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Did Someone Say Lightning?

We managed to pull some strings and get ourselves a small restock of the Final Fantasy XIII Custom Starter Set. Sure we only got 6 of them, but they are not exactly in print any more.

If you haven’t gotten one yet, what are you waiting for?

This deck is a great starting point for your FFXIII deck. All of the cards already work great together, and with a couple of upgrades to it, you will be unstoppable in no time.

Maybe not that unstoppable, but it’s still a great Starter Set.

Click here to grab them.

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Final Fantasy XIII and a Sale of Sorts

Shop for singles and more at our TCGPlayer shop.

What do we talk about today?

Snow? Lightning? Final Fantasy XIII?

Just because it’s cold, doesn’t mean we have to talk about Shiva. Or Snow for that matter.

But, he’s a Hero, you’ll say. And, I’ll say. Tell that to Hope.

I’m not going to get into Final Fantasy XIII at the moment, but I feel like I kind of have to just because of Hidden Trials. And, how I believe that it will be a great set. Well, that’s how all sets look like when they are first announced months in advance. Just like Hidden Hope, we have a new Mechanic that will be debuting in just a couple of months.

And, then I heard something about a side board, but I can’t remember where I heard that, or seen that. I’m just wondering when they’ll start adding Weapons. And, spells, where you can add Omnislash to any Cloud that you control. It would be a good mechanic, just ask Cloud, he’ll tell you it would work great.

And, as we’re waiting on Hidden Hopes, and Hidden Trials, we’re also waiting on some news for the Magic : The Gathering Final Fantasy set. It was first announced a couple of years ago. I was expecting it to have been out already, but the only thing we know is that it should be released this year.

And, since we’re on the topic of Final Fantasy XIII we have a sale going on for the Final Fantasy XIII Kai Art Museum boxes. $25 off your order if you order one by 02/08/2024. Just use Coupon Code FANG

Don’t know what’s in it? Well we decided to open one up on camera.

Let’s see if we can embed it.

There we are.

Get your Pre-Orders Here.

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Beyond Destiny – Ice Sculptures

21-021C – Red Mage

For 2CP and a Common, I’d like to say that this is a pretty good card.

Red Mage comes in and dull/freezes a Character. Same thing whenever Red Mage forms a party and attacks.

Now you can also play 3 Red Mages, have them all form a party and attack, and then you’ll be Dull/Freezing 3 Characters every turn.

Red Mage might not have a lot of Power, clocking in at 5000, but her ability to Dull/Freeze sure makes up for it.

21-022H – Astos EX

The Dark Elf. I haven’t seen how Astos looks in Strangers of Paradise, and after looking at this card, I have got to say they did a great job. That is very close to what I pictured Astos looking like. I don’t know why, but the art for the Character is spot on.
Anyway, on to the card.

Astos comes in with Brave, and whenever he enters the field of leaves the field you gain a Crystal.

And, if you have 3 Crystals, you can Dull all of your opponent’s Forwards and then deal 9000 damage to all of your opponent’s Forwards.

Astos is a ticking time-bomb.

Play Astos, Play Rinoa (6-041L), Bounce Astos, and you have 3 Crystals. Next turn you use his ability and hopefully you get a board wipe.

21-023L – Ultimecia

There’s a lot of text here. And there isn’t really a way to summarize it, but we’ll try.

Ultimecia comes in, you remove up to 5 Characters from your Break Zone with a cost of 5CP or more. Once they are removed you can Dull/Freeze up to 5 Characters. Your opponent also discards one card.

If you’re playing a deck with a lot of high cost Characters, Ultimecia can do some damage, if not then she isn’t really worth the price of admission.

 

21-024C – Scholar

The 3CP Backup that gives you a Crystal when she enters the field.

Also, if you have 3 Backups or less you’ll also draw a card.

Not Bad. Not Great either, just something to play when you don’t know what else to play.

 

 

21-025R – Kiros

If Ward is here, you know that Kiros is just around the Korner. And Laguna shouldn’t be too far behind.

But, we’re here to talk about Kiros.

All you want to do is warp. Over and over and over.

Not only is the cost cheaper, but when Kiros Warps in you can Dull and Freeze one of your opponents Characters. And, that’s not all. When any Forward Warps in you can Dull and Freeze a Character.

So, keep Kiros safe, and Warp.

21-026C – Bard

I mean, who doesn’t like that ability.

Best part it doesn’t cost anything, so I don’t see a reason not to have Bard on the field. Or at least in your deck.

Bard is a 4 cost Forward with 8000 power. And, once per turn you can use his ability for a total of 0CP. And have a Forward lose all of it’s abilities until the end of the turn.

That Forward that has protection from Summons, or abilities, or damage, well Bard is here to take care of that Forward, and allow your attacks to go through.

21-027L – Griever

That’s one way to search for a Witch. Plus side to this one is that you”ll play the Witch straight to the field.

