Fire

Adelard

A 2cp/5k isn’t great, but what a set of abilities he has. Permanent Cu Chaspel is nice, especially against Dario Hourne, even if there isn’t that much other damage reduction in the set. I’d be glad that he turns off one of Shiva’s modes if he weren’t a prime target for the other one. Unlike Iroha and Primal Ifrit before him, the Character using the ability doesn’t still have to be on the field, and unlike Djinn before him, it’s not just Forwards that benefit, and unlike Iroha and Djinn before him he works with non-Fire cards too. Elfe, King, Goblin, Samurai, Jet Bahamut, and Mystic Knight all benefit from this, with Penelo and Cissnei being good synergy outside of Fire.

B

 

Edgar

You have Sabin in Fire as prime Edgar synergy, and looking further you’re probably hoping to move into Ice to enable Edgar, as that gives you access to Umaro and Setzer at H, and more importantly the only Cat VI that isn’t H/L: Terra at Common. Typhon and Mog (VI) are also around, with Typhon sporting a choice Special to abuse, but I feel like you need more targets than one of those and Sabin. As strong as Edgar is with friends, keep in mind that on his own, he’s a 5cp/7k.

A

 

Elfe

There may not be any targets for her EX, and her break ability may only be 1k, but there are still uses aplenty for her. She gives that extra bit of reach to your Forwards and other damage sources. She can couple with Marilith’s First Strike to take down a 10k. She turns Orc on. And she’s not any more expensive than other better Backups either. Look, she’s not great, but at the end of the day you’re still gonna run one or two of her without complaint. Since she is a C, just make sure not to be flooded with a bunch of copies of the same unique Backup.

C

 

Garland

10k Brave for 5 is cool. There are formats where this would probably be a high B, maybe a low A, but this isn’t a draft environment where you can win by just playing out a 9k. There are plenty of cheaper Forwards that can tangle with him, Terra, Ursula, Duke Snakeheart, Jack, Learte, not to mention the avalanche of strong removal, Bahamut, Fuhito, Archer, Arecia Al-Rashia, Owe Special, Andoria, Miranda Special, even Gargas puts an end to Garland’s fun. And those are just the efficient options at C/R. Kelger, Arciela, Noel, and others can wreck Garland even harder. Normally I’d warn you to be careful of having Garland shrunk mid-combat by having your 2cp Forward broken, but it only makes a 1k difference. There are few Forwards that are exactly 10k, so most of the time that it changes things it’ll mean your Garland trades with their 9k.

C

 

King

3k feels like it might not be a relevant amount. Look at the other effects that can combine with it: Adelard, Elfe, Goblin, Bahamut, Jet Bahamut, and Mystic Knight. Amongst them, Jetty B and Mystic Knight feel like the only ones that make King’s 3k relevant. The first three don’t do enough to really get anything serious (although like half of Lightning’s Forwards are less than 6k) and an extra 3k doesn’t really give Summon Bahamut that much extra reach. What it will be best at is smacking your opponent’s largest Forward and daring them to block. This makes it feel extremely similar to his +2k. If he’s attacking alone, +2k is probably the right choice, but the 3k burn can help other Forwards attack into a scary blocker. Ultimately, he’s… fine. He exists, you’ll play him, you won’t be upset. Most of the time.

C

 

Gosetsu

Samurai is already super playable, and Gosetsu offers it both extra on-board utility and recursion. If you manage to snap up a Hien as well, you’re off the the races. The Fire cards he supports are H/L, so draft Gosetsu to support the XIV deck you’ve already started rather than taking him early and hoping, as on his own he’s just a 3/7. Don’t forget his good friend Owe.

A

 

Goblin

In multiples, this unassuming little guy is pretty good, giving extra range to any source of damage you happen to have. Suddenly, all of your Forwards threaten to trade up by 3k, letting you get extra use out of your more utilitarian units.

C

 

Samurai

3FF for 7k+8k burn is a solid card. Add in a not-irrelevant Damage 3 and Gosetsu/Hien synergy and you’ve got a card most every Fire deck will want to run. Oh, and we can’t forget…

A

 

Samurai

that this Samurai can just slam it back onto the field. Samurai Forward isn’t a cast trigger so you can pay for the 8k burn again when you cash in this Samurai. It also plays Berserker too, so you’ve got more options than one H.

A

 

Scott

+3k on entry helps safeguard attacks against intimidating blockers like Marilith, or 10ks like Shadow Lord and Exdeath (Ursula is still terrifying tho). Most of the attack triggers you’re really looking to enable, like Zenos and Noel, don’t benefit from the +3k, and there’s no effects like Hecatonchier or… uh… the other Hecatonchier for you to make use of the +3k, so mostly his ETF is gonna end up just letting your random C attack into something bigger. Making Serah safe sounds pretty good, but she does that on her own well enough in most circumstances. His DTF (that stands for Dies from The Field, you degenerate) is a handy little whatever to again help another attacker get in or put a full stop to your opponent’s attack step. His Damage 3, though, is the real deal. Sure his first ability isn’t amazing either on entry or death, but it’s nice, it’s useful, and getting it on top of a full two card rebate, more than the CP cost of the card, is enough for me to want to jam some of these in every Fire deck I play this set.

B

 

Zenos

Remember he only hits exactly 4cp, so he’s no Cecil 16L. In Fire, you’ve got King, Jet Bahamut, Hien, and Sabin, so at least there’s one C. His attack trigger is excellent, safeguarding your other attacks. Hien really wants cards like Zenos and Gosetsu that make it safer for him to attack, so Zenos slots well into a Hien based XIV build. He runs a lot of the same risks as Garland, so try to mitigate how much you can get blown out by playing something with his ETF.

B

 

Tifa

9k is a huge amount of damage, letting Tifa do a good impression of Prompto, except her other ability is actually relevant. Turning Backups into Forwards is the fun new ability for this set, and I think it’s going to be much more impactful in limited than it will be in Standard. Since you can only activate on your turn, it’s an offensive only ability. I’m torn whether to be really careful about it since losing a Backup is a serious developmental cost, or to try to aggressively make it double removal. If you hit a stupid EX (like another Tifa) on turn 3 then you’re at -1cp per turn for the rest of the game. As you approach your endgame, your Backups naturally become less valuable to keep around, and having some way to turn your Backups into some other resource will give you a lot of flexibility in closing things out.

A

 

Berserker

Since you can activate this multiple times in a turn, it actually feels like a real threat. With enough Fire CP, you can overpower anything short of Qun’mi (Duke Snakeheart doesn’t count). Replayable off Samurai too.

C

 

Bahamut

Why not name it Ifrit, or Bomb, or Goblin, or Phoenix, or Anima, or Belias, or Brynhildr, or literally anything that doesn’t sound the same as three other cards in the same set? Aside from that, card is great. It’s basically the only surprise interaction in the set, making it just about the only way to throw a wrench in your opponent’s plan.

