"This is an article I never thought I would get to write."

If you've followed along with my previous articles about Magic: The Gathering - Final Fantasy and my social media posts, this has become a common statement. Getting to talk about the game series that has brought me so much joy is a delight I simply cannot begin to overstate. Getting to produce monster articles talking about the titles that, to me, are the greatest and most influential games of my life is something special - especially when Magic itself is one of those greats.

This one, though, ties deeply into my time with Magic perhaps the most.

Today I'm talking about Final Fantasy XI.

I love Final Fantasy XI. Final Fantasy VII was the game that made me a fan of the series, but XI is where it turned into a lifestyle. Shortly after the game was released in late 2003, I got it as a Christmas gift. At the time, the game was so big that my family needed to go out and buy a dedicated graphics cards just to be able to play it. I fired up PlayOnline, downloaded all the updates, set up my account, and jumped right in.

I quickly found myself in the Republic of Bastok - an industrial city that became my home away from home throughout my teenage years. A Hume, an Elvaan, a Mithra - I played as all of them. I poured over the godawful Brady strategy guides planning what jobs I wanted to play (I had my eye firmly on Summoner) which turned into hanging around sites like Killing Ifrit and Alakazham. I'd meet up with my old buddies from Final Fantasy fansite Hell and Heaven Net (still around!) and we'd kill monsters, do quests, or traverse the world of Vana'diel.

So many of my core memories are thanks to this game. To say it had a huge impact on my life would be to undersell it. I lived and breathed Final Fantasy XI and I still play it to this day when I get the time.

At the same time I was picking up this, though, I was knee-deep in another game as well: Magic Online. That game was released only a year earlier at the tail end of 2002 and, much like FFXI, I picked it up right around the holidays. You had to buy it in a store back then as a physical disc! I played in the Legions prerelease to take a shot at getting a sick Phage the Untouchable avatar and instead walked away with a meager Akroma, Angel of Wrath one instead.

Just as Final Fantasy XI became a core aspect of my life as a teenager, so too did this game. I was already a Magic fan for four years at this point, but MTGO really expanded my knowledge of the game. It forced me to learn how the stack worked, how various keywords worked, and more. I discovered my love of Elves through this program, fell head over heels for Dragonstorm, and it would even eventually bring me back into Magic as a whole following an extended break. Also like FFXI, it remains a core part of my life and today I'm even a MTGO creator!

If I wasn't playing Magic Online, I was playing Final Fantasy XI. If I wasn't playing FFXI, I was playing MTGO. I was absolutely enthralled.

Now, over 20 years later, here we are. Final Fantasy came to Magic: The Gathering and these lifestyles finally crashed into one another completely. I've spoken at length about my love for tiles like Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy X, but more than anything I was eager to see the FFXI cards. There weren't many, but I'm so thankful we got the cool ones we got.

We got a silly little Goobbue.

We got the wyvern that follows you around when you unlock the Dragoon advanced job.

We got Prishe traveling from place to place seeking a way to save her home of Tavnazia, calm the Wyrmking Bahamut, and stop the resurrection of Promathia.

We saw the starting nation of Windurst and the woods of Ronfaure that border the Kingdom of San d'Oria.

We got the Shadow Lord, the final boss of the game's initial storyline and corrupted form of the Galkan talekeeper Raogrimm.

We even got FFXI Cid and his horrifying mouth.

Each and every one of these means something special to me. They're memories of places I've been, areas and characters I grew up with, and things that I treasure in my heart.

So, today I wanted to create two Commander decks for the two Final Fantasy XI legends that are pretty much exclusive to this set. Cid doesn't really count and, well, I already did an article for Gix a few years ago. That leaves only two legends, and they are humdingers: Shantotto, Tactician Magician and Absolute Virtue.

Both of these legends are incredibly meaningful to many, and one in particular is the stuff of myth. Shantotto became the face of Final Fantasy XI for many, a simple quest giver in the early expansions who later was given a much deeper role thanks to her popularity. Her penchant for rhyming couplets and monstrously destructive spells led her to become the most identifiable character in the game and frequently would represent the title in games like Final Fantasy Dissidia.

