Fire

Ark Angel HM 001R

3cp 6000
Forward – Ark Angel – XI
If Ark Angel HM deals damage to your opponent, double the damage instead. When Ark Angel HM attacks, Ark Angel HM gains +3000 power until the end of the turn.
3.5
Starting this Opus off with one of the best Rs in the set. Most HM attacks put your opponent in an awful position: chump block and lose a ton of CP; or tank 1/3rd of their health. Even if your opponent musters a 9k, you’ll still probably be trading up CP. HM fits best in an aggressive deck, but slower grindier decks will still view it as a premium win condition. At only 3cp, it is almost impossible to deal with Ark Angel at a profit. The only downside is that he is an awful draw if you’re scrambling to stabilize. Wish he were common only so I could make HM 001Cut jokes.

Red Mage 002C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
When Red Mage enters the field, choose 1 Fire Forward. Until the end of the turn, it gains Haste and Brave.
2.5
A nice way to get a surprise attack, or an extra attack out of something you need for defense, but as a one time trick it really isn’t much to write home about. Access to haste is always nice in case your opponent plays risky while you’re threatening lethal. Since his effect is an ETF, Red Mage is relevant as a late game draw, giving it a leg up on a lot of other backup options.

Ifrit 003C

4cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 4000 damage and 1000 more damage for each Fire Backup you control.
2
It can be pretty difficult to get this up to 8k, the point where it trades on curve, but as long as you’re finding ways to get extra value out of your removal that’s fine. I wouldn’t run too many of these unless I was super deep in fire, and a lot of the other removal in the set seriously outclasses it, but if it’s what you have access to then it’s what you have access to.

Iroha 004R

3cp 7000
Forward – Samurai – MOBIUS XI
If a Fire Character you control deals damage to a Forward, the damage increases by 1000 instead.
D: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 1000 damage.
3.5
Absolutely nuts, makes almost every single fire card in the set better, especially forwards with burn abilities like Sabin and Cloud. As a 3 cp, Iroha can trade up to 10k on defense, which is massive. She lends herself to any kind of deck, as she helps pressure the opponent and stonewalls big forwards. A huge draw to fire when drafting/deckbuilding.

Edgar 005C

2cp
Backup – King – VI
D: Choose 1 Category VI Forward you control. It gains +1000 power until the end of the turn.
2.5
If O7 Wakka is a good baseline to judge from, this card will be solid. The cards it buffs aren’t quite as high impact though as Auron/Jecht/Kimahri/Tidus were, but it still is a cheap combat trick your opponent has to respect at all times. Less good in sealed where your access to VI forwards is going to be much more constrained, but hey you gotta play the backups you have.

Cloud 006L

5cp 9000
Forward – SOLDIER – VII
EX BURST When Cloud enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 3000 damage and 1000 more damage for each point of damage you have received.
When Cloud is put from the field into the Break Zone, you may remove the top 10 cards of your deck from the game. If you do so, return Cloud to the field dull.
5
Stapling removal to an already on curve body usually means the card is busted in limited, and Cloud is no exception. Late game he can deal with most medium threats, and early game you can still pick up a little value here and there. Add on the EX and you have a solid bomb. What makes Cloud a 5 out of 5 however is his resilience. There’s a ton of great removal in this set, and being able to ignore it without spending any extra CP is huge. Most games you’ll be able to pay for his return trigger one time, which will over double the amount of value you can eke out of him.

Black Mage 007C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – FFTA
Fi Fi D, Put Black Mage into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Fire Summon in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.
2.5
Sometimes you just need another Brynhildr. Because it effectively puts two fire cp in your hand, you’re only really paying 1 for this effect (and another 1 every turn you don’t have this backup anymore so use it late game and win quick) so this is a super cheap way to get that critical Bahamut to clear the way to victory, or to blow that 9k out of the water. Not quite as good as lightning Black Mage (who’s review I copy-pasted whole sale here) just because Ifrit is a little worse than Ramuh, but not nearly worse enough to knock a whole .5 off the rating.

Golem 008C

1cp
Monster – Golem – FFCC
When Golem enters the field, choose 1 Forward. It gains +2000 power until the end of the turn.
Put Golem into the Break Zone: Choose 1 attacking Forward. It gains +4000 power until the end of the turn.
2.5
Golem will start off by letting you get in an attack you couldn’t have made otherwise, and then will sit on the table constantly daring your opponent to block. +4k is a golden threat that will be hard to set up a defense against. With so much removal in the set, though, sometimes your opponent will bait you into using it and then just erase your target, netting an extra 3 cp on their summon.

Samurai 009C

3cp 7000
Forward – Standard Unit – XIV
If you have received 3 points of damage or more, Samurai gains Brave.
If you have received 5 points of damage or more, Samurai gains +1000 power.
2.5
A medium body that gets slightly and slightly better as the game goes on. Samurai is a good baseline for your forwards, not quite filler but also not quite something you’re excited for. Still, her size is big enough and her abilities are both nice.

Amarant 010H

7cp 7000
Forward – Fighter – IX
EX BURST When Amarant enters the field, select 1 of the 2 following actions.
“Choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 7000 damage.”
“Choose 1 Monster of cost 3 or less opponent controls. Break it.”
3
I already said it for Cloud, but get ready to hear the following statement a lot “putting removal on a forward is great.” Amarant likely hits a 3 drop, which clears an investment of 5 CP. This means you essentially save 1 cp on the curve price of a 7k, and get rid of something threatening. As one of the few ways in the set to punish 3 cp monsters like Scale Toad and Deathgaze, Amarant gives you utility that many decks sorely want. Still, while he’s good, much of the other “Forward + Removal” cards in the set are just costed at a much better rate, making him seem underwhelming, especially with so many 9ks running around that Amarant has difficulty interacting with.

Cid (FFL) 011C

3cp
Backup – Helmsman – FFL
When Cid (FFL) enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 5000 damage. If you control 5 or more Fire Backups, deal it 8000 instead.
2
Hitting for 8 simply isn’t going to happen in all but the most stacked draft decks, but that’s ok: 5k is a totally reasonable amount for the cost. Sure it’s no Vivi, but it’s ok for cards to be slightly weaker versions in limited as long as they’re still good enough. There are plenty of things this kills outright, and plenty of things to combo it with, like Sabin, Rain, and Iroha. Shocking though that we keep getting Cids from all sorts of side games but still no VIII, IX, or X.

Zenos 012H

4cp 8000
Forward – General – XIV
If your opponent controls a forward (job: Warrior of Light), Zenos gains +2000 power, Haste and Brave.
When Zenos deals damage to your opponent, choose a forward your opponent controls. Deal it 5000 damage.
2
If you can get him through, the 5k is pretty relevant. Combined with Yotsuyu and Sabin you can 7k pretty much whatever you want. Unfortunately most of the time he’s going to be a vanilla 8k. Not to say that’s bad, it just sure isn’t good.

Warrior 013C

2cp 5000
Forward – Standard Unit – XIV
2.5
With a couple of fire backups, Warrior does a good impersonation of a 3cp 7k, and a great impersonation of a 4cp 9k. There are a bunch of 9ks running around, and having a way to deal with them at C means a lot for Fire’s level of quality in the set. What’s really nice about this effect is that most of the time the threat of it is enough to change your opponent’s behavior, which means you don’t even have to pay for the ability to stop a big forward from bearing down on you.

Duncan 014L

4cp 8000
Forward – Monk – Mobius VI
You may use Duncan’s special ability by discarding a Card Name Sabin instead of discarding a Card Name Duncan as part of the cost.
When Duncan enters the field, choose 1 Forward of cost 4 or less opponent controls. Deal it 4000 damage.
Phantom Rush S D: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it damage equal to Duncan’s power.
4
Duncan does a great Firion/Frimelda impression when he enters, topping off a wounded forward, which would make him a 3.5 on its own. What pushes him to a 4 is the availability of Sabin at C, making his S ability actually reliable, which is almost unheard of on an L in limited. Phantom Rush is mad cheap, too, as you can usually go up 3 or 4 CP with each forward that gets dunked on. Combos well with Red Mage’s brave, as you can attack and S in the same turn cycle.

