Fire

Lann
1.5
It’s nice to have a little bit of evasion to help close out the game. Lethal at 6 damage makes this a little more enticing than in Constructed. Pairs well with haste from the Beliases, Goblin, Sage, and the like. Some small downsides here and there, name clash with Lann o7, and he can’t chump block, which lessens his combo potential with Iroha and other sources of damage.

Emperor Xande
4
It’s pretty hard not to get good value out of Xande. As long as you have a solid dedication to Fire, he won’t be too terribly hard to cast, though it is still a bit prohibitive. His attack trigger is a solid chunk that can be combined with Iroha, Cloud, Irvine, Black Waltz 2, and a dozen other effects to tear down the opponent’s Forwards, and his death trigger means he isn’t severely nerfed by Aerith or Minwu.

Tifa
2.5
Even in Cube, where the average power level is higher than normal draft, and there are more answers to large Forwards, the 9k statline is still king. Her attack trigger is terrifying, and Tifa oXI is present so Falcon’s Dive isn’t out of the question. Without an ETF, or a death trigger like Xande, she is a risky investment. Expect that many of the times that you play her, she’ll die on the spot.

Vivi
3
Vivi can theoretically deal up to 9k, though this won’t happen often. Be aware of your opponent’s ability to play a summon or pay for an action ability in order to reduce their hand size, allowing them some control over how much damage Vivi can deal. Where Vivi will be safest is relying on him to deal 4k or 5k as part of a combo kill. Taking something down while leaving a small body is a perfectly acceptable effect, and you can use his 4k statline to combo with other burn sources later. Firaga may have its uses now and again, but even if you have Lightning Vivi, I wouldn’t arrange a gameplan around such an awkward S except in the most extreme of circumstances.

Sabin
3
Sabin really applies the pressure, allowing you to make some risky attacks safe, and threatening to turn into a 10k or more himself. He lets you swing your attackers into potential defenders of the same size without worry. He also lets you use your smaller Forwards who wouldn’t be able to attack normally, threatening to either put a card into the Damage Zone or combo with a small burn like Bomb to take down a blocker for very little cost. There is another Sabin, luckily this one has a strong S to take advantage of him. By using his attack trigger on another Forward, then buffing himself, you can protect a ton of your own board from Rising Phoenix’s global 8k.

Caius
2.5
While he may have been an absolute terror in oV limited, this Caius is a bit less threatening here, where there are many strong answers to him. His death trigger is hard to mitigate, but there will be situations where you’ll force a trade while you have no cards in hand. 6 for a 9k Brave is absolutely playable, so expect to see him snapped up early by aspiring Fire players.

Gadot
2.5
Lets address his less exciting ability first, the +2k to 2 drops. Warrior of Light can definitely use the 2k boost, but Firion and Zidane are both so small they don’t care. He only hits at exactly 2, so Zack and Sol are SOL. Branching out into other elements, there are plenty of decent 2s, notably Leon and Steiner. His attack trigger is the big draw here. Plopping down a Sabin or an Ignacio and hasting it is going to end games, and even just giving haste to normal Forwards will help turn up the pressure.

Vermilion Bird l’Cie Zhuyu
3.5
Speaking of pressure, Zhuyu heaps it on in spades. Can come out with haste, very hard to block profitably, and is absolutely lethal when the opponent is on 5 damage. Haste really helps to offset the lack of an ETF, as it’s much easier to get immediate value when you don’t have to wait a turn to attack. The First Strike allows you to back him with cheap burn so that even 10ks can’t block him comfortably.

Volker
2
Ark Angels HM, GK, MR, EV, Iroha, Ulmia, Prishe, 2x Shantotto, Shadow Lord, Gilgamesh (XI), and Selh-teus can all trigger Volker a second time, but honestly often enough you just need the one. Messing with combat math like this will really help close out games. He’s pretty average at everything else, though.

Luneth
2.5
So many of Fire’s Forwards are already beefy enough that Luneth’s power boost will be less relevant than say Ulmia’s, but his 2k burn is just big enough to be a reasonable threat. Warrior of Light synergy is pretty high this time around, with Aigis and Sol in fire, Faris, Dusk, Sarah (FFL) creating a natural draw to Water, and even Arc. Being able to buff across elements raises his worth a bit, and we also have Lenna and Wol in Light as well.

Lann
2.5
Lann has some serious potential, but getting to that point is tough. Triple fire is no small ask, and you have to get him in combat before he can start accruing value, making him weak to removal. If you’re able to stick him and protect him, though, he can unleash some real havoc.

Warrior of Light
1.5
Where Warrior of Light shines is in really aggressive decks utilizing a bunch of cheap threats. In Standard it’s seen mild success with Reynn o7, and in Wa/Fi lists using Leila/Viking or Gilgamesh (XI). In this Cube, a deck like that is going to be tough to put together. Most of Fire’s pressure comes from its large individual attackers, rather than a critical mass of smaller Forwards. This means Warrior’s +2k will hit fewer targets, and those targets will benefit less from it, and also that it will be difficult to enable his haste. He does give you a strong boost to swing combat math for one final all out attack, so he’ll still find his uses here and there, and his Warrior of Light synergy is also attractive, especially as a cheap rez target for Lenna.

Firion
2
A miniature Vivi, Firion will have difficulty taking anything down on his own, but he makes for a fine contributor. Same caveats for Vivi, try to make sure the opponent can’t reduce the damage to a non-lethal amount, and try to make sure you have a way to use his 2k statline.

Ark Angel HM
3
A ferocious attacker, HM causes you to put a premium on haste effects. At 6k, he is easily removable, so you really want to get that value before the opponent can respond. He’s awful on defense, like so many other Fire cards in this Cube, so make sure you’re the one turning your cards sideways.

Iroha
2.5
Iroha enables so many cool plays, she’s honestly one of my favorite cards of all time. She lets your Forwards trade up, increases the strength of your Forwards’ and Backups’ effects, and can throw in an extra 2k when necessary. She really embodies Fire’s throughline of getting just a little bit extra here and there, and combining those extras into something beautiful. Do note that she doesn’t boost the damage from Gancanagh and Bomb, or any character that dies in response to its ability, as you need to be in control of the character when their effects resolve.

Cloud
4
Cloud doesn’t feel nearly as oppressive in Cube as he did in Opus VIII. There, you could reliably stabilize at high damage, making his ETF hit for a ton, and games typically didn’t go on so long that you would empty your deck if you brought him back once. Neither of those things are true here. It’s so much easier to take someone from 3 to dead in one turn, and if you exile ten cards from your deck, you are very likely to lose. That said, he’s still a large body with a decent ETF, so don’t shy away from him. Just don’t expect him to carry you.

