Magic: The Gathering‘s Remaining Fantasy crossover set is a love letter to one among gaming’s most enduring franchises, bringing collectively characters, creatures, places, and iconic moments from throughout the sequence’ historical past. With 16 mainline video games and much more when counting sequels and spinoffs, Wizards of the Coast had fairly the problem in translating many years of RPG storytelling right into a card recreation with its personal language and mechanics.
Filled with hilarious nods, like Suplex, and unimaginable powerhouses, like Diamond Weapon, it comes as no shock that Remaining Fantasy is among the many finest Universe Past units within the recreation. However probably the most excellent designs amongst them seize a elementary factor of their supply materials, whether or not that is Bahamut’s devastating Mega Flare, Phoenix Down’s clutch resurrection, or the sheer spectacle of summoning Primal Odin.
Whether or not via intelligent mechanics or an impressed little bit of taste, these 10 Remaining Fantasy playing cards characterize the perfect of what this crossover has to supply.
10
Sin, Spira’s Punishment
Sin anchors the legacy of Remaining Fantasy antagonists via crushing generational dread, and its card design captures that weight with out counting on a lazy stat line. At any time when Sin, Spira’s Punishment enters the battlefield or assaults, it exiles a random everlasting card out of your graveyard, making a tapped token copy if it is a everlasting and repeating the method if a land is hit. Sin is especially nasty in Commander decks constructed round graveyard recursion and land synergies, particularly when paired with playing cards like Adrix and Nev, Twincasters, which doubles the tokens it creates, or Hedron Crab, which helps inventory the graveyard with recent targets.
It is an unpredictable engine that turns the remnants of your battlefield into compounding threats all through the sport. Spira’s Punishment additionally evokes the inescapable cycle of destruction and rebirth that defines Remaining Fantasy 10, the place Spira’s individuals have endured a thousand years of Sin’s devastation, rebuilding their lives after every assault and counting on Summoners to briefly defeat the monster via a ritual sacrifice. Even its seven-mana price feels totally acceptable for a monster of its magnitude, although possibly 10 would’ve been extra apropos.
9
Buster Sword
Weapons in gaming not often carry the moment recognition of Cloud Strife’s huge Buster Sword — whether or not you image it crudely strapped to his again through the bleak industrial sprawl of early Remaining Fantasy 7 or dragging it via the mud in Remake — however its significance extends effectively past its imposing silhouette. Handed down via Angeal, Zack, and finally Cloud, the sword represents the heavy burden of legacy and what one era leaves behind for an additional.
Magic: The Gathering captures a few of that historical past via its tools design, with the Buster Sword giving its wielder a considerable energy enhance of +3/+2. At any time when mentioned creature hits an opponent immediately, you draw a card, then get the chance to solid a spell out of your hand totally free, supplied its mana worth does not exceed the harm dealt. It is a suitably devastating reward for touchdown a direct hit, and a becoming tribute to one among Remaining Fantasy’s most enduring symbols.
8
Jumbo Cactuar
At first look, Cactuars seem like little greater than strolling houseplants, however when crossed, they’ll hit you with a devastating flurry of needles. Amongst Remaining Fantasy’s most recognizable recurring monsters, Cactuars have made a profession out of trying innocent earlier than delivering some devastating blows, much like the goofy-looking Tonberries. MTG’s Jumbo Cactuar follows that lineage superbly via a seven-mana creature with a comparatively unassuming 1/7 stat line. It seems like all common inexperienced frequent creature, till you discover its skill, 10,000 Needles, which provides it a whopping +9,999/+0 each time it assaults.
That is proper, this seemingly innocent plant all of a sudden turns into a ten,000-power monster able to flattening absolutely anything in its path. It is an nearly comically literal interpretation of the Cactuar household’s signature assault, and that is what makes it so good (and hilarious). There is no want for elaborate transformations or sophisticated synergies. Magic merely takes one among Remaining Fantasy’s most recognizable monster talents and turns it right into a devastating fight trick.