Bahamut 015H

4cp
Summon – Special
You can only pay with CP produced by Backups to cast Bahamut.
Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 10000 damage. if it is put from the field into the Break Zone this turn, remove it from the game instead.
3.5 sealed / 2.5 draft
The reason for this disparity is that sealed is a slower format, and it’s much more likely you are going to be able to cast it. Also, with a smaller card pool, removal is much more precious and you’re willing to warp your game plan around it more. In draft, the restriction is a serious one, as many decks simply never want to play out that many backups, especially in fire. You need to be in a grindier deck to pull it off, but not only does it kill almost everything in the set, it ignores strong break triggers like Cloud and Lunafreya. Certainly one of the strongest pieces of removal in the set, provided you can actually play it.

Vivi 016H

1cp 2000
Forward – Black Mage – IX
When Vivi enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage. If you control 4 or more Category IX Characters, deal it 7000 damage instead. If you control 7 or more Category IX Characters, deal it 10000 damage instead.
1
Total Title fodder. There simply aren’t enough Cat IXs in the set to make the 7k reliable. Even in water, the only C and R you have are Eiko, Garnet, Whale Zombie, and Meltigemini. Functionally 3cp for 2k power 2k damage isn’t the kind of rate that wins you games. If you’re super deep in fire, it has a lot of minor damage effects that you can combine to deal with larger forwards, and Vivi can help with that and then party attack afterwards, but it’s still a lot of investment for not much return.

Brynhildr 017C

3cp
Summon – XIII
EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 7000 damage.
3
Removal good. Not big enough to kill everything you want it to kill, but cheap and with a good EX.

Marche 018R

4cp 5000
Forward – Clan Leader – FFTA
EX BURST When Marche enters the field, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Add 1 Fire Character among them to your hand and return the other cards to the bottom of your deck in any order.
2.5
A body is a body, and even little bois have value. Marche fits best in a fire-centric deck where his ability is most reliable and you are often in a position to party attack with him. His EX is one of the biggest reasons to run him, as he just isn’t going to make much of an impact otherwise. Outside the burst, consider him not as a way to make your deck more consistent, but rather as a 2cp 5k. You’ll want lots of extra sources of damage if you’re planning on actually playing him to the field. If you have a huge Fire bomb like Cloud L, Marche will help your deck get him earlier on average each game, which is a big help. I would never play him to the field if fewer than fifteen fire cards had made my deck, as missing with his ability is a huge economic setback.

Sabin 019C

2cp 5000
Forward – Monk – VI
When Sabin attacks, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 2000 damage. If you control Card Name Edgar, deal it 4000 damage instead.
2
Sabin is pretty on the small side, but getting a free 2k burn on attack lets your other forwards swing into blockers bigger than themselves. Sabin also attacks fearlessly into 7ks, which is nice. He’s pretty much just filler that occasionally will do a really cool trick.

Yotsuyu 020R

2cp
Backup – Acting Imperial Viceroy – XIV
Fi D: Choose 1 Forward of cost 5 or less. It cannot block this turn.
3.5
Being able to negate your opponent’s most threatening blocker every turn is crazy good. You lose 2 cp every time you do this, so if you can’t close the game out quickly, your opponent will out-economy you. The threat of this may also convince your opponent to go hyper-aggro, thinking to nullify her by not leaving behind any blockers to target, so make sure you’re prepared to eat the brunt of their assault.

Rain 021R

3cp 7000
Forward – Knight – FFBE
When Rain enters the field or attacks, choose 1 Forward. You may pay Fi. If you do so, deal it 3000 damage.
3
3k is a nice amount of damage for combo kills. It lets you top off forwards damaged in combat, and there are even a few choice targets that it outright breaks like Zidane. Having a repeatable source of damage tacked onto an on curve forward makes for a strong and flexible threat.

Lava Spider 022R

1cp
Monster – Spider – FFCC
The attacking Forwards you control gain +3000 power.
2.5
I’m not in love with Lava Spider. Keep in mind that once the forward stops being an attacker, it loses the buff. This means that when attacking a 7k into a 7k, both still break. What Spider does allow you to do is turn small forwards into big threats. Spider rises in value a lot in draft if you can pick it up early, so you can immediately go all in aggro, but I think he’ll be less useful in sealed where it’s much harder to get enough forwards that want its buff.

Ice

Ark Angel GK 023R

6cp 9000
Forward – Ark Angel – XI
EX BURST When Ark Angel GK enters the field, Freeze all the Forwards opponent controls.
3
There are a ton of 9ks in this set, which is good for its health. In sets with only a couple it’s up to removal to handle them, but when it’s much more possible to combat them with your own 9ks their impact, while still strong, isn’t overwhelming. GK is decent as an EX, and his ETF can be a good way to gain some time while you’re being pressured, or to lock down things you’ve already dulled. Just be cautious about Deathgaze and Raiden, as those are great ways for the opponent to gain a bunch of economy against you.

Umaro 024C

3cp 9000
Forward – Yeti – VI
3
Exemplifying ice’s desire to be the aggressor, Umaro is cheap, huge, and asks nothing except that you completely empty your hand every turn. Make sure if you can’t that you have an ice backup to pay for his trigger, as paying 1 is way better than paying 2 by discarding. Once you are all set to comply with his demands, he will pay you back by being one of the biggest guys on the field. You can even play him in a defensive deck, since you still need win conditions, and Umaro provides. Just don’t play him while you’re still setting up. And don’t expect him to block more than once.

Imperio 025H

3cp 6000
Forward – Divine General – FFL
1/4
Rain and Veritas are so busted good. This means if you have targets for Imperio he’s one of the best cards in the deck. He may be slightly under curve, but giving you more reliable access to your giga-bomb is 100% worth it. Without anything for him to fetch up, he’s on the lower end of filler.

Garland (IX) 026L

3cp 6000
Forward – Overseer – IX
At the beginning of your opponent’s Main Phase 1, you opponent selects 1 active Character he/she controls and dulls it.
At the beginning of your Main Phase 1, choose 1 Character. You may pay Ice. If you do so, Freeze it.
3
Garland has a serious issue this set: the wealth of monsters that just sit on the field. In the face of a Deathgaze, or a Lava Spider, Garland’s first ability does nothing. To that end, it’s better to play him on a monsterless field to press an advantage. It is a very good ability otherwise, and if your opponent can’t muster a monster or a dinky forward they’ll be losing resources every turn. His second ability is a strong one, as you can lock something down indefinitely for very little upkeep.

Scholar 027C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
D, put Scholar into the Break Zone: Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is an Ice card, add it to your hand.
2
If you’re super heavy in ice this can get relatively reliable, but there’s not many ways to guarantee it. Almost makes Killer Whale playable. Still, backups are backups and you can’t go wrong with 2cp. Wait until a critical turn in the endgame if you need to yolo this.

The Mask 028R

3cp
Backup – ??? – FFL
When The Mask enters the field, you may search for 1 Category FFL Forward and add it to your hand.
3.5
There are lots of smokin options for The Mask to fetch up, notably Graham and Jinnai at R. Of course, if you don’t have any targets, he’s wildly overcosted, and playing him while declining to search will leave your opponents like “???”

Bard 029C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
D, put Bard into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward. Freeze it.
2
A pretty mediocre ability. If your opponent overextends into you while you have a decent board, you can stop them from activating something that would be a strong blocker, but if you’re using this defensively, to prevent something from attacking you again, you’re probably going to lose.

Black Mage 030C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XI
Ic Ic 3 D, put Black Mage into the Break Zone: Choose 1 dull Forward. Deal it 9000 damage.
2.5
It’s an expensive option, but it is a ton of damage. This will be less useful when you’re the beatdown, as your opponent will be much less inclined to dull their forwards. Cards like this that let you cash in your backups in the lategame after they’ve already paid for themselves are great options for helping you to close out games.

Cocytus 031R

2cp
Backup – Divine General – FFL
EX BURST When Cocytus enters the field, choose up to 2 Forwards. If you control 4 or more Ice Characters, Freeze them.
When Cocytus enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Dull it.
3.5 draft / 3 sealed
A backup that clears a blocker for a turn at no extra cost is excellect. Makes it a good play at any stage of the game. In draft where you can reasonable turn her first ability on late game, she gets even better. Remember that when you Burst her you only ignore the trigger condition, you still need to control 4 or more ice characters. At only R, Cocytus is going to end a lot of games, and is a serious threat you should be aware of from ice players.

