and dull 2 Characters. Forwards, Backups, Monsters, you name it, Klara will dull it.
Now if you have at least 3 Warriors on the field, Klara will also Freeze them. Allowing you to act freely, with no worrying on if those 2 Characters will be able to disrupt your plan.

And, when that is all said and done, Klara will play the role of Meat Shield, cause everyone needs a good Meat Shield on the field.

Hey, that rhymes.

27-026C – Gesper

They couldn’t keep Gesper down for long, so now Gesper is back, and he is a War Machine.

He’ll put a stop to two of your opponent’s Forwards when he enters the field, as he will Dull and Freeze them.

And, after Gesper is Activated, you can use his a bility to break a dull Forward.

This card looks good to me, and I don’t see it being banned any time soon.

This is another card that needs the Full Art treatment.

27-027L – Kefka

Que the organ.

For some reason “One Winged Angel” popped in my head instead of “Dancing Mad”.

8CP, is not a lot to pay to play Kefka, but then again you won’t have to. Not if you play your cards right.
Get it?

Yeah, it’s a bad one.

Anywho, Instead of paying 8CP, you can pay one Ice CP, one Earth CP and one Lightning CP produce by Backups, and you an get 63% discount.

You’ll get even a bigger discount once Kefka’s enter the field ability goes off.

Kefka will break on of your opponent’s Forwards, and then depending on how much that Forward cost, you can grab a Backup from your Break Zone of equal cost or less, and play it onto the field. Meaning that if you decide to grab Exdeath (14-080R) from your Break Zone, you would have paid 3CP to play 2 8CP cards onto the field. That’s 13CP that you got for free. And, that’s not even close to finished, because Exdeath will play a 4 cost Forward from your Break Zone onto the field as well. And, we’re not even going to get started on that.

This card has got me thinking.

27-028H – Seymour

Seymour looks like he is ready to get married.

The first time I saw this card, I misread it.

Not that I’m looking at it again, I realized that I should have played this at Prerelease.

When Seymour comes into the field or attacks, you can choose 2 of his 4 abilities.

Dull a Forward, Dull/Freeze 2 Characters, reduce your next Summons cost by 4CP, or your opponent discards a card.

All of these abilities are great, and will allow for some sneak attacks.

All you got to do is find a way to give Seymour Haste. And then you can use all of his abilities in one turn.

Or you can use the same 2 abilities over again.

27-029R – Cid Aulstyne

The Grand Marshall is here for one thing only.

Actually it’s two things.

Dull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters, and have your opponent discard a card.

Other than that he’ll stay on the field, ready to attack, or block.

Cause that’s what Forwards do.

27-030H – Squall

The way I see it, is that this Squall is a place holder for another Squall. Which Squall is totally up to you, but this Squall has a job, and he does that job good.

Squall comes in and he’s a gambling man. He’ll reveal the top 3 cards of your deck, and you can add 1 Final Fantasy VIII card to your hand. The rest will go to the bottom of your deck.

You can also use Squall’s ability to play another Squall, like we mentioned from your hand since you’ll be sending Squall to the Break Zone. I’m looking at Squall (16-011L) as the perfect (SeeD) Candidate. Yeah, I know that was terrible.

Let’s not forget that Squall’s first ability also comes off of an EX Burst as well.

27-031H – Moomba

There’s more than one way to play Moomba.

One is by paying it’s cost, the other is by dulling 2 Final Fantasy VIII Forwards.

Moomba will break one Forwards, as long as that Forward is dull or has received damage.

Nothing else to say about this one. Except that we like the art.

Yeah, we needed to fill up some space here.

27-032R – Laguna

Well, this is the card they want you to play with Squall’s ability.

 

If Laguna is played using Squall’s ability, Laguna will break a dull Forward, and your opponent will discard a card. If not, then Laguna does one or the other.

 

Not too sure about this one, but as long as Laguna is being played from Squall’s ability, it can be worth it. Otherwise your 4CP is better spent elsewhere.

 

27-033C – Reaper

A 2 cost Backup that can possibly Break one of your opponent’s Forwards in one turn.