A

 

Jet Bahamut

Having exile tacked on to the damage is pretty nice. A lot of cards seem mad at Break Zones, but I’ll still take as much BZ hate as I can. It’s also nice to skip death triggers like Scott’s Damage 3. 5k is actually a relevant amount, and between all the other sources of direct damage and just straight up attacking beforehand, it’s not that hard to punch the damage up to a bigger number. Synergy with the other (non-summon) Bahamuts is nice too, especially the Damage 3 letting you get two bodies for not that much cost.

A

 

Hien

Assuming for the moment that you will not meet his 5 count threshold or have any other Cat XIVs for him to enable, Hien is still pretty decent as an 8k that can attack twice, or attack once with “Brave.” There are plenty of Cat XIVs around, though. Gosetsu, Zenos, and Samurai in Fire, Yotsuyu, Lyse, Red Mage, Alisaie, Yugiri, and Alphinaud outside. Lightning/Fire seems like it may reliably be able to give him Haste, making an already strong card even better. At only 8k, you really want to pick up some Gosetsus and Zenoses, maybe even some Scotts to make it safer to attack with him.

A

 

Sabin

On his own, Sabin is a 4/8. Not terrible, but you’re certainly not excited to have this in your deck. His Specials are both outstanding, so you’re happy to draft as many Sabins as possible, which will probably only be two. As expected, his brother Edgar is his ideal pairing, allowing for free Sabin Specials, potentially recurring extra Sabins to Special even more with, and giving Sabin a 1cp discount. Like the Cat VI cards in Opus IV, Sabin and Edgar are both H/L so taking one early can be a risky speculative pick, but the rewards are well worth it if you’re able to slam both at the same time. You’ve also got Umaro, Setzer, and Terra in Ice to discount him, and if you’re already playing Edgar then you’re heavily incentivized to grab as many Cat VIs as you can. Terra is the only one more common than H though, so keep your expectations of lowering Sabin’s cost reasonable. If enabling him were a little more consistent, his potential power would bump him up a couple grades. Realistically though, most decks are going to struggle to get anything out of him.

C

 

Mystic Knight

4k damage is a nice payoff. 8k damage is a nice threat. Mystic Knight is a nice card.

B

 

Marilith

9k First Strike is absurd, and Marilith will rule the field with six iron fists. Well, that’s what I would say in nearly any other draft format. Like Garland, there are just too many ways to get around her, for cheaper than it cost to play her. Pump two Fire CP into a Berserker and she’s toast. Her reanimation is cute, and in the prerelease you’ll probably get someone with it, but once people are comfortable with the set all it will do is make your opponent wait until they can take you from Damage 4 to dead in one combat.

C

 

Montblanc

In Fire/Ice, this guy is crazy good. Being able to not only search out but play your Hurdy is excellent, giving you a serious headstart in development. Also combines extremely well with Serah. Outside of that, you’re paying one extra CP to get fewer abilities than cards like Elfe or Red XIII.

A/D

 

Red XIII

Flexible Backups like this are worth their weight in gold. Need early development? Here you go. Need to kill a 14k? Here you go. You can’t go wrong with one or two copies of Giga-Blaze.

B

Ice

Umaro

You are not getting to five Cat VI Characters, so go ahead and mentally rewrite that 2 in the corner to a 4. If you have no cards left in hand then, like Onion Knight, you have nothing left to discard, so try to arrange for Umaro to be your last card when you cast him. 4/9 is fine. Having to attack every turn is awkward. At least he has a panic button for when your opponent puts a Marilith in his way.

C

 

Scholar

When I first saw Scholar it was the full art, and I spent about five minutes thinking it was a Backup, making it a ludicrous improvement over Edward 5H. As a Forward, it’s still good. The discard being random is a nice upgrade over Serah 1S, and the dull on Damage 3 is a strong ability that lets you lock down whatever your opponent’s best Forward is.

B

 

Supersoldier

2/8 is a pretty good statline, even if you do need to jump through a hoop for it.

B

 

Edward

There’s BZ strategies aplenty this set, and a cheap way to stymie them is well welcome. There are often turns where your optimal play ends up leaving one CP unused, and this provides a strong and proactive way to make use of that. Try to keep an idea of what BZ related cards your opponent might be playing, and exile things like VI Forwards against Fire to nerf Edgar, Duelhorns to blunt Maquis the Phantasm, or Ovjang & Mnejing to take the edge off the eventual Aphmau. Cards like Ewen and Alphinaud lose a lot of their luster when Edward is around to keep you safe from their shenanigans.

B

 

Khury Wezette

On his own, you may have a bit of trouble getting to three Crystals before your opponent finds removal for him, but if you manage it then you win. With a bit of support, your opponent will have exactly one turn to deal with him before you win. Khury won’t save you if you’re seriously behind, but if you’re slightly disadvantaged, stalemated, or slightly advantaged, then he should be able to turn the tides (if he lives). Just keep in mind that he’s only good in the back half of the game, so don’t be afraid to pitch him for CP if he’s in your opener.

A

 

Shiva

You’re usually not high on removal that only hits 2cps, and dull ones at that, but throwing a discard on top of it is enough incentive to go well out of your way to make it happen. Her other mode is similarly situational, but can be a good way to protect from problem cards like Ovjang & Mnejing, Jet Bahamut, Archer, and Penelo. This isn’t a card I would load up on, which makes me happy that it’s R, but I think it’s a fine 1of.

C

 

Calautidon

Pretty expensive, but removal is removal, and sometimes 1cp to set aside a blocker is all you need. Most of the time though, just use both ends on the same Forward.

C

 

Xezat

Every single potential price point for Xezat is good. His worst possible costs make him either a 6cp 9k discard a card, or a 3cp 9k, both of which you are more than happy to play. So his floor is good, and his ceiling is exceptional at either 4cp 9k discard or 1cp 9k. Oh and he has his anthem on attack too, so half the time he’s even bigger. Yes please.

A

 

Setzer

A 2/8 that requires no hoops kinda takes the super out of Supersoldier. There are some cool mindgames to play when naming a card type, and if you get the draw off then you’re pretty happy. If you’ve got more than one, or the Edgar, then his Gil Toss can be pretty strong. Well, except that 11 out of 20 Ice cards cost 2 or less.

B

 

Serah

With three whole moogles to enable her ETF, Montblanc, Hurdy, and Mog (XIII-2), Serah will be able to go the distance slightly more often than you may think. Luckily you don’t have to reveal a moogle to get a benefit out of her. She has an incredible attack trigger too, and one that isn’t even restricted to Forwards. If your opponent can’t stop her, or you have a combat trick to keep her safe, she can deny Backup CP turn after turn, slowly grinding away at their economy while she pressure their Damage Zone. Once she starts discarding too, it’s all over.

A

 

Terra

12k is some serious power to throw around. Sure, she can only do it once, and sure, you need a fair amount of summons to enable it, and sure, the “when you do so” effect can be responded to between removing the summon and getting the counter, but all the same a 12k common is enough to go out of your way for. Unfortunately, Summons aren’t as prevalent as you may wish, and Ice’s Summon, Shiva, is kind of situational already. Couple that with how much incidental BZ hate is in the set, and you may find it harder to count on Terra’s counter than you had hoped.