Shiva 032R

4cp
Summon – MOBIUS VII
You can only cast Shiva during your turn.
Choose up to 3 Forwards or Monsters opponent controls. Dull them and Freeze them.
4
This Shiva is absolutely insane. She locks down a whole board for two turns while preventing a combat step. Dulling monsters isn’t relevant in O8 limited, but she’s strong enough without that flexibility. A lot of games are going to be ended by “Shiva, swing everything, pass turn, swing everything.”

Shiva 033C

4cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Choose 1 dull Forward. Deal it 5000 damage and 1000 more damage for each Ice Backup you control.
2.5
This Shiva is less insane. Still decent removal, it compares well to Ifrit, dealing an extra k but having a restriction on what it can hit. A bit better in a defensive deck, as when you’re on the offense they’re much less likely to have dull forwards. Shouldn’t be too hard to get to 7k, but getting it to 8 will be the goal.

Scale Toad 034C

3cp
Monster – Frog – FFCC
At the end of your opponent’s turn, if your opponent has 2 cards or more in his/her hand, your opponent discards 1 card from his/her hand.
1.5
This is a really tough card to evaluate. It’ll be way better in constructed where you have access to Cid Aulstyne, but here there aren’t any ways to punish an empty hand. You need to hit 3 cards for Scale Toad to pay for itself, but you’re not playing Scale Toad to trade resources. You’re playing Scale Toad because you’re an aggressive deck and you want to make sure the opponent can’t play the long game. The hope is that you opponent will have to match your aggression, and that your deck will be the better aggressor. The problem is, you’re dropping five CP to do it, which means they have way more resources than you. This is a card that is going to seriously punish anyone who panics into it, and will do absolutely nothing against those with a cool temperament.

Squall 035H

4cp 8000
Forward – SeeD Candidate – VIII
When Squall enters the field, if your opponent controls any dull Forwards, your opponent discards 1 card from his/her hand.
Ic Ic 1: Choose 1 Forward. Dull it. You can only use this ability if you have no cards in your hand.
4
It’s not hard at all to get his ETF effect, and getting a 2cp rebate on such a large body is great value. Once he’s on the field, your opponent always has to respect that you can dull a blocker, which depending on how much pressure you’re applying will seriously limit his/her options. Paying three to only dull one thing technically puts you down resources for no concrete return on investment, but being able to dull their scariest blocker and swing in fearlessly is a great way to convert those resources into damage. In a pinch you can dull a potential attacker on their turn, although you’re just buying time at that point, as you’re channelling your hard earned CP to do nothing but delay. It’s still a good option to have if you just need that little bit to turn the tides. You need to be committed to Ice to make use of his second ability, as you have to make two ice CP from your backups alone, but even as a splash he’s still a 2cp 8k most of the time. Every once in a while your opponent will be holding a single card and you’ll snipe that choice bit of removal that’s been tucked away for a rainy day.

Setzer 036C

4cp
Backup – Gambler – VI
EX BURST When Setzer enters the field, choose 1 Category VI Forward in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.
1.5
The value of this relies so much on whether you have enough targets. Even once you have enough to reliably turn it on, it’s just a 2cp backup that gives you access to one of your more medium cards. The EX is a nice bonus but not enough value to justify playing on its own. Save him for constructed.

Celes 037R

3cp 7000
Forward – Rune Knight – VI
When Celes attacks, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. If you control 3 or more Category VI Characters, dull it.
When Celes deals damage to your opponent, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Freeze it.
3
There’s a reasonable amount of VI characters in the set, six others at C, so you should be able to get her dull off with some frequency. Without it, she’s still decently beefy. You can sometimes put your opponent into a tough situation where, if she isn’t blocked, you freeze their dude, and if she is blocked you use something like Rain R to finish off the blocker.

Sophia 038C

2cp
Backup – Devout – FFL
D, put Sophia into the Break Zone: Dull all the Forwards with Haste, First Strike or Brave opponent controls.
2.5
There’s a decent amount that this stops, and it stops them for cheap, too. Jinnai, Alphinaud with Alisae, Ardyn, anything hit by Summoner/Red Mage. She won’t always come in handy, but when she does you’ll be glad to have her.

Time Mage 039C

3cp 7000
Forward – Standard Unit – FFTA
When Time Mage enters the field, you may discard 1 card from your hand. If you do so, dull and Freeze all the Forwards of the same cost as the discarded card opponent controls.
3
Attaching a massively discounted O1 Shiva to an on curve body, Time Mage is going to clear the way for you to clock your opponent for tons of damage, or give you a ton of breathing room to restabilize. If you’re drafting and you see this pick 5 or later, alarm bells should be ringing that ice is wide open. Dulling and Freezing multiple forwards gives your opponent a lot of time to watch their victory slip away like sands in the hourglass. I’m running out of time related puns to grandfather in. I’ll stop wasting time and get to the point: Time Mage will end games in a hurry.

Mateus, the Corrupt 040C

5cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Your opponent puts 1 attacking Forward he/she controls into the Break Zone.
2
Mateus is pretty hard to get value out of, unless you EX it in which case you’re ecstatic. Its best use is when your opponent is making an unfavorable attack, trying to bait out a block while holding an effect like Titan or Golem. Once they commit to their combat trick, you blow them out completely. Also a nice clean answer to Ardyn.

Palom 041H

2cp 5000
Forward – Black Mage – DFF IV
When Palom enters the field choose one of the following:
-Each player discards 1 card.
-Choose one forward. Freeze it.
-Dull all the backups your opponent controls.
2.5
Palom’s pretty cheap, and the three abilities have such varied uses that you’re bound to find some way to make him good. If he’s the last card in your hand you can knock 2cp free from your opponent, you can lock down a forward that’s been beating on you, or you can make them use or lose their backup CP before your combat, minimizing what trickery they can pull. Still, he’s not doing anything amazing or groundbreaking. He’s quality filler, but he’s still just filler.

Dark Fina 042L

7cp 9000
Forward – Sage of Hess – FFBE
When Dark Fina enters the field, select 1 of the 2 following actions. If you have received 5 points of damage or more, select up to 2 of the 2 following actions instead.
“Search for 1 Summon and add it to your hand.”
“Cast 1 Summon of cost 7 or less from your hand without paying the cost.”
3.5 sealed / 4 draft
Dark Fina is a fine play as a 5cp 9k that gives you access to your best summon, but where she really shines is giving you a mad discount on a summon already in your hand. To this end, you want to have lots of high impact summons in your deck. Once on 5 damage she becomes a true monster, but I don’t think its worth it in most cases to hold off on her until then and run the risk of going straight from 4 to dead. Remember that you’re not obligated to cast the summon you searched for, you can fetch one to save for later and play one you already have. DF also gives you an outlet to run off-element summons, which is probably more useful in sealed where your pool of summons is going to be much tighter.

Lasswell 043H

4cp 8000
Forward – Knight – FFBE
When Lasswell enters the field or attacks, choose 1 Forward. If it has received damage this turn, dull it and Freeze it.
Fi: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 1000 damage.
Azure Sky S Fi Ic D: Choose 2 Forwards. Deal 8000 damage to the first Forward and dull and Freeze the other.
4.5
Nice to have a strong build-around that promotes cross-element synergy. Unlike Squall, Lasswell can use his active ability to turn on his ETF, since the auto ability checks legality when it resolves instead of triggers. Like Time Mage, being able to O1 Shiva for cheap is great both offensively and defensively. 1k may not be as effective at combo-killing as say Rain’s 3k is, but it is such a low risk investment that it will be useful in all sorts of situations. With reliable access to fire CP, Lasswell deletes the opponent’s strongest blocker for two turns, making him a Must Kill. If your opponent doesn’t have removal, expect their gameplan to go aggressive in response to this, as turtling up simply isn’t an option.