You’ll have to jump through a hoop to get it done, but it is possible.

Reaper enters the field and deals one Forward damage equal to half of it’s power.

Reaper will stay on the field dull. So you will find a way to Activate Reaper.

Once Reaper is activated, you can then use Reaper’s ability to deal the same amount of damage to that Forward.

Meaning that, that Forward is sent to the Break Zone.

27-034R – Rinoa

 

Rinoa is showing you how many Summons you will search for when she enters the field.

 

After that when you cast a Summon, Rinoa will Dull/Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters. And, not just once per turn, any time you cast a Summon.

 

Let’s not forget Vega Blast, where Rinoa will Dull/Freeze 2 Characters. Rinoa does not Dull when she uses this ability as well, meaning that if you have the CP, you can Dull/Freeze your opponent’s whole board, with a couple of Rinoas.

27-035R – Raine

Let’s see now.

Raine will search. That much is for sure.

You can either search for Laguna and add him to your hand.

Or, if you already have Laguna on the field, you can search for Squall and play him onto the field.

Raine’s second ability does have an additional cost, but 2CP to play Emissaries of Light Squall on to the field straight from your deck is a win for me.

27-036L – Locke

Locke is going to change things up for your opponent.

When he enters the field your opponent will draw a card, and then randomly discard a card. That means, they might discard the card they plan on using, putting their plans on hold for a bit.

And, now Locke has a bilites that trigger anytime your opponent discards a card. If it’s a Character, you will Dull/Freeze one of their Characters. Forwards, Backups and Monsters are all eligible to be Dull/Frozen.

If they discard a Summon, you will draw a card.

The best part is that Locke only costs 2CP. And, you will get that back when they discard a Summon.

We won’t even get into the Amano art.

Cool Singles!

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Fire of Discovery

27-001R – Auron

Auron is sitting in your back line ready to boost one of your Forwards.

Yes, that Forward need to be blocking an attack, in order for him to get the buff. And, that also means that after you declare the block, your opponent has to do something in order for you to be able to use Auron’s ability.

When all that is said and done, Auron will give your Forward a 7000 power buff to help him block your opponent’s attack.

Hopefully you’ll break that Forward.

27-002H – Ifrit EX

For 1CP, this is a great card. I’ll take 3, and from the looks of it, I sense a Full Art. If there is no Full Art we will riot!

Choose a Forward deal it 5000 damage.

If you choose to pay the extra cost of removing an Ifrit from your Break Zone deal it 8000 damage instead.

What’s not to like. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of Ifrit’s that have been summoned, with nothing to do, but wait for the game to end so they can be summoned again.

Can’t go wrong with 1CP.

And, something tells me we’re getting 1CP Hero Summons for all Elements. And, they’ll all be from Final Fantasy III.

27-003C – Viper

Lots of Final Fantasy XIV support this set. Well, what else would you think? Journey of Discovery has Krile on the box.

Viper comes in for 3CP, and deals a Forward 3000 damage.

Now if you got a Multi-Element Forward on the field, that damage becomes 7000.

After that Viper sticks around as a Meat Shield. He might even attack.

 

27-004C -Ace

In and out. That’s what Ace’s job is.

Ace comes in and deals 9000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, if that’s not enough, you can use Ace’s ability to deal 5000 damage to a Forward as well.
Yes Ace costs 6CP.

And, that is all I have to say about this card. You might be better off with a Monster that does something similar.

27-005R – Guy

Ready to bulk up your front line?

Guy is ready.

When Guy enters the field, you will play one Forward from your hand onto the field. Up to 2CP. And, it doesn’t have to be a Fire Forward, it can be any element.

That’s 2 for Tuesday, even though it’s Wednesday today.

And, that is not all, at the end of each of your turns, if you have 4 Forwards on the field, Guy will draw you a card.

Guy will keep on giving for as long as he is on the field, and at 7000 power, your opponent might have a little bit of trouble getting rid of him.

I can see all Fire decks, having at least one.

27-006R – Chaos Advent

Chaos Advent shines when he is put into the Break Zone.