C

 

Time Mage

Supersoldier and Scholar are both fine. Neither of them is as strong as either of say Fire’s options, but it’s still a great option that costs you nothing to put in your deck.

C

 

Hurdy

One of the payoffs for both Montblanc and Serah, Hurdy is still perfectly playable on his own. This means at R that decks looking to leverage his synergies will have to fight with decks that go “ooh, a 2cp breakable Backup, I may as well take one of those!” If you are playing moogles, I strongly recommend snapping Hurdy up early, as it’s very likely he doesn’t make it all the way around the table. His Dull/Freeze is a pretty solid way to cash him in in the endgame, but if you are in Fire as well, then his second ability is off the rails good. Assuming you play a 5 drop, you’re getting a nice discount, as well as the opportunity to play things like Scott as a combat trick, or Marilith as a surprise blocker. I know it hurts to play a 1cp Forward with this, but discard of your choice during your opponent’s turn is excellent, making Xezat a great option who also helps scout for combat tricks when he lands. No matter how you end up using him, Hurdy very likely will end up one of the better Backups in your deck.

A

 

Garnet Bahamut

Even without Jetty B, you’re happy to play the two Ice Bahamuts. Garnet B is able to strike for 10k in battle, which gives Ice a lot of play against stuff like Garland and Cecil. And getting a 2cp rebate when it dies makes throwing those big expensive cards at you a losing proposition.

B

 

Amber Bahamut

This one is a little less interesting on its own. Being able to trade with 10ks is way cooler than being able to block 8ks and live. Still, the synergy of the three dragons is pretty good, so if you are running the others then you’re happy to have this one too. It relies heavily on its break trigger to get value, so make sure you have targets for it.

B

 

Harley

For the low low cost of 1cp, you can save 1cp on Xezat!

D

 

White Tiger l’Cie Qun’mi

Every single time I have had to write l’Cie with an internal capital, I’ve hated it. With that out of the way, Qun’mi is pretty interesting. Your opponent just can’t go to 1 in hand against her, as 9k Brave Can’t Be Broken is some serious text. If you’re able to put her out while your opponent is scrambling for board control, it will be tough for them to field an answer while also having enough cards in hand for that answer to actually work. To that end, she can work well aggressively, or as a finisher for once a slow deck has ground their opponent’s economy into dust. And her baseline of 3/7 is still playable.

B

 

Fencer

Unlike its Fire counterpart, it only hits dull. To make up for that, it has no additional CP cost. Is that worth the tradeoff? Probably not. But it’s still a fine card.

C

 

Mog (XIII-2)

I would like this card so much more if it were rarer, which feels odd to say. It has potential, but it’s just so damn situational, and at C you’re going to be drowning in Mog (XIII-2)s. The way I see it, you’re getting access to another card and you get a 2cp discount. Should you end up casting that card, it’s equivalent to drawing/searching a card. That’s pretty common for a 3cp Backup, to get 1 card with some restriction on what that card is. But “YOU HAVE TO CAST IT NOW” is a hell of a restriction. Especially since you have no way of knowing what that card will be ahead of time. Is it removal against an empty field? Well, guess you just wasted your CP. To be fair, you’re only really spending one extra over a regular 2cp Backup, so the opportunity cost isn’t that high, but there will be a lot of times where you’re just spending extra CP to mill yourself. If you’ve got the Serah then you’re definitely looking for many different moogles, so there is at least one reason to put this card in your deck.

D

 

Yotsuyu

Step on me.

A++

 

OK thirstposting aside, whether Yotsuyu is forcing a discard or breaking your target, you’re pretty much always getting whatever is worse for you. I hope I don’t need to spell this out, but a 3/6 is B-A-D. Especially when Ice has multiple 2/8s. Yotsuyu is a great Burst, and if you can strip their hand down to zero with Umaro then she functions as a weaker Cid Aulstyne, but by and large she will be one of the weakest cards in your deck. So sad to see that, almost immediately after Geomancer invalidated the last Yotsuyu, we get one that’s already invalidated by a card from fourteen sets ago.

D

 

Legendary Turk

I think this guy’s really cool. If you’re going to put a counter on another Forward, make sure you’re getting something out of it, like winning a combat. Be extremely careful to make sure your opponent doesn’t have a way to kill him in response, as once he’s gone so is the +5k. Putting a counter on him proactively feels a bit safer. It makes him resistant to removal, as if they direct a kill at him he gets to take someone with him. If you play too risky with him, you can get blown out pretty hard, and if you play too cautiously with him, you won’t really pressure your opponent at all, so it’s important to find that middle ground.

B

Wind

Dancer

Yeah it’s nice that Dancer gets a huge rebate, but she and Penelo are the only Dancers in the set for her Damage 3. Is +1k really that good? I remain unconvinced.

C

 

Onion Knight

So I get to screw with blockers while threatening to upscale my Forward at any time? I’m all in. Returning OK is part of the cost, so once he’s been out for a turn it’s impossible for your opponent to interact with him while he’s active (outside of Burst). Some good options to put into play include Samurai, Scott, Terra, Dancer, Arciela, Prishe, Red Mage, Jet Bahamut, Kelger, Exdeath, and that’s just the cream of the crop. With only six Summons in the set, Onion Knight provides Summon speed interaction that this set otherwise lacks. 5k is really easy to kill, though.

B

 

Gargas

Like Legendary Turk, the counters don’t do anything once Gargas is gone. That said, -2k is a strong nerf, and you get your first almost immediately. Every turn he stays out, he turns the screws, increasing the pressure your opponent is feeling. And at R, it won’t be uncommon that you can actually use Bio, an extremely powerful S. Permanent double -6000. At any time. Like Onion Knight, 5k is really easy to kill, though.

B

 

Ranger

Dancer isn’t bad, and Archer is actually good, so by the transitive property we can deduce that Ranger is pretty good too.

B

 

Kelger

What an absolute beast. Most of the Forwards in the set that can handle Kelger also just so happen to die to Kelger’s ETF. Funny how that works. Sure every now and then he’ll stand quivering in the face of a Terra, but most of the time he’ll come down hard and angry. Removal against 5cps has always been somewhat situational, to balance out how strong it is, but making it an optional cost on a Forward really helps out. Especially when that Forward is then boosted by the absence of 5cps. Damned if you play them, damned if you don’t.

A

 

Thief

Ok bear with me. Four cards may not sound like a lot, but it’s one entire tenth of a draft deck. This format looks slow, and if you can pair Thief with powerful defensive cards like Typhon, Ewen, Duke Snakeheart, and Matoya (I), I think the building blocks for an incredibly obnoxious mill deck are all there. If your opponent is sitting there with three of these active, can you really risk attacking? On the other hand, bleeding three CP every turn is a great way to lose the game.

