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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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Hidden Trials – By Lightning

Get these Singles and More at our TCG Player Store

23-077H – Azul

The Tsivets are coming strong, and Azul is about to kick some butts.

Azul has Counter, he will Counter any damage dealt to him to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

For the cost of 1 Crystal, Azul can also cast Berserk on a Forward. And, when he does, Azul gains +2000 power.

I’d say that’s a Crystal well spent.

 

23-078C – Alisae

Alisae is like a bloodhound. She’ll help you find the card you need, but only if you can show her what you’re looking for. And, the only way to do that is to already have a card with the same name in your Break Zone.

The only thing Alisae can’t search for will be Standard Units and Summons, everything else is fair game.

I’m sure she has some use, but there are plenty of other cards that’ll search better then she does.

 

23-079R – Estinien

I mean he’s no Opus VI Estinien, or Dawn of Heroes either, but Estinien is still a decent card to play.

Coming in with Haste, Estinien has the ability to attack from the get go, but you already knew that. So, why would we mention that?

It’s simple. Every time Estinien attacks, you get to grab a Scion Forward from your Break Zone. Making Estinien a great play, right away.

And, that’s not all!

At 3 points of Damage Estinien gains +1000 power. Add in Opus I Lulu and Hidden Trials Krile, and you’ll have a Forward that attacks for 11,000.

And this is just a Rare card.

23-080R – Odin EX

If this comes off of an EX Burst it’s great.

If it doesn’t it’s too expensive, and the Opus I Odin, along with the Opus I reprint from Opus VIII. is a couple of CP less.

Why would you play this one? Because you can cast it for 3CP if you remove 6 Lightning cards from your Break Zone. If you have no way of getting them back, then go right ahead.

Breaking a Forward still is a broken Forward your opponent can’t use.

23-081C – Puppetmaster

2 Cost Elemental Lightning Backup.

Puppetmaster is ready for action with his Puppet right behind him ready for orders.

Puppetmaster comes in and dulls a Forward. As with some of the other Backups of this set, he has greater power when you have a full line of Backups on the field. And, when that happens, Puppetmaster dulls all of your opponent’s Forwards.

I’m noticing a lot of great plays being brought in towards the mid-end game.

 

 

23-082H – King

Is this a new thing, where we remove cards to reduce the cost of casting a card?

Because King turns into a 1 cost Hero, if you remove 4 cards from your Break Zone.

And, whenever King attacks, you can discard 2 cards and Break a Forward of your choosing.

King’s cost evens out as the 4CP you save from removing the 4 Characters from your Break Zone.

There’s plenty of ways to get rid of cards, Lightning might become even more fast paced.

23-083H – Queen

Your Savior, Your Queen.

This is a great card. Cadets will be one the rise solely based off of this card.

At the small cost of removing 3 cards from your Break Zone. Queen will give a Class Zero Cadet a 2000 power buff, plus damage dealt to that Forward by your opponent’s abilities will become 0.

This card kinda makes me want to remake that Cadets deck I had made back during Opus XIII.

23-084C – G’raha Tia

At 5CP and 9000 power, G’raha Tia is just a regular Common card.

When he enters the field, and you have another G’raha Tia in the Break Zone, you can remove it from the game and deal 4000 damage to 2 of your opponent’s Forwards. You will also dull them as well.

If this card cost a little bit less, I would say that it’s better.

 

 

23-085R – Krile (XIV)

Look at the new card you’ll be putting in your Scions deck.

Nothing beats a 1K buff across your board. Especially when it comes to the Scions and they already work well together.

And if you still need a little bit of extra power, Krile can give a Scion another 1000 power when it deals damage to a Forward.

Can’t go wrong with that.

 

 

23-086H – Thancred

Thancred, reporting for duty!

Thancred is ready to go from the get go. (If you already have some Scions on the field.) He’ll break one of your opponent’s Forwards as he enters, and he’ll bring back a Forward from the dead as he enters the Break Zone.

Almost like a Viking, but different.

Scions being Scions.

 

 

23-087C – Jack

Yeah, you’re not going to play this card.

Unless there is another card that stated “this and this” if there are so many cards in your Break Zone.

I’m also pretty sure that the other Jacks are much better, I can say that without even looking for them.

Even at 2CP, I wouldn’t play this card.

At least the art is nice.

23-088L – Serah

Mono-Lightning XIII deck Incoming.

Your opponent will be using all their resources to get rid of Serah here.

Once she comes in all of your opponents Forwards will lose 2000 power, and if you have at least another 2 FFXIII Forwards their power will go down by 5000. And, this does not end at the end of the turn. As of my understanding, they lose that power until Serah is removed from the field.

That means that most of your opponent’s Forwards will be unusable. Sure, there will be ways that your opponent can raise the power of their Forwards, but Serah also has Dispel. Dispel removes any power gains that your opponent has given their Forwards until the end of the turn.

I’ll take 3 with all the bells and whistles.

23-089C – SOLDIER Candidate

Now, this is a Candidate I have a use for.

2CP/5K body, with Haste.

If you remember, I have built an all Haste deck, and this one fits perfectly into it.

2CP is perfect for it because you’ll only need to discard 1 card, since I don’t play any Backups. 5000 power isn’t bad, because you’re hoping to win in 2 rounds. And, half the time your opponent will not have any Forwards on the field.