Lancer Unit 044C

2cp
Monster – Militarized Unit – XIII
When Lancer Unit enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Dull it or Freeze it.
Put Lancer Unit into the Break Zone. Your opponent discards 1 card from his/her hand. You can only use this ability during your turn.
2.5
You have some flexibility in how to use this guy. You can freeze something pressuring you, you can clear out a blocker, you can dull something for Ark Angel TT or Squall, and then when you’re done you get half the cost back, so it’s a pretty cheap way to affect the board just a little bit. One thing that paying for discard does as opposed to draw is to decrease the amount of CP available to both players, instead of increase it, which leads to a more aggressive bent, so while this card fits everywhere it’ll be better on the beatdown.

Wind

Ark Angel MR 045R

2cp 3000
Forward – Ark Angel – XI
Ark Angel MR cannot be blocked by forwards with 7000 power or more.
(Wind)(Wind): Until the end of turn, Ark Angel MR cannot be targeted by your opponents summons or abilities.
3
Good evasion, but in limited there are a ton more smaller forwards running around that can block MR easily. Luckily they’re much easier to get rid of. Opponents are normally incentivized to discard smaller dudes to play out and this can take advantage of that tendency. Also, the protection effect can put your opponent in a tough situation where they can’t remove it and don’t have a valid blocker to play. MR is awful at anything other than pressure, but even in a slow deck you can use him as a resilient win condition, provided you can clear the way for him.

Alexander 046R

4cp
Sumon – MOBIUS
Choose 1 Character of cost 4 or more. Break it.
3.5
Alexander is good solid removal that will handle most of the bombs you come across. Every once in a while you’ll even go up a CP or two. Try to hold on to this until either your opponent plays something that is otherwise difficult for you to handle, or to clear a key blocker so you can get in the winning damage. Not much to say here, just nice clean FFTCG.

Waltrill 047C

2cp
Backup – Yuke – FFCC
When Waltrill enters the field, place up to 2 cards from your hand at the bottom of your deck in any order. Then, draw the same number of cards as were returned to your neck.
Dull, put Waltrill into the Break Zone: Draw 1 card, then place 1 card at the bottom of your deck. You can only use this ability if you control Card Name Norschtalen.
3
Waltrill does several important things: digs towards your bombs; helps fix your elements; gets rid of situational cards; alleviates backup flood/drought; and brings combo pieces together. It does this all on the cheap, and on top of that is searchable off Norschtalen, with whom it is even better, giving you an extra use late game when you no longer need the renewable CP. Waltrill may not be the flashy pistons in your V8, but it is the high quality motor oil that quietly keeps the engine humming along.

Warrior of Light 048H

4cp 8000
Forward – Warrior of Light – DFF I
When a Job Standard Unit Forward enters your field, choose up to 2 Backups. Activate them.
When Warrior of Light attacks, all the Job Standard Unit Forwards you control gain +2000 power until the end of the turn.
3
While a fierce engine in constructed, there are few enough Standard Units available, and few enough ways to abuse the extra CP that WoL isn’t a standout bomb. Still an excellent card, just mitigate your expectations somewhat. Fire, Wind, Lightning, and Water only have 2 Standard Units each, and Ice and Earth only 1. This can lead to some very serious turns, especially if you pick up several dragoons, but it does demand to be built around to unlock his potential. His floor is pretty reasonable, however, so even in a worst case scenario he’s pretty middle of the road, which makes him a safe gamble early in a draft.

Aerith 049L

3cp 7000
Forward – Ancient – VII
The Forwards you control don’t receive damage that is less than their power.
If Aerith is dealt damage by a Summon or ability, reduce the damage by 2000 instead.
When Aerith is put from the field into the Break Zone, activate all the backups you control.
3
Aerith will protect your team from a whole bunch. No longer can your opponent combine multiple sources of damage to delete a large forward, making cards like Sabin and Rain R significantly weaker. She combines well with Lava Spider, making it so damage won’t persist until Spider’s buff wears off. Few sources of direct damage in the set will deal the required 9k it takes to put her down, so it’s tough to axe her outside of combat. Even once she is put down, up come all your backups again. Sometimes you’ll even be able to suicide her during your combat phase so you can double dip backup CP in both main phases, but mostly you’ll be using the CP to threaten removal.

Onion Knight 050C

4cp 8000
Forward – Ninja – DFF III
EX BURST When Onion Knight enters the field, choose up to 2 Backups you control. If you have received 3 points of damage or more, activate them. If you have received 5 points of damage or more, activate all the backups you control instead.
2.5
On curve at worst and a huge resource boost at best. Onion Knight really benefits from a slower style of deck, helping turn the corner from being pressured to applying the pressure.

Garuda 051C

4cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 2000 damage and 1000 more damage for each Wind Character you control.
1.5
It’ll be a rare sight to see this do as much as 7k, at which point you’re still trading down resources. EXing it isn’t awful, but it isn’t likely, especially with only 5 points that can trigger it per game. Sometimes bad answers are all you have, though, and bad answers are better than no answers.

Thief 052C

4cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XI
When Thief enters the field, name 1 Element. Your opponent randomly reveals 2 cards from his/her hand. Select 1 card of the same Element as named among them. Your opponent discards this card.
0.5
This card is just so unreliable. Sometimes you’re going to guess wrong and miss. Sometimes your opponent won’t have any cards in hand. Even if it does hit, you’ve ripped two CP from your opponent, meaning Thief essentially only cost you 2. Look at all the rest of the 2 CP backups in the set: they all have extra abilities. I’m not in the market for a card that has a chance to be, at best, a worse version of all my other options.

Sherlotta 053H

2cp
Backup – Mysterious Woman – FFCC
You may put Sherlotta into the Break Zone to produce 1 CP of any element in order to pay a CP cost. (This can be in addition to dulling Sherlotta for CP)
3.5
I’ve included the errated text here, so don’t be surprised if your copy looks a little different. Picking up a Sherlotta early in draft gives you a ton of flexibility for splashing. Having one in sealed makes playing bombs outside your colors much easier as well. You can cash this in for a large turn too, if you just want to stay within your elements. Having access to an extra CP at a moment’s notice is super useful. Sherlotta has so many applications, one of them is bound to crop up each game.

Cid Highwind 054R

5cp 7000
Forward – Pilot – VII
When Cid Highwind enters the field, choose 1 Backup of cost 3 or more opponent controls. Return it to its owner’s hand.
Big Brawl S D: Choose 1 Character opponent controls. Return it to its owner’s hand.
2
If you’ve got a target for his ETF, you can gain a little value off Cid. You are putting 2 CP back in their hand, so be careful not to do this while the opponent is looking to close out the game, or you may end up giving them more CP than they would have had access to otherwise. In multiples, Big Brawl has the potential to be a huge resource swing. The biggest problem with Cid is that most of the things he can target are things your opponent actively wants to play a second time, like Cid or The Mask.

Selkie 055C

4cp 8000
Forward – Standard Unit – FFCC
When Selkie is put from the field into the Break Zone, your opponent puts the top 2 cards of his/her deck into the Break Zone. If both cards are of the same type, draw 1 card.
2.5
As the only effect in the set that really takes cards from the opponent’s deck, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to win through deck out, but milling cards isn’t torally useless. It does remove a little fuel for Cloud L and Quina. There aren’t too many effects that get stuff out of the Break Zone so it’s relatively difficult for your opponent to make use of it as well. She won’t pay you back all the time, but she’s a decent size, so when it does happen it will feel great.

Deathgaze (IX) 056R

3cp
Monster – Deathgaze – IX
When Deathgaze (IX) enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Remove it from the game for as long as Deathgaze (IX) is on the field.
3.5
Stellar, efficient, unconditional removal. Be careful if you hit somthing with a strong ETF or a big body, as it allows you to get blown out pretty hard, but many decks will simply be unable to interact with Deathgaze. One of the few clean answers to Ardyn and Cloud in the set.

Basilisk 059C

5cp
Monster – Basilisk – IX
When Basilisk enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 4000 damage.
Put Basilisk into the Break Zone: Choose 1 damaged Forward. Break it.
2
Helps to kill something on entry, helps to kill something on exit. Great with a super cheap source of damage like Sabin or Lasswell. In a pinch you can use both effects on the same forward, as sometimes you gotta lose CP to not lose the game. Still, it’s too expensive to load up on, so you can probably pick it up late in draft. Don’t get petrified in fear playing against Basilisk, just keep your eye on how the opponent plans to use it.