Considering the cost, you’d probably want to search for a high cost Witch to play straight to the field. Like Edea (2-099L) or Ultimecia (7-133S), or like the one that is probably in this set that I just haven’t seen yet.

If you decide to keep Griever on the field, his ability let’s you break a dull Forward, or have your opponent discard a card.
There’s a tag team here. Griever and Amon (2-098L) Amon dulls and Griever Breaks.

Ice and Lightning do work well together.

21-028H – Shiva

This Shiva is like a reusable Ice Cube.

Once Shiva has been cast, You can remove 4 Ice Cards from your Break Zone, and put Shiva back in the Freezer … I mean your hand.

After that you can just cast Shiva over and over again, until you run out of Ice cards in your Break Zone. But by then you should have Dull/Freezed? all of your opponents Characters. If not proceed to a triple party attack from the 3 Red Mages.

 

21-029R – Squall

Mini-Squall.

Did I mention I have yet to play World of Fina Fantasy?

At first I thought this was a decent card. Then I took a closer look and actually read the card from top to bottom. And for a rare, it’s a great card.

First of all, Clo … I mean Squall comes in and has First Strike. And when he attacks, if you have at least 2 WoFF Characters, your opponent discards a card.

See like I said decent.

But, here’s where it gets good.

Squall attacks, and he gets blocked. You can use his ability to deal 3000 damage to the Forward that is blocking. And with First Strike already on hand, you’re 95% going to come out on top.

21-030C – Snow

Since when is Snow a Martial Artist?

To me he’s always been a Meat Shield that can punch.

Any ho, Snow will turn into a Meat Shield after you get 3 points of damage.

Up until then every time Snow attacks you can, you guessed it, Dull/Freeze a Character. You can just go ahead and party attack with Red Mage.

Plus Snow gets Haste, if you have another WoFF Character on the field.

21-031H – Setzer

“Are you a gambling man, Sandy Claws?”

I like this card, I actually played Ice just to play Setzer. Well not all Ice, it was Fire-Lightning while I splashed 6 Ice cards. I think.

Setzer comes in and you remove 2 Forwards from your Break Zone, from the game. After that you can play those 2 Forwards whenever you’d like.

Sure, if Setzer gets sent to the Break Zone you lose those 2 Forwards but they were already broken to begin with.
I’ll take it, and I’ll figure out how to make it work.

21-032R – Terra

Trying to figure out if this Terra is better than that Terra or the other Terra.

At 5CP, Terra comes in and allows you to search for 2 Ice Summons. And, that brings her cost down to 1CP.

For 1CP this is a great card. 8000 power and Magitek Laser.

What’s Magitek Laser?

Terra’s S Ability, where the cost is another Terra card and a Summon. Any Summon. You can play those 2 cards and deal 9000 damage to a Forward. Which has a decent chance of Breaking that Forward.

Or you can just cast the Summons you searched for.

21-033R – The Girl Who Forgot Her Name

The Searcher you didn’t know you needed. Well now you got it.

The Girl Who Forgot Her Name will search for Squall, and that will give Squall the 2 WoFF Characters he needs to have your opponent discard a card whenever he attacks.

Or if you want to go another route. I still haven’t seen Reynn or Lann so, we’ll have to wait on that.

 

21-034C – Fomor

Don’t F.O.M.O. on Fomor.

???

Never mind.

Fomor is a pretty decent Monster.

Fomor comes in and deals damage. Fomor leaves and deals Damage.

4k here, 4k there. You’d think we’re talking about televisions.

21-035C – Minwu

Minwu looks mad.

I always thought that Minwu was an older White Mage. this card clearly depicts him as a teenager. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just that I always thought that he was older.

Anyway, let’s get to the card.

Minwu comes in and Freezes a Character.

And then you can pay a CP and dull Minwu and send him to the Break Zone to Dull/Freeze a Character.

For a Common this isn’t bad at all, but unless you’re playing a Rebel deck, I don’t see you playing this Minwu, not when you have the Opus I Minwu which suits my play style a little bit more. And, I don’t even have that Minwu in the deck right now.
At least I don’t think so.

21-036H – Y’shtola

We got a new element for Y’shtola. Not only does this card look good, but I believe the Ice Blue suits her well.

Y’shtola here, is perfect for discard decks. The fewer cards your opponent has in their hand the more powerful Y’shtola becomes. 0 being the perfect number of cards that you want in your opponents hand. because each time Y’shtola attacks she’ll deal damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards, for a max of 9000. The damage will decrease by 1000 for each card that your opponent has in their hand.

I’d like to see how this will fit in the Scions deck.

21-037C – Reaper

Here’s a card you can play, right before you have Y’shtola attack.

Reaper comes in and forces your opponent to discard a card. Or you can go ahead and send a dull Forward to the Break Zone. Sure, it’s cost needs to be 3CP or less, but you’re still breaking a card, or forcing your opponent to spend CP in order to counter it.