Absolute Virtue, though...

Oh man, we are gonna get to Absolute Virtue.

Absolute Virtue was the stuff of legend. The ultimate foe you'd hear whispers about in your linkshells and party chats. The monster you'd see articles written about on a then-major news site like Yahoo! or MSN. I never faced Absolute Virtue, but I knew of that creature's storied legacy within Final Fantasy XI and seeing the card almost made me fall out of my chair. I couldn't believe they did it.

We're going to get to that one, but first, let's check out the Shantotto decklist I've put together!

Shantotto, Tactician Magician | Commander | Paige Smith

• Commander (1)
• 1 Shantotto, Tactician Magician

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Archaeomancer
• 1 Archmage Emeritus
• 1 Ardent Elementalist
• 1 Balmor, Battlemage Captain
• 1 Brazen Borrower
• 1 Guttersnipe
• 1 Harmonic Prodigy
• 1 Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
• 1 Prompto Argentum
• 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1 Tellah, Great Sage
• 1 The Emperor of Palamecia // The Lord Master of Hell
• 1 Third Path Iconoclast
• 1 Ultros, Obnoxious Octopus
• 1 Young Pyromancer

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Ral, Crackling Wit

• Instants (17)
• 1 Big Score
• 1 Comet Storm
• 1 Consult the Star Charts
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Dismiss
• 1 Displace
• 1 Fires of Victory
• 1 Ghostly Flicker
• 1 Into the Roil
• 1 Kazuul's Fury // Kazuul's Cliffs
• 1 Mystic Confluence
• 1 Negate
• 1 Rewind
• 1 Self-Destruct
• 1 Street Spasm
• 1 Temur Battle Rage
• 1 Unexpected Windfall

• Sorceries (11)
• 1 Alrund's Epiphany
• 1 Bonfire of the Damned
• 1 Corporeal Projection
• 1 Fight with Fire
• 1 Lorien Revealed
• 1 Mizzium Mortars
• 1 Mizzix's Mastery
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Rite of Replication
• 1 Teleportal
• 1 Vandalblast

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Aqueous Form
• 1 Arcane Bombardment
• 1 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki
• 1 Stormchaser's Talent

• Artifacts (13)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Embercleave
• 1 Everflowing Chalice
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Helm of the Host
• 1 Izzet Signet
• 1 Leyline Axe
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Talisman of Creativity
• 1 Whispersilk Cloak

• Lands (37)
• 5 Mountain
• 6 Island
• 1 Access Tunnel
• 1 Arena of Glory
• 1 Ash Barrens
• 1 Castle Embereth
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Cori Mountain Monastery
• 1 Demolition Field
• 1 Desolate Lighthouse
• 1 Fiery Islet
• 1 Forgotten Cave
• 1 Izzet Boilerworks
• 1 Kher Keep
• 1 Lindblum, Industrial Regency
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
• 1 Riverpyre Verge
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Thundering Falls
• 1 Training Center

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So, before we get too deep into this one, I'll be honest: I never really got how Shantotto became so big. I played a lot of Final Fantasy XI, but several of the expansion stories I never got around to finishing for one reason or another. In the base game and early expansions, Shantotto is just a minor NPC who hangs out and gives out quests with a whimsical attitude about her. To this day I still haven't finished her own dedicated mini-expansion, A Shantotto Ascension.

However, whenever I've come back to the game in the last couple years I've gotten to experience her through Trusts. These are special NPCs that allow you to form a party in a time when it's nigh impossible to form parties with actual people the way the game was designed. Among the most ferociously powerful of these Trusts is Shantotto II - a powerful version of this beloved Tarutaru mage with colored orbs surrounding her. She unleashes wave after wave of powerful magic spells on your opponents, making her an invaluable asset as you make your way through Vana'diel.

I wanted to capture this spellslinging mastery with this deck, made all the better by the fact that Shantotto gets bigger and bigger the more spells you cast. Naturally, this is meant to play up the tiered magic strategy prevalent in the Final Fantasy set. However, with only three Blue and Red tiered spells that aren't the hottest for Commander, I looked elsewhere instead.