Zenos
2
Opus XII added a ton of Warriors of Light to the Cube. There are lots in Fire and Water, but even Wind and Earth have a few: two Arcs, one of the Bartzes, Warrior of Light, Ingus, Krile and Krile, and Wol. His field buff aside, he does present a “must block” threat, as the 5k damage on hit is a sizeable chunk that you should find it easy to do something with.

Duncan
2.5
Duncan is a little restricted, as there will be plenty of times you want to hit a 5cp Forward, but 4k stapled to an 8k body is a great amount of value for his 4cp cost. There are even two Sabins in the Cube for you to use his Phantom Rush, which is very CP efficient. I think Duncan may be the best card to illustrate that you shouldn’t get blinded by rarity in Cube, as the heightened power level makes Duncan feel on the level of a high pick C or R. Cards like this are the mortar that hold together the bricks that form your deck. The bricks may be the eye catching part, but you need both to work in harmony in order to have a strong final product.

Marche
3
If Duncan is the mortar in a building, Marche is the oil in an engine. He keeps everything flowing smoothly. Except for maybe the final turn or two, Marche is good at any stage of the game. He helps make bad mulligan hands more playable, early on if you find yourself flooded with backups or forwards he lets you trade them in for another shot at the other, he helps you to dig towards your bombs, and he even has EX to help turn a losing situation around. 5k isn’t too relevant of a statline, but Fire has so much incidental damage that you’ll be able to find some use for it.

Rain
2
A reasonably costed body that hits for just enough to lend a hand here and there. His burn is optional, so it’s nice that you don’t have to pay for it when you don’t have a use for it. Name clash with Rain is usually not that bad, since this Rain will often die in combat, and the other Rain has two premium Specials.

Lyse
3.5
Compared to Luneth, Lyse is definitely a step above. Some of the other elements are really in the market for +1k, and the Damage 5 step to +2k makes her a serious pile of stats. Her Damage 5 will often turn your opponent’s favorable attacks into neutral, and can really help you to stabilize against enemy pressure. Most other Fire cards in this Cube are only good at applying pressure, so a card that also helps on defense is a strong pick.

Clavat
1
Let’s talk for a moment about combining direct damage effects. Most of the Forwards and Backups in the set deal between 3 and 5k, and for the most part you can take any two of them and kill something. In order to maximize their effectiveness, you want to be playing as many of them as possible. This way, you lower your odds of being in a situation where you end up throwing away their damage. How this relates to Clavat is that, at 1k damage, it will be tough to make her damage relevant, and too often it will end up on the cutting room floor. Also, since it’s an attack trigger and not an ETF, it will be awkward to get it to go off in the first place, and many times Clavat will have to trade off in order to get it. Where Clavat is good is in doing an impression of a 9k on attack, which isn’t too bad for a 3cp. She’s also useful in boosting larger sources of damage from Bahamut, Phoenix, and other summons, in order to get them to punch up to seriously threatening numbers. Both Terra and Caetuna already do this without requiring an attack trigger, though, so if that’s an effect you’re in the market for, there are other options. This is Limited, though, and sometimes you don’t have access to the tools you want, and have to make do with what you can get.

Nael
5
Nael continues to be one of the best game enders in Fire. Late game, when you’re not interested in your Backups anymore, she lets you discard any that are clogging up your hand and potentially turn them into additional threats. She also lets you convert your Backups on the Field into damage, both to Forwards and to players via her haste. Throwing away your backline is risky, of course, but the idea is that if this is the last turn of the game, losing your Backups doesn’t actually affect the game. For the sheer amount of impact she has on the game, you can’t beat Nael in terms of CP efficiency.

Ignacio
4
Ignacio is huge, and threatens to gain value turn after turn if he isn’t dealt with quickly. It is a little easier to deal with him than in normal sets, luckily he can protect himself against some removal effects via his discard ability. Because of that, you do want to be heavy in Fire so that you don’t get caught with your pants down. Great synergy with Ninja. Ignacio is best paired with Earth, which gives you access to non-combat ways to trigger him, Hecatonchier, Titan, Yojimbo, and Raubahn, as well as Mist Dragon to protect him.

Zack
3
There’s a lot to talk about with Zack here. Without any support, he’s a better Duncan that offers a continued string of 2ks. Like Clavat, 2k isn’t quite enough to combine with a lot of the other burn in the set, but it’s at least a little more useable, and you don’t have to commit to an attack to get it. Cloud and Tifa are the only cards that will double trigger it, but there are plenty of VIIs in other elements. Ice has Genesis and the Sephiroths, Wind has Aerith, Lightning has Cait Sith and Sephiroth, there’s Cloud Kadaj and two more Sephs in Light/Dark, and Earth has a bunch: Barret, Cloud, Tifa, and three different Vincents. And since it’s a repeatable trigger, you’re able to make plays like Marche and then Firion for a total of 10k, or Aigis -> Faris for 8.

Terra
3
Terra is a low investment source of free damage that also gives you a second shot at your best summons. She makes smaller damaging summons like these two Ifrits or Glasya able to take down big Forwards, and combos incredibly well with the Beliases who let her herself take down 8ks in combat.

Black Mage Soldier
1.5
He’s a bit under curve, but 5k is pretty beefy. I’d much prefer to take Zack or Duncan, but sometimes you gotta play what you gotta play, and having more options to combo with is always good.

Zack
2
I love these High Risk High Reward type cards. Zack is way above the curve, but you really want to make sure you can either clear your hand each turn or find a way to make use of the 5k. There’s plenty of other sources of burn, so it shouldn’t be too terribly hard, and losing one or two cards throughout the course of the game isn’t too bad. He definitely leads you down a more All-In strategy, but a lot of Fire is pointing in that direction anyways.

Zidane
2.5
If you can catch your opponent with his pants down, Zidane is a serious beating. This may sound strange, but Zidane is better when you’re not pressuring the opponent, as they’re much less likely have active Forwards with which to block. 2k is super easy to kill, though, so be wary about committing into Terra, Gilgamesh, and the like. Pairs well with Yotsuyu and Red Mage.

Shadow
3
There are eighteen Backups in Fire that Shadow can drop onto the field, and loads amongst the other elements, which means you can really lower his miss chance a lot. Shadow lets you get some aggressive starts, which leads into the high-pressure based playstyle Fire is aiming for. The longer the game goes on, however, the worse of a play he becomes.

Sabin
2.5
Damage 5 is much more unreliable in Limited than constructed, although Sabin himself is able to help you get there. His 0 is a great threat in combat, although I think the Brave is a trap in most situations, as a 7k blocker is rarely what you’re looking for. Try not to pop it before blocks if you can, and maybe keep another buff or damage trigger in your back pocket in case your opponent has a trick; you don’t want to be dealing yourself damage without getting something in return. Sabin naturally pairs well with other Damage 5s like Lyse, Squall, and Sephiroth, and you’ll also want to stack as many Bursts as you can get away with. At the end of the day, though, he’s a glorified 7k, so don’t put too many expectations on him.

