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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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Breaking the Limit?

Final Fantasy TCG – Anniversary Collection Set 2024 (that’s a mouthful) is just around the Korner. If you haven’t gotten your Pre-Orders in yet, we have some still available.

Pre-Order Here.

What’s on the Soap Box today?

Limit Breaks.

If you can remember they first showed up back in Final Fantasy VII when Cloud took enough damage and unleashed Braver for the first time. Running towards the enemy and then jumping up like a Dragoon, and bringing his sword down as he’s falling to strike at the enemy causing damage.

I had you there for a second.

We’re actually going to talk about the new mechanic that will be introduced in Hidden Hope.

Limit Break cards will actually be set in a side deck that consists of up to 8 cards. These Limit Break cards are only for your side deck. And, can be played at anytime you would normally be able to play them. You’ll be almost like a Black Mage, with spells ready to go. As long as you have enough MP that is. That MP is your side deck as well. Once you pay the cost to cast a Limit Break, you’ll also need to pay for the Limit Break cost as well. You can just take a look at how Toriyama has explained it.

Let’s take a quick look at these cards now.

Zack – 22-112R

Zack enters the field and deals 3000 damage to a Forward. After that he just sticks around the board, hacking a slashing, blocking and attacking. Until he breaks, and gets sent back to the Limit Break deck, but not before stopping by the Break Zone to confirm that he is actually broken.

Ace – 22-116L

Ace is looking like he will be a powerful card. Once Ace enters the field, Ace deals 1000 damage to all of your opponents Forwards. Just think for a second of what Ace can do if you’re playing Chocobos.

And, that’s not all cause when Ace attacks, you can reveal the top card of your deck, and if it’s a Wind card, which it will be if you’re playing Chocobos, you’ll add it to your hand.

Sure, Ace costs 8CP, but you’ll probably get that CP back, with the extra cards you’ll be drawing.

Viktora – 22-114H

With Viktora, you’ll want to keep your opponents hand at zero. Make them spend every last CP that they have. And, since Viktora is already a Dragoon, and most Dragoons are Lightning. Ice/Lightning is already good at this, Simply adding Viktora to your side deck will make your main deck that much better.

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Beyond Destiny : Finishing Starters

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21-125S – Onion Knight

Coming in with Haste this Onion Knight will bring a tear to your eye.

Meh, I tried.

Onion Knight comes in and if you decide to pay 2 Crystals, you can search for another Dissidia Forward and play them onto the field. Sure, they have to cost 3CP or less, but there are plenty of Dissidia Forwards to choose from.

No need to worry about Elements either.

Sword & Sorcery, is a decent ability that deals 10,000 damage to any Forward that decides to go up against Onion Knight and block him when he attacks.

Did we mention Haste?

21-126S – Cloud

Kingdom Hearts Cloud.

Was wondering when he would make another appearance.

Cloud is pretty straight forward. He enters the field, and deals 3000 damage for each Dissidia Forward that you control to a Forward of your choosing. This also comes off of an EX Burst.

Other than that Cloud is a 5 cost Forward with 9000 power. But, you can get around that. Instead of paying 5CP, you can just pay with 2 Crystals.

21-127S – Firion

Here’s Firion, the Rebel Warrior that will help you stock up on Crystals. That way you can pay for all of the Crystal abilities that the rest of your Deck likes to use. Weather it is paying for Cloud, or having Onion Knight search for a Dissidia Forward, or whatever else the rest of the Starters can do with the help of the Crystals.

Let’s get back to Firion.

Firion enters the field and deals a Forward 3000 damage. And if you have 2 Dissidia Forwards on the field, he’ll deal 7000 damage instead.

And that’s about it.

Sure, you won’t really care about his Entering ability, not when he has a way to acquire Crystals.

21-128S – Shantotto

Here’s another use for all the Crystals Firion will be able to get you.

