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Welcome back!
If you didn't catch our previous Final Fantasy articles going over the White, Blue, and Black cards, be sure to check those out first. I recount my history with the game franchise and how it created some of my fondest gaming memories.
Final Fantasy previews are pouring out, and the set looks great so far. It's really hitting a lot of nostalgia for me, and I'm sure for everyone else as well. I was a bit critical at first, because I thought cramming all 16 games into one set would be a bit chaotic. I still think it feels a bit chaotic because of this, but the set's designs have been great nonetheless.
In this and the next few articles, I'll be discussing some of my favorite cards that have appeared so far, and in each article I'll mention the latest date of previews I've seen, in case you wonder why I didn't include a specific card. For this one we'll be looking at cards up to 5/26.
Let's begin!
Clive, Ifrit's Dominant
There are definitely cards in this set that make me want to play the newer Final Fantasy games that I've missed before, and Clive is definitely one of them. I have to assume this was a major goal of this collaboration, especially considering that I've added numerous Final Fantasy titles to my Steam wishlist in anticipation of them going on sale. Lol
That being said, Clive is doing a lot here. Red cards love to make people discard their hands, but in terms of redrawing cards, the sky's the limit here. You've got a Boros Reckoner in play and Clive is drawing you five cards! If you only have Clive in play, you'll still draw two cards, which is nice.
Like a lot of the other cool, iconic legends in the set, 6 mana is a lot, but being able to flip this guy into a 9/9 that fights a creature, gives you a ton of mana, and eventually turns back into Clive rather than dying, could make it all worth it.
Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms
Gilgamesh is giving big Godo, Bandit Warlord energy. Both are 6 mana creatures, but Gilgamesh gets a big +3/+3 bump as a 6/6. Thankfully, even if Gilgamesh is the only Samurai in your entire deck, his ability will still work, letting you attach the equipment he finds to himself. Gilgamesh is also great because he has the "enters or attacks" clause, which is nice on a six-mana creature.
The fact that you'll get to look at twelve cards by the time you attack for the first time is great, because that almost guarantees that you'll have hit at least one equipment by that point. You can also put any number of the equipment that you hit into play, so if you manage to find two or three in the top 25% of your deck, you're basically just drawing free cards while getting the value of putting them into play for free.
A ton of the Red cards in this set are based on or around equipment, and I think Gilgamesh is one of the best cards that can still be used in a deck that isn't entirely focused on equipment. For example, I could see using it to find a strategy-specific equipment such as Colossus Hammer or Umezawa's Jitte. I think all Gilgamesh has to do is hit one equipment in order to have paid for itself.
Nibelheim Aflame
Nibelheim Aflame is kind of a wild card. I feel like the only real drawback here is having to control a creature, and that creature having to be large enough to play the role of an effective sweeper. However, the fact that you get two sweepers out of this, one of which can potentially refill your hand in the late game, makes this a very strong card in the right circumstances. Unfortunately, you cannot do the "refill the hand" part if you don't control a creature since Nibelheim will require a target.
Usually cards like this also find a way to kill the creature dealing the damage as well, but that's not the case here, which is a nice bonus.
Suplex
Like I've said previously, Final Fantasy 3/6 is one of my all-time favorite games, and being able to see Sabin suplex the Phantom Train on a card is pretty shocking.
In addition, the card is actually good, and basically just mimics an Abrade. The only real difference is that Suplex is a sorcery, but for that downgrade, you're exiling the creature or artifact instead of just destroying them. I doubt this will replace Abrade, especially with both cards being legal in all the same formats including Standard, but I would probably just play the weaker version for the memes.
Ultimately, I'm not super impressed by the Red cards in the set yet, because a lot of them seem to rely on equipment. Equipment strategies can be cool, but they require a lot of setup by having, you know, a good number of equipment. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
