"Listen to my story. This...may be our last chance."

The moment you fire up Final Fantasy X, you're greeted to one of the best opening lines in gaming. Coming hot off the heels of the legendary line of Playstation 1 Final Fantasy titles came this bold project on its sequel console, the Playstation 2. Released in only the console's second year, it proved to be revolutionary in its own right, showing just how much gaming could evolve with the leap forward the PS2 provided. The game introduced the series to voice acting, giving it a true cinematic feel most games could've only dreamed of previously, and it perfected the series' famous battle system.

Final Fantasy X would go on to become not only one of the most beloved games in the series but has since come to be considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Now with Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy, the game gets to make a showing in a big way through everyone's favorite card game. While I've already broken down the lore behind the game's Counter Blitz Commander precon at length, I'm going to cover everything in the main set and the Through the Ages bonus sheet as well.

Fair warning as usual before we get into this: talking about the lore of this game is going to tap into some notable spoilers. If you want to experience the game for yourself and see what all the hype is about, I encourage you to do that first and come back. Final Fantasy X is a phenomenal title that's worth checking out. For everyone else, though, I hope this will be able to provide a wonderful breakdown of the lore behind these numerous cards.

Grab your blitzballs and let's jump in!

Tidus is the main character of the game. Born in the legendary machina city of Zanarkand, the star player of the Zanarkand Abes (a blitzball team, more on that later) finds himself one day transported to the strange new world of Spira. There he discovers they too know of Zanarkand... but as a ruin that's been dead for a thousand years. Tidus struggles to make his way through this new world and understand it, but eventually comes to make it his home as a member of the summoner Yuna's party of guardians.

Late in the game, players discover exactly how and why Tidus ended up in Spira. In reality, the Zanarkand he grew up in was not the real Zanarkand but a Zanarkand dreamed up by the fayth - people who gave up their lives to be encased in stone and act as summons. Numerous fayth summon this dream Zanarkand into reality, with Tidus being among the dreamed - hence the name of his Through the Ages rendition. Thus, he disappears at the game's conclusion as the dream of the fayth ends.

Shortly after Tidus is dumped in Spira by the mighty and ferocious Sin, he finds himself trapped in the cold, flooded Baaj Temple. Soon after, he's picked up by a group of people speaking a language he can't understand but help take him in, provided he assists them in salvaging a massive airship from the bottom of the sea. These people, the Al Bhed, frequently make appearances throughout the game along with their powerful machina. Because of their use of this machina, they're treated as outcasts by the followers of Yevon and are frequently subjected to intense racism and hatred as a result by the rest of the world.

Soon after helping the Al Bhed, Tidus is sucked up once more by Sin and is sent to the island of Besaid where he befriends Wakka, Yuna, and the rest of Yuna's guardians. Combat Tutorial depicts - as the card might suggest - an early battle tutorial where Tidus attempts to attack a flan. Flan in most Final Fantasy titles are incredibly resistant to physical attacks, requiring mages to take them out with their magic. Here, the party's black mage, Lulu, comes out to instruct the player of this and show how useful alternating between party members is depending on the foe.

As an additional note, the Ice Flan shown in the respective card is from an area later in the game. This area is Lake Macalania, a frozen wasteland that leads to Macalania Temple where the player acquires Summon: Shiva.

Throughout the game, players can achieve an overkill status when killing enemies. To do so, players must reach a certain damage threshold to take out the opposing enemy. If they do, the word "OVERKILL" will appear over them as they die. Overkill provides you double the AP and item drops from each monster you achieve it on.

This art in particular depicts Tidus taking down the powerful foe Sinspawn Geneaux - a boss fought early in the game outside of Kilika Temple. Sinspawn are - as the name might suggest - monsters born from Sin that appear in its wake. Sinspawn Geneaux appears in Kilika shortly after Sin ravages the village.

It's time to blitz!

Both the most beloved and most disliked part of Final Fantasy X, Blitzball represents the popular sport played in Spira and formerly the city of Zanarkand. Blitzball is played at the stadium in the town of Luca (misspelled as Luka on the Through the Ages version of Strixhaven Stadium) and takes place in a large magical sphere of water. Both Blitzball and Blitzball Shot depict Tidus and Wakka, respectively, shooting and scoring a goal. The "GOOOOAAAALLL!" line on Blitzball is what displays across the screen as you score.