When Shantotto enters the field, you can pay the additional cost of 2 Crystals, and grab a Dissidia Forward from your Break Zone and play it onto the field. Sure this Forward needs to cost 5CP or less, but it’s a free Forward so who cares.

You will be able to play 2 5CP Forwards for the price of one.

It’s Buy One Get One Free. Or B.O.G.O.

Salvation Scythe, is Dissidia’s answer to Opus I Jihl Nabaat.

Dull and Freeze 3 Characters.

I like it. You don’t even need to play Shantotto in a Dissidia deck. Just throw here in any Dull/Freeze situation to make thinks cooler.

21-129S – Terra

From the looks of it, it’s all about the Crystals.

A Crystal here, a Crystal there, here a Crystal, there a Crystal, everywhere a Crystal.

Terra shall come into the field, and your opponent discards a card. And if you’re playing this starter deck, you’ll probably be gaining a Crystal as well.

And then you can use that Crystal to Dull/Freeze, a Forward and draw a card as well.

Pair Terra with Shantotto and you can Dull/Freeze 4 Forwards.

It’s getting colder by the minute.

21-130S – Noctis

You see what they did there?

They gave you a somewhat cheap Forward with 9000 power, but you have to have a Dissidia Forward on the field in order to play Noctis.

But, you probably already got that covered. You’re playing this Starter Deck.

Well let’s see, Noctis comes in and Breaks a Dull Forward.

And, that’s about it.

It’s all because of the suit Noctis is wearing. And, then he’s pointing to himself, showing off his portrait on the wall.

Yes, we comment on the art when we have nothing else to say. We got to fill up space somehow.

21-131S – Warrior of Light

Here is another Crystal Generator

Warrior of Light comes in and gives you a Crystal, and after that, whenever a Dissidia Forward enters the field Warrior of Light gives you another Crystal. And, then you can use those Crystals and use them to pay for different abilities.

Such as the one right here on the card, that gives Warrior of Light +1000 power, and the ability to not be chosen by your opponent’s abilities. Now, that’s an ability.

Warrior of Light sure reminds me of Cecil. I actually thought it was Cecil until I started reading the card.

21-132S – Cecil

What’s not to like about this card?

Built in protection. Cecil is a Paladin like no other. Or so they say.

4CP/8000 power. Can’t be chosen by abilities, can’t take damage from abilities. A meat Shield at it’s finest.

Cecil also buffs all of the other Dissidia Forwards with +2000 power.

And, if that’s not enough, Paladin Force breaks those pesky high cost Forwards that like to stick around the field more than they should.

Now if Cecil had some FFIV synergy, this card would have been awesome.

21-133S – Tidus

Here’s a card in this deck that pretty much stands by itself, with no need for other Dissidia Characters. Tidus comes in and you return one of your opponent’s Forwards to their hand. And when you return a Forward to their owner’s hand, regardless of it being your or your opponent’s you draw a card and gain a Crystal.

And since there is no need for Dissidia Characters on the field for this ability to go off, you can pretty much play Tidus in any deck.

Sure, he costs 5CP, but you’ll get 2CP back when you return a Forward to your opponent’s hand. Plus, you could be drawing an extra card once per turn, making Tidus cheaper in the long run.

21-134S – Bartz

Bartz is ready to make this Dissidia deck work out. Bartz comes in and allows you to search for a Dissidia Character, add it to your hand. Bartz also gives you a Crystal

4CP, which comes down to 2CP after you draw a card. And if you already have another Crystal in your hand, play Shantotto, and then grab Cloud from the Break Zone.

Or something along those lines.

And, when Bartz is done attacking , and blocking and is sent to the Break Zone, you can remove Bartz from the game and gain an additional Crystal.

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Busters R’ Us

This could have been a real easy article to write. I could have just said let’s throw Zack into your AVALANCHE deck and call it a day. But, where’s the fun in that?

Although there might be a bunch of cards that are the same, we”re going to try and do this a bit different. A lot different that is.