B

 

Cid Pollendina

Consistency is consistency, and every single Starter card is searchable off this. You’ve also got Cecil, Ursula, Baron Guardsman, Man in Black, and Hooded Man. Pretty much any way you take your deck, you should have a strong option or two at some point in the draft.

B

 

Cecil

Wind doesn’t usually get 9ks at C. In fact, this is the third, after Reddas and Tiamat. What a boring ability. 4/9 is a decent statline, though again this set is unusually hostile to expensive 9ks.

C

 

Seven

Seven can be decent if you’re able to set up well. If your economy is doing well, and you have support from cards like Gargas, Yagudo, and Archer to help your field be threatening in combat, you can use Seven to tax your opponent’s attempts to dismantle your board. Granted it doesn’t stop them from dismantling your board, just makes it cost more, so if they’re just relying on one big effect like Matoya (I) then you’re still screwed. But she can make it tough if their plan is to play something with an ETF like Samurai every turn. Seven is abysmal if you’re the one trying to claw back into the game, though.

C

 

Dario Hourne

All that trash I’ve been talking about expensive big Forwards being risky in this set? None of it applies to Dario. Sure a couple of effects like Andoria still blow him out, but he’s immune to or resists the bulk of them. The threat Dario presents is very difficult to handle, as it takes 11k damage minimum to stop him. His ability to reactivate a Forward at the end of turn will most often be used as “Brave” but between Dancer, Seven, and Archer, there are plenty of other options to make use of it. While Dario may not be the literal strongest Forward in the set, the protection built in to him certainly makes him one of the best.

A

 

Chocobo

For very little cost, you get to dig towards whatever it is you need, whether that be Backups while you’re setting up, removal to deal with a big threat, or your game winning bombs. In a format where the power difference between your best and worst cards is this high, I see very little reason not to play as many of these as you can.

A

 

Tiamat

You’re definitely looking outside of Wind to enable this. Within Wind you have Kelger who is a great recipient, and then next you can… get extra casts for Penelo? Draw a card with Luso? I’m just not seeing it. Once we branch out, though, there’s a ton of strong cards to reuse. Samurai, Tifa, Red XIII, Matoya (I), Red Mage, Alisaie, Arecia Al-Rashia, Orc, Salire, Andoria, Frimelda, Ramada. You can also use Tiamat to clear Gargas counters, and in an extreme pinch you can swing with something, Tiamat it to hand, and play it back out active so it can block (please don’t mention that you could have just blocked with Tiamat).

B

 

Typhon

Removing cards from the BZ is nice, 4/8 is acceptable, and the self-bounce is weird. Not bad, don’t get me wrong, but certainly… weird. You hopefully have a better use than just blocking and bouncing over and over, but if you’re playing a heavy stall deck with Thieves then that plan’s not actually that bad. It can give you a card in hand real quick if you need to generate CP for something like Yagudo or Archer, or if Yotsuyu caught you without any cards. It does make Typhon extremely resilient against all but the most efficient of removal, and makes him a natural pairing with Matoya (I). We’ve seen sticky Forwards like this before, and we’ve got Ewen coming up soon too, but Typhon being 8k I think may be enough to set it above its peers.

C

 

Noel

I’m gonna be honest, I have no idea how to rate this guy. He’s definitely good, but it’s tough to tell how good. If you’re going for guaranteed damage, then he’s like Tidus 16L (if you removed 2/3rds of his text). Searching for more Forwards isn’t bad, but it feels really underwhelming for your L to… get cards you actually want. Breaking 4CPs is pretty hot! Most of the stuff that will give you trouble will be 4CP+, and Noel provides a strong unconditional (and fragile) answer. Usually, when a card has a bunch of abilities like this, they’re all relatively situational (see Cloud 16C) so it’s nice to see them all being pretty applicable to any situation you find yourself in. It’s just… he’s just so damn slow. I’d be really scared to play him before Damage 3 against any element that can handle a 5k with ease, and since you don’t get any real benefit until your next turn, waiting that long for an impact may cost you in the late game if you’re at risk of dying. On the other hand, if your opponent doesn’t have cards that can deal with him, playing him early will accrue endless value over the course of a game, and playing him late can guarantee that last point of damage without even needing to commit to combat. I’m going to go with my gut and assume that he’s strong strong but not busted, and I look forward to actually testing him out.

A

 

Penelo

The EOT damage can be a nice way to make smaller Forwards punch up in combat. In combination with Yagudo and Archer, she only needs two casts to kill most things in the set. Gargas helps pull things down into her range as well. She also turns Dancer into an on-command Yagudo, creating a serious combat trick. She needs a lot of support, but with the right build she’ll dance all over your opponent’s grave.

B

 

Fuhito

You’re paying a fair bit extra up front, losing 2cp in the early game can be a serious setback, but that action ability has no additional cost at all. Fuhito reads to me like a 7cp Odin that makes you CP every turn you don’t need it. On top of that, you even get to set up your next draw or damage slightly. On top of that, it’s exile, meaning no death triggers, no Job Chaos returning on Damage 5, skips the unbreakability of Qun’mi and Dario, just wrap em in a little fajita and cook em.

A

 

Hope

So this set has a whole bunch of 2cp Backups with good utility, multiplay, interaction, all sorts of benefits. And then there’s Hope. Who with a hope and a prayer can manage to be a blank 2cp Backup that unnecessarily gives your opponent information. Hopefully. He’s C so a lot of Wind decks will have no hope but to put one or two into their decks, all the while hoping they don’t actually have to cast him. Say nope to Hope.

D

 

Yagudo

What a dope little guy. Turning things into 4ks is endlessly applicable. You can shrink a serious blocker like Marilith. You can chump attack and drop this in MP2 to kill whatever blocked. You can put big Forwards in range of small damage sources. And then you can do it all again later. Combined with some number of Gargas, Penelo, and Archers, you’ve got a real threat on your hands.

C

 

Archer

Sniper is one of my favorite Draft Commons, and while I don’t think Archer is quite on the same level, at 2cp I don’t really expect him to be. Wind has some serious bodies this time around, but plenty of Wind Forwards are still excited to have a 2k damage ping ready to back them up. There’s lots in Wind to pair with, but Archer also aids Fire’s burn, enables Orc in Lightning, and just helps out all over the place, honestly. Then in a pinch he even threatens a huge 10k, enough to eradicate nearly anything. It will be really difficult to do any kind of combat trick with an Archer up. Titan, Ursula, Terra, Arciela, Legendary Turk, Archer threatens to blow them completely out. Cheap, good utility, and a powerful endgame. Everything I want in a Common.

B

 

Ricard

There’s not no Cat IIs out there, but there’s not many. You have Scott in Fire, Minwu and Gordon in Water, and then the Light/Dark Ls Maria and The Emperor. Fire’s is C, so it’s not hard to get a few, but Water’s Gordon  is also C and is also a Backup, so it’ll be there when you play this Ricard, it’ll be there after this Ricard dies, and it’ll be there again when you play your next Ricard. Forcing them to choose him is nice, getting 9k for only 4 is nice. He helps protect weaker cards like Archer and Penelo. But he’s not really worth going out of your way for. If you’re already in Fire or Water? Then great, load up. But don’t abandon Ice, Earth, or Lightning just because you got two Ricards towards the end of pack one.

