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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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Hidden Hope : Frozen Hope

22-019C – Ice Bomb

I Need More Bombs!

And, this one is pretty good on my opinion.

During your turn, Ice Bomb becomes a Forward, and whenever it attacks, you can Freeze one of your opponents Forwards.
And, if you already have received 3 points of damage, Ice Bomb will also Dull that Forward, thus making said Forward unavailable for your opponent’s next turn.

I’ll take 3, and put them in the Bomb deck.

22-020R – Vallaide

Who would have thought that Green Mages have these kind of abilities. And, what is a Green Mage anyway? I thought they were Red Mages.

Whatever it is Vallaide has a pass, because he’ll kick some …

It’s true. Just use his ability on a Forward, and whenever that forward is dealt damage, it breaks. Just like that.

Sure, you’ll need another way to deal a little bit of damage to said Forward, but that should be easy enough to figure out.

22-021R – Emina

This is what everyone likes. A Backup that searches for a card.

Sure, the card needs to be an Ice Character that costs 2CP or less, and I’m sure there are plenty of good cards to grab.

This technically makes Emina a 2 cost Backup as well.

Search and Play.

 

22-022R – Quistis

Do you remember Opus I Jihl Nabaat?

Well Quistis here, does a much better job than what Jihl Nabaat did.

Of course you’ll have to be playing a FFVIII themed deck, but with a card like this, and plenty of other great FFVIII cards that won’t be hard to do.

Now, what does Quistis do?

Depending on how many FFVIII Forwards you have on the field, you can dull that many of your opponent’s Characters. And if you have 3 or more, you’ll also Freeze them.

And, the artwork? It looks great. Can’t go wrong with a good looking card with a great ability.

22-023C – Bard

Bard, a low cost Backup that will dull a low cast Forward.

And, if you have another Bard (22-023C) on the field, you can use Bard’s other ability and Break that Forward.

Is it worth the price?

Depends on what you’re Breaking.

You can’t go wrong with a 2 cost Backup, that has a couple of decent abilities. Unless your opponent isn’t playing low cost Forwards. Then you might be out of luck.

22-024L – Kurasame

At 7CP, Kurasame is a quite expensive, but he can be worth it depending on how many Ice Backups you have on the field when Kurasame enters.

Go ahead count your Backups.

I’ll wait.

5 Ice Backups, well that is perfect. You shall either Dull and Freeze, 5 of your opponents Characters. Backups? Forwards? Monsters? Yep. Yep and yep.

Or, you can have your opponent discard a card for each Ice Backup that you have.

We said 5, right?

Well your opponent is discarding 5 cards from their hand. And, what was that card that was just released in the Anniversary Collection Set 2024? I don’t have the card in front of me, but I think it said, deal 5000 damage to a Forward every time your opponent discards a card, due to your Summons or abilities.

Now, at that point I’d say it’s very well worth playing Kurasame, as it will put you in a winning position. If you can’t beat your opponent when you made them discard their hand and laid waste to their front line, I think it’s time for you to pick up another game.

I like it.

22-025C – Cloud of Darkness

This is a decent card, for a Common.

Cloud of Darkness comes in, and since you’ll already be playing Discard because you’re already playing Ice, your job will be to have your opponent have as little cards as possible in their hand before you play Cloud of Darkness. Cause when Cloud of Darkness comes in and your opponent has only 2 cards, or less, in their hand, they will send one of their Forwards into the Break Zone.

And, that is pretty much it.

 

22-026C – Seymour EX

Almost like a Summon. Seymour comes in and breaks a dull Character.

After that Seymour will just hang out on the field producing a single Ice CP once per turn.

Good thing is that this ability can come off of an EX Burst as well.

Now, where did I put that card that gets rid of my Backups.

 

 

22-027R – Shiva

Let’s talk about Ice.

It’s so cold, that it will make all of your abilities stop working. Nothing moves, and your opponent’s Characters reset to 0.

No Haste, No First Strike, No Brave, no buffs no nothing.

Plus you get to draw a card if you only paid the cost with your Backups.

The twins are your best bet at starting a frozen empire.

22-028H – Cissnei

The Turks just got a little bit better with Cissnei.

She might not look like much, but in a Turk heavy deck, she’ll be lying in the shadows waiting to attack. And she can attack twice.

Sure, Cissnei comes in dull, but she also comes in with Haste. All you need to do is activate her and she’s ready to go. Luckily, The Turks are here to give a helping hand. (And you thought that they were the bad guys.) Every time a Member of the Turks attacks, you will activate Cissnei.

Here is the battle plan, Cissnei comes in, Reno attacks, Cissnei activates, Cissnei attacks, Rude Attacks, Cissnei activate and attacks again.

For 2CP, you get a 6K body that dual wields Shurikens.

I’ll take it.

