The Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering set is here, and there’s never been a more perfect assemblage of Magic cards. The set features cards taken from every mainline Final Fantasy title, including the two MMOs, so there’s something for every generation of Final Fantasy lovers. And while Magic has featured other video game crossovers in the past (hello, Assassin’s Creed and Fallout!), with the way this set is constructed, from card mechanics to art, you can tell this one is a developer favorite, sure to appeal to the massive chunk of people who love both games.
But what if you don’t inhabit the center circle in the Venn diagram of Magic and Final Fantasy lovers but are still interested in experiencing this set for yourself? Magic: The Gathering is an intimidating game, even if you’re a seasoned player like myself. There are so many ways you can play, both in person and online, that it can be overwhelming to figure out the best way to jump in. So here’s a few tips and tricks to playing the Final Fantasy Magic set.
Be warned, though: this is the best-selling set in Magic’s 30-plus-year history, and you will pay for the pleasure of this experience — if you can find the product to pay for it at all.
How to play: physical edition
Over the years, the designers at Magic developer Wizards of the Coast have realized it can be intimidating as hell for a new player looking to start their planeswalking journey. To help these new players along, Magic developers have created a line of products called Starter Kits. Each is a set of two 60-card decks featuring cards specifically designed for new players and an instruction booklet that goes over the game’s basic rules and cadence of play. Keep one deck for yourself, give one to a friend, and learn as you play together. For MTG x FF, the starter kit features two decks themed around Final Fantasy’s greatest rivalry: Sephiroth vs. Cloud.
These decks are a decent introductory course to Magic. Cloud’s is themed around equipment cards (think the Buster Sword or the Ultima Weapon), which are essentially weapons you can attach to your creatures to pump up their damage and hit hard. Sephiroth’s deck is all about him. Kill creatures (yours and your opponent’s) to make him as big as possible. I played both decks against the set’s designers and managed to beat them both, a monumental feat for any Magic player. However, if you want to play them for yourself, the Starter Kit is currently sold out on Amazon, so your best bet to find one is to hit up your local card shop (known in the community as your LCS) to see if it has any in stock. Wizards’ website does feature a handy store locator if you don’t know where your nearest LCS is.
There are also four Commander decks you can buy and play, with each one themed around a specific title in the series. Commander is the most popular format of Magic, but the rules are slightly different from standard play, and matches can often include more than one opponent. The Final Fantasy Commander decks are beginner-friendly but expensive, running anywhere from $80 to $130 when Commander decks in other sets are much cheaper.
How to play: online edition
If you don’t have any friends you can beg, bribe, or beat into playing Magic with you, there is another, far easier option: the game’s online version, Magic: The Gathering Arena. Arena is the best way to experience the Final Fantasy set as there’s no worry about stock, it’s relatively cheaper, and there are so many different ways to play that in-person playing simply does not accommodate. Once you’ve made your account and downloaded the game, you can play through the game’s tutorial, which I recommend to get your bearings. Not only does it explain how to play, but the color challenges also give you a feel for the playstyles of Magic’s five different colors.
Choosing your slice of the color pie
Think of colors and color combos as characters in your favorite hero shooter. Each has different abilities and favors a specific style of play. Blue and white center on going over your opponents’ heads with flying creatures, while mono green (my favorite and the best way to play) favors big, stompy creatures that run over your opponents’ defenses. The Final Fantasy set makes it easy to find a color or combo that works for you.
If you want to get straight into the Final Fantasy set, you can simply skip the tutorial to unlock all of Arena’s many game modes and features, and it’ll still be there to try if you ever need to go back.
Once you’re ready, you have a number of options available. You can get right into the thick of things and start playing the game’s constructed modes. If you’ve never played Magic before, do not do this. It is expensive, costing a lot of resources your account will not have unless you buy them in the game’s cash shop, and it is hard. Making decks is difficult; even I don’t like it that much compared to playing decks preassembled for me.
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Your best, most economical option is to play Jumpstart mode. In Jumpstart all the hard work of making a viable deck is done for you. You are presented with a number of archetypes: Bold, Mage, Chocobos, Equipment, and more. You can pick two of them based on nothing more than vibes and personal preference, and the game will automatically create a deck using those two archetypes. Then you play your deck against other Jumpstart decks and rack up the wins or the valuable experience that comes with losing.
The great thing about Jumpstart is that it’s cheap — a new account grants you enough currency to try the mode three times — and the cards you pick are yours to keep. Do it enough times and you’ll eventually have enough cards to tool around with making your own decks to try out in the game’s friendly mode, Quick Start. I’ve enjoyed all the different Jumpstart decks I’ve made, but if you really wanna have some fun, pick chocobos whenever you get the chance. They’re creatures that get stronger whenever you play a land card (think of land like the gas that powers your deck’s engine) and have incredible synergy with other card types, leading to a deck that will overwhelm your opponent.
Also, they’re chocobos! What could be more Final Fantasy than chocobos?
If you are a Final Fantasy fan, I cannot stress enough how much fun its Magic set is. And if you’re intimidated by Magic’s difficulty, don’t be. There are so many beginner-friendly ways to play, and there are so many beginners trying this set out for the first time, that you’ll be in good company. Plus, I’ve found the community is always happy to help newcomers. When I played at an in-person event, my first opponent had never picked up the game before. Over the course of our match I taught him everything I knew as best I could, and before the end, he beat me. Badly. I’ve never had more fun.
