While I didn't invest in the Final Fantasy set in any serious way, I was oddly excited to pick up a prerelease kit at my favorite LGS last week. A month ago I hadn't yet brewed around Vivi Ornitier and I hadn't played last week's Tifa Lockhart list online. With four Final Fantasy columns under my belt, I was hoping I might crack open a booster with something spicy in it.

I've always been one to care about the art on the cards I'm playing, so when I lay my eyes on an alternate art Ultima, Origin of Oblivion, I set it aside for later brewing. When I unsleeved the hideous Edea Kramer alternate art for Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, my only thought was how much work it might take to cover it up and paint an alter on the card. All else being equal, I do like to pick a card that's easy on the eyes for my commander.

After looking over the impressive number of legendary creatures I opened from my prerelease kit and bonus packs, and after checking to see what other CSI writers had already claimed, I eventually settled upon one of my foils: a Selesnya Human Cleric from Final Fantasy X who really cares about enchantments and enchantment creatures.

Yuna, Hope of Spira looks good, and looks really good in foil, but this card brings more to an EDH deck than just a pretty picture. Yuna has some interesting abilities to bring to the game. During my turn, she and enchantment creatures I control will have trample, lifelink, and ward 2. At the beginning of my end step, I'll return up to one target enchantment card from my graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. That finality counter simply means that if it would be put back into the bin, it gets exiled instead.

I've been building lower powered decks lately and leaning away from playing game changers. Yuna feels like an excellent chance to build another deck in that vein. My focus should be on enchantments and enchantment creatures that can be pumped up and sent into combat. Whether my enchantment creatures live or die, if Yuna is in play they'll have trample, lifelink, and ward 2. That means a combat-focused build should reliably help me pad my life total and outlast decks that aren't running ways to gain life. If my enchantment creature dies, Yuna can bring it back with a finality counter at the end of my turn.

Meet The Team

Yuna, Hope of Spira may be a good choice to send into the red zone, but more often than not I'll want to hold her back and attack with enchantment creatures. I won't always have a big beater to send into battle, but I'm running enough threats that I should be able to find someone to attack with.

Nyxborn Behemoth is a 10/10 for a whopping 12 mana, but this Beast costs X less where X is the total mana value of noncreature enchantments I control. It's got trample and for one and a Green I can sacrifice another enchantment to make it indestructible until end of turn. That works nicely with my commander, as Yuna also brings an enchantment back from the graveyard at end of turn.

Nylea's Colossus is a 7 mana 6/6 Giant with a Constellation ability. Whenever it or another enchantment enters the battlefield under my control, I can double target creature's power and toughness until end of turn. With over three dozen enchantments in today's list, there's a decent chance I might be able to play two or even three of them in my first main phase before going to combat. Three triggers could turn my 6/6 into a 48/48 and Yuna gives it trample, lifelink and ward 2.

I'm running two of the new Final Fantasy saga enchantment creatures in Summon: Bahamut and Summon: Titan. The former is a 9/9 flying Dragon and the latter is a 7/7 Giant with reach and trample. Both have relevant lore chapters and both have the drawback of having to be sacrificed when it gets to its final chapter. Yuna again has the helpful ability to bring an enchantment back at end of turn.

I can only bring back one enchantment at end of turn, so indestructible enchantment creatures will really shine in this list. They are nearly always going to be Gods with a devotion requirement for them to actually be creatures, but this is a permanent-focused deck so that shouldn't be a huge challenge. Devotion refers to the number of colored pips in the mana costs of the permanents you control.

Karametra , God of Harvests is a 6/7 God who will let me tutor up a Forest or Plains whenever I cast a creature spell. It will only be a creature if my devotion to Green and White is seven or greater.

I'm running both Nylea, God of the Hunt and Nylea, Keen-Eyed. Each will only be a creature if my devotion to Green is five or greater. The former will give my other creatures trample. The latter will let my creatures cost one less to cast. Both have other abilities, but those aren't hugely relevant to Yuna.

Heliod, God of the Sun and Heliod, Sun-Crowned are also in the list. These two will only be creatures if my devotion to White is five or greater. The former gives my creatures vigilance, and the latter will let me put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment I control whenever I gain life.

