I won't pretend to know much about Final Fantasy.

When I was a kid, you were either a Legend of Zelda kid, or a Final Fantasy kid, and I was firmly in the former category. And we're talking hardcore; I could beat the original NES Legend of Zelda without getting the first sword at 10 years old!

When it comes to the Universes Beyond releases for Magic: The Gathering, some will speak to you (I'm a huge The Lord of the Rings fan), and some will not (I couldn't tell you a single thing about Avatar: The Last Airbender), but at its core, we are all Magic: The Gathering players, and there is nothing like new Magic cards.

Which is why I can't say much about the flavor of today's preview card, but holy cow can I talk about what it does and what it means for Standard and beyond!

Yes, that is an adventure on a land.

Yes, that is extremely powerful.

While we've got Omens in Tarkir: Dragonstorm that look similar, don't forget that adventure cards let you double dip on both sides if you cast the adventure part first.

At face value this card shares a lot in common with the MDFC lands from Zendikar Rising. These were double faced cards that allowed you to play either side as you saw fit - one side was a somewhat overcosted spell, one side was an enters the battlefield tapped single color land. The idea was of course that while neither side would really be playable on it's own, being able to decide in game whether you wanted a land or spell was well worth the slight downgrade on rate.

These have seen a good amount of play in various formats, and were a staple part of the Limited experience.

Final Fantasy ups the ante with these adventure lands, allowing you to have your cake and eat it too if you cast the adventure first.

So, let's look more closely at Ishgard, the Holy See:

As a land, Ishgard is a big downgrade from a basic Plains. It has no type (other than Town, something we don't know is relevant yet but may be), and of course enters the battlefield tapped, something usually reserved for only the most powerful of lands.

However, the spell half is a powerful late game spell in Faith & Grief, which can return up to two artifacts and/or enchantments from your graveyard to your hand. Like most MDFC-style lands, this card would not be playable by itself, but when you add on the modality of also just being a super low investment land, it starts to look much more appealing.

While Faith & Grief is a pretty niche card - you need to be playing a ton of artifacts and enchantments as well as be interested in playing a long game - the ramifications this new type of adventure-land card have are massive. Both adventures as well as MDFCs have experienced much success in Magic over the years, meaning there is huge potential here just waiting to be explored!