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If you didn't catch our previous Final Fantasy articles going over the White, Blue, Black, and red 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!
Ancient Adamantoise
Man, I absolutely love turtles, and they always have the most wild designs, like Fecund Greenshell, Ambling Stormshell, and Blossoming Tortoise. The Adamantoise is no different, including the fact that it's clearly made of the same material as Wolverine's claws. (Please clap.)
As with every other expensive spell in the set, if you can get over the eight-mana cost here, you have a humongous 8/20. I love the idea of the Adamantoise being like a second player in a Two-Headed Giant game. I also love the idea of trying to blink it in order to clear all the existing damage off of it. But even if you can't do that, and the turtle manages to soak up twenty damage that would otherwise be going toward your creatures or your dome, you're still going to net ten Treasure tokens when this guy dies, which is a very nice little perk. (Even though it will probably be like turn 12 or something by then.)
Oh, you can also freely attack with your eight-powered turtle, because vigilance, so that's cool too.
Commune with Beavers
I absolutely love Green cards that do their best Serum Visions or Ponder impressions as well. For some reason, if a Blue card does this, it tends to get banned, but when a Green card does it, it's no big deal! I'm sure this comes down to the fact that artifacts, creatures, and lands are just inherently weaker than the "any card" you could get from the generic Blue cantrips, but still.
While I think it's a little worse than something like Oath of Nissa, this is easily the best version of a "Commune with" card since it can hit all creatures, as opposed to something like just Dinosaurs and lands or something.
And come on...just look at those beavers!
Esper Origins
More Final Fantasy 3/6 time!
My issue with Esper Origins is that I don't necessarily want to spend six mana for what amounts to a surveil four and four life. I really wish this drew a card, but I know that isn't really Green's lane, and that would likely be too good on the front end. That gripe aside, this is a cool design as a sorcery that becomes a creature and I'm not sure that has ever been done before.
How playable is it? I can't say for sure. The first chapter can likely draw you a card if you surveil correctly, but the third chapter is easily the most impactful. The big problem is that Summon: Esper Maduin is only a 4/4, so not terribly difficult to deal with, and you had to invest six mana to get there. I think if it can survive to the third chapter and you have a board to take advantage of it, it could be strong.
Jumbo Cactuar
This creature is completely moronic, but in the best way. Obviously the saddest part here is attacking with a 10,000/7 creature that doesn't have trample, or any form of evasion, but, you know, I suppose it does have 10,000 power after all. Just Fling it or whatever, I guess!
While I don't think Jumbo Cactuar is going to make any splashes in competitive formats, I do think it's an awesome card that is fantastic for the memes.
Torgal, A Fine Hound
Torgal is a fine hound! A good boy, you might say! The goodest of boys!
I'm always thrilled with cards that lean into typal synergies, but that also don't require a ton of those typal cards to be effective. What I mean is that, because Dogs and Wolves aren't a very heavily represented creature type, it's nice that your humans will always get at least one +1/+1 counter on them with Torgal in play. The fact that Torgal can also tap for any color mana similar to Paradise Druid makes me think it might actually see some amount of play.
Vanille, Cheerful l'Cie (and Fang, Fearless l'Cie)
I've always loved meld as a mechanic, as it's a great reward for a task that's difficult but not impossible. It gives you something to work toward that has a really cool pay off, and Ragnarok, Divine Deliverance is absolutely a cool payoff.
While I don't think Vanille by herself is the most exciting card, I think it's going to be fun trying to pull off a Ragnarok meld in Limited formats to get a 7/6 with vigilance, menace, trample, reach, and haste, that also kills something and draws you a cards when it dies. Vanille also being able to return Fang with her own ability is a nice bonus that really tries to keep the dream alive.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