My "God Squad" should be relevant in nearly any game they get played, but I've chosen not to lean into the extra combo potential that Heliod, Sun-Crowned gives me. That card combos with Walking Ballista and Triskelion to easily win games. You use Heliod's ability to give the artifact creature lifelink and then remove a counter, ping a player for 1 damage, gain a life, put a counter back on, and so on until the table is dead.

Big enchantment creatures are what this deck wants to be playing, but it's worth noting that a smaller enchantment creature like Eidolon of Blossoms, Sythis, Harvest's Hand or even the zero power Sanctum Weaver can still be turned into a threat.

Auras like All That Glitters, Ancestral Mask and Ethereal Armor can help make a weaker attacker relevant by pumping it for each enchantment I control. All That Glitters counts both artifacts and enchantments. Ancestral Mask goes above and beyond, giving +2/+2 for each enchantment on the battlefield, even if it's not one of mine. Ethereal Armor only counts my enchantments but also gives first strike.

I'm also running Nettlecyst and Helm of the Gods to help pump up a creature. The former gives +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment I control, and the latter gives +1/+1 for each enchantment I control. Equipment has the added benefit of not going to the graveyard if the creature it's on gets removed.

Odds and Ends

As an enchantress build, this deck is going to lean on enchantments for much more than just presenting a threat in combat. My ramp package has zero mana rocks, a few two mana ramp spells and a few land auras that will let a land tap for additional mana. Karametra and Land Tax will also help out, but this focus on enchantments extends beyond just making mana.

My card draw has as many Enchantresses as I could find, along with Satyr Enchanter. They generally have me draw a card when I cast an enchantment spell. Sythis, Harvest's Hand also has me gain 1 life and Argothian Enchantress has shroud. Eidolon of Blossoms will give me card draw when it or another enchantment enters play under my control. Setessan Champion will get a +1/+1 counter and will draw me a card when an enchantment enters the battlefield under my control. They're all variations on a theme, and that theme is drawing cards.

My removal package has a few staples but also includes auras that lock a creature down until the aura is removed. Lignify will turn the enchanted creature into a 0/4 Treefolk with no abilities. Song of the Dryads will turn the enchanted permanent into a colorless forest land. Kenrith's Transformation will make an Elk out of it, but Darksteel Mutation might beat them all by making the enchanted creature into an indestructible 0/1 insect artifact creature with no abilities. You can't even send the enchanted creature to the graveyard (or command zone) by blocking with it!

To try to stay alive, I'm leaning on a mix of lifegain, Ghostly Prison effects and fogs. The lifegain is simply from attacking with enchantment creatures when Yuna is in play. Ghostly Prison and Sphere of Safety should help keep any large armies at bay. The former is a tax of 2 mana for each creature that is declared as an attacker and is going at me. Creatures that are created as tapped and attacking will get past that, as they aren't declared during the declare attackers combat step. Sphere of Safety will tax attackers for X where X is the number of enchantments I control. That would be at least 1, and could be much, much higher if my deck is working well.

Taxing attackers doesn't work as well against a single threat, but I'm running a few ways to try to deal with them. I'm not running Fog but I am running Constant Mists, Moment's Peace, Obscuring Haze and Jaheira's Respite as ways to prevent combat damage. I'm also running a few ways to give vigilance in Heliod, God of the Sun, Loyal Unicorn, Always Watching and Brave the Sands. Vigilance lets me send out attackers on my turn when they've got lifelink and still have blockers for other players' turns.

Hope of Spira

A few weeks ago I wrote a couple of columns about cards created for the character Sin from Final Fantasy. Sin is a monstrous creature that terrorizes the world of Spira in Final Fantasy X. As it turns out, Yuna, Hope of Spira, is the playable character that embarks on a mission to expel Sin from Spira. I hadn't planned to cover both sides of this particular Final Fantasy storyline, but that seems to be how things have played out.

I don't know exactly where Yuna falls in the hierarchy of enchantress commanders, but I have to guess that she might be in or just outside of the top five. Her biggest failing is that she doesn't draw cards, but she does bring a lot to the game in other ways. She doesn't present the kind of voltron threat you get with Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice or the versatility you get with a three-color commander like Zur the Enchanter and Tuvasa the Sunlit, but I do think Yuna has a place in the format.