Marilith
1.5
A supersized Duncan is sometimes what you’re in the market for, but Marilith is a lot more unwieldy than she seems. 7k is a pretty respectable amount of damage, but at a total of 8cp, I just feel like you should be getting a little bit more, given the power level of this Cube. Still, it’s hard to go wrong with just slamming one 9k after another. Her ability to get other Job Chaos (Chaos, Tiamat, Lich, Kraken) is definitely hindered given the singleton nature of Cube, as most of the time you’ll only have one other target in your deck. Note that Opus I Chaos is Job God of Chaos, and isn’t a legal target.

Aigis
2.5
There’s lots that Aigis can drop in Water/Fire, but outside of that you’ll find it hard to really eke out that extra value. Paired with cards like Faris and Sarah (FFL) will provide for a very strong deck, but even running him with Wind or Earth for Arc/Bartz or Ingus/Krile/Wol won’t be too bad, and you can always run Lenna. It’s a shame that the Water/Fire pairing is separated sequentially from the Earth/Wind pairing by Ice and Lightning, as having access to dual Moogles and Multi-Element cards would help bridge that gap and make three Element WoL decks much more reasonable. Worst case scenario, he’s a 5cp 9k. Quick note, light Wol can’t be cheated in.

Sol
1
While a strong role-player in Fire/Water WoL, or Fire/Wind Bartz, Sol will struggle to find a home anywhere else. This means if you’re in one of those decks, you’re likely to get Sol later in a pack than you might normally. There are plenty of 7s and 8s for Sol to party with this time around, and if you can pick up a Yuna or Boko then you can even potentially get some value while you’re doing it.

Lani
3.5
Lani’s stock goes up a bit compared to oXII draft, since the likeliness that you hit something worthwhile goes up, and the odds of hitting name clash go down significantly given the singleton nature of Cube. There’s honestly not much else to say about her, She’s a super cheap 7k that will occasionally snipe a powerful bomb. Try to play her before you lock Backups at 5, just in case.

Bahamut
4
Bahamut just straight up murders any two things you point it at. It’s hugely expensive, but it provides for such a huge board swing that it will be worth it against all but the most cheap of board states. It even lets you skip annoying death triggers like Xande and powerful recursion effects like Apururu or Cu Sith.

Ifrit
1.5
There are plenty of small things around for Ifrit to kill, and he also lets you leverage the smaller burns from Iroha, Clavat, and Terra, but the big breakpoint is 7k, and Ifrit just does not clear that bar on his own. There’s always Cater and Mutsuki, but now we’re talking about some real CP investment. It’s not like Ifrit will be dead, just out of all the Fire Summons it is the most awkward to get to a useful state.

Belias, the Gigas
3.5
Many many games of Cube will come down to combat, and Belias is the best combat trick in the game. It just does so many things: pairs well with direct damage; prevents opposing damage triggers like Lann and Ignacio; lets you swing combat math via haste; can protect a little against direct damage; and is a strong EX to boot.

Bahamut
2.5
8k is a great number to hit, and the exile will help combat death triggers and recursion.

Phoenix
3
The targets you’re going to be pulling back with Phoenix are rarely going to be as impactful as the ones you would choose in Constructed, but there’s still some good targets. Bringing back a Lann or HM while the opponent is low on resources lets you get a solid attack in. Warrior of Light S lets you turn Phoenix into an impromptu Ifrit. Phoenix pairs well with any other element as well, making it extremely flexible, excepting Earth who suffers from a low count of quality 3 drops.

Ifrit
1
4 for 7 just isn’t a good rate, but you gotta play with the options you have. At least the Burst is great.

Belias
3.5
I cannot stress enough how often you will feel the lack of haste on this card. I know it looks like it’s not that big of a deal, but there will be times where you’re sitting with this in hand going “If this were The Gigas I would win the game this turn.” That said, it’s still an exceptional card, and pretty much everything I said about the other Belias applies here too.

Ifrit
4
While the opportunity to get a juicy 2for1 is tempting, don’t hold back for too long while looking for an opportunity to leverage both ends of this. Sometimes you just have to burn something down. When you are able to kill something and also win a combat or counter a damage effect, it will put you ahead on board and by a ton.

Balasa
3.5
The slower your deck the better this is, and Fire is great at going big. Pairs well with Earth, largely because Earth also has a ton of high cost cards and wants very much to go to 4 or 5 backups, but honestly you can play this in all but the most aggressive of decks.

Ifrit
2.5
How did this get such a better score than Ifrit, I hear you asking? The difference between 5k and 6k really isn’t that noticeable in Cube; most things that one will kill, the other will also kill. That means the 1cp discount is a huge deal. Also, given how pressure based Fire is, the 8k will be online more often than not when you’re trying to close out the game.

Amaterasu
3.5
This Cube is absolutely rife with effects that Amaterasu will stop, and it will provide for a powerful line of defense for you and your Forwards in an element that doesn’t usually have much in the way of counterplay.

Ifrit
3.5
Big damage, big EX. Not much it doesn’t kill. You’ll trade down a cp or two often enough when you cast this, but that’s a fine tradeoff for how powerful it is.

Goblin
1
Searchable off of Relm, and in a pinch you can play it off of Urianger, however without support it really doesn’t cut the mustard. It’s super cheap, replacing a large percentage of its cost, and sometimes you have some cards you really want to haste (HM, Zidane, Thancred) which makes it serviceable filler, but it’ll be rare that I want Goblin over Sage or Belias.

Varuna
1
I liked Varuna a lot in Opus VII draft, but that was a slower format where you could frequently sneak an attack in, or use Snow to enable Varuna for very little cost. Here, unless you’re pairing it with Ice, you’ll find it much harder to turn Varuna into a body. Even when you manage it, 8k Brave isn’t the dominant threat it was two years ago.

Gancanagh
3
There’s an interesting argument to be had between the speed of this and Bahamut. Is it better to be able to pay for it now and then save it for when you need it? Or is it better to keep it in hand so that the opponent doesn’t have the information that you have access to an 8k burn? I personally come down on the side of Gancanagh. There will be enough opportunities to take a little time aside to make a proactive play to set up for later that I think it outweighs the benefits of the surprise factor. Regardless, Gan has a super strong Damage 5 which puts it over the top anyways, unless you really needed that RFG.

Bomb
2.5
A great early play, getting Bomb to 10k will let you really pull ahead on resource economy. 4 for 1 is acceptable if you can’t get three counters, as there are so many other effects that will let you turn it into a lethal amount.

Red Cap
1
I hate this whole cycle, I really do. You never want to play a vanilla 7k for 3, and removing a Backup just feels awful. Not to mention they take slots away from cards that could have Relm/Gau/Urianger synergy, which are all cards that could use a little more support. The discard ability is a hefty cost, but like Nael if it wins you the game then you really aren’t going to miss that Backup. 7k is decent at helping you to close out the game, as there’s lots that it kills without help, and lots of ways to help it. I get it, it feels awful throwing away a backup, but if Ifrit is a good card, then Ifrit +2k but only in the late game is worth consideration. Was that convincing? I hope so, because I’m still not gonna play this asshole.