22-029R – Jihl Nabaat EX

It’s Jihl, but which Jihl will you like to play?

Is PSICOM going to become a great deck to play? Who will be in it? How many PSICOM cards are there? Why are there so many questions?

After looking up all of PSICOM there are a total of 3 Characters with that Job, One which is Jihl Nabaat. The other 2 are Rygdea and Yaag Rosch.

“Who you gonna call?”

Not the Ghostbusters, that’s for sure. You can flip a coin and see which one you’ll get.

But, at 3CP you get a Forward with 7000 Power, and you get to search for a member of PSICOM.

I’m guessing they’ll be adding more PSICOM members in the next set, Especially since Lightning is on the box.

22-030C – Shinryu Celestia

This is nice, a decent 2 cost Backup that will give one of your Forwards +4000 power.

Sure, you can only use this ability if you have 5 Backups on the field, but you should be trying to get to 5 Backups as soon as you can. Because Backups equals more CP.

Now, if you can find a way to activate Shinryu Celestia after she used her ability, then you can use it again, giving another Forward, or the same Forward, another +4000 power.

 

 

22-031H – Squall

How is Squall just a Hero?

Because he is a Hero. Just play Final Fantasy VIII to see why.

At 4CP/8000 Power, Squall becomes even more powerful, if you have 4 FFVIII Characters on the field. Not only that, but he is protected from your opponent’s abilities that deal damage.

And if you need to get more Final Fantasy VIII Characters on the field, Squall will help you with that as well. During the beginning of each of your Attack Phases, you will be able to play a Final Fantasy VIII Forward from your hand onto the field. Just as long as that Forward costs 4CP or less.

You can get the four Final Fantasy VIII Forward on the field, by the beginning of your next turn, If you play Squall right away. After that, it’ll be easy sailing.

22-032L – Sephiroth

The card that everyone is looking for. Not the one you see, but the one with the Gold Stamped Signature. It is a good looking card.

Now, lets talk about the card itself.

At 3CP with 7000 power, you would think that this card is undeserving of the Legend status. Well, we’re here to tell you that it is. And, that we can see why Squall is just a Hero.

Whenever Sephiroth is in your hand, you can pay 3CP and break one of your opponent’s dull Forwards. Which in itself is a great ability to have. Although you’ll have to remove Sephiroth from the game.

But, that doesn’t mean that Sephiroth is lost, he just went into the Lifestream like he usually does. Once he is in the Lifestream, and only during the turn that he entered the Lifestream, you may play Sephiroth onto the field for his cost. And, once Sephiroth enters the field, your opponent will discard a card from their hand.

Sephiroth will cost you a total of 6CP to play this way. There are a couple of Summons that will Break a dull Forward. One is Titan (21-071H) who will break a dull Forward for 3CP, and Hades (6-038R) who will break it, and have your opponent discard a card from their hand for 5CP. The difference is that Sephiroth stays on the field as a body.

22-033C – Time Mage

Time Mage is a simple 2 cost Standard Unit Backup that is actually pretty good.

Time Mage enters the field, and will Dull/Freeze a Forward, and if you have one more Standard Unit Backup on the field, Time Mage will Dull/Freeze a Character as well.

If you have 3 of these in your hand you can Dull/Freeze up to 6 Characters, and at 2CP each, it will only cost you 6CP or 1P per Character.

That sounds like a steal to me.

22-034H – Medusa

We finally have a new spell. Stone has arrived to Final Fantasy TCG. They’re just calling them Petrification Counters.

Medusa comes in and casts Stone on a Forward. Once that Forward has turned to stone, they cannot attack or block. And they will not be able to turn back to normal once Medusa is gone.

Nope, they will have to use a Gold Needle, and the price for that Gold Needle is 5CP.

This will put a cog in your opponents plans.

22-035C – Yuke

Simple, basic and straight to the point.

Yuke 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.

22-036C – Rinoa

Final Fantasy VIII, has had some great cards showing up. And, we still haven’t had a Starter Set made for 8.

Good thing is that, we already have plenty of cards to make a great deck. Is Rinoa a good card to add?

Probably not. There are far better Rinoas in other sets, so, I don’t really see you playing this one, unless you’re playing a Discard deck. Or, you just like the art and you’ll just throw it in your FFVIII deck, just to show off with the Full Art. I know I’ve done that before.

If Squall is already on the field when you play Rinoa, her cost goes down to 2CP from 3CP, which makes this card more affordable, and her ability forces your opponent to discard 2 cards.

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Hidden Hope – Hope On Fire

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22-001R – Auron

Auron’s here, just doing his job as a Guardian, and protecting one of your Forwards just like any Guardian would.

When Auron comes in, you choose a Forward, and the next damage dealt to it becomes 0.

At 2CP this is a card with great value, just because Auron has Back Attack, and that means you can play him during your opponent’s turn.

