Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy is shaping up to be one of the biggest MTG releases of all time. Yes you read that right, of all time! Following in the footsteps of the success of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, Final Fantasy will undoubtedly be the hit set of this year.

Recently Wizards of the Coast showcased a reveal trailer for the set, taking a look at some of the new cards as well as the product lineup. The hype for this set looks like nothing I've ever seen before, with almost all the products showcased having their pre orders sold out on Amazon in one day's time. Final Fantasy is a tremendous IP, both in its scale and popularity, and it can be overwhelming to choose which products to buy. While I think this set will be widely available, it is uncertain at this time what products might be harder to purchase than others.

Whether you're a longtime Magic fan or just a Final Fantasy fan looking to collect some cards, don't worry! I'm here to help. Let's dive in and talk about which Final Fantasy product is right for you.

Set Pricing

I think before jumping into each specific product, one important thing to note about this set is its pricing. Like The Lord of the Rings, Commander products will be in the upper $60-70 range, with Collector Boxes around the $400-500 range. Play Boosters should come in at around $6-7, which is more expensive than the previous Lotr draft boosters (although we don't have set boosters anymore). This means Play Booster boxes should fall around $160-190. It's hard to tell where prices should settle due to the fact that stores haven't received their full allocations this far in advance.

While I wouldn't take out a loan to secure Final Fantasy product, I do think this set will be a little more popular than The Lord of the Rings. This is due to a few key factors, mainly the sheer popularity of the IP, the legalization of the cards in Standard and Pioneer, and previous data from Tales of Middle-earth. We know now for a fact that The Lord of the Rings Collector Booster boxes held their value and even doubled their price two years after release, even after the 1 of 1 The One Ring was opened. This makes me think that Collector Booster boxes will be pricier but will retain their value, and product won't fall below MSRP as we've seen with other Standard-legal releases.

Commander Decks

Final Fantasy has four different Commander decks, each showcasing a Commander with unique abilities from across four of arguably the most popular Final Fantasy titles: VI, VII, X, and XIV.

Honestly if you're a Commander player, or a Final Fantasy fan that just wants to play Commander with their Magic-playing friends, this is the product for you. At a price point of around $70, you get a full deck, with a multitude of new cards and reprints all with new Final Fantasy art. I think this is the perfect product if you want to dip your toes into Magic and have a ready-to-play deck to join your friends' Commander nights.

Pick whichever Commander speaks to you, or get all four if you really enjoy those games. While I have never played FFXIV (but love the music), as a Control aficionado I'm going to definitely be picking up Y'Shtola - and I'm not even a Commander player!

Now there is a Collector Edition of each of these decks, and while I'm not exactly sure on what they'll be priced at, I'm guessing anywhere from $160-200.

This is a pretty steep price for just one deck, so I'd only reserve this if you're a diehard fan or collector, or just want to keep the product sealed. And speaking of products aimed at collectors...

Collector Booster Box

Collector Booster boxes will be the premiere product of this set. Not only can you get special art and Commander cards in this product, but it is confirmed that Final Fantasy will have serialized cards. What those will look like, we don't know yet. If we can learn anything from The Lord of the Rings Collector products, it is that these boxes will hold and increase in value, and will be a bit hard to acquire based on where you're buying from.

Now I don't have the numbers or data to tell you how many boxes your brick and mortar store will get, but I do think that Collector Booster boxes will be a hot product, solely based on the fact that both ingrained and non-MTG players will be buying them.

I'd prioritize purchasing Collector Booster products only if you have the capital and you're that much of a fan of either Final Fantasy, collecting, or both. I think this is also a fine product to just buy a few boxes of and sit on - even if we only have The Lord of the Rings as the only other large Universes Beyond set to draw data from, regular Collector Booster boxes of that set went from an original price point of ~$350 to now pushing $700-800, with the special edition boxes starting at a few hundred dollars to now being over $1400 in price.

I think Collector Boxes will undoubtedly be the hottest product of this set release, and will be chased after by both Magic and non-Magic players alike.