Red Mage
4
Being able to control the board like this is going to make it very hard to defend against you. Given Fire’s propensity for being on the offensive, this works very well in supporting Fire’s central theme.

Evoker
2
No frills, no nonsense, just a quick and easy Backup that slots into your opening turns effortlessly. Ideally you’re dulling a Fire Backup to play this out, so it won’t be very good as part of a splash.

Irvine
3.5
6k feels great coming off of a Backup, as it really doesn’t need much help to be relevant. Even a light tap from Rain or Zack will be enough to get some serious value here, and many decks will have some juicy targets that Irvine doesn’t need any help to snipe.

Sage
3
Can I just say that I’m super glad that the other Sage was removed during the Opus XII update? I don’t even know how many times I took that Sage on accident last Cube, thinking it was this one. This one is the business. Take everything positive that I said about Goblin and tack it onto a real card. Sage will enable some serious blowouts. I’ve already talked about good Fire targets, so let’s look at the best from other elements. Genesis, Cloud of Darkness, Zidane, Cloud, Galuf, Amon, Sephiroth, Zidane again, Cloud of Darkness again, Gilgamesh (XI); the list goes on, these are just the cream of the crop.

Selphie
2
I miss the days when Selphie was Constructed viable, I really do love this card. +2k is a very solid amount, and makes your attackers considerably more safe during combat. If you end up not having a use for the +2k, you get to use it for CP during the second Main, so it’s low commitment as well.

Montblanc
1
There are a total of 21 moogles in the Cube, including Montblanc himself, so it’s not unreasonable to get this up to 2 or 3k. They’re also unlikely to be in demand, as most of them are not particularly good. The dual element producers are decent, but if you’re in Wa/Fi or Fi/Ic, it’s going to be pretty rare that anyone else is also in those elements, although they might still take them for splash purposes or on speculation. If you can get Montblanc up to 2 or 3, he’s pretty acceptable, but that means you’ve collected a bunch of mediocre cards in order to make one halfway decent card. Sometimes that’s just the way the draft goes, sometimes you have some tough choices early in the packs and have to take the dregs just to fill out your backline, so if you end up in the position to play him don’t feel bad; just don’t aim for it.

Cater
0.5
Like what I said about Clavat, 1k just isn’t good enough, especially when you have to be playing wind in order to get it. The Lightning effect isn’t quite so bad, but it’s still unnecessarily restricted, and doesn’t combine well with First Strike or power reduction.

Black Waltz 2
1.5
Irvine this is not. When you’re in an aggressive position, which is when you’ll be most likely to want Black Waltz 2, most opponents are going to have to dig deep into their resources in order to put roadblocks in your way, diminishing his effectiveness. He still represents a sizeable chunk of damage that can be combined, but the times he hits for 7 or 8 will be few and far between, and even when it seems possible, like Vivi, the opponent can respond and lower their hand size. I’m always nervous when I give my opponent any more control over a situation than absolutely necessary.

Carla
0.5
Why does this card exist when we already have the vastly superior Selphie? This ability is so expensive for how little it does, but if you have a spare small Forward like Vivi, Zidane, or Firion that can’t swing in, then this lets you get some value out of them. Thing is, those Forwards can still party attack, or combine their combat damage with direct damage, so I have to wonder what this is accomplishing. Even if this could be used on blockers, or to help buff Forwards targeted by direct damage, I wouldn’t want to run it.

Mutsuki
1
This is at least slightly better, if only because there are no arbitrary restrictions on it. I feel like a broken record at this point, but 1k isn’t much. That said, this is the best source of 1k in Fire, as it’s unconditional and can be activated at any time to combine with any effect. I feel like Khalia Chival must have been in this Cube at some point, and when they removed him they forgot to take Mutsuki and Carla out as well. I’d love to see the other Mutsuki take this slot.

Cid (XI)
2.5
Cid is a really cool and versatile card that I think gets overlooked a lot. He helps fix your early turns, can stock your BZ up a bit for effects like Terra and Cu Sith, and in the late game can boost your team for one final alpha strike. Card selection like this is pretty rare in Fire, we only see it here and in Marche, so I weigh Cid a little heavier than normal, just because there’s so little else that will smooth out your early game.

Vermilion Bird l’Cie Caetuna
3
Did you know that Caetuna is supposed to be pronounced “Setsuna?” I have no earthly idea why. What I do know is that this card means business. Great targets for it include Bahamut, Balasa, and these two Ifrits, but even the other Ifrits aren’t bad. If you don’t have access to any of the first four cards, I might skip Caetuna, but it’s worth taking her early on speculation, because the payoff is real.

Sazh
2
Just a nice simple backup. In a deck with lots of varied summons, Sazh has some great versatility in being able to pick and choose which damage amount you need at the time, which leads him naturally to wanting to pair with Terra and Caetuna.

Meeth
2.5
Meeth is a nice way to search out your bombs, or even more developmental Forwards like Marche. Late game you can use him to trade away another Backup in hand for a more relevant Forward. I like that the discard is optional, so that unlike Sazh you have some optionality in whether or not you want the search.

Yotsuyu
4
Red Mage except cheaper and slightly more restricted. Makes sense to me that best girl is also best Fire Backup.

Cyan
2
+1k to the field is a nice ability to get for free, and coupled with Brave allows you to get some extra attacks in without losing out on your defensive capabilities.

Fusilier
3
Fusilier may not be as powerful as Irvine, but he has the flexibility of being useable as a developmental Backup, since his burn is optional.

Class First Moogle
1.5
At least he’s better than Carla. You can use him at any time, and he doesn’t require you to dull a Forward. It’s a bit expensive to use him, but the idea is that you never actually pay for his ability, just rely on the threat of it to power you through.

Class Second Moogle
3.5
Now that the Multi-Elements are in the Cube, these already quality cards are even more worthwhile. Cards like this that improve your consistency are always good additions. Unlike say Wind or Water, Fire and Ice don’t have too terribly many of them, so those that you do have access to are worth so much more. Also, Fire/Ice is a great archetype.

Ace
4
Versatile, powerful damage. Gives Yotsuyu some stiff competition when it comes to best Fire Backup.

Cu Chaspel
2.5
Cu Chaspel protects you against having your entire deck just randomly being hosed. If you go all in on the plan of combining sources of direct damage, you run the risk of getting stonewalled by Aerith and Minwu. Cu Chaspel gives you some ability to fight back against that, even if doing so costs you extra. There are lots of other problem cards that this helps fight against, Rem, Y’shtola, even Mist Dragon, and several others.

