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.
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.
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
“I have a name. It’s Lumina. And, I know a lot about you.”
SPOILER ALERT
If you haven’t played Lightning Returns and don’t want anything ruined, move along.
If you have, continue on.
Datalog Entry
-Lumina
This mysterious young girl appears to be able to control the power of Chaos, and likes to get in Lightning’s way at every turn.
It seems that she has met Snow before, and the two have more than just a passing acquaintance. but Lightning has spent the last five centuries in crystal, and she has no way of knowing what could have happened between the two.
Still, she cannot deny that the girl bears a striking similarity to Serah. But Serah is dead, and this Lumina seems to have her own goals.
So, just who is Lumina?
Lumina, is a vessel that was created when Lightning went into Crystal Stasis, in order to protect Serah’s heart to protect her from Chaos.. And, while Lightning was in Crystal Stasis, Lumina kept in contact with everyone that was a part of Lightning’s story.
From being there when Fang and Vanille woke up from their Crystal Stasis, to keeping Vanille company when she was lonely as the High Priestess. Showing Noel the oracle drive where he defeats Lightning, Giving Sazh a coffer of souls to collect Dajh’s Soul Fragments in order for him to wake up. Lumina also came in contact with Caius and Snow, but not Hope. Nothing to do with Hope, because Hope is dead. He’s just a puppet now. Bhunivelze’s puppet.
19-052C – Undead Princess
Undead Princess is a cheap Forward to play that can block any attack. Even though she only has 2000 power, she can still block an attack to save you from taking damage.
But, Undead Princess I don’t think Undead Princess is meant to be played as a Forward. You can put her into the Break Zone to give a Forward +4000 power until the end of the turn.
And, once she is in the Break Zone, you can remove her from the game and give an Earth Forward +2000 until the end of the turn.
Undead Princess rises from the grave once again to give you a Buff.
19-053C – Vanille
This is a decent card.
When Vanille comes in, you can go through your opponents Break Zone and remove a card from there. Doesn’t matter which one, just grab a card and remove it. This is good when your opponent has a way of grabbing cards from the Break Zone.
What I really like though, is her ability.
When your opponent casts a Summon, you can dull Vanille, and if they don’t pay 2CP you can cancel the Summon.
Either way, if your opponent pays and it goes through or it gets canceled it is a win for you.
19-054C – Vincent
It looks like we’ve been getting more Vincents in the last couple of sets.
Theatrhythm Vincent is a Backup that deals 5000 damage to a Forward when he enters the field.
And, when you reach 3 points of damage, you can put him in the Break Zone and deal 7000 damage to a Forward.
I always like Backups that have a way to send themselves to the Break Zone, that way you can play another Backup with an enter the field ability.
19-055R – Eiko
Eiko is a Coupon Code. Instead of paying the cost to cast a Summon, you can just dull 3 active Summoners and cast the Summon. You can choose any Summon up to a cost of 7CP. That’s almost all the Summons in the game except for 5.
This also means you can play Summons that are out of your elements. As long as you have Summoners on the field, you are good to go.
Plus, Eiko is only 2CP.
19-056C – Graff
Are you playing Mono-Earth?
Then you should be playing Graff.
When he enters the field you can Break a Forward. Any one you’d like.
This effect will only go off if you only paid with Earth CP.
Still a good way to get rid of a pesky Forward.
19-057L – Kefka
You heard about Free Summons, what about a Free Forward?
Kefka, the Dancing Mad Mage, is here and he can be played for F-R-E-E.
Just like that if your opponent has 3 or more Forwards on the field, Kefka will come in for Free.
That means you can splash Kefka into any deck without worrying about finding a way to pay the cost as he will be free. Free like a bird, he’s going to fly straight onto the field with a 9K body.
Not only that, but when Kefka is sent to the Break Zone, you can play a Summon from your Break Zone for free as well.
That’s double the free, with no Crystal Points down.
And, let’s not forget about that Amano art.
Yes, I’ll take 3 please.
19-058R – Jenova SYNTHESIS
Big Body, Big ability, and a last name full of capitol letters. I meant CAPITOL letters.
Jenova Synt … SYNTHESIS (you have to yell it out to get the full effect.) comes in and deals damage to all the Forwards your opponent controls, If you have 5 Backups, it’ll be 8000. Pair this with From Nightmares Matoya, and you might have a board wipe.