We’re going to go with 2 different Zacks.

Zack (10-007H), just for the ability to ping damage here and there and at least a couple of time per turn. Pair that with a Summon that Breaks all the Forwards that have damage on them and you got yourself a wipe.

Zack (20-009L) Because it is just a great card, if you’re running anything SOLDIER related. And, we’ll be running at least a couple of Soldiers other than Zack.

We’ll start off with Zack’s mentor Angeal (3-0989R), not only is he a 7K body, but he also searches for Zack when he is sent to the Break Zone. That way you can just keep attacking with Zack and Angeal until they break, just so you can replay them once again.

Next we’ll be handing off the Buster Sword to Cloud (1-187S), and you’ll be saying that there are better Clouds than that, and we’ll say you’re right. But, this is Zack’s deck and Cloud is just helping out. Plus the good Cloud’s are Earth, and we don’t really feel like color fixing.

Time to find Zack’s girlfriend, Aerith (11-139S) this way we’ll be able to grab a couple of FFVII Forwards from the Break Zone.

And as I’m looking for Backups, there aren’t really any, that have anything to do with Zack. So, we’re going to change it. It shall be all Forwards. We might change this again later.

Cue the music.

Bum-Bum Bum-Bum Bum-Bum Bum-Bum

Sephiroth (11-138S), Dulls all the low powered Forwards every time Sephiroth attacks. You have to pay taxes to keep Sephiroth on the field, 3 cards from the Break Zone. You should have these in there, unless you’re opponent finds a way to remove all the cards from your Break Zone.

Roche (14-095H), we’re just grabbing any SOLDIER right now. Roche has always been a great card. You’ll always want to go first with Roche and just play him right away for no CP and swing for a point of damage.

We’re actually going to add a couple of Backups right now.

Class Second Moogle (10-016C) to help us with Ice CP.

Genesis (3-033L), I still love this card, even though I probably haven’t used it in years. Dull and Freeze a Character, and when Genesis deals damage, your opponent discards a card.

Next we’ll add in our generic SOLDIERs. SOLDIER : 3rd Class (10-009C) and SOLDIER : 3rd Class (20-02C). These 2 will search for each other when one enters the field, and when the other exits the field. SOLDIER : 3rd Class (20-032C) also gains a +1K buff for each SOLDIER : 3rd class that you have in the Break Zone.

We’ll add Johnny (20-096C), another Backup to help us grab a Character from the Break Zone, and we can use his ability to grab a FFVII Character from the Break Zone.

Hedgehog Pie (20-019C), just to get all 3 of the Hedgehog Pies out at the same time. After that they are ticking time bombs, that go off when you decide you want them to go off.

Duke Larg (1-057R), Lebreau (1-030R) and Lulu (1-150R). All three for the 1K buff they give to their respective element’s Forwards.

All we need is to throw in some Summons. Knights of the Round isn’t an option, so we’ll just go with Ramuh (15-101R), Shiva (8-032R), Phoenix (3-020H) and Bahamut (16-016C).

That’s pretty much what we have for Zack. Not the greatest.

Forwards

3x – Roche (14-095H)
3x – Angeal (3-098R)
3x – SOLDIER : 3rd Class (10-009C)
3x – Sephiroth (11-138S)
3x – Genesis (3-033L)
3x – Zack (10-007H)
3x – Aerith (11-139S)
3x – SOLDIER : 3rd Class (20-032C)
3x – Zack (20-009L)
3x – Cloud (1-187S)

Backups

3x – Class Second Moogle (10-016C)
3x – Lebreau (1-030R)
2x – Duke Larg (1-057R)
2x – Lulu (1-150R)
3x – Johnny (20-096C)

Summons

1x – Ramuh (15-101R)
1x – Phoenix (3-020H)
1x – Shiva (8-032R)
1x – Bahamut (16-016C)

Monsters

3x – Hedgehog Pie (20-019C)

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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