Somebody filled up the spice rack!
It’s baaaaaack, and lord have mercy it’s spicier than a Louisiana Popeye’s in here! Lots of interesting characters that we’ve yet to see, as well as some really off-the-wall effects. Enough small talk, buckle your seatbelts and grab a glass of *insert funny meme liquid or ad for Gamer Supps* and let’s jump in!
Fire
Ardyn 20-001R
First card of the set and it’s quite the doozy. There are plenty of “when goes to the Break Zone” Backups like Thordan VII 6-108R and Fusoya 2-116R that will get you a draw or a Break Zone retrieval, but breaking Ranperre (provided you have a good target in hand to play) can really lay the smackdown. Ardyn is super susceptible to Amaterasu and it would be quite the bummer to pay 5CP just to lose a Forward, but c’mon, what isn’t Amaterasu-food these days?
That said, if you can pull it off successfully, feel free to say, “Oh I’m sorry, did you just Typhon one of my super expensive Forwards? Here it comes again. For free this time.”
Auron 20-002H
Quite an interactive one here. On one hand, if you can reliably and repeatedly ping your own dudes for about 4-5K (hoping your opponent doesn’t ping Auron to finish him off), you can draw like there’s no tomorrow. What excites me the most though is that Zodiark can clean your opponent’s board and deal its damage back to you all as one packet – which can be eaten by Auron using his action ability. It seems like you’d need to be a little cautious of the stack here, but that’s not necessarily the case – if you plan on doing it, you might want to go ahead and activate Auron’s action ability first just to put your opponent on edge. Then cast Zodiark and let all be well. If you instead cast Zodiark first with Auron on the field and can’t hide your sly smile well enough, all your opponent has to do is kill Auron. Since, Auron will leave the field before Zodiark resolves, you will take all the damage so be careful. (FAQ)
Kefka 20-008H
Alright look I’m not a COMPLETE idiot – I know this has a next-to-none chance of happening, but wouldn’t it be nice? Take a moment to dream with me – Naja is already out and ready to swing, the opponent has fifty billion Forwards but they’re all dull for some reason and they have no way to stop Naja…you play Kefka, remove the 3 different Triads in this set from your BZ to give him 3 Magic Counters. Naja swings, doubles Kefka’s counters to 6, you end your turn and KILL EVERYONE. See, everybody knows the best plays in a card game are the ones that take extreme luck and 5 different cards comboing off each other, with no interference from the opponent =)
Zack 20-009L
There are plenty of good ol’ SOLDIER boy Forwards, but Forwards are so easy to kill! Currently there are only 3 SOLDIER Backups (Cloud, Restrictor, and another copy of Zack himself), and those are much harder for your opponent to get rid of. A 5CP Forward swinging for 10K ping damage every attack, and can search/play a Cat VII for free whether he is broken or removed from game? In the words of just about everyone in my hometown – “hell yeah, brother”.
BUT BUT BUT, says I, consider this as well – Zack fires off his search/play each time he leaves the field. So if you can play a number of “flash” cards like Rinoa 6-041L or Time Mage 3-043C, you can get multiple searches with one Zack copy. Even better if you can wait until your opponent targets Zack to FINALLY get rid of him, only for you to Time Mage him out of the target. Provided, that can only be done on your turn due to Time Mage’s text, but still bears mentioning.
Ice
Calbrena 20-024H
Calbrena is nifty, but comes with a few caveats that will take up some space in your brain to prevent misplays:
- If you want to prevent your opponent from targeting their own peeps with a beneficial effect, you have to be sure the effect they are using reads “choose a Forward/Character” rather than “choose a Forward/Character you control“.
- The way Hecatoncheir is worded means the Forwards deal damage to each other – proccing Cal’s second effect. That said, you better fight somebody with lower than Calbrena’s power, or she will die before she can pull off that second auto ability. Maybe something like Yojimbo 7-084C would help her out a bit, giving extra power before the fight.
SOLDIER: 3rd Class 20-032C
This isn’t a combo that’s going to knock your socks off per se, but it’s worth remembering that another 3rd Class existed 10 sets ago. They play well off each other with searching and playing, and a playset of each in your deck means your last surviving 4CP SOLDIER will be an ass-smacking 11K Forward. As with any cards that feed off Break Zone counts, be cautious of Mist Dragon and other Break Zone removers.
Terra 20-034R
If you’ve already got a ready-to-party Cat VI on the field when Terra comes down, she will have a huge target on her back. If you can manage to play Relm just before you party and swing with Terra, double-casting something like Mind Flayer 15-120H or Alexander 8-046R is nothing to shake a stick at (sorry you got banned, Syldra 12-097H) Relm herself also works extremely well with Shiva 19-022R, just play Relm and cast Shiva for free. Boom, two cards drawn and two Forwards Dulled/Frozen.