Let’s say your opponent casts a Summon or ability, Auron can swoop right in and guard the Forward being targeted.

You don’t even need to be playing a FFX themed deck, Auron can hop into any deck that has Fire in it and he’ll do great.

22-002C – Red Mage

Red Mage, your 2 cost Backup that has some pretty good abilities.

1) Choose a Forward of 5CP or less, and take away it’s ability to block.

Or

2) Discard a fire card, chuck Red Mage, and deal a Forward 8000 damage.

Even if Red Mage just had the first ability, I would have said that this card is great.

And, it’s only a Common.

All you have to do is attack, and when your opponent declares a blocker, just dull Red Mage, and take away that block.

22-003R – Ayame

Really?

I see Samurais making a comeback. Where did I put those Tenzens?

Ayame comes in with Brave, at 2CP/5000 power. But, everytime a Samurai enters the field, Ayame gains +4000 power.
Meaning that Ayame’s power can easily rise past 9000. Which is a good thing, because when Ayame attacks, and her power is over 9000, you get to choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 7000 damage.

Ayame might look small, but she packs a mean punch.

22-004H – Angeal

SOLDIERs Unite!

Angeal, the original Buster Sword wielder, here to help cause more damage to your opponent. I don’t know if that makes any sense, since he doesn’t actually like to use his Buster Sword in fear of ruining it. But, Zack’s life is worth just a little bit more, than his sword.

Angeal enters the field and you can pay (X), which allows you to search for a SOLDIER of cost (X) and play it straight to the field. That means it doesn’t even need to be a Fire SOLDIER. You can also search for Roche, who comes in with Haste and can attack right away.

And, when Roche attacks, the damage increases by 2000, because that is Angeal’s other ability. Add in the fact that if you have taken 3 points of Damage, Roche also gains 3000 Power, making his attack cause 9000 damage.

We won’t even get into the art. I like this card.

22-005R – Ignacio

That’s a big axe.

Ignacio your 5 cost Forward, coming in with 9000 power.

When Ignacio enters the field, you’ll put the top 3 cards of your deck into the Break Zone, and if all of those cards are Fire, you’ll deal one of your opponent’s Forwards 9000 damage.

I mean, .. ok.

Not great. Somewhat … I’ll pass.

22-006H – Garland EX

Is it just me or does Garland look like a dwarf here?

He might look like a dwarf, but this is a great card.

Garland comes in and allows you to grab a Knight from the Break Zone, making garland a 2 cost Forward with 8000 power. You’d think that that’s enough but it is not. When you decide to play that Knight. Or any Knight. You get to choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and hand that Forward 5000 damage.

These cards just keep getting stronger and stronger.

22-007C – Carla

Agito Cadet reporting for duty.

3CP/7000 power.

Carla is a decent Forward. has enough power to hold her own against most Forwards. She also has 2 abilities that can help out when the going gets tough. All you have to do is Dull her. No extra costs for these ones.

You can either deal a Forward 3000 damage, or you can buff an attacking Forward with +2000 power.

Either way she can stop an Attacker or help one of your Forwards.

Carla is a Forward that moonlights as a Backup. Kind of reminds me of Amon from Opus II.

22-008C – Clavat

Cheap Backup to play that allows you to look at the top card of your deck.

If you don’t like what you see, you can place the card at the bottom of your deck. If you do, just leave it where it is.

Bonus Points, Clavat is dressed as a Black Mage.

It could see some use.

 

22-009H – Jecht

Do you know what this is?

It is a Free Card, that will Break a Forward when Jecht enters the field.

I can see Jecht doing great with my Bomb deck, which upon release Jecht will be put in, and something else will be taken out.

Let’s explain. For every Fire Character you control Jecht costs 1 less CP. So, if you have 6 Fire Characters on the field Jecht is free. And when he enters the field, Jecht deals damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards. And they deal damage to each other.

Only thing missing here, is better art.

22-010L – Selphie

Selphie comes in and allows you to search for a FFVIII Forward.

But, that’s not a good reason to make Selphie a Forward. You can do that with a Rare, and it’ll still cost less than 4CP.

Then again, Selphie does a lot more than that.

Once per turn you can give a FFVIII Forward +1000 power, Haste and Brave. That means as long as Selphie is on the field, all of your Finla Fantasy VIII Forwards that come in will be granted Haste and they will be able to attack on the same turn that they came in. No more Summoning Sickness. Selphie has a cure for that.

Oh, and she has 7000 power. 8000 if you use her ability on herself.

22-011C – Warrior

Just your Standard Unit 3 cost Fire Forward with 7000 power.

But, if you have at least a couple of Standard Unit Backups on the field, Warrior gains +2000 power.

Making him a 9k body.

Effectively becoming a Meat Shield.