7
Lightning, Military of One
Whereas Remaining Fantasy 13 stays probably the most divisive entries within the franchise’s storied historical past, Lightning herself stands tall as one among its absolute most interesting protagonists. She’s a relentless soldier outlined by unwavering resolve and fast motion, a former Guardian Corps sergeant who goes AWOL through the violent exile of Bodhum’s residents, derailing a Purge prepare and battling via the Hanging Edge to rescue her sister.
Her Magic card captures that uncompromising spirit proper out of the gate. A 3-mana creature with first strike, trample, and lifelink is already a formidable combatant, however her stagger skill is what makes the design sing. At any time when Lightning, Military of One offers fight harm to an opponent, all harm dealt to that participant and their permanents by any supply is doubled till your subsequent flip. It’s a superb adaptation of FF13’s defining fight rhythm, the place staggering an enemy leaves them utterly uncovered to devastating follow-up assaults. Magic turns her into the tip of the spear for an all-out assault, translating one of many sequence’ signature mechanics right into a game-winning tactical engine.
6
Zack Truthful
Zack Truthful’s story is one among Remaining Fantasy 7’s most heartbreaking, significantly as a result of his ultimate moments have such a profound influence on Cloud’s journey. Magic honors the character with a 0/1 legendary creature that enters with a +1/+1 counter on it. You may play one mana to sacrifice Zack Truthful and provides one other creature indestructible, Zack’s counters, and even the tools connected to him.
It is a considerate piece of design that primarily turns his dying into an act of safety and inheritance. There is no elaborate transformation or sophisticated mixture of talents, Zack’s ultimate act turns into a playable mechanic, permitting one other hero to hold his power and tools ahead. It’s exhausting to think about a extra poignant tribute to a personality whose complete legacy is outlined by passing the torch, and a few gamers have discovered intelligent methods to abuse it by looping him from the graveyard with reanimation engines like Solar Titan or Lurrus, repeatedly granting their board indestructible whereas continuously passing his stat boosts down the road.
5
Aerith Gainsborough
Aerith’s energy has all the time stemmed from light resilience somewhat than overwhelming drive. She’s a healer, in spite of everything, and the final surviving Cetra, hiding in plain sight promoting flowers within the Sector 5 slums whereas carrying the solitary burden of the Planet’s survival. In Magic, Aerith Gainsborough is a 2/2 legendary creature that enters the battlefield with lifelink, and everytime you achieve life, she receives a +1/+1 counter. This makes her progressively stronger as she helps your different creatures and retains your life complete at a wholesome benefit over your opponents.
Nevertheless, the actual stroke of genius comes when Aerith dies. Each legendary creature you management receives +1/+1 counters equal to the quantity Aerith had accrued throughout her time on the battlefield. It is an attractive mechanical interpretation of her legacy, significantly contemplating the profound influence her dying has on Cloud and the remainder of the celebration within the authentic recreation. Aerith’s affect does not disappear when she’s gone, however lives on via the individuals she leaves behind. And it’s even higher once you’ve already bought a 12/12 Eldrazi on the board.
4
Yuna, Hope of Spira
Remaining Fantasy 10’s Yuna is a summoner at the start, making her probably the most pure candidates for a Magic card constructed round enchantments and their related creatures. What makes Yuna, Hope of Spira significantly intelligent is how the cardboard encourages gamers to assemble a group of saga creatures, the particular enchantments launched within the Remaining Fantasy set to characterize the franchise’s iconic summons.
Throughout your flip, Yuna grants herself and your different enchantment creatures trample, lifelink, and ward 2, making all the group significantly harder to take care of. She will be able to additionally return an enchantment out of your graveyard to the battlefield on the finish of your flip, however with a finality counter on it that stops it from returning to the graveyard once more. It is a incredible illustration of Yuna’s position as a summoner, turning her into the centerpiece of a whole Aeon-focused technique with enchantment creatures playing cards like Yojimbo, Bahamut, Knights of Spherical, and extra.