C

 

Luso

If this were a 4k and thus worked with Yagudo, I’d be all in. As it stands, the only thing he’s good for is cheap party attacks with small Wind Forwards. Problem is, those Forwards do not want to attack. If you’re really scratching for playables and have two Penelos, he might make the cut.

F

Earth

Ursula

Like Terra before her, 12k is a hell of a statline for a C. Normally I’m averse to risking your Backups, but the potential exchange rate is insane. Provided she lives, you’re more than happy trading a Backup that you’ve already gotten a few CP out of in order to take down a big Forward. Ursula will be extremely hard to take care of in combat, but since it’s a “when you do so” your opponent does have a small window to absolutely blow you out of the water with removal, getting not only Ursula but part of your economy in one strike, so be careful out there. There’s very little removal that will come as a surprise, but all the same don’t get sideswiped.

B

 

Arciela

Unlike Terra, Arciela can get her counter from either player’s Break Zone. This makes her fairly more consistent, as it increases the odds there will even be a Summon to choose, also you can pretty much assume people aren’t going to proactively remove their own Break Zone, so you don’t have to worry so much about those sorts of effects leaving you without a target. Her boost is also significantly better, opening its use to other Forwards lets her have a much stronger impact on combat, lets you protect your squad from damage based removal, and even clears damage to protect from Orc. Since her remove trigger is on attack as well, it may put your opponent in a pickle where they have a Summon like Chocobo in hand and are afraid to cast it or use it for CP, only to end up putting another counter on Arcy. Still, Summons aren’t common, so you run the risk of running a 3/7 Do Nothing.

B

 

Cardian

Is Cardian what you call someone who plays card games? Nice simple filler. No need to solve the Gordian Knot on this one: bad early; good late. Playing this guy on Damage 5 will be as comfy as slipping on a warm cardigan.

C

 

Basch Gabranth

Man I got juked hard when I saw this in Japanese and couldn’t read the name. Thought I might finally have to stop complaining that one of the most important characters in XII has fewer cards than Al-Cid who shows up for less than two minutes. But no, it’s another Gabranth. He’s really fuckin good too. A lot of Damage 5s like the Job Chaoses require you to survive that turn, but as long as Gabranth is active he can smite immediately, giving you a nice extra bit of longevity. And Brave on demand is pleasant as well.

B

 

Duke Snakeheart

With the set so light on Summons, it feels great to have surprise interaction at that same speed. When facing against all but the most mill-oriented strategies, you can always bet on Duke. Short of Bahamut, Ixion, or very specific Onion Knight lines, you should have a good idea of whether or not Duke will survive long enough to block. Sure there are a couple things here and there that he can’t deal with, and he’s not great if you’re the aggressor, but for most games he’ll be strong enough snake his way into your heart. Hilarious against party attacks.

A

 

Warrior

Earth looking like a really strong defensive element this time around. Good against damage based removal, good in combat, good at boosting Prishe, just good all around.

B

 

Titan

Nice dual purpose Summon. Both ends are really strong so you shouldn’t have any problem finding a use for this.

A

 

Dorando

It’s a really strong damage trigger, the issue is getting it off. There are plenty of boosts around, Warrior, Titan, and Seeping Brie come to mind, making it easy to swing out and pose a question: Do you trade a Forward for my +Xk effect? Or do you let me “draw” two cards? His S is serious (a little on the nose that an ability called Rebellious Spirit is good in a set called Rebellion’s Call) so if you’re going to draft him, do it early so you can nab as many copies as possible. Back him with removal so that your opponent doesn’t even have the opportunity to block.

B

 

Baron Guardsman

Guardsman feels like an embarrassing name for a Baron, but maybe that’s just me. You have to keep your bearings with proactive BZ removal, or it’ll barely have an impact. Bear in mind what possible effects their elements are looking to leverage, and you’ll be able to lay their BZ bare. Baron bears arms as soon as Damage 3, so he’s pretty reliable as a 3/9. Just forbear yourself from playing Baron early where his impact won’t yet be overbearing. The cross that other 9ks in this set have to bear is that it costs less to answer them than to play them, so getting a 9k for only 3 avoids that barrier.

B

 

Seeping Brie

It’s expensive, but removal is removal. The +2k is harder to make use of, as you have to commit before your combat, but it can be fine to protect cards like Dorando or boost Prishe to a more relevant size.

C

 

Prishe

Prishe is extremely efficient, repeatable removal. Most times she gets played will look something like this: Play her, pitch 2, kill an 8 or 9k. Next turn, swing, pitch 2, kill another 8 or 9k, then trade with their worst Forward. And that sounds super appealing to me. Not only that, she can protect herself from burn, be an insurmountable blocker, or just suicide herself to enable small sources of burn or a monster like Yagudo or Orc. Make sure when you’re discarding two or more cards that you let each discard resolve in full before pitching more, lest you risk getting punished in response.

A

 

Maat

Being able to protect himself from many of the cards that would prey on him is huge. You have to pay for the abilities, unlike Dario, but Maat is only a C so we’ll let that slide.

B

 

Matoya (I)

Feels a bit silly that the OG Matoya gets the category reminder and not Matoya (FFL) but here we are. Matoya is absolutely incredible, giving you two very strong options: recurring your best Character; or resetting the board. There are some decks you’ll play against where removing the Break is the right choice, but most of the time you’re using option 1 or 3. Both are great, and having the choice between them makes Matoya strong at nearly any point in the game.

A

 

Monk

The targets are fine. Not the best of the cycle, not the worst.

C

 

The Night Dancer

Not Job Dancer, zero out of ten. Seriously though, Night Dancer is excellent at stopping hyper-aggressive strategies. Well, until they play two Backups and suddenly you have a mostly blank 2/5. The death trigger will be tough to use, as it only works on their turn, meaning you’re probably just throwing him away to stop two damage.

D

 

Shadow Lord

As long as you’re careful not to stuff your deck with Standard Units, Shadow Lord is flexible hard removal that also presents a big body. Blessedly, Earth’s SUs aren’t so good that you’re sad about skipping them. Occasionally you’ll be able to punish some tribal synergy and get two breaks, or clean up a Standard Unit alongside your real target, but don’t get greedy trying to bait out a second card to break. His Damage 5 is pretty good, but it does make him somewhat awkward to pair with Light/Dark. Fortunately those cards are uncommon enough that it will rarely be an issue.

A

 

Ewen

What a cool card. Ewen provides excellent defense for slower decks, making it extremely difficult to attack into you once you hit Damage 3. If he isn’t put into damage or removed in some other way, you can continue to run him out on defense every single turn. It does cost 3cp every time you do it, but if you’ve got a sizeable econ lead on your opponent then Ewen will give you all the time you need to set up a win or run out the clock. Because he keeps putting himself into your deck while doing this, you’re only burning through half the cards in your deck. So, if you can afford to bleed CP every turn, your opponent is put in the unenviable position of bursting Ewen or losing on deckout. Just make sure your economy can handle it, or your opponent will just run you out of resources and then overwhelm you.