Fina 060L

6cp 9000
Forward – White Mage – FFBE
If you pay the cost to play Fina onto the field, you may pay an extra Wi Wi Wi.
When Fina enters the field, select 1 of the following 2 actions. If you paid the extra cost, select 2 of the 2 following actions instead.
“Deal 5000 damage to all the Forwards opponent controls.”
“Activate all the Characters you control.”
3.5
Fina requires a huge commitment to wind to make the most of her, but if I’m being honest the 5k option is a bit unwieldy. It can clear the way for Ark Angel MR pretty well, barring 6ks. Fina can be a strong top end for aggressive decks with lots of smaller forwards, as you can attack with all of them. If your opponent blocks each with a different forward, you can use Fina to finish them off. Fina can also be a strong cog in a slower deck, reactivating four backups is a huge amount of CP to recoup off of a 9k, and can allow for some huge turns. Still though, the power of Fina is based mostly in what she can enable your deck to do. On her own she’s just a cheap 9k in a set with a ton of removal. This isn’t a diss on her, as that’s a great baseline, just saying that she’s not a game-winning bomb.

Fina 061C

3cp 7k
Forward – White Mage – FFBE
When Fina enters the field, choose 1 Wind Character you control. Activate it.
When Fina is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Character you control. Activate it.
2.5
Most of the time Fina will refund you 1cp, sometimes you can “brave” one of your forwards, and every once in a while you’ll get to do something really cheeky. Her second ability will be much more difficult to get value out of, but it makes up for it by dropping the wind restriction. The floor on this card is pretty decent, and depending on how well you can abuse her activations the ceiling can get relatively high as well.

Veriaulde 062H

4cp 5000
Forward – Yuke – FFCC
When Veriaulde is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Wind Monster of cost 4 or less in your Break Zone. Play it onto the field.
3
Deathgaze makes Veriaulde super intimidating. You do need some way to get value out of the 5k body, as Veri costs more then just playing DG normally, but with a party attack or an effect like Lava Spider he can be incredibly difficult to deal with.

Yuffie 064H

2cp 5000
Forward – Ninja – VII
If you control 3 or more Category VII Characters other than Yuffie, Yuffie gains +2000 power and Haste.
When Yuffie attacks, deal 1000 damage to all the Forwards opponent controls.
1.5
1k just isn’t enough damage to really do much with, especially when attached to a trigger so unwieldy as attacking. This means if you’re going to combo the damage with a Main Phase only effect, you need some way to protect Yuffie, unless it’s really worth throwing her away. She can attack up into 6k, which at 2 CP does not net you any value at all. Her buff is almost impossible to set up, unfortunately, as haste alone would make her much better. Makes Basilisk great.

Archer 065C

3cp 7000
Forward – Standard Unit – FFTA
Wi Wi D, put Archer into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 10000 damage.
3.5
Archer is exactly what you want to fill out your forward base: On curve, medium sized, and has a strong plan B for when she gets outclassed. Previous metas have had difficult times dealing with 9ks, but with this one card alone big bodies are not nearly as safe as they have been in the past. Archer is best played early, both so you don’t have to wait to activate her, and for the effect she will have on your opponent’s options. Watching those big bombs be discarded for CP in the face of the simple Archer will be a great source of joy. She does require a reasonable investment into wind to activate reliably, and she doesn’t work nearly as well reactively as she does proactively, but her floor is reasonable and her ceiling is high.

Earth

Ark Angel TT 067R

2cp 3000
Forward – Ark Angel – XI
3
TT  is hyper-cheap removal. It does take a little while to work his magic, but in the meantime he provides a free chump blocker to stop you from taking damage from the chosen forward. Combining with either Ice or Lightning gives you lots of ways to dull anything giving you fits.

Ardyn 068L

7cp 9000
Forward – Chief Minister – XV
Brave
Ardyn cannot be broken.
At the beginning of your opponent’s Attack Phase, your opponent selects 1 Character he/she controls. He/she may put it into the Break Zone. If he/she does so, Ardyn cannot block this turn.
3
I really don’t like my already overcosted threats to have answers stapled to them, but if you can apply lots of pressure before dropping Ardyn, he is relatively difficult to get rid of. Unfortunately, there are still some very efficient answers in the set, Deathgaze is a huge CP loss, and Ninja can take control of him in response to his trigger and then throw him under his own bus. With only six damage, it’s not especially difficult to build up to one critical turn where the opponent sacrifices a spent backup, eliminates Ardyn as a blocker, and just kills you. There are going to be games Ardyn will singlehandedly win, and games where he’s going to cost you a ton of CP for absolutely no benefit, and it’s crucial to identify which is which before playing him to the field. He’ll be much a much safer play in sealed, where access to the few cards that remove him is even more restricted than draft.

Dark Knight 070C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
Ea 1 D, put Dark Knight into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward. Until the end of the turn, it gains +1000 power for each point of damage you have received.
2.5
As the game drags on, Dark Knight gets better and better, making it easier to trade him for massive damage or huge forwards. At five damage, even your 5ks will eat 9ks no problem. Dark Knight fits best in a grindier deck, as those decks tend to take several points of damage before trying to take over the game, but at 2cp he can go anywhere, so don’t assume other earth players will skip over him.

Undead Princess 071H

2cp 5000
Forward – Undead – FFCC
When Undead Princess enters the field, choose 1 Forward. If your opponent doesn’t pay 3, it cannot attack or block this turn.
Put 2 Earth Backups into the Break Zone: Play Undead Princess onto the field dull. You can only use this ability if Undead Princess is in the Break Zone.
2.5
5k isn’t particularly relevant, but because there’s so much removal in the set, a forward this sticky is still worthwhile. Also, your opponent has to be constantly conscious whenever passing turn that you can have an extra attacker. Sometimes when your opponent is low on resources you’ll be able to get rid of a key blocker as well. Undead Princess has enough small uses here and there that it all adds up to a pretty decent card.

Machinist 073C

5cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
When Machinist enters the field, choose 1 dull Forward. Break it.
3
Cards don’t get more Earth than this. Paying big costs to turn punish aggression. Machinist will shoot down an early attacker while you build your backline, putting you ahead on resources while you plop down a continual resource generator. Does next to nothing in an aggressive deck (unless you’re also in ice) so keep that in mind when preparing your gameplan.

Gladiolus 074H

4cp 9000
Forward – Retainer – XV
You can only pay with Earth CP to play Gladiolus to the field.
If you control Card Name Noctis, the cost for playing Gladiolus onto the field is reduced by 2.
Cyclone S Ea Ea 2 D: Deal 7000 damage to all the Forwards opponent controls.
3
Getting a 1cp discount for a 9k is a great trade off for restricting what element CP you need. His S is crazy strong if you manage to get it, but most of the time Glady is just gonna be an efficient beater. I love 9ks though and I’m all in.

Graham 075C

5cp 9000
Forward – Dark Knight – FFL
When Graham is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. If you have received 4 points of damage or more, break it.
3.5
Graham is going to easily slot into slower, more value focused decks, as he acts as a brick wall that will bring someone else down with him. Even though this Opus is rife with quality removal, a 9k is still a serious threat. If you hold off until damage number 4 to play him, your opponent will have a very hard time dealing with him profitably. One of the best Cs in the set, and a strong signal in Draft that earth is open.

Titan 077C

1cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Until the end of the turn, it gains +1000 power for each Earth Backup you contol.
3
The EX won’t always be useful, as if the opponent already wasn’t planning on attacking again you gained nothing, but it’ll still be relevant once in a while, and it’s a great combat trick. You essentially are trading this card for the opponent’s forward, which gives you the opportunity to gain a massive CP advantage. This kind of efficiency is rare for aggressive decks, and Titan will shine in those, but really it is excellent anywhere you can get 2+ earth backups.

Nacht 078L

4cp 8000
Forward – Warrior of Darkness – FFL
If you control a Job Warrior of Darkness other than Nacht, Nacht gains +1000 power and Brave.
X X: Choose 1 Forward or Monster. If its cost is X, break it. You can only use this ability during your turn and only once per turn.
Ebony Slash S Ea Ea: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 8000 damage.
4
This rating doesn’t reflect the WoD buff or the S, as you’re unlikely to get those, but in those rare instances Nacht will be even better. Without those, you still have an 8k that murders everything in its path. Once a control deck takes hold of the game, it usually has accumulated a large CP advantage, and this is one of the best ways to convert that into direct board control. You even break even on 2s, and go up CP on 1s like Lava Spider. Even against larger dangers, having an unconditional solution is worth an arm and a leg.

