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Hidden Trials – By Lightning

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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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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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Emissaries of Light – Opinion on Ice

16-022R – Erwin

Wasn’t I just talking about discard?

Actually I’ve been talking about discard since Physalis came out.

But, Erwin here also comes with 4 or more Job Morze’s Soiree Member stipulation. And this is the second one we’ve seen.

I’m more interested in what other cards I shall find.

 

16-023H – Agrias

This is one Knight I can stand behind.

I’m guessing you’ll already be playing FFT/Knights or some sort, making Agrias a 2CP/8K Forward that gains a Crystal every time she attacks.

I’ll take 3 please.

 

 

16-024H – Vincent

How about a way to stop your opponents Backups from activating?

Vincent here has got your Back(up), dulled up and not being able to activate. Which is a pretty good deal if you ask me. And, that’s not even taking into account his S ability. Making Vincent near invincible to all Damage.

 

 

16-025C – Bard

Another card that you can place on the field, until you need to use his ability. Then you return to hand and replay it, to put Bard into the Break Zone and make your opponent discard 2 cards from their hand.

 

 

 

16-026L – Cloud of Darkness

Removal of the Crystal kind.

Cloud of Darkness + 2 Crystals = 1 Forward removed from game to the 2nd power. Make any sense?

And +2K at 3 points of Damage.

Looks like too much math over here. Is there a Full Art of this card?

16-027C – Black Waltz 1

Same as Black Waltz 2.

“There’s more to this card than just the Beautiful (yes, a capitol B) artwork.

Black Waltz 1 can work wonders all by himself.

Black Waltz 1 discards Black Waltz 1 from your hand. And you deal 4000 Damage for discarding Black Waltz 1 from your hand, and 7000 Damage to a dull Forward when you discard a Job Black Mage from your hand.

You’re either Breaking 1 or 2 Forwards with this ability.”

Well, almost the same.

16-028C – Shiva

Break a dull Forward.

Depending on what you’re playing your opponent will discard a card from their hand. Sometimes. Not all the time.

Meh.

 

16-029R – Shelke

This card should have been WoFF/VII. Would have made more sense.

I think I like this card. Works just like Meltigemini (8-128R), but Shelke only works in your favor.

There’s something else I wanted to say, but I must have forgotten. Something about Vincent, but I went and looked at that card again and couldn’t remember what it was.

And, don’t forget about Countertek.

16-030L – Shantotto

Shantotto is now Ice??? What has this game come to?!?

This is a great card. Shantotto still does what Shantotto does.

If you’re playing a discard deck, you’re already ahead as you’ll end up paying only 1CP for Shantotto and you’ll grab a card from the Break Zone. Technically they’re paying you to cast Shantotto. If that’s not enough well then, that’s all Shantotto does.

Unless you decide not to play Shantotto and just remove her from the game from your hand, and You’ll dull all your opponents Forwards.

That is all.

16-031R – Scarlet

Scarlet took her sweet time to appear in FFTCG. Only 16 sets.

Interesting.

1CP and dull Scarlet for a Development Counter. Choose 1. Next turn 1CP and dull. Choose 2. And so on and so forth.
The longer Scarlet stays on the field, the harder time your opponent will have getting anything done.

Is Shinra about to become a threat?

Yes, I did base that off of just one card.

16-032H – Serah

You’re playing a XIII deck with Ice? Hmm, just grab the XIII starter set and your set. Either one will do, and throw Serah in there.

That’s the easy way out.

Decent card though. Your opponent discard a card, and you draw a card.

But, what I really want to know is … Are we gonna get a new Fang?

 

16-033C – Celes

Hmm, Celes is taking Jihl Nabaat’s duties. But, for Backups.

Ice is getting good cards.

 

 

 

16-034C – DG Sniper

If you got 2 DG Snipers you can Break a Forward when the second one enters the field.

That is if you have some Crystals stashed away.

 

 

 

16-035C – YKT-63

YKT-63 can play well with DG Sniper.

That way you’ll only need 1 DG Sniper instead of 2.

YKT-63 is also a little cheaper to play.

 

 

16-036C – Devout

Simply play this card for the Crystal, and to have your opponent discard 1 card.

 

 

 

 

16-037R – Babus

This one is a fun card.

Instead of you choosing what this card does, your opponent gets to choose whatever he would like inflicted on him.
I mean, I’d play it just to have them decide on what they get to do. Or not do.

 

 

16-038H – Byblos

We talked about Byblos last month, but now you also get to see all the cards that will play well with Byblos that just came out this set.

It seems like every other Ice card stated, “Your opponent discards 1 card.”

Lots of Ammo, for Byblos in this set.

 

16-039C – Heavy Armored Soldier EX

Here we go, search for a Standard Unit, or more specifically DG Sniper.

5CP is quite high for a search, but you can also search for a Standard Unit off an EX Burst.

 

 

 

16-40R – Mustadio

A free card to play during your opponents turn after you made your opponent discard a card from there hand.
Or even during your own turn. I’m sure you already have plenty of cards in your hand that will cause your opponent to
discard a card from their hand.

Dull a Character when Mustadio enters the field, and gain a Crystal when he is put into the Break Zone.

 

16-041C – Yunalesca

Play Yunalesca to discard a card, to make your opponent discard a card, to play Mustadio.

I’m sure there’s a better use for this.

 

 

 

16-042R – Lasswell

How is this just a Rare?

I would have made Lasswell a Hero.

Every time a Knight enters the field, Dull and Freeze 1 Character?

And at the end of your turns if Knight attacks your opponent discards a card.

All this for only 2CP. 5000 power is easily fixed by Ovelia (1-156C) and Duke Larg (1-057R)