B

 

Lyse

And here I thought Gippal was great at throwing parties. The downside of party attacks is that the opponent can just ignore them and take half the damage the attackers would do individually. Not so with Lyse. Her damage reduction is a field ability, so there’s no window after declaring your attack for the opponent to Bahamut one down. This also means that if they have other removal, like Gabranth, then whomever is left is no longer in a party and no longer benefits from Lyse’s embrace, same as if they just kill Lyse herself, so be wary about how your opponent can interact before overcommitting. Also, be really really careful of Duke Snakeheart. While party attacking does run the risk of being completely sideswiped, a lot of the time Lyse will let you swing in with total impunity, and I look forward to swinging out with her and her friends.

A

 

Lich

Lacking effects like Ninja or Machinist, Lich’s deathtouch isn’t that impressive. He counterattacks damage based kills from effects like Jet Bahamut or Cissnei, and is hilarious against Penelo, but his ability is going to be a bit more niche than you may hope. Of the Job Chaos elements, Earth is best suited to stabilize at 5 damage, making his return to the field the most reliable of the crew.

C

 

Rydia

Extremely awkward to use, but can be a very very strong pairing with Prishe. Outside of that, sure, she can be insane value if pulled off correctly, but, well… good luck.

C

 

Lorenzo

Like Dorando, Lorenzo stands out as a purely offensive cards in an element otherwise obsessed with defense. Provided you are turtled up well enough that you can deal with Lorenzo only attacking once per two turns, he presents a very real clock, chewing through either your opponent’s Forwards or their life.

B

Lightning

Ovjang & Mnejing

If you have enough cheap temporary removal to remove blockers, 3ks deal the same damage to players as anything else. Their Specials are the real draw, and both are pretty solid. Removing abilities is great for skirting around strong break effects or for getting rid of protective abilities like Qun’mi. The other Special though, that’s the real payoff here. If we don’t think of O&M as a 1/3 that can deal 9k, but instead as a 4cp deal 9k and get a body afterwards, they instantly look much more enticing. Now the big issue here is that you do absolutely need them in multiples to pull this off. They are an R so there should be between 3-5 in most draft pools, but even with 5 copies needing them both into your hand at the same time adds an extra layer of inconsistency. Of course, Aphmau goes a long way in fixing that, but we’ll talk about that more then.

C

 

Red Mage

Kelger is pretty good, and reverse Kelger is also pretty good. This hits the bulk of the set for cheap, and you’re happy to have strong removal on a reasonable body, especially when Dragoon brings it back. The big appeal of Red Mage’s Damage 3 is the haste, which will be hard to use at the same time as the Break effect, as you need the CP to play the Forward getting haste too. That said, when a card removes a blocker and gives you an attacker, that’s a huge change to combat math, the kind that can steal games.

A

 

Aphmau

You better be running a bunch of O&Ms, or you’ll be stuck with a 4/5. Once you have a couple puppets, Aphmau seriously enables them. She grabs two copies, so you can use their powerful Specials immediately, and then every turn she and they stay on the board you get to do it again. While I think O&M aren’t great on their own, the presence of one or two Aphmaus in your deck makes them worth considerably more. The package is fragile, but you threaten to gain so much value that I think it’s worth putting your faith in these small Forwards.

A

 

Alisaie

Not a bad cost at all for getting access to recursion, especially if you have access to strong Specials at R like Ovjang & Mnejing and Owe. Her Damage 3 only synergizes with Alphinaud in Water, but Alisaie is worth it on her own, and even better in Li/Wa.

B

 

Arecia Al-Rashia

She could be a 1k and I’d play her. Totally unconditional removal with a body attached. Most excellent.

A

 

Ixion

Eight of Lightning’s Forwards are expensive enough to survive a full power Ixion, so if you want you can build so that most of your deck withstands his stampede. There are a fair amount of playable 2s running around, and lots of good 3s, so it’ll be rare that Ixion just rots in your hand. So long as you remember to build around it. It doesn’t really clear a lot of the stuff you want to be clearing, but if you’re able to get two (or more) with it then you’re feeling pretty good. If you can, wait as long as possible to cast it (i.e. don’t just slam it the moment you draw it) as if you wait until Attack Prep, or until they try to pass the turn, you may snag an extra Forward.

B

 

Exdeath

Finally, something that’s happy there are so few Summons in the set! Exdeath pairs well with effects like Alphinaud and Gordon who churn through your deck, though many elements you may pair him with won’t be able to fill up the BZ aggresively. Exdeath doesn’t care how the cards got removed, so if Edward or Blue Mage do stuff before he shows up he’s still thriving. The biggest issue with him is that he turns your other BZ cards off, so you may have difficulty using Alisaie or Dragoon afterwards. Man in Black still works though. If you can hold off until the late game and get the full 20, you give your opponent a very short window before he starts feasting on their board, making him a great endgame card.

B

 

Owe

His protection is excellent, as there are few non-choosing effects that can eliminate him. He has an extremely strong S, so you want to snap up as many copies as you can. His Job and the Crystals he makes are harder to make use of, and will pull you towards Fire for Gosetsu for Samurai synergy, Ice for Khury Wezette, or Water for Glaciela Wezette, while also being good with the Light/Dark Heroes, Engelbert and Vinera Fennes. You don’t owe anything to those pairings though, as any Lightning deck will be happy with three Owes. On his own, he’s only a little above pack filler, so make sure you’ve got something going on with him.

B

 

Orc

Knight Backup and Cissnei are the only direct damage in Lightning that Orc cares about, both Ovjang & Mnejing and Salire deal so much that hopefully they’re killing whatever you target with them, so Orc ends up pulling you towards Wind or Fire. Both have a truckload of enablers, and Orc will find a natural home in those kinds of decks. His existence in the format also means you can just swing out with small bodies like Salire and threaten to trade up. His Dull is a constant threat in stalled endgames, making your opponent conscious that you can remove a blocker at any time, and in a pinch you can cash it in to stop a game winning attack, or even just ensure a really good combat ability from a card like Dorando or Zenos.

B

 

Cid of Clan Gully

Excellent bit of recursion that doubles as a developmental Backup when needed. Good early, good mid, good late, good on EX. Just good all around.

B

 

Quon

While his ability is somewhat restricted, it’s still a good one to have in your back pocket. Quon can be strong when combined with a good attack trigger, like Noel or Man in Black. Also if you really need the pressure, you can suicide an existing Forward you have and then haste the new one. He’s also good for the recovery period from a board clear like Matoya (I) or Ixion. Do not make the mistake of building towards a deck planning on having one Forward at a time, just use Quon whenever the opportunity arises.