 

 

21-038R – Rinoa

A decent Backup if you’re plan on using Summons, or if you plan on saving your Summons in the Break Zone, from the chance of your opponent removing your whole Break Zone from the game.

Rinoa comes in removes a Summon from your Break Zone, and then you can use that Summon whenever you’d like.
It’s like an Ace up your sleeve.

 

21-039C – Lufenian

With a Job Title of Lufenian, Lufenian, is a the perfect card to play to start your game.

For 2CP, you play Lufenian, and if Lufenian is the only Backup you control, you’re opponent will discard a card, from their hand. Leaving them with one less card than the number of cards they had in their hand before you decided to play Lufenian.
Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I’m just surprised this isn’t a Standard Unit.

Decent card, Y’shtola will love working with Lufenian.

But, then again, Lufenian only has one job. And, if she doesn’t get it done right away, she’s worthless.

21-040R – Rursan Arbiter

All Ice cards look like they’re working well together.

Lots of discard, and abilities that go off when your opponent has no cards in their hand.

Y’shtola deals a Forward damage, and Cid here, I mean Rursan Arbitar, Breaks one of your opponent’s Forwards.

Now I”m looking at all these cards, and I’m wondering why I didn’t use more Ice at Prerelease.

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Anniversary Collection Set 2024

What’s that? Announcing a new Anniversary Set, when the Dissidia Collection isn’t even out yet. Well, I’m sure you would do it too. Get on the Hype train, because Shinra SOLDIERS are on the box.

Plenty of Reprints, plenty of Promos, plenty of cards. Means Plenty of reasons to buy this collection. Number 1 being the paper playmat.

The Reprints will range from Opus I all the way to Resurgence of Power.

What I like about these Collections is that it is a great way to get into the game, as many staples are in it. I remember building a deck and just grabbing half the cards from the first Anniversary Collection Set, I just didn’t feel like searching for them.

This is actually coming out sooner than I expected as well. February 2024. That’s only 6 months away, 4 months after the Dissidia set comes out.

https://fftcg.square-enix-games.com/en/news/final-fantasy-trading-card-game-anniversary-collection-set-2024

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Lumina – Deck

As we take a look at Lumina’s ability it reads, “When Lumina enters the field, you may search for 1 Category XIII Forward and add it to your hand.”

That simply means, we need to fill up this deck with as many FFXIII Forwards that we can. And we do have a lot to choose from. But, we’re going to keep this as Characteristic as possible. We’ll Start off with Lightning and Serah. In the beginning I was trying not to use Lightning (19-138S), but for a deck filled with FFXIII Forwards, you need to use this card. Buffs and draws, and damage.

Serah? We went with Serah (16-032H). Ice Forward, that if played after you have 2 Ice Characters on the field, your opponent discards a card. If you have a XIII Forward you draw a card.

Moving on forward. Noel (19-136S) is our next Forward. Coming in with Haste and a buff for every FFXIII Character you control. Cid Raines (19-135S) is also here. You can tell we’re pretty much using the FFXIII Custom Starter Set for most of it. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.) So, we’ll just add Vanille (19-129S), Fang (19-131S), and Snow (19-132S) to round it out.

And, that’s still not enough. Especially cause there’s hardly any Lightning Forwards and Lumina is Lightning. We’ll just roll the dice and grab Lightning (19-082H), Anima (11-099H) and Cid Raines (19-135S), Yes they are all FFXIII Forwards. This way Lightning’s abilities will go off, and so will Serah’s when she enters the field, and also Noel’s. These 3 will be your main attackers.

For Backups, we’ll add Lebreau (5-151S). I usually go for the Opus I Lebreau, but we don’t have enough Fire Forwards to warrant that card. Class Second Moogle (10-016C), to help us with Ice CP. Mog (XIII-2) (1-196S), because he acts just like Lumina and searches for a FFXIII Forward. and Jihl Nabaat (1-193S) cause that still is a great card.

As For Summon, we’re just grabbing Bahamut, because with Fang on the field he becomes a Free Summon. And both Odins for Lightning’s (19-082H) ability.

All in all, this deck is made to get as many Forwards out on the field as fast as possible. After that just keep attacking and attacking, with at least 3 Forwards per turn.

Or something like that.

Deck List

Forwards

Noel (19-136S) x3
Lightning (19-138S) x3
Serah (16-032H) x3
Vanille (19-129S) x3
Anima (11-099H) x3
Fang (19-131S) x3
Snow (19-132S) x3
Lightning (19-082H) x3
Cid Raines (19-135S) x3

Backups

Jihl Nabaat (1-193S) x3
Lebreau (5-151S) x3
Class Second Moogle (10-016C) x3
Mog (XIII-2) (1-196S) x3
Lumina (13-085R) x3

Summons

Odin (15-090H) x3
Odin (13-072R) x3
Bahamut (19-130S) x2