Chaos Advent will reveal the top 7 cards, and you can play one Strangers of Paradise Forward onto the field.

Quick and easy.

Only set back is that, that Forward becomes a Dark card, with the Job Chaos.

Which means you’ll need a Dark Backup that allows you to play more than one Dark card at a time.

You’ll want to play this one early enough where, Chaos Advent can stick around on the field, until needed to find a Strangers of Paradise Forward.

I’m not sure if that makes sense.

27-007H – Gulool Ja Ja

Spread out the Damage when Gulool Ja Ja deals damage to a Forward, you’ll take that damage and deal it once more to another one of your opponent’s Forwards.

You can do this once per turn, so whenever Gulool Ja Ja attacks, or blocks, or when he enters the field when you have received 5 points of damage, Gulool Ja JA deals 7000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards, triggering his first ability.

This is an interesting card. It might be the first with this ability unless I missed something, but I think this would have stuck.

27-008C – Gladiator

This is what a Bomb Backup would look like.

And, Gladiator can work great alongside the Bombs.

Perhaps he was training near Jachol, where he learned the technique from the Bombs.

Never the less, for 2CP you get a BAckup,that will give you 1CP once per turn, and if you decide to use Gladiator’s abilty, he will send himself to the Break Zone while dealing 2000 damage to all of your opponent’s Forwards.

I’ll be using a couple of these.

27-009C – Samurai

What do we have here?

A Backup that can break a High cost Forward. And Samurai only costs 1CP! Yeah, there is an extra cost of 3CP to use his ability, and that brings you to a total of 4CP.

The only problem you’ll have is finding the Wind CP to pay for the extra cost. There are no Wind Samurais available at the moment.

But, you can always use Princess Sarah (11-128H) for that Wind CP.

 

27-010L – Xande

Xande is sure tired of these Warriors of Light. And, for that reason when he enters the field, Xande will cast Silence. It’s probably SIlence. All the Forwards of a Job that you name will lose all of their abilities until the end of the turn.

And we’re not even done here.

At the begining of every Attack Phase Xande will deal 9000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards, then you will draw a card and discard a card. And, if you discarded a Xande, you will deal 9000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Rinse and Repeat.

Yo-u can keep dealing 9000 damage to your opponent’s Forwards for as long as you have a Xande in your hand to discard.

27-011C – Jecht

At 6CP, Jecht is a decent play.

At Warping Speed, Jecht is even better.

For a total of 2CP, you can future proof the board, cause when Jecht enters the field, you can either deal 8000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards, or deal 5000 to all of your opponent’s Forwards.

You’ll choose which one you would like to use once Jecht enters the field and you see what your opponent’s board looks like.

Either way, I would say this one is worth playing.

27-012H – Zell EX

Zell is ready to hopefully take down your opponent’s Forwards as soon as he comes in!

5000 damage divided up any way you would like to any number of Forwards your opponent controls.
And, if you have 4 Final Fantasy VIII Characters on the field, that damage becomes 9000. Meaning that you’ll at least break on of your opponent’s Forwards.

At 5 points of Damage Zell gains Haste.

And, let’s now forget that this ability also comes off of an EX Burst.

Zell might be useful in my Bomb deck.

27-013L – Zeromus

Why didn’t this card get the Full Art treatment. If there was any card that deserved it it would be this one.
Zeromus AKA Zemus comes in the field and does nothing. Not until your Characters are chosen by your opponent’s abilities.

When they are, Zeromus becomes the tax man, and tells your opponent to “Pay Up”. And if they don’t they’re Summon or ability will just fizzle and nothing will happen.

And that cost is pretty high. Either 4CP or a Crystal. If they have an abundance of Crystals they’ll be good to go, if not, then Zeromus will be depleting you’re opponents resources. Their top priority will be to find a way to get rid of Zeromus, allowing you to build your board as you see fit.

How much power does Zeromus have? 8000? Maybe, just maybe, Grenade (5-008R) will become even more useful.

27-014H – Terra

Custom Art? Check.