C

 

Man in Black

I like that the first Man in Black was so bad they had to improve his ability in four different ways: let it hit any CP cost, let you cast it at any point in the future, trigger again on attack, and then don’t exile the summon on resolution. Not only that, they tacked on a huge cast trigger, letting you invalidate any Forward for one combat. There are only six summons in the set and all of them are R, so good luck getting a reasonable amount. Also they better be from another element, as you really don’t care about being able to cast Ixion every turn. He doesn’t play well with Starter Golbez, who I assume is like his rival or something? Luckily Starters are pretty uncommon, and that Golbez can be binned immediately to pave the way for this guy.

C

 

Salire

A great set of abilities on a cheap body. Salire is excellent, affordable, and flexible removal, and like I said on Arecia, I’ll take removal on a body no matter how small it is. Keep an Orc in hand and she threatens to kill anything that blocks her too.

A

 

Cissnei

Feels really off to me for a Lightning card to gain Brave, and I’m not sure how much I care about Brave on a 7k, but I’m not going to scoff at free text. Cissnei doesn’t do very much damage, but it’s pretty cheap. Pair it with any of Lightning’s many small bodies, or direct damage from Fire or Wind, or with Orc and you’ll find you don’t really need much. If she discards herself, she deals a respectable 7k. When paired with Ice, you also get Legendary Turk as a potential discard, giving you two cards you can use to unlock her full damage. The power boost and the Brave from her Damage 3 don’t really change much, but the Haste is a great pickup, making Cissnei a huge threat moving into the late game.

A

 

Jack

A jacked up threat that is completely stymied by just blocking with another 5k. If you can use cards like Ixion and Salire to clear the way of small Forwards for him, he can create intimidating block or die scenarios, but it’s just too easy to put something worthless in his path, leaving you with jack. This leaves his best use as a blocker who can trade with anything up to 10k.

C

 

Knight

OK so they can’t kill your 5k until you swing with it. Wow. And then she’s a cheap 8k, but on offense only. Wow. What a bargain. It’s nice that she can’t be outright Jet Bahamutted, but I’m still not inspired. She’s actual garbage on defense, so unless you’re hell bent on aggression she’s just gonna sit there looking stupid.

D

 

Knight

A little awkward to get the full eight out of, as you’re not guaranteed to have an active target after taking damage. Still, it’s cheap and it’s damage.

C

 

Hooded Man

8k Haste is pretty good. It’s not L good but you’re not unhappy to have one. If you manage to get a Starter Kain to fuel his ETF, then you’re feeling pretty good (assuming you draw both in the same game in the right order). I never played IV, can someone explain to me why this guy hates Kain so much he won’t even be on the same field as him?

C

 

Yugiri

You’ve got Onion Knight, Maquis the Phantasm, and Edge S. Onion Knight and Maquis are both pretty decent, so if you’re paired with either of those then Yugiri manages to not be awful. You really need to load up if you plan on using her discard effect, and I don’t think any of the ninjas are worth building around, so she’s element fixing filler for the most part.

C

 

Learte

Knight, Dragoon, and Orc can all trigger Learte at will, so you can make them do double duty as combat tricks.

C

 

Dragoon

Red Mage is an incredible target, and Knight is an awful target, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

C

Water

Blue Mage

Using your opponent’s BZ as fuel really makes them think about what they’re putting in there. He’s not very impressive if he’s just trading with a 7k, so he definitely is better against decks running multiple 9s. He only targets Forwards, so his use as BZ hate is limited. He’s unable to stop cards like Terra, Arciela, and Man in Black, but there are still enough effects around for him to throw monkey wrenches into.

C

 

Alphinaud

Helps dig towards the cards you want and get rid of the cards you don’t, giving you some much desired consistency. The Damage 5 is insane, provided you can stabilize there, but trying to enable that is a good way to get yourself killed.

C

 

Andoria

Absolutely unconditional removal that skirts almost every form of protection in the set. There are few ways to remove one of your two Forwards that will come as a surprise, so like Duke Snakeheart you should mostly be able to know for certain whether she’ll resolve or not. This set has very few “big effect” Backups like this, where they’re really bad on turn 1 or 2 but have a strong payoff later, so it’s not that hard to find room for one or two of these, but I definitely wouldn’t play more than that.

A

 

Cuchulainn

Slow but powerful. You need removal, no matter how slow and how expensive it is, and almost nothing is protected from this effect.

B

 

Quadav

There are plenty of good 2s running around, and even though your opponent gets to decide it’s still decent. The second bit is really expensive, but like Andoria and Cuchulainn it yeets everything. Being able to top stuff won’t be relevant that often, but sometimes it’s nice to hit a Light/Dark card to reduce the amount of CP they draw next turn, or to put a problem card into Damage where it’s gone forever (guaranteeing no Burst in the process). Neither end of Quadav shines, but together they add up to a quality workhorse.

B

 

Chemist

If you really really need to dig for that one card that will stop you from losing the game, then sure. Between this, Alphy, Kraken, and Gordon, make sure you don’t run out of deck.

C

 

Kraken

Look I like digging through my deck as much as the next guy, but these days I expect more out of a 5/9 than just slightly upgrading the quality of my hand.

C

 

Glaciela Wezette

You don’t need to be running any of the other FFBE cards for Glaciela to be the best card in your deck. Between Backups and the 1cp Monster cycle, it’s pretty easy to get Surefire Burst to a reliable 10k damage. There’s an actual ton of FFBE cards in the set, fifteen specifically, and the bulk of them either generate Crystals or have Specials that can use them. There’s at least one card in each element that likes having Glaciela around, but without even going outside of Water you’ve got Miranda, Ramada, Engelbert, and Vinera Fennes. And again, even without any of that, she’s essentially Forward Samurai on her own.

S

 

Curilla

The only way to get Curilla’s second buff is Garland, and I think it’s a huge wasted opportunity that Curilla isn’t 2cp so that he can boost Garland in return. Curilla is going to be a 3/8 the majority of the time which is acceptable filler.

D

 

Maquis the Phantasm

Forcing dull entry makes it a lot harder to field blockers against you, making all your removal even more impactful, and protecting you from the occasional haster. Alys is actually unplayable, do not trap yourself into thinking “well she at least buffs Maquis.” Duke Snakeheart is a good option for his reanimation, making Maquis a little more appealing when paired with Earth. Outside of that, he’s fine, but relatively unimpactful.

C

 

Gordon

Nice little reprisal of White Mage that helps dig too. The real strength of Gordon though is that he can be either an even or an odd cost Backup, helping to fill in for whichever slot you’re looking for.

B

 

Zazan

Well it’s nice that he’s got some protection against some of what Fire, Wind, and Orc are doing. Every element has plenty of other better answers though.

C

 

Alys the Ensorceled

How the fuck do they expect us to activate this? Dancer ETF? Dario Hourne? Sabin’s Chakra Special? Starter Rosa? That’s it. That’s a comprehensive list. Unless you pull out a sharpie, give her Category XIV, then swing with Hien, those are your four options. Three Hs (one of which you need two of) and an S. She does give Maquis a small buff, so if you really want your Maquis to be a 9k, then sure, play a shit deck.