Scheming with Raffine | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Yuna, Hope of Spira

• Creatures (26)
• 1 Archetype of Endurance
• 1 Argothian Enchantress
• 1 Calix, Guided by Fate
• 1 Demolisher Spawn
• 1 Eidolon of Blossoms
• 1 Greater Tanuki
• 1 Heliod, God of the Sun
• 1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned
• 1 Herald of the Pantheon
• 1 Jukai Naturalist
• 1 Karametra, God of Harvests
• 1 Loyal Unicorn
• 1 Mesa Enchantress
• 1 Nylea's Colossus
• 1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
• 1 Nylea, Keen-Eyed
• 1 Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1 Nyxborn Behemoth
• 1 Sanctum Weaver
• 1 Satyr Enchanter
• 1 Setessan Champion
• 1 Starfield Mystic
• 1 Summon: Bahamut
• 1 Summon: Titan
• 1 Sythis, Harvest's Hand
• 1 Verduran Enchantress

• Spells (14)
• 1 Akroma's Will
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Constant Mists
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Heroic Intervention
• 1 Jaheira's Respite
• 1 Moment's Peace
• 1 Obscuring Haze
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Three Visits

• Enchantments (20)
• 1 All That Glitters
• 1 Always Watching
• 1 Ancestral Mask
• 1 Authority of the Consuls
• 1 Blind Obedience
• 1 Brave the Sands
• 1 Burgeoning
• 1 Darksteel Mutation
• 1 Enchantress's Presence
• 1 Ethereal Armor
• 1 Fertile Ground
• 1 Ghostly Prison
• 1 Kenrith's Transformation
• 1 Land Tax
• 1 Lignify
• 1 Song of the Dryads
• 1 Sphere of Safety
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 Utopia Sprawl
• 1 Wild Growth

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 Helm of the Gods
• 1 Nettlecyst

• Lands (37)
• 13 Forest
• 13 Plains
• 1 Bountiful Promenade
• 1 Branchloft Pathway
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fortified Village
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Overgrown Farmland
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Sunpetal Grove
• 1 Temple Garden
• 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Buy This Deck Export text

While this list may be devoid of game changers and combos, I think it should still be able to keep up in bracket 3 pods just fine. If you wanted to drop its power down from bracket 3, you'd probably want to lose some of the auras that can really turn an enchantment creature into a serious threat. If you can't imagine why anyone would want to do that, you probably just don't play in many low powered pods.

To bring this list up in power would be a challenge, as Yuna's abilities don't have much to do with the kinds of combos that this list might want to run. You could aim just a little higher in power by running Smothering Tithe and Serra's Sanctum, but you probably won't find yourself playing much more than a "high bracket 3" deck. Leaning into tutors and having Heliod / Walking Ballista as a potential wincon will sure help with killing tables, but that combo is unrelated to anything Yuna brings to the game. Being in Green can help with tutoring creatures, but it'll be worth asking why you aren't just running Heliod as your commander.

Final Thoughts

I wasn't able to play this list in a game but I'm pretty confident in my assessment of its power level. It plays a fair game, leans on lifelink to outlast other players, and has some decent ways to turn a modest threat into a big threat. It's not the most powerful enchantments-matter commander you're ever going to play, but if you open one in a booster pack and want to build a low to mid power deck around her, I think she'll be a lot of fun.

I expect Final Fantasy fans may have strong feelings about this and other characters from this set. My guess is that Yuna is somewhere up there in the list of most beloved characters, definitely below Vivi, but probably around as popular as Tifa Lockhart. Having not played many of the games, that is pure speculation on my part, but I'd bet Yuna has her share of fans.

That's all I've got for today. As this column goes up on Monday, I'll be somewhere in the air en route to Marquette, Michigan. I'm heading north (well, west, then north) for a family trip but will be spending at least one evening at a game store up there. I may take a break from writing about Final Fantasy next week to share that experience, but at this point I'm not sure yet. I've written a few "road trip" columns over the years and it's always been fun to write and hopefully fun to read about as well.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!