And, most of the low cost Haste cards are Standard Units, SOLDIER Candidate will gain +3000 power, giving her an 8K body, the perfect “Candidate” for a Meat Shield.

23-090C/15-095C – Ninja

You know the drill.

“You’d think they’d at least try and get the serial numbers to match.

Would’ve looked a lot better reading 20-099C/15-099C.

Not that big of a deal but, at least you gain a Crystal when Ninja comes in.

After that you can send Ninja to the Break Zone, and deal a Forward 1000 damage.

*yawn

Maybe if it wasn’t a reprint I’d be more excited.”

23-091C – Fencer (XIII)

There’s a lot of good Monsters in this set.

Fencer is ready to Break a Forward on command, as long as you have an extra Monster on the field, because that extra Monster will be part of the cost you pay for Fencer’s ability to go off.

It’s a cheap play, and as long as the Monster you send to the Break Zone has done it’s job, you’ll be good to go.

 

23-092R – Black Widow

This Monster is interesting.

You’ll need 2 or more Monsters for Black Widow to become a Forward. And when Black Widow does become a Forward, when it attacks, you may put another Monster into the Break Zone, and that will allow Black Widow to deal 9000 damage to a Forward of your choosing.

You can splash Black Widow into your Monster deck with Relm, and after that Black Widow will slowly get rid of your Monsters to play more Monsters.

 

 

23-093C – Mog (XIII-2)

This Moogle makes that XIII Mono-Lightning deck easier to make.

Always good to have a couple of searchers, and this one is better, because you can get rid of Mog once he finds what you’re looking for.

Mog comes in for 2CP, and just hangs out until it’s time for you to use his ability.

After that, you can play Mog once more, and he’ll do the same thing once more.

Yes, this card is needed.

23-094C – Y’shtola

How is this a Common?

If you’re playing a Scions deck, you will be dulling your opponent’s whole front line.

And, this only costs 3CP.

All I see is, you play Y’shtola, and block with her as soon as possible, in order to play her again.

Find a way to grab her from the Break Zone as well, and you’ll be golden. Just like the S(ci)un of the Seventh Dawn … Ok, maybe that wasn’t that great.

23-095R – Rosso

Rosso, the Crimson.

Vincent is in trouble here.

The Tsivets are coming for him and all of his allies, and Rosso is coming hard. For every time she attacks, she deals 4000 damage to one of your opponent’s Forwards.

And, if you have a stash of Crystals, you can use them to give one of your Tsivets Haste, allowing them to go from the get go.
Tsivets might finally have some decent cards to get a fun deck going.

Singles?

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Opus XIII – Starter Review

13-129S – Philia

Philia is a Monster. But, plays a Forward. There’s a good chance that when Philia enters the field, you’ll most likely have a board wipe. But with Philia’s ability that cancels the Damage dealt by abilities, Philia will be left all alone on the field. But, you will receive 1 point of Damage for your effort.

Now if you have a backup that can give Philia Haste, you will have a free shot at your opponent.

 

 

13-130S – Ran’jit

Unless you’re playing with at least 4 backups, I think Ran’jit is a bit too expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

13-131S – Emet-Selch

4CP to find and play a Forward. Not bad. Now let’s see. What backups did this deck have? Not any good ones. But, I’m sure there’s plenty of 4CP Backups that Emet-Selch can look for.

I think the other Emet-Selch (12-024H) is a better play.

 

 

 

13-132S – Titania

Now this is a card I like. 2CP/8K. Cheap to play with a great on entry ability. Only stipulation is that you have a Forward, a Backup, a Summon, and a Monster in your Break Zone before you can play Titania.

 

 

 

 

13-133S – The Crystal Exarch

The Crystal Exarch is a Forward that keeps on giving. And, the more the match goes on, the more she’ll give. If that makes any sense. And at 5 points of Damage you’ll most likely be breaking a Forward, every time The Crystal Exarch attacks. Which should be all the time. And the Full Art. Beautiful card.

 

 

 

13-134S – Y’shtola

If you’re playing Scions, you’ll get to grab a Forward from your Break Zone and play it straight to the field, depending on how many Scions you have, will determine the card.
I don’t see much play with this card, as there are plenty of options to choose from. I do like Y’shtola (12-119L) better. Perhaps that’s just my style of play. And, I am not good. I just love the cards.

 

 

 

13-135S – Urianger EX

2CP to possibly grab another XIV Character. Not bad, and you can always just use him as a blocker just to replay him.

 

 

 

 

13-136S – Thancred

I like this Thancred. Every time another Scion enters the field, Thancred gains +2K and Brave. Haste, too, if it’s on the same turn Thancred comes in. You’ll usually have a 10K body with Brave to throw around.

And Blasting Zone, will let you Break a Forward without even trying too hard.

 

 

 

13-137S – Innocence

9K with Brave, these Forwards get beefier with every set. And the two abilities Innocence has will send your opponent in a downward spiral. Especially of they’re discarding 2 cards each turn.

 

 

 

 

13-138S – The Oracle of Light

Do you have a Scions deck that needs more power? Well, have I got a card for you. The Oracle of Light here, will give all your Scions +2K. An Upgrade from the mere +1K most Backups give. Not only that The Oracle of Light is also a Forward, but does not count as a Scion.

When The Oracle of Light is broken, you can Remove her from the game and play a Scion from the Break Zone on to the field Dull.

I’ll take 3, Please.