Let’s see what else she does.

Terra enters the field and you reveal the top 2 cards of your deck. You can grab up to 2 cards. One a Fire card, and the other can be either Wind or Lightning. The cards you don’t grab are sent to the Break Zone.
So far so good, you might actually get a Free Play with Terra.

And, we’re not done yet. Whenever you cast a Wind or Lightning card, Terra can deal 8000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards. Terra does need to be Active for this ability to take effect.

Other than that Terra has 5000 power, but you’ll most likely keep her active to start dealing 8000 damage left and right.

27-015R – Bakool Ja Ja

Need reinforcement that will be on call?

Bakool Ja Ja is ready to help you out with that.

When he enters the field, and leaves the field, you will remove the top card of your deck from the field, and it will be on standby. Not taking up space in your hand. Just in Purgatory, waiting to see, if you will use it during this game.

Now let’s think about it for a second.

Your best bet would be if a Summon was removed from the game, a constant reminder to your opponent not to do anything stupid.

They always said two heads are better than one.

27-016C – Fire Elemental

Here’s a Monster that will do damage on the way in and on the way out.

When Fire Elemental enters the field, it’s do 5000 damage to one Forward.

When Fire Elemental is put into the Break Zone it’ll deal a Forward 8000 damage.

Not bad, but not great either.

I have a feeling we’ll be getting at least three more of these Monsters, and the other two will have a different name. And, they won’t be from Strangers of Paradise.

27-017R – Luneth

Weren’t we just talking about Warriors of Light?

Well, Xande won’t get much done with Luneth.

When Luneth enters the field, you’ll reveal the top card of your deck, and if it’s a Character, and costs under 3CP, you get to play it on to the field.

Doesn’t matter who it is. Doesn’t matter what element it is. You will play that card onto the field. What’s the chances of you hitting a target Character? Pretty good, cause you’ll be putting your deck together.
Minuet? Luneth grants Haste to all of your low cost Forwards.

Fill your deck up with cards that cost 3CP or less, and “Luneth don’t miss.”

And, this is just a Rare?

27-018C – General Leo

Here’s your Buy One Get One Free Card!

When General Leo enters the field you can play a Standard Unit from your hand on to the field. Up to 5CP. What Standard Units do you play? I’d say it depends on what you’re trying to do, but since General Leo doesn’t specify Element, you can cast any Standard Unit that you would like.

His action ability, is just a little ping of damage, but sometimes that’s all you need.

At the end of the day, General Leo has a 9K body ready to go.

Let’s see what General Leo can do. You play General Leo, Paladin (22-101C) who will play a 2CP Forward from your Break Zone. You’ll grab Sol (16-013H) pay a Crystal and play a 4CP Forward from your hand. Yuna (27-129S) is up next allowing you to play a 3CP Forward. and so forth.

So far we got 4 Forwards on the field for 5CP. 5 if you add in the one that Yuna brings in. I know it’s highly unlikely that this will happen in a game, considering your deck and RNG, but the possibilities are there. And if it finally does happen, you just pulled off the heist of the century. Or at least the heist of Opus XXVII.

Hot Singles!

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Hidden Legends of Ice

24-019R – Umaro

I don’t see why anyone would play Umaro on to the field, when his ability goes into play when Umaro is in your hand.
For 3CP you can discard Umaro from your hand a break a dull Forward.

That’s it. Plain and Simple.

I mean you can play Umaro on to the field for 2CP, but that’s about it. He’ll just stay on the field producing 1CP per turn.

I’d say Umaro is more like a 3 cost Summon, and he should be treated as such.

24-020C – Ulmia

Can you here the Harps playing your song?

Ulmia is ready to Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters.

And if you got another Final Fantasy XI Forward on the field, Ulmia will make your opponent discard a card.

Ulmia will make Anselmo proud.

“Walk on home, boy!”

Maybe she can take Dime’s spot. Put some Distortion on that Harp.

24-021H – Kurasame

Deja vu?

I think we’ve seen this one before.

This time Kurasame is a Hero though, instead of a Legend.