Warrior
2.5
Don’t sleep on Warrior, both abilities are useful, even if you’re going to be opting for the 5k nine times out of ten. Breakable backups are always nice for any deck that plans on playing a lot of them, as they don’t want to risk getting locked at 5 and drawing useless cards, and this is literally Fire’s only breakable backup.

Mootie
3
Get fucked, Sazh. OK for real though, there are only 13 Bursts in Fire, so even though Sazh is a little more expensive, he’s got that going for him. Mootie is cheaper, and there are two Bahamuts in the set to take advantage of his second ability. I have to wonder though what you’re going to do with it after dropping 9cp on Bahamut, though.

Lilty
2.5
Great little bit of consistency for decks that are running or splashing one or both of those elements.

Ninja
2.5
5k on a 2cp is a great rate, even if you do have to be able to get an attack off for it. An evasive threat like Lann, or one that burns on attack like Rain will be strong targets, but the absolute dream is Zhuyu.

Ice

Argath
1.5
This body just isn’t enough to do much with. Yeah it’s cheap, and yeah it helps disrupt your opponent a little, but unless you’re going seriously all-in on aggro discard, Argath isn’t going to carry his weight. I think the deck isn’t terribly hard to pull off, as most other people playing ice/X at the table are likely to be looking for powerhouses, whereas you’re looking for cards that fulfill a role like Ulmia, Squall, Thaum, Palom, Black Waltz 3, Chronos, Swampmonk.

Vayne
4
There are so many high quality 5s in every element that Vayne is going to absolutely win games for you. He locks down such a wide swath of cards, and the best part is that he hits the ones you want to hit most. Vayne is good in so many situations, he locks down beefy attackers, takes out threatening blockers, and just all in all gives you a ton of breathing room, all while being on curve. You do have name clash with two other Vaynes, and Force of Will is not an S that you can just bust out anytime, so be wary of that.

Rinoa
3.5
In an aggressive deck, Rinoa becomes so threatening, especially given the 6 damage nature of limited. Her ability to just remove all blockers will win you games you had no business winning. You’ve even got Laguna, all three Squalls, and Seifer to boost her up. The other Rinoa is also a premium card, so the name clash is real, luckily Wishing Star is excellent at closing out games by activating it during their turn to set up for a serious swing.

Kuja
3.5
There’s the shell for a very aggressive Ice based deck here, and Kuja is the lynchpin of it. By combining his ability to lock out blockers with efficient and disruptive cards like Argath and Thaumaturge, you can get some serious damage in pretty early in the game. A couple issues: you really want to be paying with Backup CP, so you do need to get some foundation set up; and your threats are really easy to deal with, as they’ll all be pretty small. Even outside of this archetype, Kuja is a reasonable threat that will make the opponent have to either overcommit to defense or focus on attack. He pairs well with damage triggers like Genesis, Locke, and Celes as well.

Genesis
4
Genesis still does Genesis things. He’s still the absolute monster he was during his time in Constructed, and will force a lot of bad trades on the opponent’s part. Your opponent will be looking to get a good blocker in his way, so aim to find some good summons to pair him with. The Beliases, either Carbuncle, Bismarck, and Cuchulainn are all great options. He’s good at disrupting development and at closing out the game, and there’s almost no time during the game where playing Genesis is a bad idea.

Cid Aulstyne
2
An empty hand is not something that really comes around terribly often, not without some real effort put into it. There are plenty of discard sources in Ice, and this effect is absolutely worth building towards, but be aware that you may have to plan out a few turns ahead in order to generate a good opportunity. Cid’s top end is quite high, but he loses some points for his inflexibility.

Celes
2.5
Since Draft tends to be a bit less tight on resources than Constructed, hitting a Backup early and forcing a stumble of one CP is less disastrous for your opponent here, making Celes’ ability to freeze Backups devastating less often than you may be used to. This doesn’t mean she’s bad, far from it, I just caution you against relying on her the same way she is typically played in Standard. The ability to freeze backups is still great, especially when combined with other resource denying effects like Argath/Thaum or Garland (IX), but the ability to keep Forwards locked down will be a lot more relevant than normal.

Locke
3
Locke will instantly pull you into Fi/Ic if you take him early. Fire has the most VI cards, two Sabins, Shadow, Terra, and Cyan. You also get access to Red Mage and Yotsuyu to help clear the way. If you’re looking to enable him within Ice, you have Terra and Gestahlian, both Celes, and Umaro. Water also has a few Cat VIs, Celes, Gau, Relm, and Strago. As far as his damage trigger goes, effects that can clear blockers will go far. You’ll put a premium on any removal that can hit active Forwards, even temporary removal like Shiva. There’s also the ME Locke for S fodder if you end up in Wind, or just really want that Mirage Dive. Be prepared for opponents’ PTSD to kick in and for them to kill him on sight.

Thaumaturge
1.5
Everything I said about Argath applies here, with the caveats that Standard Unit is a real job, and 1ks are much easier to kill.

Serah
2
Anything that tutors Backups is at least somewhat desireable, and there are moogles in every element. Once you have three or four in your deck, she can really start to get some value out of her attack trigger and her discard. Coupled with the multi-element cards, Serah helps to enable greedy three element decks, especially given her access to the dual moogles. Her discard action is a super cheap way to clear blockers, and gives an out for your moogle Backups in the lategame when you have no interest in playing Backups anymore.

Kuja
3.5
Kuja is a huge body that also locks down a threat or a blocker for a couple turns, and then has the ability to convert your spent Backups into a second coming. Once he’s in the BZ, the threat of his return is one your opponent will have to keep in mind for the rest of the game. It, uh… it can also lock down Cactuar if you really want… No seriously though, being able to hit Monsters is super relevant for cards like Koboldroid or Gigas, as he’s able to hit them while they aren’t Forwards.

Squall
1
This is supposed to be a closer for the hyper-aggressive Argath/Thaum deck, but it’s hard to amass the support it needs to be an 8k enough of the time. This leaves the option of partying in order to overcome even reasonably sized blockers. With the only other source of First Strike in Ice being Ulmia (and very rarely Sephiroth’s Draw Slash,) it will be tough to take advantage of his First Strike when partying. Ulmia, Carbuncle, Class Eleventh, Princess Sarah, and any direct damage can make him much more attractive. All in all, this is a card that needs a ton of support just to be good, and even when it is good it’s not great. Take it if you happen to be in a deck that can use him, but certainly don’t go out of your way to enable him.

Rinoa
3.5
Since she is abysmal on her own, she is only as good as the targets she has. You’ll find that Cube has so many more choice options than any normal draft. Just in Ice, we can find Sephiroth, Cloud of Darkness, Squall, Umaro, Orphan, Selh’teus, and Locke, and those are just the best selections. You can squeeze even more value from some of the premium Light/Dark cards like Lenna, Sephiroth, and Nidhogg. And every single Element has some stellar options, Nael, Yiazmat, Shantotto, Fusoya, and Cloud of Darkness. There are just so many cards to pair Rinoa with, no matter which direction you go with her. Just try to minimize the risk of your target being killed in response; you don’t want to be left with a 4cp 7k.