 

22-012C – Foulander

A Monster that becomes a Forward. That’s becoming more and more normal with every new set.

Foulander here is no exception. And, it deals up to 5000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards every time it attacks. Allowing you to soften up your opponent’s front line in the process. And, if you got 3 Foulanders on the field, that’s even better.

Don’t forget that Foulander only costs 1CP.

Throw this in any Fire deck and you’re good to go.

22-013C – Machina

You’re either playing this card early, or you’re not playing it at all.

Unless your board gets wiped and you have to start all over.

Machina does have a decent ability, dealing 7000 damage to a Forward.

Other than that, at least the art looks good.

 

 

22-014R – Belias, the Gigas

This is a great Summon if you want to get rid of a pesky blocker blocking your Attacking Forward. Once that happens, and you cast Belias, your Forward gains +3000 power and First Strike. And if that’s not enough Belias deals your opponent’s Forward 7000 damage. Thus reducing their power and hopefully breaking them.

One way or another your Forward shall survive.

Plus, if you paid with only Backups, you get to draw a card as well.

 

22-015C – Meeth

Meeth sure looks angry.

You would be too if all you did was remove a Backup from the game, to draw 2 cards.

Meeth wanted to come in and party, but one of his friends is forced to leave when he comes in. And that friend was the only reason Meeth wanted to come to this party.

But, for a 2 cost Backup, that lets you get rid of a Backup you don’t need anymore to draw 2 cards, there could be some use to Meeth.

22-016H – Minwu (FFBE)

Not that Minwu, this is the other Minwu from Brave Exvius.

They’re the same, but different.

And, this is a great card.

Bring in a card from the Break Zone, any time you’d like during your turn as long as you don’t have any cards in your hand.
It’s like you’re playing with an extra deck. Plus your Limit Break Deck, you got 3 different places where you can grab a card to cast.

I’ll take 3.

22-017C – Lilyth

Need a Crystal?

Play Lilyth. 2CP with 5000 power.

Not the strongest of cards out there, but if you need Crystals for abilities and what not, Lilyth is a decent play. You get a Crystal and a body that will hang out on the front line until needed.

Let’s not forget Hard Slash. If you look you don’t need to dull Lilyth to use the ability. Meaning if you have 2 Lilyths in hand, you can deal 7000 damage to 2 Forwards and you’ll still be able to attack.

I’ll try this one out.

22-018R – Luartha

At 1CP and a Crystal, Luartha can do some damage (especially if you already have taken 3 points of damage) before your opponent even knows what hit them.

Luartha will come in, and if you pay the Crystal she gains Haste. Once you attack, you can choose one of your opponent’s Forwards and deal it 5000 damage. Thus reducing the Power of a Forward that can break Luartha.

And if you already have taken 3 points of damage, Luartha deals one of your opponent’s Forwards 5000 damage when she enters the field.

I like this card, I shall find some use for it, because you can throw it into any deck that runs Fire, and you’re good to go.

I’ll take 3, preferably foil versions.

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Resurgence of Power – Light & Dark

18-103H – Elena (FFBE)

This one is interesting.

Can’t remember if Brave works on Dull for abilities.

After a quick search it doesn’t.

Elena isn’t that strong off the bat, and you’re probably not going to be using her to attack. More than likely, you’ll be using her to either draw a card and choosing a card from your opponents hand to discard.

Upon closer look, you can have her attack. Since, she doesn’t dull when attacking, if your opponent blocks the attack, you can dull Elena and have her gain +3000 power. Thus making her an 8000 power Forward.

18-104H – Squall

Cost efficient, if you’re running an FFVIII themed deck. Just throw him in a deck with Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin from this set, and you’re good to go.

When he enters or attack, you get to Dull and Freeze a Forward, and all your Forwards get +1K power boost.

Is this Squall better than the Opus XVI Squall, probably not. But, it does have some uses.

18-105H – Ultimecia

Ultimecia increases the cost of casting any card other than a Backup by 1CP. And at 5 points of Damage she increases your opponents cost by another 1CP. I can see some use for this towards the end of the game, as your opponent might try and take her out just to save some CP.

Other than that, Hell’s Judgement. You cast it, most Forwards will go to the Break Zone, and if you have an Opus XVI Squall on the field. He can attack, and finish off the rest of the Forwards with his ability.

18-106H – Sol (FFBE)

This is a wonderful card. I like it. I’ll take 3 please.

As this activates at the beginning of each players Attack Phase, I don’t see any reason of not using this card. Even if it is just giving you a small advantage.

It’s your turn you choose the first option giving all your Forward +1000 power and Brave.

On your opponents turn, you use the second ability, causing your opponents Forwards to lose 2000 power.

And if you have 5 points of damage, you choose all 3. You get the previous 2 abilities and your opponent can not cast Summons.

What’s not to like?