Wicked Mask 20-038H
No combo here. Just want you to lament with me that this frightening card can’t stop an Amaterasu. How hilarious would it be for your opponent to think they’ve got you caught, just for you to plop down this blank staring face, behind which sits your middle finger? Too bad.
Wind
Botanist 20-045C
May not change the world, but interesting enough! Play Botanist and trade one of your own Backups for a big, slow, dopey dude that you’d rather not pay for. If you are in Mono-or-Mostly-Earth, play a Leslie to give you your opponent. Or bring in Feolthanos as a last-ditch effort on Damage 6, Botanist preventing his auto, saving your active Forwards. Cross your fingers and pray that clearing your opponent’s board and killing all your own Backups at the end of the turn will be enough to secure you a victory. Botanist can also be played on your opponent’s turn with something like Necromancer 7-076R. Not sure how impactful that might be, but worth mentioning.
Now for some other possibilities. Botanist reads “Its auto-ability will not trigger”. Does that mean that specific Backup you play will not fire off its “enter the field” ability? Or does that mean the Backup you play will NEVER fire off any of its autos?
If Botanist prevents only the Backup’s enter the field ability:
- Unei 10-023H – Super slow to pay for it from hand, but on-field can flash your own Forwards.
- Doga 10-078H – Bust up your opponent’s Backups when you cast Summons.
Whether or not Botanist applies the above restriction, these are still neat to play for “free”:
- Star Sibyl 5-091H – Won’t get the search on entry, but can still Dull/Break to play a 6CP later on
- Emperor Gestahl 9-124H – Won’t get the break on entry, but can still Dull/Break to play a 5CP Dark
- Tifa 17-012R – Won’t get the 9K ping on entry, but can still become a big Forward
- Exdeath 14-080R – Won’t get the break/revival on entry, but still has a cheap and very threatening Special
Ghost (VII) 20-046C
Essentially a “flasher” like Rinoa or Time Mage, but for Monsters. Stuff like Typhon and Behemoth will benefit greatly from being plopped onto the field multiple times.
- Luminous Puma 8-080C – Retrieve multiple Forwards from Break Zone
- Phoinix 20-018H – Multiple 9K pings on entry (does anybody else say this card like an old Appalachian grandpa? THAT THAR’S A GOSH DERN PhOiNiX!)
- Ahriman 18-052H – Straight up break non-Multi-Element Forwards
- Basilisk 8-059C – Expensive, but nice and saucy. Play Ghost, ping somebody (wise to choose someone with 7K power or less) for 3K. Play Basilisk, ping them for 4K to kill. Then do Ghost’s action ability to replay Basilisk, ping somebody else for 4K, then immediately plop Basilisk into the Break Zone to break a damaged Forward.
Jenova Dreamweaver 20-047H
Threatening a 7K cleave on swing is already pretty scary, but with Manasvin out that can become a 9K, killing most Forwards. Unfortunately you can only possibly pull it off twice if you are playing a full Jenova playset. Also pairs nicely with this set’s Illusionist 20-091C. Also worth mentioning that Watrill is our best friend here, allowing you to put back 2 of the 3 drawn copies of Jenova Dreamweaver you are guaranteed to draw by turn 2.
Number 128 20-053H (whew that’s a lot of numbers)
Much like Jenova, but a bit more reusable. Just have to find an easily reusable Monster or Backup (that doesn’t kill itself to ping damage) to hit your own Number 128 for 4K reliably. I would look, but FFDecks returns like 130 Backups and I’d rather finish this article first =) As above, also pairs nicely with this set’s Illusionist 20-091C. This is an easy to activate board wipe with just Bismarck and Number 128 since dulling both to ping 128 is an easy way to get to 4k. Pretty expensive if you don’t already have Biz on the field, but hey, Wind needed boards wipes……………………………….right?
Nono 20-054R
In a Mono Wind (or an Ice/Wind with light Ice), Nono reactivates a bunch of Backups, making Baralai cleave your opponent’s board, and Hope activate any non-Wind Forwards Nono missed.
The Goddess 20-057L
Small mention that Orphan and The Goddess share the same counter name – Doom Counters. Unfortunately Goddess’ Doom break only happens once on the turn she entered, so it might not be too consequential that she shares counters with Orphan.
BUT! If you are daring enough and have Tama active and available, wait for your opponent to expend all their resources on their turn making a huge board (and hopefully not keeping an Amaterasu in their hand in the process), just for you to pay 7 to drop down Goddess when they try to move to End Step. Infinitely punishable by Ama, so you better use your Millennium Eye to make sure they don’t have one.
