AlthoughMagic: The Gatheringand Square Enix have been slowly previewing cards for the upcomingFinal Fantasyset, last Saturday we got our biggest crop of spoilers at one time during a panel event. As a fan of bothMagicand theFinal Fantasyseries, I have been closely following the set, and also have made my fair share of predictions of what characters will show up and what their cards may do based on their abilities from theFinal Fantasygames. After seeing the preview, I was happy to see I was correct with several of my predictions.
I wasn’t just pleased to see I had correctly predicted some of the cards' mechanics out of pure vanity or for bragging rights. Instead,I think it bodes well for the way Wizards of the Coast is handling this setthat aFinal Fantasyfan would be able to accurately predict what some of their favorite characters might do.Magic: The Gatheringhas specific ways it represents story elements through its gameplay, and I’m happy to see that these mechanics were translated so well to create an authentic-feelingFinal Fantasyexperience that goes much deeper thanCactuar’s 9999 damage ability.
I Predicted These 6 MTG Final Fantasy Cards
Being Predictable Means Magic’s Final Fantasy Cards Are Close To The Source Material
Back in February, I wrote about10Final Fantasycharacters I wanted to seeinMagic: The Gathering’s crossover set.I was able to predict some of the mechanics that would show up on five of those 10 cards, and got relatively close with some of my other predictions. After seeing some of the previews for the set, I was much more accurately able to predict another character’s abilities who hadn’t made my initial list, but I did touch on them in another article.
One of my most accurate predictions was thatUltimecia would have an extra turn ability, sinceMagic: The Gatheringtypically represents time travel with extra turns. Sure enough, the recently previewed Ultimecia, Time Soroceress does give you an extra turn when she transforms into Ultimecia, Omnipotent. On the subject of dual-faced cards, I also accurately predicted that Kefka would show up as one, representing his transformation inFF6.
From my initial predictions,I was also able to predict Sephiroth having something like a wrath mechanic, which Sephiroth, Planet’s Heir kind of does by debuffing all your opponents' creatures, potentially wiping out large swaths of weak token creatures. I also predicted Yuna would help with summoning creatures, which she does on both her cards, and that Aerith’s sacrifice could be respresented with a death trigger of some sort. While not spot on with the nitty-gritty details of each effect, it was possible to predict the general directions for these cards.
The card I most accurately predicted was Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant, when I initially coveredMagic: The Gathering’s PAX East eventbefore it happened. I didn’t just predict that Clive would flip into one of the new Saga Creatures,but also which specific Summon fromFinal Fantasy 16he would turn into. Even when not as spot-on, I got close with a few of my other predictions as well.
For instance, I predicted Bartz and Boko would be Partner cards, but instead they share a card. I also alluded to Balthier having something to do with vehicles, but I’m not giving myself full credit for that one because I also predicted he would have something to do with Pirates, which he doesn’t. Still,these cards being somewhat or fully predictable for a fan ofMagic: The GatheringandFinal Fantasyis a major testament to how wellMagic’s designers captured the flavor of this set.
The Ability To Predict These Card’s Abilities Shows WoTC Nailed The Set’s Flavor
Magic: The Gathering Translated Final Fantasy Moments Accurately
AMagic: The Gatheringset’s"flavor" refers to how well it translates narrative elements into game mechanics. A basic example of this would be a card like Relentless Rats, a rat that gets stronger when more copies of the same card are played. This mechanic reflects how a small group of rats may not be an issue, but a massive swarm of hostile rats could overwhelm creatures they normally couldn’t on their own.
We can see this type of story through mechanics plainly on theFinal Fantasycards. For instance, I was able to predict that Aerith would have a death trigger because one of her most famous moments inFinal Fantasy 7is her death.Magic: The Gatheringtook things a step further by giving the card Sephiroth, Fabled Soldier, the ability to sacrifice one of your creatures for a benefit.This makes it mechanically beneficial for you to recreate the moment where he kills Aerith.
These kinds of story-rich mechanics aren’t just nice Easter eggs for fans ofFinal Fantasy,they’re also instructive for those who may be checking outMagic: The Gatheringfor the first time. AFinal Fantasyfan would expect Balthier to be good with vehicles, so even if they don’t know much aboutMagic, they have a good idea of how to use his card. TheirFinal Fantasyknowledge can help them build their first deck during a pre-release event, something that wouldn’t have worked had Wizards of the Coast not made the effort to really solidify the set’s flavor.
Final Fantasy May Be One Of Magic’s Best Universes Beyond Translations
Magic’s Universes Beyond Sets Sometimes Miss The Mark On Flavor
Magic: The Gathering’sUniverses Beyondsets can be hit or miss in terms of flavor. I previously spoke about my disappointment with theSpongeBob SquarePants Secret Lairproduct, at the time mainly focusing on the choice to reuse art from the show. However, another complaint with that set is that it wasn’t very flavorful. Force of Despair showing Squidward looking sadly out the window may work with the card’s name, but has little to do with its mechanic of destroying creatures (unless I missed a particularly violentSpongeBobepisode).
Some of this mechanical dissonance also recently caused a stir amongMagic: The Gatheringplayers when Norman Osborn, a human, was given the Goblin creature type simply because his supervillain name is the Green Goblin. It would be like making Jean Grey’s clone Madelyne Pryor a Goblin simply because her alias is Goblin Queen. While otherUniverses Beyondsets have done a much better job capturing their source materials' flavor,Final Fantasyis easily one of the best in recent memory.