Noctis 079H

2cp 5000
EX BURST When Noctis enters the field, reveal the top 2 cards of your deck. Add 1 Category XV card among them to your hand and return the other cards to the bottom of your deck in any order.
Warp-Strike S Ea: Choose 1 Monster. Break it.
0.5
With so few XV cards in the set and such a small amount of cards to look through, Noctis may as well not have text on him. His S is too hard to pull off in limited to be relevant. Even if you get two Noctises (Nocti?) you still have to get both of them at roughly the same time, AND have a decent target to hit, which will be difficult with half the monsters able to be broken for value at any time.

Luminous Puma 080C

5cp
Monster – Razorclaw – XIII
When Luminous Puma enters the field, choose 1 Forward in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.
Put Luminous Puma into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward or Backup in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.
0
Dropping seven CP to get back four CP is a great way to throw the game.

Fenrir 081R

2cp
Summon – IX
If you cast Fenrir, you may pay an extra 2.
Choose 1 Light Forward or Dark Forward. Break it
If you paid the extra cost, remove it from the game instead.
0
If this game had sideboards, Fenrir would be an acceptable pickup, but with only four light/dark cards in the set, and knowing that some of those aren’t even Forwards, the odds of actually hitting something are pretty fenrare.

Prompto 082R

6cp
Backup – Retainer – XV
EX BURST When Prompto enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. If your opponent controls 4 or more Forwards, remove it from the game.
When Prompto enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Break it.
4.5
Ignoring the first ability for now, Prompto is basically a 2cp backup that casts the following summon when he enters: “2cp break target forward” which is a card I would do unspeakable things to play. Prompto is a clean answer to nearly every forward in the set. Enough games stalemate hard enough for his first ability to be relevant probably once per event, though actually triggering it off damage will be a pretty rare thing. I don’t usually take backups early, but like Snow and Exdeath in O7 I will absolutely make exceptions for Prompto. The only thing stopping me from giving him a 5/5 is that he can’t attack.
In Simplified Sealed, if you have Prompto in your pool, put him into your deck. Promptly.

Moogle Knight 086C

3cp 5000
Forward – Standard Unit – FFTA
Brave
If Moogle Knight receives damage, reduce it by 3000 instead.
If Forwards forming a party with Moogle Knight receive damage, reduce it by 3000 instead.
2 draft / 1 sealed
Moogle Knight is a great party attacker, and can stop anything up to a 7k from hitting you, but he can’t stop multiple 7ks, and he isn’t a great attacker solo. You need to be heavy in earth for him to shine, so he’ll likely not make the cut in sealed.

Layle 088C

2cp
Backup – Crystal Bearer – DFF FFCC
D put Layle into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Summon of cost 4 or less. Cancel its effect
3
A great ability for a backup. Layle is particularly potent because of the wealth of good summons this set, with cards like Alexander and Raiden at rare. Holding this open during your combats is going to almost completely stop your opponent from doing anything cheeky, forcing them to fight on your terms. Unfortunately for draft he is unique, so you can’t load up on five of him without destabilizing your deck. If you’re playing against Layle, don’t run a summon into him just to clear the way for more summons, as it’s a huge cp gain for your opponent.

Lightning

Alisaie 090C

2cp
Backup – Scion of the Seventh Dawn – XIV
The Card Name Alphinaud you control gains +1000 power.
D: Choose 1 Card Name Alphinaud you control. It gains Haste until the end of the turn.
2.5
Alphinaud is great alone, giving him a power buff and haste puts him on a whole other level. Even if you don’t have Alphy, playing this is going to affect how the opponent plays, as they have to deal with the fear of having all their 6ks banned from blocking duty. With both at C, it shouldn’t be too hard to get them both in the same deck in draft.

Alba 091H

3cp 6000
Forward – Warrior of Darkness – FFL
EX BURST When Alba enters the field, choose as many Forwards opponent controls as the Job Warrior of Darkness you control. Dull them.
If your opponent controls 2 or more dull Forwards, Alba gainst Haste and “Alba cannot be chosen by your opponent’s Summons or abilities”.
3
Alba is really good at outright winning the game and honestly not great at anything else. Her burst is insanely unlikely, she’s too small to matter in combat, and her untargetability is countered every time you pass the turn. Still, when you play her while your opponent already has a dull forward, combat math swings crazy hard in your favor. Also, at H, she will appear rarely enough that people will almost never play around her. Try not to let on that you have access to her while you manipulate the game into a state where you can swing for lethal, and she will albasolutely justify the space she takes up in your deck.

Alphinaud 092C

2cp 5000
Forward – Scion of the Seventh Dawn – XIV
When Alphinaud attacks, dull all the Forwards with a power equal or inferior to Alphinaud’s opponent controls.
3
Ol’ Alph here is gonna ruin a lot of people’s days. Can only be blocked by things that are bigger than him, which means if you have a card to combo with him like Sabin or Basilisk that he can trade up pretty easily. Where Al will be best, though, is in conjunction with effects like Lava Spider, Golem, or Titan, allowing him to lock down an even greater range of forwards. In MTG attacking with all your forwards for lethal is called an alpha strike, and an Alphi strike isn’t going to be too different.

Black Mage 095C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
Li Li D, Put Black Mage into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Lightning Summon in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.
2.5
Sometimes you just need another Ramuh. Because it effectively puts two lightning cp in your hand, you’re only really paying 1 for this effect (and another 1 every turn you don’t have this backup anymore so use it late game and win quick) so this is a super cheap way to get that critical Raiden to clear the way to victory, or to blow that 9k out of the water.

Sakura 096L

5cp 4000
Forward – Sage – FFBE
When Sakura enters the field, choose 1 active Forward opponent controls. Deal it 8000 damage.
Dull 5 active Lightning Backups: Choose 1 Forward. Break it.
3.5
Copy paste my talks about how Forward + Removal = Great. A little lower rating than other similar forwards, just because of how easily a 4k gets outclassed. Sakura also has some flavor text about lightening 5 backpacks or something?

Shango 098C

3cp 5000
For each Lightning Backup you control, Shango gains +1000 power.
2.5 draft / 1 sealed
In draft you should be able to get him to 8k pretty regularly, making him a valuable addition. Sealed though he’s much less likely to reach curve. Not looking forward to playing four of these in a draft deck and losing to the guy running Meltigemini to fix his elements.

Summoner 099C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
When Summoner enters the field, choose 1 Lighting Forward. Until the end of the turn, it gains Haste and First Strike.
2.5
Like Red Mage, Summoner will sometimes allow you to make an attack you couldn’t have made otherwise, the difference being that instead of being able to leave up a blocker, you are able to swing freely into equally powered forwards. Summoner is a bit better aggressively than Red Mage as well. Other than that, treat them the same: quality 2 drop that is still useful late game.

Jinnai 100R

4cp 4000
Forward – Ninja – FFL
Back Attack
First Strike
When Jinnai enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 4000 damage.
3.5
Would you pay 4 for a summon that dealt 8k to an attacking forward? I sure would. Jinnai is even more than that however, as you get to keep a body afterwards. Once you’ve made use of his ETF ability, you still have a 4k first striker, and the more sources of incidental damage you can jam in your deck the better that first strike will be. Combos very well with Lava Spider as well. Also every once in a while you’ll get to donk two 4ks at once.

Diana 101H

3cp 6000
Forward – Warrior of Darkness – FFL
When Diana enters the field, choose 1 Category FFL Forward other than Card Name Diana in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.
D: Choose 1 Category FFL Forward other than Diana you control. It gains +2000 power until the end of the turn.
3
Diana is only good if you have a couple other FFL forwards, but there are enough to get her online often enough. Notably, you can get double duty from Graham, and you can go absolutely crazy with Jinnai, who can make great use of the +2k with his First Strike. Without any support, though, she’s under curve and low impact.