Kurasame comes in and Freezes your opponent’s Characters. How Many? Depends on how many Backups you have on the field.

And depending on if your opponent has at least 4 dull Characters on the field, Kurasame will draw you a card every time he attacks.

You can run this one and the Hidden Hope Kurasame, and you’ll have 6 Kurasames that will Freeze your opponent’s Characters.

24-022H – Gogo

Gogo is back!

And s/he is better than ever.

Whatever FFVI Deck you’re playing, just throw Gogo into your deck. 3 copies will be perfect.

First line of attack, play Gogo, and protect Gogo at all costs.

Why?

Gogo casts Reraise on one FFVI Forward once per turn.

If a Final Fantasy VI Forward is put into the Break Zone, once per turn Gogo will bring them back!

If that’s not a great card, I don’t know what is.

24-023C – G Deleter

A backup that causes a splash.

Why a splash?

Because G Deleter is Ice splashing in Water.

G Deleter comes in and you draw a card, and if you have 4 Ice Backups, you can dull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Characters.

Not bad for 3CP, and you get 2CP back once he enters the field.

24-024R – Shiva (XVI)

Shiva comes in and you can Break 2 dull Forwards.

And at the end of each of your turns if 2 or more of your opponent’s Forwards are sent to the Break Zone, your opponent discards a card.

You get all of this and a Forward with 9000 power.

You’ll probably just want to Prime into Shiva instead of paying the 7CP.

 

24-025L – Genesis

First off the card is awesome. The art, the abilities and that we’ll finally have a great card to start off a SOLDIER deck.

Genesis comes right in for 5CP. Yeah, it’s your standard 5CP for a 9k body, but you get to choose from 1 of 3 abilities.

Have your opponent discard a card, choose 2 Characters to Dull and Freeze, or have your next SOLDIER’s cost be 3CP less.

The best part is that, you can choose more than once. Every time a SOLDIER enters the field one of Genesis’s abilities will
trigger, allowing you to choose which one you would like to do.

You should keep a playset of Genesis until Tears of the Planet comes out, that way you can use it in a Ice/Lightning deck with that Zack card that was spoiled for the next set.

24-026H – Zalera, the Death Seraph

4CP to break a Forward.

Not bad, when you consider that Summons that break Forwards come in at a high cost.

Zalera does hit a little different. You just choose the cost of the Forward. 4 or less, or 5 or more. After that your opponent will choose which Forward to break.

I wouldn’t say that this is a great card, it is good card, it’s just the chance of using it and getting what you want out of this Summon is slim.

Unless they only have 1 Forward that is 5CP or more, then you’ll know that you’ll hit your target.

24-027C – Shantotto

Shantotto coming in with a trombone, and I’m ready to crack a joke about rust. But, I’ll keep my mouth shut this time.

Shantotto reduces the cost of casting your Summons by 1, add Opus I Yuna to the mix, and all of your Summons cost will be reduced by 2.

And, that’s not all. Shantotto has the ability to Dull/Freeze a Forward if you have already cast a Summon this turn.

If I was a heavy Summon player, I would be playing a Yuna/Shantotto Combo.

24-028R – Jill

Lots of cost reducing in this set.

Jill is no different.

Jill’s cost is reduced by 2 if Clive or Torgal is on the field.

That means for 1CP you can Dull/Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards, and you’re still left with a 7K body.

After that, you can Prime into Shiva (XVI) and break 2 dull Forwards.

I think we’ll have to see Priming in action before I get excited about it.

24-029C – Squall

Squall acting like he’s Opus IV Viking.

Getting things done when he enters the field and when he leaves the field.

Squall won’t draw you a card, but he will deal a dull Forward 5000 damage. Which can be more than enough to Break it.

And, let’s not forget Rough Divide, which gives Squall +1000 power and First Strike.

And it’s only 3CP!

Given Squall’s 8000 power, it would normally have been 4CP.

This is a decent Common to have.

24-030C – Terra

Theatrhythm is going strong in this set.

Terra comes in and grabs a Summon from the Break Zone.

This also comes off of an EX Burst.