Play Booster Box

Play Booster Boxes will be best for players looking for cards for Constructed, Limited (draft and sealed) aficionados, or those who just want to obtain a large quantity of cards in one go, and will be much easier to acquire than Collector Booster Boxes.

For Constructed Players

It's worth noting that this is the first Universes Beyond set that will be playable in Standard. This was not the case with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, which had multiple cards that were Modern-playable, including the now-banned The One Ring. If this is the same case for Final Fantasy, I'm wary of how expensive Constructed-viable cards will be. If there's another one or two cards like The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters that will see play across a multitude of formats, it will inevitably push up the price of product.

I also worry about how available this product will be. Again, I think it'll depend on how good the cards are, but if there ends up being a cycle of powerful lands, or a handful of Standard cards, then this will keep the price of boxes up since Standard is the most supported competitive paper format. While I always advocate for buying singles over boxes, this would be the main sealed product I'd buy of this set for Standard, Pioneer, and Modern players.

For Limited Aficionados

While The Lord of the Rings wasn't my favorite set of all time, it certainly was very fun to draft. My local draft group came together at least a dozen times to draft this set in 2023, and if Final Fantasy is anything close to Lotr in terms of Limited gameplay, then I'd definitely buy a box or two to keep around. Ultimately, I think this set's cards will hold value, with their legality in multiple formats, so you can't go wrong picking up Play boxes at MSRP to draft with.

I certainly don't think Play boxes will fall anywhere close to the lows of Murders at Karlov Manor and Aetherdrift. The Lord of the Rings Draft Boxes haven't really changed in price over the last two years, but their high point of $180 did get stifled by the fact The One Ring got banned in Modern, bringing boxes down to a now respectable $150. However, I don't think this will be the case with Final Fantasy and Play boxes should hold their value, if not increase with price in the short term.

For Collectors

Ultimately Play boxes are meant for, well, play. While their purpose is mainly to be drafted, if you want to open a large quantity of packs and just collect cards across all rarities, this is a good product to buy. If you're looking for some of the more rare, shiny, and specific art styles, I'd lean toward Collector boxes instead. I'm sure there will be some crazy Amano arts in Collector boxes, as well as serialized cards, so if that's more your jam and you don't want as large of a quantity of cards, I'd go with the Collector-focused products instead.

Bundle and Gift Bundle

Lastly, we have the Bundle and Gift Bundle. Each including nine Play Booster packs and a collection of lands, I think bundles are great additional products to buy if you want something more than just one commander deck, but you don't want to drop an additional couple hundred dollars on either a Play Booster box or Collector Booster box.

The Gift Bundle also comes with nine packs but also has a Collector Booster pack, making it a little pricier, but a nice option in case you want to dip your toes into experiencing the Collector product without having to buy a full-on box of the product. Also just check that gorgeous Ifrit vs Bahamut art on the cover! As a FFXVI fan I want this Bundle just for the art...

In Conclusion

Final Fantasy is definitely going to be the hit set of 2025. While a higher priced set than a normal Standard release, this set has so much hype around it that I think it could easily be the highest selling Universes Beyond set of all time - maybe even the highest selling Magic set of all time! However, it's important to note what you as a player or collector actually have a budget for, and what products you want to interact with.

If you want to play with the cards casually with friends, then Play Boxes or Commander decks are right for you. If you're a competitive player, stick to singles and drafting Play Boxes. If you're just a Final Fantasy fan wanting to collect some cool Cloud Strife or Sephiroth cards, then check out Collector Boxes and Bundles. While you don't need to rush to whichever online retailer has product up to buy right away, I would keep an eye on how the market adapts as we inch closer to the set's release date.

There are a lot of products that come with this set, but I would just go with what your gut says. Personally, I'm looking forward to picking up at least a few Play boxes to draft with friends and keep for the future. However, as a Final Fantasy fan I'm honestly going to pick up at least one Commander deck of this product (I can't say no to a good Control pre-con), but I am very tempted to try my hand at a Collector Box. While I've never purchased a Collector Booster box in my entire life, and a price point of $300-500 is a bit too pricey for me to justify, I do admit I'd be tempted if I could open a serialized Clive Rosfield or Yuna card...

-Roman Fusco