Raiden 103R

4cp
Summon – MOBIUS
You can only pay with CP produced by Backups to cast Raiden.
Choose 1 Forward. Break it.
3.5
Raiden is a little better than Bahamut if for no other reason than lightning is more likely to get four backups than fire is. Other than that, and that Raiden doesn’t dodge Break triggers, they’re basically the same card. Better the slower your deck is.

Ramuh 104C

4cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Choose 1 active Forward. Deal it 5000 damage and 1000 more damage for each Lightning Backup you control.
3
Reliably 7k in most deck that will play it, which is fine even though you’re probably trading a 4cp card for a 3cp card. You can afford to trade down sometimes on your removal, as sometimes it will be the only way you have to get rid of a problem. Ramuh of course gets better and better the more dedicated to the element you are, and if you manage to pick up more than one you’ll want to ramuhz many lightning backups in your deck as you can.

Dragoon 106C

4cp 8k
Forward – Standard Unit – XIV
If you control 3 or more Job Dragoon or Card Name Dragoon, Dragoon gains Haste and First Strike.
2.5 draft / 2 sealed
With two different Dragoons at C, it isn’t out of the question that you can meet the requirement in draft. Even without, he’s still on curve, so you’ll have to be fighting for them with any other lightning player. In sealed though it will be almost impossible. Still though he discounts 107C, which is relevant.

Dragoon 107C

3cp 7000
Forward – Standard Unit – FFTA
The cost required to play Dragoon onto the field is reduced by 1 for each Job Dragoon or Card Name Dragoon you control (it cannot become 0).
2.5 draft / 2 sealed
Requiring slightly less setup than 106C, but also giving you slightly less benefit. Again, the baseline is a playable card so don’t hesitate to pick these up and run them.

Rude 108R

2cp
Backup – Turks – VII
Dull: choose 1 (card name: Rufus) or (job: Member of the Turks) you control. Until the end of turn, it gains +1000 power.
S Li Li Li 4 D: Deal 8000 damage to all active forwards. You can only use this ability if you control (card name: Reno).
1.5
With not many things it can buff, he makes a crude addition to the deck. His S ability is somewhat reliable since he is R rarity, and it is insanely strong, as you can use it after declaring an attack (and dulling a forward it would kill) but before blocks.

Rufus 109L

4cp 5000
Forward – President of Shinra – VII
EX BURST When Rufus enters the field, you may search for 1 Job Member of the Turks and add it to your hand.
When Rufus or a Job Member of the Turks you control is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 active Forward opponent controls. Deal it 5000 damage.
2.5
Assuming you can get a Turks back reliably, Rufus is a solid attacker, as he can break pretty much anything that gets in his way. Sometimes you’ll be able to block, use his 5k on another forward, then use something like Basilisk to break the attacker. Restricting it to active forwards does make him considerably less useful at roughhousing on defense.

Reno 110R

2cp
Backup – Member of the Turks – VII
D, put Reno into the Break Zone: Choose 1 active Forward. Deal it 3000 damage.
Turk Light S D: Choose 1 Forward. Dull it.
2.5
Once Reno pays back the CP you invested into him, he’s a super cheap way to close out an enemy blocker. At R his S isn’t outside the realm of possibility, and being able to dull a forward on demand is nice. While neither ability is stellar, the cost for them is pretty low, and Reno is going to quietly put in a ton of work throughout the life of the format.

Water

Alexander 111R

1cp
Summon – IX
Select 1 of the 2 following actions.
“Choose 1 Forward of cost 3 or less opponent controls. Return it to its owner’s hand.”
“Choose 1 Monster of cost 3 or less opponent controls. Return it to its owner’s hand.”
2.5
Usually combat tricks are used in conjunction with smaller forwards, which means that this hits the right costs to blow out power buffs and such. Bouncing things like Iroha and Lava Spider in combat will also lead to some strong trades. You’ll be able to find lots of ways to gain additional value out of this, like getting rid of Deathgaze and using the forward it had tucked away to surprise block.

Quina 114H

4cp 8k
Forward – Blue Mage – IX
Remove the top 5 cards of your deck from the game: Until the end of the turn, Quina gains +2000 power and Quina cannot be chosen by your opponent’s abilities. You can only use this ability once per turn.
3.5
On curve with an absolute monster of an ability. Removing five cards from your deck is not a real cost. As long as you don’t deck out, it doesn’t matter how many cards are in your deck at the end of the game. This makes her ability basically free. Sure, there’s an upper limit to how many times you can do it, probably 3, but every time you pull it off you’re going up resources. Quina can’t be broken fairly in combat; Deathgaze, Basilisk, and Graham can’t break her; she has some amount of counterplay against summons like Ramuh, Titan, and Leviathan; all this wraps up into a beast of a card that’ll give your opponent the blues.

Zidane 115L

2cp 3000
Forward – Genome – DFF IX
If you have 6 or more cards in your hand, Zidane cannot be blocked.
When Zidane deals damage to your opponent, draw 2 cards.
Solution 9 S Wa Wa: Choose 1 Forward. Until the end of the turn, it loses 2000 power for each card in your hand.
5
“Zidane, go” is probably the strongest turn 1 play you can make this Opus. There’s almost no way to deal with him at a profit, and if he connects once the game is basically over. Mid to late game it can be much harder to get to six cards in hand, but water is the element you want to be in to make it happen, and if you know he’s in the deck you can try to keep a fair amount of cards in hand so that whenever he does show up you’re in position to abuse him.

Shamonde P Grauche 116R

2cp
Backup – Archbishop – XI
If a Forward you control receives 1000 damage, the damage becomes 0 instead.
1.5
Unless there’s some dramatic cards that haven’t been spoiled yet, Shamonde is a vanilla 2cp backup. Still playable, but completely unexciting. He stops one of Lasswell’s abilities, Yuffie’s attack trigger, and if Iroha activates her 1k damage and dies before it resolves he stops that too. Nothing particularly notable.

Strago 119C

2cp
Backup – Blue Mage – VI
Wa D, put Strago into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Card Name Relm of cost 2 or less in your Break Zone. Play it onto the field. You can only use this ability during your turn.
2
It’s nice to be able to convert a backup into another resource late game once you stop needing the CP it provides, even if that card is lower on the playability scale. The opportunity cost for running Strago is low, and the potential payoff can be decent.

Paladin 121C

2cp
Backup – Standard Unit – XIV
Wa D, put Paladin into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward you control, and 1 other Forward you control. During this turn, the next damage dealt to the former is received by the latter instead.
3
Paladin packs a serious level of cover for your team. It interacts well with damage based summons/abilities and makes combat math a nightmare for your opponent. You can use it to let a big forward tank a smaller amount of damage, or you can use it to throw someone under the bus in order to save a key part of your gameplan. It is a lot of potential CP to just leave up so most of the time he’ll be useful is during your own attack phase, so that if you don’t end up activating him you can still make use of the CP in main phase 2. If your opponent has extra tricks, you do run the risk of getting completely blown out by having your chosen recipient removed from the field.

Nichol 123H

4cp 7000
Forward – Tactician – FFBE
When Nichol enters the field, choose up to 2 Forwards opponent controls. They lose 1000 power for each Water Backup you control until the end of the turn.
Wa D: All the Water Forwards you control gain +1000 power until the end of the turn.
3.5 Draft 2 Sealed
Dropping two forwards by 2 or 3k is pretty serious combo potential. Even without any direct sources of damage to combine with, Nichol makes for a much safer attack phase when he enters, and continues to threaten a relevant buff every turn thereafter. Downsides, he’s below curve and only cares about water characters, making him much more unreliable in sealed.

Ninja 124C

3cp 5000
Forward – Standard Unit – FFTA
(Water)Dull, put Ninja into the break zone: choose 1 forward your opponent controls. Active it, and gain control of it until the end of the turn.
3
I think Ninja is one of the most interesting cards in the set. Its primary use will be to throw one of the opponent’s forwards in front of another, which is going to make it hard to attack into you. It’s secondary use will be to negate a blocker for a turn so you can load up on damage. But what makes it so cool is that is has a million little niche uses. It stops Ardyn dead. If you take anything on their turn and break it with Lunafreya out you can steal it forever. Taking things with break triggers like Eiko and Cloud let you nab extra value. If Dragoon 106C has first strike with exactly 3, you can turn that ability off. You can negate field abilities like Iroha’s damage buff. All in all, this card is going to be part of a lot of insane plays, and knowing how to best play with/against it will be one of the most important skills of Opus 8.