You can then cast that Summon for one less Crystal Point with Shantotto.

After that Terra sticks around as a 5K body, ready to block. Or, attack.

 

24-031R – Torgal

Well here is the main card of your Final Fantasy XVI engine.

Torgal, the Wolf.

I don’t know much about Torgal, except for the fact that most of your FFXVI Forwards can be paid with CP from any element. This includes Priming costs as well.

Being a Backup, it is a little harder to have Torgal sent to the Break Zone, but, there are a couple of cards that can break Backups, but I think Torgal will be just fine.

This will be played.

And, it’s only 2CP.

24-032R – Piscodaemon

Why do I always go to write Psycho Demon when I’m trying to write Piscodaemon?

2 cost Monster that can be sent to the Break Zone when one of your Forwards attack.

And when Piscodaemon is put in the Break Zone, you can choose 2 Characters and Dull/Freeze them.

After that in your Main Phase 2, you can bring in Shiva (XVI) and break those 2 dull Characters. If they’re Forwards. Not Backups.

“Psycho Demon, Qu’est-ce que c’est?”

24-033L – Bhunivelze

Bhunivelze is back. It’s been a long wait since Crystal Radiance to get a new Bhunivelze card.

I can see this card being played in a Monster deck, especially if all those Monsters have effects that go off when the Monsters are sent into the Break Zone.

And, for every Monster or Forward that you’ll put in the Break Zone, your opponent will choose 1 Forward they control and send it to the Break Zone.

Mass Extinction going on here.

This could be Game Over for your opponent.

After all is said and done, you’ll still have a body with 10,000 power.

Just in case your opponent survives the onslaught.

24-034C – Velis EX

Well, this confirms it.

Warriors of the Crystal will be a thing here.

At least for a month or 2, just so everybody can try it out.

All you need is some Crystals to be able to bring in all the Warriors of the Crystal into play without worrying about color fixing.

Let’s talk about Velis now.

Whenever Velis or a WotC (imagine that) comes indull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

It will be a bunch of abilities going off at the same time.

I believe it’ll be fun.

24-035C – Mateus (XII RW) EX

2 cost Summon.

2 choices.

Which one will you pick.

Break a dull Forward that costs 3CP or less.

Or.

Dull a Forward, Draw a Card.

Choice is yours.

Ex Burst as well.

24-036C – Nu Mou

Nu Mou, just chilling in your back line until an Ice Forward enters your field.

After that you can put Nu Mou into the Break Zone, and you can Dull and Freeze one of your opponent’s Forwards.

It seems like all the Ice cards were Dull and Freeze and dull and Freeze some more.

But that’s what Ice does.

Now you have more cards to choose from.

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Hidden Hope – Electricity, Hopefully?

22-073L – Ultimecia

Lightning is starting off with a wonderful card.

Ultimecia protects all the cards in your Break Zone, not allowing your opponent to remove them from the game, which is good, because if you have at least 15 cards in your Break Zone, you will be able to choose 1 of your opponent’s Forwards and take control of it.

Any Forward that you like.

You might also want to stock up an a couple of different variations of Ultimecia as well for Maelstrom. Ultimecia’s ability is great as you don’t need to dull Ultimecia as part of the cost. That means you can keep casting Maelstrom as long as you have an extra Ultimecia on hand. That’s a Forward that loses 10k power everytime you cast Maelstrom.

Ultimecia will do plenty of damage.

22-074R – Alba EX

Here’s another card for that Warrior of Darkness deck.

Alba, coming in at 3CP with a 7K body. When Alba enters the field due to an ability, namely Nacht (22-067L) you get to choose one of your opponent’s Forwards with a cost of 4 or less, and send it to the Break Zone.

Also, when she enters the field, she gives one of your Warriors of Darkness, Haste.

Pretty decent if you ask me, and plays well with the other Warriors of Darkness.

 

 

22-075H – Edea

The Witch, the Sorceress, Edea.

Edea comes into the field, and let’s you search for a Final Fantasy VIII Forward. Searchers are always good, and when it comes from a Forward it makes it even better, because that card will still have some use even after you searched for the Forward.

