Top 5 Red Cards from Magic: the Gathering - Final Fantasy for Commander

With Magic: the Gathering - Final Fantasy, Red mages have plenty to be excited about. This isn't just fireballs and reckless damage anymore - these red cards are packing serious value, unique mechanics, and powerful synergies tailored for Commander. If you thought Mono-Red in Magic: The Gathering was just chaos and coin flips, think again. These cards are well-tuned engines of aggression, recursion, and even card draw.

Nibelheim Aflame

What's better than turning your strongest creature into a walking board wipe? Turning it into a grudge-fueled, Sephiroth-echoing explosion of rage and recursion.

Nibelheim Aflame is a spell that leans into Red's brand of "personal vengeance as mass destruction." For four mana, you pick your beefiest creature and have it punch every other creature in a blazin' brawl. And if you flash it back later? Say goodbye to your hand - then say hello to four fresh cards. That's peak Red chaos, and in graveyard-based Commander decks, it can be the finisher or the comeback spark.

Great in: Reanimator decks like Slimefoot and Squee, Kefka, Court Mage, or anything that wants to "go big or go extinct."

Firion, Wild Rose Warrior

Haste? Check. Equipment value? Check. Making copies of gear with reduced equip costs? Oh, absolutely.

Firion enters like an Equipment commander's dream: he adds actual scale to your Voltron strategies. By making copies of your Equipment - complete with cost reduction baked in. Firion turns every Sword of This and That into a party. Yes, those token copies get sacrificed next upkeep, but by then you've already punched through with an arsenal.

Synergizes best with Hexplate Wallbreaker, Adaptive Omnitool, and for insane token management: Bloodforged Battle-Axe.

Zell Dincht

Zell is the poster child for Mono-Red land-tempo aggro. What's that? You've never heard of it? Well, I haven't too but Mr. Zell Dincht here is definitely leading the charge. He might come in as a 0/3, but if you're playing extra lands and you should be he hits like a truck wearing boxing gloves. Every land you drop is a damage boost. And at the end of turn, you bounce one back, which at first looks like a drawback... until you realize it fuels landfall again next turn or lets you reuse spicy lands like Bojuka Bog or Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge.

Great in decks with Sabotender, Valakut Exploration, Ghost Town, bounce lands like Gruul Turf, and Moraug, Fury of Akoum.

If a Red mage could wear their thinking hats for a few turns, I'm sure there's a build out there that loops value lands and triggers landfall - without even leaving Mono-Red.

The Fire Crystal

This card is everything Red wants in one glowing, volcanic gem.

Let's count the ways:

• It reduces Red spell costs (yes, that means its adds one instance of mana to an X spell like Comet Storm)
• It gives haste to all your creatures
• And it lets you copy creatures, even legendary ones for a turn, turning ETB effects into a chain of molten mirrors.

Four mana for a haste anthem is already decent - but add cost reduction and threat duplication? It's the kind of legendary artifact that demands removal before you untap for your next turn. Or else.

Decks and commanders that want The Fire Crystal in the 99: Krenko, Mob Boss, Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness, Purphoros, God of the Forge.

Clive, Ifrit's Dominant

Devotion in Red isn't just about flames - it's about fiery commitment. And Clive rewards that commitment handsomely.

When he enters the battlefield, you may discard your hand to draw cards equal to your Red devotion. If you've got even a semi-wide board, this could be a seven-card swing - especially if you had less than four cards in hand to begin with. Then, he becomes even nastier as his activated ability exiles and transforms him into a 9/9 behemoth that ramps you further, perfect for closing games.

What makes Clive, Ifrit's Dominant dominate?

• He's Commander-worthy, mid-game engine, and late-game finisher all in one
• He turns your worst top-decked hand into fuel
• And he rewards Mono-Red's devotion in a way that doesn't feel gimmicky at all

Suggested includes: Anax, Hardened in the Forge, Purphoros, God of the Forge, and Flameshadow Conjuring. Oh, throw in a Fanatic of Mogis there too.

Red may be known for acting first and thinking later, but the Final Fantasy cards bring a touch more finesse to that philosophy without sacrificing any of the heat. So, a recap of our Red picks include: Clive's devotion-fueled redraws to Firion's equipment duplicator antics, these cards aren't just flashy... they're format-ready for Commander and make for exciting new tools in your Magic: The Gathering arsenal.

If you're enjoying the color-by-color breakdown, be sure to check out my Top 5 Green Cards, Top 5 Black Cards, Top 5 White Cards articles for more deck ideas and evaluations as we prepare to summon our favorite legends to the Commander table.