Eiko

5cp
Forward – Summoner – IX
When Eiko enters the field, you may search for 1 Summon and add it to your hand.
When Eiko is put from the field into the Break Zone, draw 1 card.
2.5
Nice filler card. She gets you 4 CP back as the game progresses, so if you can eke out any value from the body itself you’ve gotten a great deal. Parties well, combos with burn well, a nice little cog in the machine of your deck.

Whale Zombie 127C

2cp
Monster – Undead – IX
0
You need to have some serious synergies to make Whale Zombie worthwhile, and I just don’t think those synergies exist in Opus 8. It isn’t totally useless, if you’re really struggling for sources of water CP, maybe you switched into water late in the draft, it does discard for 2. If your sealed pool has some strong bombs but not much else it can help you dig through your deck to get to your much needed power.

Meltigemini 128R

2cp
Monster – Demon – IX
The power of Forwards cannot be increased by Summons or abilities.
0.5
There just aren’t enough things this counters in the set for it to be relevant. Most of them need to already be in play, too, as once you drop Melti your opponent can just pitch the cards it stops for CP. Paying 2 and losing a card from hand just to shut off some abilities just isn’t worth it. Affected cards can still attack, block, produce CP; all Melti does is make them a little weaker. You just can’t drop so many resources on such little board impact.

Leviathan 130C

3cp
Summon – XI
EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Until the end of the turn, it loses 1000 power for each Water Character you control.
3
With just a small presence of water characters on the board, Levi is a solid trick that will shake up combat math in your favor. It won’t be hard to trade Levi up into a 4cp or higher forward. But for decks that seriously commit to water as their primary element, Leviathan can also double as hard removal for more medium sized forwards. The EX will most often be used on another potential attacker to make it too small to be a threat, but every once in a while you’ll bop something small. Keep in mind that your opponent can remove your water characters while Levi is on the stack to lessen its effectiveness, so if you think there’s hankypank afoot be careful how you use it.

Relm 131C

2cp 5000
Forward – Pictomancer – VI
EX BURST When Relm enters the field, choose 1 Monster. Return it to its owner’s hand.
2
Relm has some neat uses. She can put a hiatus on Golem’s second ability. She can get rid of Meltigemini for a turn if it’s holding down your buffs. She can Soft a forward petrified by Deathgaze. She can even bounce your own Deathgaze, in case a worse threat comes along, or the intended target was never hit. She can even spook a Spider on EX and make further attacks a lot less attractive. Having EX is what really makes her a solid addition to the deck, as you can hit cards like Basilisk without fear of them breaking it in response.

Lunafreya 132L

4cp
Backup – Oracle – XV
If you control a Category XV Forward, the cost to play Lunafreya is reduced by 1.
During your opponent’s turn, if a Forward you control other than light or dark is put from the field into the Break Zone, you may put Lunafreya into the Break Zone. If you do, return the broken forward to the field dull.
1.5
Lunafreya is a risky addition to slower decks, as she costs a ton up front with no immediate benefit, will almost only be used on blockers, and is very hard to gain value out of. Most decks won’t be willing to wait for the investment to pay off, and since the opponent knows she’s there it’ll be tough to bully them into making unfavorable attacks. As a warning, she does NOT combo with Ninja, as the forward Lunafreya returns is returned to the field under its owner’s control. For most cases, navigating the game into a position where you can use her to gain a profit will be difficult.

Light/Dark/Starter

Madeen 133H

8cp
Summon – IX
Madeen can only be cast during your turn.
If you have received 5 damage or more, the cost to cast Madeen is reduced by 2.
Deal 9000 damage to all Forwards.
3
A reset button is a great thing to have access to. You’ll usually be able to set up for it a little bit beforehand to lose as little to it as possible, or to try and bait the opponent into overextending into it. There’s not too much you can combo with it, Ardyn is probably too expensive, there’s nothing left on the field for Cloud L to hit if he returns, Lunafreya only triggers on the opponent’s turn, there are no monsters that turn into forwards, so there’s little opportunity for cheeky play. Just a straightforward kill ’em all.

Rain 134L

3cp 7000
Forward – Knight – FFBE
When Rain attacks, until the end of the turn, all the Forwards you control gain +2000 power and all the Forwards opponent controls lose 2000 power.
Leadership S: All the forwards you control gain Haste until the end of the turn.
Undermine S 2: All the forwards opponent controls lose 4000 power until the end of the turn.
5
Nothing in the set comes close to being able to block and break him, or any other 6k or higher you control once he swings. As if cheating on his combat math tests wasn’t enough, he has S fodder at R with not one but two amazing S abilities. Giving Rain haste will end more games than it doesn’t, and those that it doesn’t will be solved by Undermine. Rain’s S abilities are so good I’m inclined to run Rain R even as the only fire cards in the deck, and if you see your opponent discard a Rain R in an otherwise non-fire deck, you’re in for some stormy weather.

Ark 135H

10cp
Summon – IX
You can only cast Ark during your turn.
All the Forwards lose 8000 power until the end of the turn. Draw 1 card for each Forward whose power became 0 or less due to the previous effect.
4
While it may be super expensive, in most situations Ark is going to draw you three or more cards. Every once in a while your opponent will have a Forward too big for Ark to deal with, and it’ll just sit dead in your hand for a bit, but most of the time you’ll be able to plan ahead and wreck your opponent’s board with this. Works even better with cards with break triggers like Eiko and with 9ks like Graham. Try not to run out your hand with an Ark in your deck, so you have the option to play it soon after drawing it.

Veritas of the Dark 136L

6cp 8000
Forward – Veritas – FFBE
When Veritas of the Dark enters the field, your opponent selects 1 Forward he/she controls. Put it into the Break Zone.
When Veritas of the Dark is put from the field into the Break Zone, your opponent selects 1 Character he/she controls. Put it into the Break Zone.
5
Veritas may not always hit what you want to hit, but he ignores untargetability and he ignores unbreakability. He earns you a bare minimum of 6 CP if your opponent sacrifices two 1 drops and pays nothing to break him. That’s his worst case scenario. Well, ok I guess worst case you play him onto an empty field. Hitting him with Bahamut is probably the best way to get rid of him, Deathgaze is super risky, as if you can get rid of Deathgaze you get an extra ETF trigger. At 8k, Veritas may get outclassed in combat by 9ks, but even then the sheer value he gets you is still going to put you way ahead in economy.

Lyse 139S

Fire 3cp 7000
Forward – Scion of the Seventh Dawn – XIV
You cannot play Lyse or Card Name Yda while already in control of either Character.
The Forwards other than Lyse you control gain +1000 power. If you have received 5 points of damage or more, the Forwards you control gain +2000 power instead.
Dragon Kick S D: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 8000 damage.
4
A power buff of this caliber is huge. On curve herself, she makes all your other forwards able to outclass other similarly costed forwards, meaning that you’ll gain CP with almost every combat trade. Prepare for your opponent to try to skip damage #5 completely, taking you from 4 to 6 in the same combat phase, as she is absolutely insane at that point. If you ever manage to pull off her special, buy a lottery ticket immediately, as getting 2 copies of the same Foil S is almost never going to happen.

Cloud 143S

Earth 3cp 7000
Forward – SOLDIER – VII
When Cloud enters the field, choose 1 Forward. If you control 4 or more Category VII Forwards, break it.
When a Category VII Forward you controls blocks, it gains +1000 power until the end of the turn.
2
7k on offense, 8k on defense, not bad stats, but not great. It’s almost impossible to get his first ability off in limited, and other VII forwards are somewhat rare in O8, so it’s not often he’ll get to do more than that.

Tifa 144S

Earth 4cp 8000
Forward – Martial Artist – VII
If you control a Card Name Cloud Forward, the cost for playing Tifa onto the field is reduced by 2.
Brave
Final Heaven S Ea D: Choose 1 dull Forward. Deal it 10000 damage.
2.5
8k Brave is a great body, even if her other abilities are pipe dreams. Can’t go wrong with those stats, but they’re not especially exciting.