Final Fantasy's arrival in Commander could've been a hollow fanservice gimmick - all flash, no function. But no. These precon decks are stuffed with flavorful spells, clever new mechanics, and Commander-ready cards that are both flavor wins and are powerful.

These aren't just nostalgic callbacks - they're serious contenders for your 99. Here are my top 10 picks from the preconstructed decks:

Protection Magic

Cheap, instant-speed insurance for up to three of your best creatures. Shield counters act like temporary totems - surviving board wipes, combat, and pesky removal spells. It's flexible, political, and lets you laugh off removal-heavy pods.

Key cards

? Red XIII, Proud Warrior - Gives your shielded creatures trample and vigilance

? Damning Verdict - Makes sure only you have the beasties on board

? The Ozolith - So your shield counters don't go to waste

Tromell, Seymour's Butler

He turns ETB engines into a festival of proliferate. Every non-token creature enters with a bonus counter, then lets you scale proliferate equal to your creature count. He's begging to be broken - and in a Bant shell, you won't have to ask twice.

Key cards

? Prologue to Phyresis - The first step is to give everyone poison counters...

? Hardened Scales - More counters means more fun

? Evolution Sage - Landfall means proliferation, every time

Summon: Yojimbo

A Saga creature that controls the board, taxes your opponents, and drops a chest full of Treasure? Yes, please. It's hard to remove before the payoff, and by the time your opponents read the third chapter, you're already counting coins.

Key cards

? Smothering Tithe - Turns tax season into Treasure season

? Karmic Justice - Punishes those who try to remove your Saga

? Ondu Spiritdancer - With this one out first, you get two copies of Yojimbo

Champions from Beyond

This enchantment gives you tokens, card draw, and a giant team-wide buff. Light Party and Full Party are surprisingly easy to turn on with any go-wide build, making this a serious finisher in token shells - especially ones that make weenies in bulk.

Key cards

? Cathars' Crusade - Turns your Hero tokens into champions

? Mondrak, Glory Dominus - Doubles your forces for full effect

? Adeline, Resplendent Cathar - More attackers = more triggers

Hildibrand Manderville

He's absurdly resilient thanks to Adventure, and buffs your entire token team. The 2/2 Zombie from Gentleman's Rise is gravy. In Aristocrats or token decks, Hildibrand dies, returns, and dances again - a low-cost engine with high charm.

Key cards

? Endless Ranks of the Dead - Zombie token army maker

? Elspeth, Storm Slayer - Just an all-star

? Divine Visitation - Turns your token parade into angelic beaters

Edgar, Master Machinist

Edgar is a recursion engine for artifacts with a sneaky Voltron payoff. Replay one artifact per turn from the graveyard and buff him with your fattest machine's mana value. Suddenly your utility pieces become a win condition in disguise.

Key cards

? Scrap Trawler - Enables death loops and graveyard value

? Hellkite Igniter - Big mana value and a red-zone finisher

? Goblin Welder - Swap in win conditions, trade out junk

Espers to Magicite

The closest thing we've gotten to Soul Foundry meets Rest in Peace. Exile all opponent graveyards, then copy their best creatures into artifact tokens. It's disruption, theft, and board presence all in one tidy, instant-speed shell.

Key cards

? Mishra, Eminent One - Loves making token copies of artifacts

? Ruinous Ultimatum - Blow everything up before exiling graveyards

? Master Transmuter - Cheat and re-cheat the best creatures

Cloud's Limit Break

A modal masterpiece. For two mana, you get pinpoint removal. For three or four? A clean board wipe. Great in any White deck that wants flexibility especially ones that appreciate wrecking go-wide boards without sacrificing their own.

Key cards

? Sevinne's Reclamation - Bring it back, and hit them again

? Sunforger - Fetch it on demand

? Deflecting Palm - A surprise redirect pairs well with selective kill

Ultimate Magic: Holy

It's Heroic Intervention's righteous cousin plus a bonus if you foretell it. Make your board indestructible, then turn around and prevent all damage to yourself. Great for surviving alpha strikes, red board wipes, or just making sure your game-winning swing lands clean.

Key cards

? Teferi's Protection - Redundancy is key

? Eerie Interlude - Board wipe insurance with bonus ETBs

? Flawless Maneuver - Complete the holy trinity of White defense

Professor Hojo

Mad scientist, low-key genius. Hojo reduces the cost of your first creature-targeting activated ability each turn, and rewards you for it with card draw. That's huge for tap abilities, +1/+1 counter engines, or anything involving combat tricks.

Key cards

? Zameck Guildmage - Draw engine that stacks beautifully

? Buster Sword - Break theme and let Hojo give Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER his sword

? Skullclamp - Clamp for free and possibly get 3 cards

This is Our Final Fantasy

Magic: the Gathering and Final Fantasy fans, rejoice: these precons didn't just reprint old mechanics or slap on a fresh coat of Chocobo. They introduced new archetypes, tight synergies, and flavorful tools you'll actually want to play. Even if I wasn't a Final Fantasy fanboy, I can see that there's real value and creative spark in these cards. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an FF8 deck I want to theorycraft.