The obvious ones that leapt out to me instead were cards that utilized various forms of Kicker as well as Overload. Each of these cared about the amount of mana you spend on them, so doing something like overloading a Vandalblast is going to be far more powerful than it normally might be. I also leaned into spells with an X in their mana cost where possible, thereby allowing cards like Comet Storm and Bonfire of the Damned to be even more devastating than they already were.

Most of the rest of the deck is your typical spellslinging fare. Countermagic, removal spells, and card draw - all of it's here. So too are a handful of spellslinger powerhouses like Young Pyromancer and Guttersnipe, though they're more backup to the main mage herself. I also made sure to include equipment and auras that would make her difficult to interact with or perhaps make her unblockable. And hey - they even power her up as noncreature spells!

Shantotto may be a bit simple, but true to her in-game character she packs a wallop and is well worth checking out if you like this sort of strategy.

But now, I'd like to turn my attention to the big beast of Final Fantasy XI because, well, this one will take a bit more to explain. Let's check out the Absolute Virtue decklist and see exactly what it has to offer.

Absolute Virtue, Endboss | Commander | Paige Smith

• Commander (1)
• 1 Absolute Virtue

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
• 1 Bastion Protector
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Cloudsteel Kirin
• 1 Crystal Barricade
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Hushbringer
• 1 Magus of the Moat
• 1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1 Platinum Angel
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
• 1 Vexilus Praetor
• 1 Voice of Victory

• Instants (11)
• 1 Benevolent Offering
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Disallow
• 1 Dismiss
• 1 Flawless Maneuver
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Memory Deluge
• 1 Negate
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Emeria's Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave
• 1 Mind's Desire
• 1 Oketra's Last Mercy
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Spectral Procession
• 1 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Time Wipe
• 1 Winds of Abandon
• 1 Wrath of God

• Enchantments (7)
• 1 Authority of the Consuls
• 1 Blind Obedience
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Indestructibility
• 1 Leyline of Anticipation
• 1 Propaganda
• 1 Sphere of Safety

• Artifacts (19)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Azorius Signet
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Champion's Helm
• 1 Crawlspace
• 1 Darksteel Plate
• 1 Genji Glove
• 1 Hedron Archive
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Marble Diamond
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mithril Coat
• 1 Mjolnir, Storm Hammer
• 1 Short Bow
• 1 Sky Diamond
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Talisman of Progress
• 1 The Water Crystal
• 1 Thran Dynamo

• Lands (38)
• 5 Island
• 8 Plains
• 1 Adarkar Wastes
• 1 Ash Barrens
• 1 Azorius Chancery
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Celestial Colonnade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Demolition Field
• 1 Deserted Beach
• 1 Floodfarm Verge
• 1 Fountainport
• 1 Gates of Istfell
• 1 Glacial Fortress
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Hengegate Pathway // Mistgate Pathway
• 1 Irrigated Farmland
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Memorial to Genius
• 1 Memorial to Glory
• 1 Meticulous Archive
• 1 Mystic Gate
• 1 Nimbus Maze
• 1 Sea of Clouds
• 1 Secluded Steppe
• 1 Study

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If by now you haven't heard about exactly that the deal is with Absolute Virtue by now, allow me to explain it a little bit. This monster was unbeatable. No, really. It was un...beatable. You could not kill this Notorious Monster - or NM, the in-game term for special super powerful enemies. Numerous high level endgame groups tried and failed and whenever players would somehow find a way to kill it, it was treated as a bug or exploit that was then patched by developers.

Just what made it so powerful? Why was it so impossible to take down?

To start, it was simply an extremely powerful endgame boss to begin with. You found it only at the then-high point of the game's second expansion, Chains of Promathia, and only sometimes after defeating a series of other high profile Notorious Monsters. If you managed to take down the Jailer of Love, then you might be treated to the legendary beast.