5CP 9000 power. Could be useful
19-059R – Aster Protoflorian
You should be ready to pay 7CP to play Aster Protoflorian. If you don’t you might as well play a different card. You need to get both of his abilities off when he enters the field cause after that all he’ll do is be a decoration on your field.
He’ll also count as a Category XIII Character for certain abilities in the Starter Set.
19-060C – Animist
Animist doesn’t do much till you have 3 points of Damage.
Animist does have an ability that lets you play a Monster of 2CP or less straight to the field. That way you can play a Monster without worrying about paying the cost.
And, at 3 points of Damage when Animist enters the field, you can search for a Monster of 4CP or less and add it to your hand.
19-061H – Doga
Looking at the card it took me a second to realize that it was drawn from the top.
Doga will fit good into an Fire/Earth or Earth/Lightning Deck. Or any Earth deck if you have a way to produce Fire or Lightning CP.
When he enters the field, Doga allows you to discard a Summon for to Crystals. You can use those Crystals to cast his abilities. One is to deal 7000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards, the other is to Break a Forward.
As long as Doga stays active, this is a good card to play.
When I first read this card I was thinking how can you fit this into a deck, but then I remembered that there are Backups that pay for different elements. Let’s take Tyro for instance and Class Tenth Moogle.
19-062R – Nacht EX
If you’re Warping, Nacht is a cheap play. If not, he costs 6CP.
Nacht is basically an Opus VI Titan with a body. Once he enters the field you pick 2 Forwards. One of yours and one of your opponent’s, and they deal damage to each other. This ability also comes off of an EX Burst.
19-063H – Barret
This Barret can be put in the AVALANCHE deck, but is it a better card than the Barret that is mostly used?
Probably not, but it does have some good things going for it.
If you’re playing a lot of Multi-Element cards it could be of use as when you cast a Multi-Element card you’ll deal 4000 damage to all the Forwards your opponent controls.
After that when he is put into the Break Zone, you can search for a Forward other than Barret and add it to your hand.
19-064R – Fenrir
Your Earth Free Summon.
Free is free. So, you might as well play this.Break a Multi-Element Forward or Break a Light or Dark Forward. The choice is your when Fenrir is cast.
There’s some use for it against some decks, but what about the decks that don’t have Multi-Element Forwards or Light/Dark Forwards?
19-065C – The Deathlord
The Deathlord will bring you closer to your death.
Or something like that.
I thought I found a good Combo, but then I realized it said Characters so you can’t cast Fenrir.
But, you can pull out a Kefka from the Break Zone, and play him straight to the field, if your opponent has more than 3 Forwards on the field. Now the other card can be anything you’d like, but I’m pretty sure there is something good here.
And, I’m sure someone already figured it out.
19-066C – Behemoth
Monsters, Plenty of Monsters.
We like this Monster, well I do at least.
When Behemoth enters the field you can Stop a Forward. They won’t be able to attack or block until the end of the next turn. But, they will be able to cast abilities.
Behemoth can also become a Forward once per turn, for the cost of 1 Earth CP. A 7K body for 1CP isn’t bad at all. Sure you’ll need to pay each turn, but you’ll usually have an extra CP laying around.
19-067C – Monk
Here’s a quick buff to all your Forwards. +2000 power can go a long way, add in Enna Kros from Opus I and you’ll have a 3K buff. Not only that but, you can play up to 3. That means that, technically you can have a 7K buff for all your Forwards.
Is there a way to pull it off? Paying 12 CP in one turn?
Let’s see. 5 Backups plus 7 cards in your hand, 3 are Monks so that leaves 4. Those 4 cards in your hand will pay for 2 of the Monks, while the 5 CP from your Backups will pay for the third. And you have one Backup left, which you’ll probably have no use for.
It can happen. Is it worth it? Probably not, but it would be fun when you pull it off.
Oh, and if you pay for the Monk with 3 different elements, you can choose a Forward, and Monk and the other Forward will deal damage to each other, possibly breaking a Forward.
19-068R – Rydia
A 5 cost Backup, that searches for a Job Summoner, and a Summon.
Both need to be of different elements.
Other than that, the art looks good, almost reminds you of Amano’s work. Sort of.