Edea comes with an 8k body. Which is great.

And another ability that causes one of your opponent’s Forwards to lose 4000 power. 8000 if you have 10 cards in your Break Zone.

Only downside is that you have to discard the top 2 cards of your deck to use this ability, and you don’t know which cards those will be.

22-076R – Odin

3 cost Summon, that breaks a 3, or a 4 cost, Forward or Monster.

Well that is what Odin is known for. Coming down riding his horse from the sky, whipping out Excalibur, and slicing the enemy in half, for an instant K.O.

Plus, if you only paid the cost with Backups you draw a card, making Odin cost just 1CP.

It wouldn’t hurt to have 1 or 2 of these in your deck.

 

 

22-077H – Garuda (III)

Garuda comes in, and you get to pick a number. And after that you’ll get to deal 8000 damage to all of the Forwards that their CP cost is the same as the number you’ve chosen. So, don’t go picking a random number, make sure there are Forwards on the field that have that number as their CP cost.

This is actually a good way to get rid of a bunch of Forwards that came in due to an ability by let’s say Golbez (1-135L). You’ll be able to get rid of all the 2 cost Forwards that just came in. Plus the other 2 cost Forwards that were already on the field.

And the Crystal ability. For the cost of 2 Crystals, you can deal 8000 damage to a Forward of your choosing.

You can’t go wrong with Garuda.

22-078C – Sice

1CP or 3CP or 3CPO?

Either way Sice is a great card. Especially if you can get her in for 1CP. Which you probably will, because the Class Zero Cadets usually come out all together.

Sice enters the field, and depending on how many Class Zero Cadets you have on the field, Sice will sen that Forward to the Break Zone.

And after that, she’ll stick around as an extra body.

I’ll take 3. Simple and effective. Let’s just find a way to bounce Sice a couple of times per turn. I’m sure there must be a way.

22-079L – Seifer

The other Gunblade Wielder.

When Seifer comes in, you can put the top 2 cards of your deck in the Break Zone and, you’ll be able to grab a Final Fantasy VIII Forward from your Break Zone. It’s like paying 4CP to grab that card that you just lost, and you don’t even need to have the extra 4CP in your hand.

Seifer starts to shine when you have at least 10 cards in your Break Zone. Because when you do, every time Seifer attacks, you get to send one of your opponent’s Forwards to the Break Zone. Slowly thinning the enemies front lines, to make it easier for your attacks to go through.

This might be the best Seifer yet.

22-080C – Selkie

The card that let’s you look at the top card of your deck.

If you like it, you can keep it there.

If you don’t send it to the bottom of your deck.

Selkie is part of this set’s Common Card for all elements. Meaning that each Element has this card.

If you need more information. We’ll just Copy/Paste once again.

“Simple, basic and straight to the point.

Selkie comes in for 1CP and allows you to look at the top card of your deck. If you like it you can keep it there. If not send it to the bottom of your deck.

It does have plenty of benefits.

Depending on what you see there, your game plan will change for this turn.

Do you see an EX Burst that will cause plenty of damage to your opponent. Leave it there and take a point of Damage. Do you see the card you need to put your plan into motion, play that card that allows you to draw a card.

Worst case is that you don’t like the card, and you can just recycle it to the bottom.”

22-081R – Diana

“Dirty Dianaaaaa, Nah”

Is it just me or is Diana actually doing one of Michael Jacksons moves?

Woo!

3CP for a 7K body, but you won’t be paying 3CP, because if you do, Diana won’t do much.

Instead you shall play Nacht, look for Diana and another 2 Warriors of Darkness. And, once Nacht attacks, you will play Diana from your hand, and draw a card at the same time. Giving you +2CP when she enters the field due to Nacht’s ability.

After that, you can dull a Warrior of Darkness, and dull a Forward. Any Forward, including yours, which can be like a cancel effect, if your opponent plays a card that says something along the lines of Break an active Forward.

I must say, I like it.

“I know your every move
So won’t you just let me be”

22-082C – Drace

Did you ever find yourself looking for a searcher, the searches for a low cost Forward?

