Final Fantasy is a deep set, full of epic callbacks to some of our favorite RPG games. We've already taken a look at the characters, but my Top Ten list for Legends wasn't enough, and I wanted to take a look at the non-Legendary cards in the set.

10. Ultima

This won't replace Day of Judgment; Standard is just too fast at the moment and you'll be dead in most games if you have to wait for a turn 5 sweeper. That said, this is a helluva sweeper tp air with Day of Judgment, taking creatures and snagging those pesky Cori-Steel Cutters laying around. The, "End the Turn" text won't be relevant all that often, but when it is, it could be game changing. This card is the biggest reason I'm not totally on board with an Equipment deck in Standard.

9. Traveling Chocobo

This doesn't need birds to be playable, as it should give the landfall decks the push that they need. But, if you do want to build a bird deck (and I plan to) this should be a cornerstone card for the deck. There's a lot of power here, and the abilities can be leveraged in a variety of ways. Personally, I'm going to try this with the Aftermath Analyst and Iridescent Vinelasher. I just wish this birdy wasn't so fragile!

8. Summon: Primal Odin

I don't know if this card will be as good as I imagine it can be, but you have to take a serious look at any creature than can kill your opponent in one attack. I can see a game state where a Black deck uses something like Deadly Cover-up to wipe the board, play this on the next turn to take down whatever creature your opponent used to recover, and then gets to untap and take out any remaining blockers, attack and win. I don't know if I actually want this card to be good, but I think there's a chance it might be.

7. Battle Menu

The perfect example of a card that is better than the sum of its parts. You wouldn't play this card for any one of these abilities, but being able to play one card that can Swiss Army Knife itself into just about anything you need at the moment, and at instant speed, means this should serious sideboard consideration. The flavor is fantastic too.

6. Memories Returning

I really wanted to dismiss this card, and it does have some downsides. Sorcery speed is a big negative (though this would have been absolutely ridiculous as an Instant), but Stock Up has shown us that good card draw spells, even at Sorcery speed, can still see play. The fact that you get first choice means you'll always get the best card, or the combo piece you're looking for, while filling your hand with whatever remains.

5. Town Greeter

This is the closest thing we've had to Satyr Wayfinder, and it should see some play. Between this and Overlord of the Balemurk, brewers can get a good start on filling their graveyard consistently on turn 2. The lifegain won't come up often (unless you're playing a dedicated Town deck) but with Starting Town it's a fun little way to occasionally offset the life loss of the card.

4. Dark Confidant

I'm old. I've been playing Magic for almost 30 years. I wrote about Dark Confidant (aka Bob) in an article for a site called Brainburst 20 years ago, and used the store credit from that article to take a chance on a playset of a card called Tarmogoyf for a total of $20. I say this to let you know that Bob has been good to me, and I don't plan on turning my back on him now that he's back in Standard. The format is as fast as it's ever been, and I can still see Bob shining in a low to the ground Rakdos deck. Greatness at any cost, hell yeah.

3. Opera Love Song

Wrenn's Resolve is already seeing play and this feels better in every way. The card selection is similar, as this can be cast as an instant, and the +2/+0 ability can be deadly for a deck like Gruul or Mice. This is very versatile and I expect we'll see it in a variety of red aggressive decks.

2. Sazh's Chocobo

Landfall was looking for a good one-drop, and this little birdy definitely fits the bill. Two land drops (or one Fabled Passage) and this is already above rate as a 2/3 for one mana. With very little effort, by midgame, your one-drop could be larger than your opponent's four-drop. I could see this seeing play in Pioneer as well.

1. Starting Town

This is probably the "best" card in the set, as in it will see the most play and will have (hopefully) the biggest impact on the format. Jeskai seems to be the only three-color deck to break through, which has been disappointing following Tarkir's return to Standard. The mana just hasn't been there to make the decks work. While I won't guarantee that this will open the floodgates on three-color decks in standard, it sure gives it a shot in the arm. I think it's possible we'll see a fun Town deck too.

And that's a wrap for Final Fantasy. As the hallmark set for Universes Beyond's entrance into the Standard format it looks like a home run.

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456 and on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anakinsdad.bsky.social