Sephiroth
3.5
Double discard will seriously limit your opponent’s options, especially when paired with a punishment for emptying their hand like Aulstyne. Optionality tends to be one of the strongest things in FF; that is, the more lines of play you have open to you, the stronger your position. By denying your opponent options, you limit how they are able to respond to you. This applies to all discard effects, but here it is most pronounced. In a slower deck, there is another method to use Big Seph: once you’re on five backups, you are only discarding one to deploy him, while causing a discard of two on the opposing side. From an economic standpoint, this means that you’re trading two of your renewable Backup CP for more precious Single Use CP. The longer the game goes on, however, the more you run the risk of your opponent not even having two cards in hand. This will be much more likely from pressure based decks who aggressively build the most threatening board they can, but even those decks will often hold off for a while in order to save resources for a critical turn, which will give you an opportunity to rip their hand to shreds. Like Kuja, his attack trigger helps to control the game from an aggressive position, and pairs well with all the myriad discard triggers throughout Ice and Wind. There are a million other Sephs in the Cube, so he suffers from Name Clash more than anyone else. Luckily, Shadow Flare is a great S.

Time Mage
2.5
A shitty Genesis is still a Genesis. A nice cheap body that either stalls out an opposing attacker or clears the way for some solid damage. From the start of the midgame onward, there will be plenty of opportunities to make use of Time Mage, so don’t underestimate him based on his art.

Ark Angel GK
2.5
Ice can use all the 9ks it can get its hands on, as it will often find itself outclassed powerwise by Fire and Earth. I think you’ll be shocked by how strong his ETF is, as well. I certainly undervalued it going into Opus VIII limited and was pleasantly surprised to see its power.

Garland (IX)
3
If Garland were more relevant in the late game, he’d certainly be getting a much better score here, but the sad reality is that casting him becomes a worse play the longer the game goes on. He’s a card that accrues small amounts of value over time, so if you aren’t getting him out by about halfway through the midgame, you should really consider whether casting him is worth it. Played early, however, he will eke out small advantages over and over and over. Like Celes, it can cause some serious stumbles in the first few turns, where people are expecting to be able to use their Backup CP to continue developing their economy. Throwing any kind of wrench in that can have long lasting impact on the course of the game.

Squall
1.5
The condition of having to see a dull Forward means that he isn’t abuseable in the early game like Argath/Thaum, so the discard will be less disruptive and more economical. That essentially transforms him into a 2cp 8k. Will we play 2cp 8ks? Absolutely. Are we excited about it? No. He can perform as a decent finisher, although his Action Ability is pretty hard to pull off. You have to be able to clear your hand and still generate Ice Ice 1 with just your backups. All in all, everything about him is too restrictive, and even when it all lines up perfectly he’s still not remarkable.

Celes
2.5
If you can amass the necessary VI characters, Celes is like Kuja on crack. She’s able to clear out blockers and keep them locked down turn after turn, letting you really lock your opponent into a defensive position. Unlike Opus VIII limited, there are only three Cat VI Backups in Fire/Ice (the archetype most likely to enable her,) Cyan, Gestahlian, and Terra. This means you’ll need to take plenty of VI Forwards, who are more interactable. Luckily, the vast majority of them are high quality cards, so unlike Serah you’re not filling your deck with trash in order to make use of her.

Palom
1
He’s not awful, but all of his abilities are so situational that he’s incredibly hard to get much use out of. If you manage to play him with an empty hand, you can get him to act like another Argath/Thaum. You can use him as a way to buy some time against an opposing rush by freezing, and again by chump blocking. Dulling your opponent’s backups on your turn isn’t useless: if the opponent’s hand size is low, it lets you force them to blow any interaction they have now or risk not being able to use it during combat. This lets you attack a bit more safely. Still, none of these are great, and many decks won’t even want to use all of them. Even though it’s a diverse range of options, if they’re not all useable, it isn’t really an appreciable increase in optionality.

Lasswell
4.5
An absolute onslaught of dull/freeze. Lasswell completely owns any board he’s a part of. He does demand to be paired with Fire, making him much less flexible than many other bombs, but Fire is Ice’s optimal pairing. Lasswell also manages to make the small burns scattered throughout Fire relevant. Clavat, Terra, Zack, these all incidentally enable Lasswell without the need for an additional Fire CP. You’re only saving one CP, though, so don’t go crazy adding these to your deck. Little Lasswell was removed from Cube for this Opus, so no Azure Sky this time around.

Vayne
4.5
People will go way out of their way to kill Vayne, and with good reason. Every turn he survives, he demands more and more resources from the opponent. One huge credit to Vayne’s favor is that he needs absolutely no support to be spectacular, whereas so much of Ice requires certain Elemental pairings, or a specific archetype in order to shine. If you can cast Vayne, he’s one of the best cards in your deck period.

Laguna
3
Laguna is an incredible enabler for your Ice decks, as he can search up whichever relevant bomb you need at the moment while providing a reasonably strong body along the way.

Cloud of Darkness
3.5
There are so many ways to go up value with this card, you can cash in a backup that has already repaid its investment, or a card with a death trigger like Black Waltz 3. The attack trigger is especially fearsome, since you get so much control over when and whether to use it. There will be plenty of times when it dull/freezes some minor Forward of yours while denying two Backup activations from the opponent. If you want to really maximize it, you can couple it with Monsters like Dandreen and Bomb who don’t care whether they’re active or not, or with Wind activators like Yiazmat and Rem. More than any other card in the set, you have to be aware of when not to attack with Cloud of Darkness, as sometimes you really can’t afford for your stuff to be locked down. There are 2 other Clouds of Darkness, and all of them are good, so be careful of name clash.

Squall
3.5
Finally, a good Squall. Squall works well as a closer in a slower deck, as he does want you to have taken some damage. Once on Damage 2, he threatens to completely swing combat math in your favor. If you’re seriously on defense, then on Damage 5 he can lock something down while killing something else, but he’s definitely best at just winning the game. He’s much less versatile than other powerhouse finishers like Nael, as every ability of his comes with some restriction, but neither of the first two are particularly hard for Ice to manage. Getting to 5 without dying is a bit riskier, but of his abilities that one is ironically the least relevant, as at that point you’re more hoping to just win the game, and killing something that already can’t block isn’t really as impactful as other options. Not to downsell it, 8k is 8k, and sometimes you need Squall to buy you some time, and in those situations it’s the 8k you’ll be most thankful for.