But more importantly were the powerful short-term abilities it had access to: two-hour abilities (now one-hour ones) of several of the core jobs at the time. Here's a small breakdown of what they all do in a normal sense:

• Mighty Strikes (Warrior) - All of your attacks deal critical damage.
• Hundred Fists (Monk) - Your attacks hit rapidly with no delay.
• Blood Weapon (Dark Knight) - All of your attacks drain HP.
• Manafont (Black Mage) - Reduces MP cost for spells to 0.
• Chainspell (Red Mage) - Removes time needed to cast spells or wait to recast them.
• Invincible (Paladin) - You take no damage from attacks.
• Perfect Dodge (Thief) - Dodge all enemy attacks.
• Soul Voice (Bard) - Increases the power of your songs.
• Mijin Gakure (Ninja) - Basically Self-Destruct.
• Eagle Eye Shot (Ranger) - A powerful ranged attack.
• Benediction (White Mage) - Fully heals all party members.
• Meikyo Shisui (Samurai) - Allows you to use TP (tactical points) in smaller chunks to use multiple weapon skills to create skillchains.
• Call Wyvern (Dragoon) - Call the Dragoon's Wyvern (yes, like the card).
• Familiar (Beastmaster) - Powers up your pet.
• Astral Flow (Summoner) - Allows you to utilize the full power of your summons.

Naturally, you can see how access to all of these abilities - if in a somewhat repurposed manner - could be devastatingly powerful. Rhystic Studies' recent video on Sam's experiences with Final Fantasy touches on this power, showing just how devastating the Benediction ability can be. The attached link is timestamped so you can see the moment I mean, though I do recommend watching the entire video. Suffice it to say, though, Absolute Virtue was powerful - the real deal, even.

I have never run into Absolute Virtue. I have never fought it. I have never bested it. I'm unsure I ever will.

But hey, now I can run it as a commander in Magic: The Gathering. What an experience that is in and of itself.

With this deck I tried to capture the ferocity of Absolute Virtue. I wanted to show how hopeless it feels in the face of competing with this huge monstrous foe the way I would when I'd die repeatedly in the Valkurm Dunes or struggle to complete Promyvion - Holla. Countermagic, board wipes, tax effects, pillow fort abilities, even means to stop you from losing the game - all of them are here.

In addition to this, I sought to find ways to capture the essence of Absolute Virtue's access to all of the two-hour abilities. Mind's Desire was the first to come to mind, allowing you to cast spells for free in rapid succession like Manafont and Chainspell. Leyline of Anticipation also mimics the latter by allowing you to cast everything whenever you'd like. So too do the indestructible effects mimic Invincible and Perfect Dodge as well as cards like Genji Glove allow for the powerful attacks enabled by Mighty Strikes and Hundred Fists.

But of course, if there's one thing Absolute Virtue is known for, it's the powerful application of the Benediction ability. So, naturally, I had to find a means to fully heal you and I did just that.

No one plays Oketra's Last Mercy. It's not that great, no matter how much life you gain off of it. But for a deck like this, it's a spell that becomes essential and a perfect way to represent such an iconic enemy.

This is a deck that I'd only play if I was really trying to be the villain and to frustrate my friends. But hey, that's just the Absolute Virtue experience in a nutshell.

Final Fantasy XI is one of my favorite games of all time, and so too is Magic: The Gathering. While Magic has been going strong for some time, FFXI has been trending downward for some time, leading to the need for things like the earlier mentioned Trusts. But things are looking up as demand has gotten so high lately, they actually had to turn away new players from the game's most popular server, Asura.

If you have the means, I encourage you to check out this brilliant game. Final Fantasy XI is a living, breathing world full of magic and wonder if you give it the time it deserves, and Chains of Promathia is genuinely one of my favorite stories the entire series has to offer.

I'm so glad that I could share this with you all and this feels like a great capstone for the moment on why I've loved this set so much. We may already be onto other Magic sets with Edge of Eternities out and both Spider-Man and Avatar: the Last Airbender right around the corner. But hey, at least I got to experience something truly special before then.

Both games - both series - have been heavily intertwined throughout my life and these cards are a perfect example of why that is.

Thanks for reading and for letting me share this piece with you all.

Paige Smith

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