Well if you did, Drace is the right card for you.

Because Drace let’s you search for a Forward that costs 2CP or less.

It’s a great Backup to have.

Only thing that would make Drace better is his cost was 2CP, but then he wouldn’t be a Common.

I’ll take it.

22-083C – Ninja

A ninja with Haste.

For 2CP you can have yourself a great Forward.

Sure, Ninja only has 4000 power, but if you have a couple Standard Unit Backups on the field, Ninja also gains 4000 power, making her total power 8000.

2CP for an 8k body is great in my book.

Now all we have to do is find a couple of Backups that will compliment her.

22-084R – Fujin

If you’re playing Seifer, then Fujin is a must have.

Once you have 10 cards in your Break Zone,which is where you will want to be if you are playing Seifer. Fujin gives Seifer and Raijin, and herself +2000 power and First Strike. Which is great combined with Seifer’s ability to Break a Forward whenever he attacks.

And when Fujin is put from the deck into the Break Zone, you can play Fujin onto the field. So, those abilities that require you to put the top 2 cards of your deck into the Break Zone, have a little upside to them.

The only thing I don’t like with Fujin is the extra cost required when she enters the field, which is the top 2 cards of your deck.

22-085C – Moth Slasher

For 2CP this is a great card.

A Monster that turns into a Forward that searches for itself when it is sent to the Break Zone, and plays itself for free.

What’s not to like.

And, at 3 points of damage Moth Slasher has an 8k body.

Of course you’re putting this in your deck, why wouldn’t you.

22-086C – Yaag Rosch

Yaag Rosch is the protector of Backups, excluding himself.

And, that’s pretty much it. There aren’t even that many cards that can break a Backup.

So, we’ll just talk about the artwork. It’s gorgeous, simple yet it portrays Yaag Rosch perfectly.

We just have to ask him one question.

“Why So Serious?”

Yeah, I’m just trying to take up space here.

22-087R – Raijin

And, finally the last Disciplinary Committee Member.

Now that we have the trio out, we can see what these cards all do together as a team, the Disciplinary Committee.

Same as before you need 10 cards in the Break Zone for everything to work.

Raijin gives the other 2 and himself +2000 power and Haste.

That gives Seifer 11,000 power and Fujin and Raijin 9000 power. Making these 3 a force to be reckoned with. (No wonder Squall and Co. always had trouble with the Disciplinary Committee.)

And, same as before again, If Raijin is put from your deck into the Break Zone, you can play him straight onto the field. But, you’ll have to pay the cost of putting the top 2 cards of your deck into the Break Zone.

Now I do see why these cards are like this. If you’re lucky enough you can have all three members on the field, in one play. And then you’ll be taking everyone on a a little ride as you’ll be breaking Forwards when Seifer attacks, and Fujin and Raijin will just stand around as your blockers, while Seifer gets the job done.

22-088C -Rygdea

I always thought Rygdea was part of the Cavalry.

Rygdea comes in and you get to choose one of 2 abilities. Either break a Forward, 2CP or less, or grab a Lightning character from the Break Zone.

Both are pretty good abilities, I do prefer the second one, but there shall be times you will want to break that pesky Forward that is sitting on the front lines.

This might be a good addition to the FFXIII Custom Starter Set.

 

 

22-089C – Dragoon

Add another Dragoon to the Back line. This one isn’t half bad.

Dragoon enters the field and gives a Forward +3000 power and First Strike.

After that you can pay the cost, discard a Lightning card, put dragoon into the Break Zone, break a 5CP Forward, Play Rygdea, grab Dragoon from the Break Zone, and start all over again.

I mean it could work, but there are better ways than this to Break a Forward.

With Dragoons though, I’d say the second ability is just a bonus.

22-090H – Lulu

How many Summons do you need in your deck in order for Lulu to be effective?

Because if your take away that ability you really don’t have much going on here.

Just a 2 cost Forward with 5000 power.

Maybe I’m missing something, because the cards I don’t think are good, end up becoming great.

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