Sephiroth
3.5
Speaking of stabilizing at 5, here’s how to do it. Sephiroth comes down quick and comes down deadly (spoiler alert) not only stopping the current attack, but denying a blocker on the next turn without demanding that turn’s CP. That’s one of Sephiroth’s big strengths, is that as you build towards a critical turn where you turn your opponent into a fine paste, you get to use this turn’s CP to cause a dull on the next turn, which usually can’t be done outside of dull/freeze. In terms of Back Attack, even if you just block something like a Porom, you’re still coming out ahead. As the only Back Attacker in the set, that surprise factor will pay out. With a bajillion other Sephs in the set, Draw Slash is a serious and powerful consideration. It turns him into a monstrous First Striker, which is an incredible ability on defense, and makes him an even safer Sephiroth.

Umaro
4.5
There’s no Mog (VI) so we can just ignore that first line. Luckily, Umaro is still insane value. He removes anything that he is able choose outside of Emet-Selch, no matter the level of protection. Vincent? Bottom. Tortoise? Bottom. Y’shtola? Break Zone (at least it ought to.) The fun doesn’t stop there, as he then gets a free freeze every turn, including the turn you play him. This enables you to just permanently lock down whatever the biggest threat that they have left is. And as though that all wasn’t enough, he’s also abominably large at 9k. With a guaranteed ETF, and another effect that same turn that is difficult to stop, it’s extremely hard for the opponent to stop you from getting value here.

Orphan
3.5
Let’s just get this out of the way, yes Rinoa and Time Mage are hilarious combo pieces. Outside of that, you want to be extremely careful about when you play Orphan. You really want him to survive until next turn’s Combat, which means that the more you can tear apart your opponent’s hand before casting him, the safer he’s going to be. Consider pairing with Carbuncle, Unsaganashi, Mist Dragon, or other ways to protect him. Thankfully Cid (FFCC) can only hit opponent’s characters, so it can’t protect against Orphan.

Black Waltz 3
3
It blocks as a virtual 10k. That alone is reason to take it. His extra versatility is just icing on the cake, as both other effects are perfectly serviceable. Galdes is an incredible card, and mini Galdes is totally worth it. It’s easy to forget the name clash with Black Waltz 3, so be careful if you’re in Ice/Lightning.

Gentiana
2.5
Stripping abilities while acting as an Amon is a strong place to be, and gives you a cheap source of dull for your abilities that only freeze like Garland (IX), Celes, and Umaro. Gentiana makes it extremely hard for some normally scary Forwards to attack into you, like Lann, Rem, or Estinien. She doesn’t have an ETF, and is not a particularly large body, so she is relatively easy to remove before any real value can be gained. To circumvent this, you can try to use her the turn she comes out, for instance following her up with a Bahamut on a dull Y’shtola.

Barthandelus
4
Why oh why couldn’t they have put Blaze in the cube? Oh well, there’s still lots of fun stuff to combo Barthy with. Iroha, Luneth, Baralai, Pandemonium, Rain, Raiden (RW), Cagnazzo, hell even just combat damage from small forwards like Palom. If he survives long enough, his EOT trigger makes it exceptionally hard for your opponent to do cool stuff on your turn, and may force them into sub-optimal lines of play just to ensure none of their backups are lost. Hilarious with Vayne (Barth resolves first, meaning they can’t use Backups to pay Vayne’s tax.)

Fencer
2
A shitty Time Mage is still a Time Mage.

Ulmia
3
If you’ve got a strong presence in Ice, Ulmia starts of great and just gets better and better. Threatening a total of +3k is enough to deter all but the biggest and most resilient of combatants, and once you start adding abilities to the mix you’ve got a tremendous rattlesnake on your hands, that will make your opponent incredibly wary of picking any fights with your Ice Forwards. On the other hand, she’s super easy to kill. At least it’s not a big investment.

Emet-Selch
4
If you thought Kadaj was a frustrating attacker, he at least can be killed. Outside of actual combat, or EX Bursts, Emet-Selch is just going to keep coming back for more. My recommendation: swing for the fences every turn. There are so many ways to stop him from blocking. Rain can do it without paying, Sephiroth can do it regardless of cards in hand, Anima and Cid (FFCC) can completely stonewall him on offense and defense, and so on and so forth. Once you’re on Damage 5, Emet really starts to brutalize your opponent. The issue here is that, since he’s not a great defender, he doesn’t really do much to prevent your opponent from taking you straight from 4 to 6, so make sure you have good blockers and defensive options elsewhere. Powerful and cheap, but extremely unreliable.

The Crystal Exarch
1.5
The dude is neat, but unlike Opus XII limited, there are much fewer quality 2s available. This means you really want to be hitting 3 Ice backups, which means a much larger dedication to the Element. It also disincentivizes you from taking some of Ice’s bigger powerhouses, most of which cost 5+. Unless you really think that Ice is wide open, I would avoid going deep on this guy.

Nooj
1
A shitty Fencer is still a Fencer. This time with Burst!

Mateus
1.5
It’s not awful, but it is pretty conditional. You’re almost always losing value on this, but removal is removal, and sometimes you just have to accept that you’re going to be out some CP. On the plus side, this kills just about everything (fuck off, Black Tortoise.)

Shiva
2.5
Big Bahamut, except 7CP cheaper. Ok, ok, that’s assuming you win the game that turn. Great in aggressive decks, less optimal elsewhere. You can use it to staunch the bleeding, if you really need, but if you’re going to use it defensively you can go to 5 damage and then dull out any remaining attackers, enabling the Damage 5s of Squall, Sephiroth, Ulmia, and friends.

Zalera, the Death Seraph
3
Boy this sure does kill an awful lot. There’re plenty of fearsome things that it doesn’t kill, though if you stock up on 9ks you can ignore a lot of them. Naturally, after you draft this, be on the lookout for cheap sources of dull like Gentiana.

Glasya Labolas
3.5
This is “discard 1, 7k your attacker” nine times out of ten, which is a splendid summon. Its other abilities are much more narrow, but there are plenty of opportunities to use them.

Doomtrain
3
It’s nice that Ice got a good permanent answer to 9ks. Just accept that you’re going to cast this for 4 more often than not, and don’t pass up a great opportunity just because you want to save 2cp.

Zalera
3.5
Same as Death Seraph, except less unwieldy at a teeny tiny 1CP. Unlike Death Seraph, it does choose, so there are some things it can’t hit, and it’s suddenly susceptible to Aemo.

Mindflayer
1.5
A single dull isn’t worth 2cp. At the point in the game where you play cards like this you’re usually looking to end the game now. This means the card draw is less useful, as you have much less time to utilize it. Still, the card draw lets you more easily chain into other effects, or set up for a cheap Locke (even though you’re technically not saving CP there.)

Shiva
2.5
Ideally you’re going to kill one attacker and halt another. The requirement of 2 targets does mean that for a non-zero amount of time, you’ll end up hitting your own Forwards with one half or another, something I saw my opponents forced into more than once in Opus X limited. Still, the ceiling is high, and you really want as many ways to kill 9ks as you can get your hands on, always, in every limited format.