F

 

White Mage

While Blue Mage may not be an impressive pull, White Mage allows for Rursan Reaver to be played during your combat, letting it double as a combat trick.

B

 

Princess Sarah

There is no realistic way to trigger this on purpose more than once. And it’s not like your opponent has any reason to choose her. About the only thing she’s good for is giving Garland +1k and Brave, which over a dozen other cards can also do.

F

 

Frimelda

A powerful Damage 3 and a genuinely insane Damage 5. Frimelda takes advantage of cards like Gordon and Alphinaud who spend your early game setting up, looking for the cards you want, developing your backline, and then once the damage piles up to 3 you unleash the perfect hand you’ve been crafting.

A

 

Miranda

Love love love when Cs have Specials. I feel like it really adds something to the draft phase to have a card that is really medium on its own, which gets better and better the more you pick up. If you’re being pressured and have to play out your hand, her Special will certainly be on the weaker side, so it’s not like she’s just auto-good in every matchup, but Water has enough other removal that you should be able to sustain long enough to draw up to a deadly hand size.

B

 

Minwu

Literally impossible to get the discount. Please do not screw up your entire deck just to prove me wrong. This set does not have the elemental fixing of previous sets, and if you somehow do get a Three Element deck that functions, you still need to draw one of the rare Summons from each of those elements. Still, Minwu presents a powerful and free way to protect the squad from nearly every threatening effect your opponent could throw at you. No Water deck will pass this up, and it’s a strong reason to draft the element.

A

 

Mog (VI)

Water can’t leverage a 4k in the same way that most other elements can, and there’s very little search to speak of. Unless you’re scrambling for cards for Edgar to get back, I’d give this one a hard pass.

F

 

Ramada

Gives you crystals for your other FFBE cards, disrupts your opponent, and has a strong S. I’ll take every copy I see.

A

 

Rursan Reaver

Negging power is really strong, and depending on the situation you may want to drop Rursan before or after combat. By dropping it before, you can shrink a blocker that otherwise may give you grief, letting you swing past it. By dropping it after, you can bait your opponent into committing a blocker that you can use Rursan to finish off in MP2. Once you’re on Damage 3, he turns into a serious offensive presence. All in all a very useful Forward to have access to.

A

Light/Dark/Starter/Legacy

Engelbert

Without other Crystal synergies, Engelbert gives you protection from a lot of Fire, Wind, and Lightning’s gameplan. Once you have access to one of the Wezettes, either Khury or Glaciela, then you are able to convert those crystals into all sorts of other stuff. Those are very specific cards, one H and one L, so I’d bet most decks that Engel ends up in, he’s just protecting your folks.

B

 

Maria

Two bodies for the cost of one, not only that she boosts all your low cost Forwards. While the 1cps are all too small to care about +2k (except Xezat who’s already a heckin horker) there are plenty of 2cps that want the boost. Many of them are even good! Adelard, Legendary Turk, Gargas, Cardian, Cissnei, Blue Mage, Rursan Warrior, all of these are more than happy to be boosted, not to mention all the pack filler you’ll end up needing to round out your deck. Remember that the Backup you choose loses its abilities, so don’t try to get cute with Fuhito.

A

 

Vinera Fennes

On her own, she’s just a 2/5 with haste. Now that’s still good, but it’s the kind of situational card that you really need to be able to discard for CP when you don’t need it. This means you pretty much need some amount of Khury, Owe, Glaciela, or Ramada. If you’ve got enough Crystals to reliably make her cheaper, and reliably pay for her attack trigger, then she ends up being pretty good, but decks that can do that will be hard to assemble. I think you need to be pretty uncontested in Water/Lightning FFBE to manage that, and outside of that one specific archetype she’s pretty dog.

D

 

The Emperor

5/9 Brave is playable, though only barely. If you manage to get two, then absolutely slam em and pray you don’t draw em at the same time.

D

 

Kain

The Dark cards are both pretty bad, so probably full price for this guy. 9k Haste is solid. Fire wants to be attacking anyways, so you’re not that sad that he’s so much better on offense.

B

 

Zemus

If you’re not planning to play the long game, and know your opponent isn’t likely to drag you into one, then so long as you’re careful you can get an activation or two out of this. Both abilities are good, making Zemus a great card for aggressive decks to have access to.

B

 

Scarmiglione

Jack, except one CP cheaper.

B

 

Baigan

Man in Black doesn’t count, so unless you magically end up with two very specific Starters this card may as well be blank.

D

 

Edge

There are nine Cat IVs in the set, not counting Starters, so it’s not impossible that you get four…

D

 

Kain

There are no Cat IV Water cards outside the Starters, so unless you magically end up with two of three very specific Starters this card’s ETF may as well not exist. If you have the +1k and Haste online, then Kain starts to look a bit appealing, but that’s relatively situational. Besides Quon already gives that text to every Forward in your deck.

C

 

Rydia

The summons are assorted amongst CP 1 through 4 so we finally have a Starter with enough support to actually target something. Even just subtracting 1k power from something can be enough to swing a battle, so Rydia’s cast trigger is a good threat. Just make sure you’ve got enough Summons for her to grab.

B

 

Rosa

I want to rip Rosa apart for being a pack filler Common in the Starter slot, but she’s actually really useful. Being able to throw around a +1 can change combat, protect from damage effects, and is a nice little buff to keep handy. Being able to activate twice per turn cycle helps make attacks from Forwards you need to block, helps with dull abilities from cards like Archer, Seven, and Aphmau, protects from Ice’s dull effects and Fencer/Shiva, and perhaps most notably makes both Alys the Ensorceled and Princess Sarah useable (do not actually do that).

B

 

Cecil

3/8 is a fine statline, and it’s hard but not that hard to get the two Cat IVs to enable the dull on command. You are dulling one of your battlers to dull one of theirs, so not sure it’s that great (at least until their MP2), but opportunities to make use of it will come about.

C

 

Golbez

Arecia Al-Rashia but way way better.

A

 

Firion

Maria is a Rebel so it is possible to get the discount, provided you get a Light L and a Legacy in the same draft. For being an Opus VI card that’s never seen competitive play, Firion is actually pretty beast in limited. Situationally a 9k, and the First Strike helps keep him safe when the defending 8k dying would shrink Firion. The Haste probably only matters in situations where you want it least, but it’s still a good line of text. Firion is no all star, but he’s certainly head and shoulders above any of the C/Rs that Fire can field.

A

 

Veritas of the Dark

You know how strong Veritas is. Water is pretty much the only element that can reliably get rid of him without triggering his exit effect, although Fire can do it if Jet Bahamut contributes. If you see this card, you take it.

S

 

Y’shtola

Still a great set of abilities. There are more things that can block and kill her now than there were in Opus 12, Berserker, Umaro, Xezat, Terra, Legendary Turk, Arciela, Duke Snakeheart, Baron Guardsman, Jack, and Blue Mage, so she won’t be a problem on the same level as she used to be, but she’s still a very good card.

A

 

Crystal

Pack-kun -1 hp

F minus