Yuri 20-060R
Yuri can search and play this Backup Chelinka, giving somebody a double swing. There are tons of good targets that have devastating effects on swing or on damage, a handful including this Zidane, Ark Angel HM 8-001R, and Braska’s Final Aeon 11-015L.
Earth
Chaos 20-069H
Lots of good targets to play on entry, like the new Zenos 20-130L, Kadaj 11-140S, or even an old classic Emperor 2-147L, just to name a few. Go ahead and plop out Magic Pot whenever, your opponent isn’t going to want to expend effort to kill a lil 1CP Monster (until they know what you can do with it). Once the Dark Forward you played for free has died (or if you’ve got a Spiritus 13-104L on the field, even better), Magic Pot away the 6CP Chaos into the Break Zone to be used for his second ability, and search out the 11CP Chaos for a cheeky steal.
Cecil 20-075L
Nothing too spicy here, just want to mention that most of the other Paladin Cecils kinda suck comparatively, and Cecil 16-051L is likely to net you the most value. Earth has lots of color-fixing nonsense, so even if you are off-color you will likely have a way to schmooze in a way to pay 1 Water for the cheap Cecil cast. That said, you can avoid the self-damage by just playing him with Star Sibyl 5-091H instead.
Don’t be afraid to wait until your opponent’s turn to do the action ability – let them swing, block with Earth Cecil just to prevent the damage, then pop him into the Break Zone to bring out Wind Cecil and a friend, ready to block any further PUNY attack attempts. Nasty to instant speed play Warrior of Light on your opponents turn. Side times are ahead here.
Tifa 20-077L
Courtesy of The Bear Den’s very own Reckan, this right here (if left unimpeded) is an infinite attack loop. Tifa can’t be dulled, so if you can manage attacking a blank board and surviving any summon/ability threats, you can reactivate Shelke and Nono on each attack that deals damage, and keep using them to pay for Tifa’s next attacks.
If you don’t want to try to smoosh Ice into an Earth/Wind, keep in mind that a full Backup line without Nono but including Sherlotta 8-053H will still allow for three additional Tifa attacks, since Sherlotta can effectively produce 2 CP herself. If you’re facing a big board and want to get rid of blockers, bring down King Tycoon 16-053H first.
Lightning
Shadow Dragon 20-093H
Ever since I really got into the game, Earth has been my favorite element to play. Ever since I was born on this planet, purple has been my favorite color. And ever since I was old enough to have working eyeballs and a brain with enough wrinkles, I’ve loved dragons and spiky fantasy armor. Thus, Golbez is my favorite FF character (I’ve played enough Golbez 1-135L decks for a lifetime), and this new Shadow Dragon art is so kickass. The fact that they work together tickles my pickle.
Shadow Dragon itself isn’t too crazy, but knowing it can be brought back time and time again with enough Golbezes (Golbezia? Golbez’s? Golbi?) just to crack 3CPs and be an annoying blocker is *borat voice* UH-VERY NICE! Pair Golbez with, say, this set’s Noctis or any of the other easy self-breakers like Delita 1-112R and you can start poopin’ out 2CPs like nobody’s business.
Mira 20-102L
Nothing too fancy here, just a good card made better when paired with Monsters that do stuff when they die. It’s a shame that Mira can’t be revived on your opponent’s turn, if that were the case, you could wait until your opponent played some kind of free-player like Cecil 16-051L and revive her on the stack on his enter the field ability, having her hide in wait to kill whatever they were going to play from hand. Or, y’know, just take it for what it is and try to leave her on the field as often as you can.
Water
The Fiend 20-114L
Not going to blow anybody’s minds with spice here either, just worth mentioning that The Fiend is INCREDIBLY annoying for your opponent, and the more you can protect it, the worse it’s gonna hurt. Cockatrice and Titan are just two examples, there are tons of other protectors out there like Tama 18-059R, Y’shtola 5-068L, and Parivir 5-022C. Fiend only costs 4, can be free-played by Wol 14-059R, and has Category VI synergy. Big oof.
Light/Dark
Nothing much to speak of here, in terms of spicy plays or weird combos. Sure they all have their own merits, and Shinryu is a BEAUTIFUL (and strong) card, but none of them seem to have any nifty “exploits” at first glance. You can’t blank Zenos to prevent him from removing himself, but I suppose you could kill him yourself with something like Delita 1-112R to get him back into the Break Zone before end of turn. Does that work? Or is that too time-travel-y? Let me know.
Wrap-up
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did sitting in the dark in my underwear typing it! Feel free to comment, discuss, correct my wrong assumptions, and tell me if any of the plays above netted you some good plays. Merry Christmas (in July) to all, and to all a good night! Don’t have nightmares about Calbrena or Wicked Mask!
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