While there's only one time you're required to play Blitzball during the Luca sequence, you're able to continue playing it over the course of the game. As you do, you can unlock a variety of items, most notably Wakka's celestial weapon - the name for the game's ultimate weapons - World Champion. You can also unlock its upgrade items and Wakka's various Overdrive attacks this way as well. Double Overdrive is one of the bonuses the World Champion equipment provides in its semi-upgraded form.

After witnessing the harrowing events of Operation Mi'ihen and then visiting the temple at Djose, the team comes to the Moonflow. Looking to cross to reach their next destination, the team must cross with the aid of a large elephant-like creature known as the shoopuf. What makes this moment particularly memorable is the amphibious creatures known as the Hypello who ride and guide them across the Moonflow. They're known for their goofy method of speech, resulting in comical sayings like "Ride ze shoopuf?" and "Imposhibibble!"

After crossing the Moonflow and recruiting the Al Bhed Rikku in their party, the party reaches Guadosalam. This is the home of the Guado and, as the land's name would imply, of the Farplane. Seymour Guado rules as lord following the death of his father, Lord Jyscal Guado. As a half-human, half-Guado, he represents a medium between the two races. However, there seems to be something more sinister about him than he initially lets on...

After you visit Macalania Temple and are branded traitors of Yevon for your actions there, you are whisked away by Sin to the desert island of Bikanel. There, you find the Al Bhed city Home under siege by the Guado. Here, you find the Summoner's Sanctum, a place where the Al Bhed have been housing kidnapped summoners and their guardians to prevent them from sacrificing themselves to the ritual of the Final Summoning as they'll die.

The card depicts summoners Dona and Isaaru, as well as Isaaru's sibling guardians Maroda and Pacce. They're stuck in the Sanctum until the party frees them.

After being branded traitors of Yevon and facing a deep crisis of faith, Yuna comes to a crossroads about whether or not she should continue her pilgrimage. In a moment of passion and emotions, Tidus and Yuna embrace, solidifying their love that has been building over the course of the game. It's an incredibly tender moment, though has been noted as being a questionable choice for this particular card.

Oh hey, it turns out that Seymour guy wasn't all that trustworthy after all! He turns out to be a major antagonist of the game, and Seymour Flux represents your third time fighting him as you climb Mt. Gagazet on your way to Zanarkand.

Funny enough, this card art doesn't exactly depict any specific moment in the game. The flavor text, however, very much does. Shortly before an intense battle with Lady Yunalesca in Zanarkand at the end of Yuna's pilgrimage (in a dark-lit setting as opposed to the bright one shown here), Auron recites a line that has become beloved by fans of the game:

"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!"

The rest of the party exchanges words of encouragement among one another as they psyche themselves up for one of the most intense battles of the game. Even seasoned veterans of the game are likely to die time and time again to this battle, making it all the more infamous as players would hear it repeated over and over again.

Anima is far and away the strongest summon in the game. It's somewhat a shame, thus, that it's only represented as a mere uncommon and not at least a rare. You obtain this summon upon returning to the Baaj Temple and encounter the fayth there, born of Seymour's mother who pledges to help you stop her son.

Jecht is Tidus's father, as revealed over the course of the story. Jecht winds up on Spira somehow like him ten years earlier where he becomes a guardian for the summoner Braska - Yuna's father. Jecht sacrifices him to the ritual of the Final Aeon and becomes a fayth for Braska's Final Aeon. After defeating Sin, however, Yu Yevon possesses the Aeon, slowly turning it into a reincarnation of Sin. Jecht is Sin, and as such becomes your final boss in the game setting up for an unlosable final confrontation with Yu Yevon himself.

As I noted at the top of this article, Final Fantasy X is one of the greatest games of all time. It's well worth playing and thanks to numerous remasters and rereleases is available on virtually every platform possible. Pick it up and give it a try. Just remember to bring some tissues for when you reach the ending.

Paige Smith

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