3
Summon: Knights of Spherical
Talking of Knights of Spherical, it is as a lot a strong Magic card as it’s a legendary summon within the video games. First showing as the final word secret Materia in Remaining Fantasy 7, tucked away on the unmapped Spherical Island and requiring a Gold Chocobo simply to succeed in, it calls forth 13 holy knights to rain down an unskippable two-minute-long assault of apocalyptic harm. It was absolutely the pinnacle of endgame extra, forcing gamers to sit down again and watch a cinematic spectacle unfold whereas Sephiroth’s well being bar disintegrated.
Magic’s interpretation of it’s each bit as theatrical. Designed as an eight-mana Saga creature, Knights of Spherical regularly builds a military by creating three 2/2 Knight tokens throughout every of its first 4 chapters. That’s twelve knights in complete, earlier than its fifth and ultimate chapter delivers Final Finish, buffing your complete board with +2/+2 and dropping an indestructible counter onto every of your creatures. It is a splendidly affected person piece of design that rewards gamers for ready out the total summon sequence, turning that notoriously lengthy animation right into a looming, game-ending countdown your opponents can solely watch in dread. Except they’re in blue, after all.
2
Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER/Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel
Sephiroth’s transformation from celebrated First Class SOLDIER hero to the chilly One-Winged Angel stays one among gaming’s most devastating character arcs. He wasn’t only a villain; he was Shinra’s final hero whose sanity shattered the second he uncovered his horrific origins contained in the Nibelheim mansion: he was engineered from the alien calamity Jenova. He burned Nibelheim to the bottom and commenced viewing humanity as mere parasites. His tragic fall shifted all the scope of Remaining Fantasy 7 from an anti-corporate resistance story into an apocalyptic cosmic horror.
Magic imbues that journey onto a double-faced creature that grows extra harmful because the battlefield descends into chaos. On his entrance aspect, Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER means that you can sacrifice one other creature each time he enters or assaults, drawing a card in return. In the meantime, each time one other creature dies, you drain one life from an opponent and achieve one your self. As soon as that second skill has resolved for the fourth time in a single flip, Sephiroth transforms into his One-Winged Angel kind, granting an emblem that retains the life-drain engine working completely each time creatures die. You can even even stack that along with his second skill, letting you sac as many creatures as you want in change for that many card attracts. It is an impressed method to characterize Sephiroth’s rising energy, turning the battlefield right into a ticking clock as his enemies fall round him.
1
Absolute Advantage
Remaining Fantasy 11 has no scarcity of formidable enemies, however few developed the identical legendary popularity as Absolute Advantage. This elective superboss grew to become notorious for its extraordinary sturdiness and punishing problem, incomes a popularity as probably the most irritating encounters in all the franchise. Absolute Advantage might repeatedly unleash highly effective talents borrowed from a number of participant lessons, together with Benediction, which allowed it to revive huge quantities of well being simply when victory appeared inside attain. Its substantial passive regeneration made issues even worse, turning the encounter into an exhausting warfare of attrition that demanded meticulous coordination from a whole alliance of gamers. Some teams spent greater than 18 hours making an attempt to defeat it, cementing its place in MMO historical past as one among gaming’s most infamous boss encounters.
Magic distills its intimidating presence via an eight-mana 8/8 building that may’t be countered when it’s performed, plus it has flying, after all. Much more terrifying is its secondary skill, which grants you safety from every of your opponents, successfully making you untouchable whereas Absolute Advantage stays on the battlefield. Opponents can’t assault you, goal you with spells, and even enchant you. It is a becoming translation of a boss that when appeared virtually inconceivable to defeat, forcing opponents to discover a method round its defenses earlier than they’ll even take into consideration bringing it down.