Shiva
2.5
Killing dull characters is definitely more in line with a defensive deck’s goals, which means dealing enough damage to enable the 9k is going to be a rarity. Still, 6 for 1 is a great rate, and there are plenty of 2 and 3CPs that this trades favorably with. Also lets your smaller Forwards like Time Mage take out beefy attackers for very little extra investment.

Carbuncle
2.5
Getting one effect is sometimes worth the 2cp if you can turn the +2k into a powerful trade, but if you can reliably get two effects off, Carbuncle has a serious ability to control combat and close out a game, whether you’re winning a battle and freezing two backups, or locking down multiple potential blockers.

Swampmonk
2.5
Being able to dull on attack makes it incredibly hard to defend against you. Swampmonk is cheap and tough to interact with, although once you do activate him his low power makes him very easy to disrupt. A great followup to early disruption like Thaum, Garland (IX), or Celes. Can even dull the Monsters that can be turned into Forwards, though there’s only four of them aside from ol’ Swampy so it’s not the most relevant piece of text.

Militesi Coeurl
2.5
Militesi is slightly more cost efficient over time than Swampmonk, so it’s slightly better, even if it can’t get around Gigas and Green Dragon.

Coeurl
0.5
The actual worst of this whole cycle. The idea with these cards is to exchange backups at the end of the game when you won’t have any further use for them. In this situation a dull character is for most purposes already irrelevant. What Coeurl can be instead is a last ditch effort to protect yourself from death when racing for the finish, for which 8k is a pretty huge amount of damage.

Dandreen
1.5
He requires a lot of set-up, but dull/freeze 2 is seriously impactful. Underestimate this little guy at your own risk.

Summoner
2
Same as Evoker. I’ve gotten so used to only having access to 2cp backups in Draft that it’s nice to play with these again.

Devout
3.5
Aside from Fencer, every 4 drop in Ice is a strong target for Devout. Even many of the 3s are worthwhile. There’re so many other great options in the other elements as well, and you’ll rarely have trouble making the admittedly large investment worthwhile. Maybe skip playing it if your opponent is rushing you from out of the gates.

Jihl Nabaat
2
Pretty good at buying you just that little extra bit of time. You’re not really paying anything extra in order to stall out your opponent a little more. There’s another Jihl if you really want to S, but Sadistic Surge isn’t that good, and if you have access to the other Jihl that’s probably the one you should be trying to play out.

Jihl Nabaat
3.5
It is unreal how much work this card does. Every Element save Water has at least some backups that deal damage, and many of them like Irvine and Cid (MOBIUS) become pretty overcosted when you take away their abilities. A lot of Fire decks will be relying on their backups to help finish off Forwards, and Jihl seriously restricts their options on how to deal with you. Do note that Raubahn isn’t stopped.

Doctor Cid
0.5
Doctor Cid’s ability is so useless it hurts. Only Archer, Alexander, Shantotto, Hecatonchier, Fenrir, Mandragora, and the two Dark Sephiroths are even capable of triggering this, and some of those aren’t even likely to see play. There are very few Backups in the set even worth protecting like this, so most of the time he’s just an overcosted Summoner. I have to say, it’s refreshing that even the worst cards in the set are still perfectly playable. Looking at you, Snow.

Hurdy
1
Getting Hurdy to exactly the amount of moogles you need to dull something relevant while also avoiding dulling your own stuff will be extremely tricky. If you do manage to assemble enough, you can somewhat navigate her by attacking with something she would hit, then using her before blocks. In the moogle deck, she probably winds up being one of the better options, which is fitting because you’re probably running Ice for Serah anyways.

Time Mage
1.5
It’s a large investment, but some of the ETFs are absolutely worth doubling up on, notably Orphan and Nidhogg. You’re not paying anything extra to get her out, like you are for Devout, so you’re pretty safe to just play this out and not worry about whether or not an opportunity will show up.

Gestahlian Empire Cid
2.5
The backbone of the Fire/Ice VI deck. There are few enough VI characters available that Cid is almost a necessity for enabling Locke and Celes. He also gets Umaro and Locke, so it’s not like he’s restricted to the VI Matters deck, though this does mean if you are in that archetype you’re not guaranteed to be passed him.

Black Mage
2.5
A nice little blast of direct damage to keep stocked in your back pocket. Ice doesn’t have nearly the breadth of these options as fire, so the value goes up a fair margin.

Edward
2.5
Without any other Edwards to make Silent Verse useable, Edward is a glorified Summoner. It is a bit better than Summoner, so let’s take a moment to talk about the impact of “we both lose 2cp.” It ties back into Optionality, where you are looking to aggresively decrease your opponent’s available options while keeping your own. To this end, by taking away 2CP from both sides of the table, you’re making it harder for both of you to develop further in the future. Ideally you’re doing this at the same time you’re establishing a cheap presence of Forwards. By doing so, you diminish your opponent’s capacity to stop your early game rush. Even in a slower deck, Edward is attractive, as he represents a source of recurring CP himself. By playing him, you generate a reliable stream of revenue while taking away from both players’ starting capital.

Ysayle
3.5
Ice has so many incredible Forwards, anything that can get them is in high demand.

Emina
2
Her ETF is half of Jihl Nabaat’s, and without the EX, so it’s her Action Ability that we really want to rely upon. Breaking a dull Forward for relatively cheap is exactly what more methodical Ice decks are looking to do, and she’ll slot in nicely there, earning you a bit of time and then trading up with a dangerous attacker.

Kazusa
3.5
10k is enormous. In Ice, you’re not really going to have much difficulty finding a way to dull your opponent’s problem Forwards, although Tortoise and Rem can give you fits. Even the most aggressive of decks will be relying on temporary removal like Kuja, Genesis, Militesi, and will appreciate a more final answer. He costs a ton, but the return on investment is high and immediate. Once you’re at the end game and you don’t need backups anymore, he even deletes two blockers.

Yeul
1
She’s no Ysayle, but she’ll do the job in a pinch. This ability is pretty committal, you usually will pop her at the end of the opponent’s turn, meaning you’re down a couple CP there, and then missing her CP on the turn you drew the card you were looking for. She doesn’t even put the card directly into your hand, making her a huge CP sink compared to every searcher except maybe Fiona. The sheer amount of resources you have to put into the ability, coupled with the glacial speed of it, make her one of the least desireable of Backups in Ice, but there will be one game out of twenty where she outright wins the game for you. Seeing as you’re usually playing three games per draft at most, those aren’t odds I want to bet on. Still, it’s not like there’s a downside to playing her. Like I say twelve times every review, 2CP backups with no drawbacks will always be in demand.

The Emperor
2.5
The Emperor is exactly what a more economy focused Ice deck is looking for, something that helps them stabilize at high damage and take control of the board in the late game. His Action Ability is functionally Alexander but only for dull Forwards, which we probably would only play some of the time, except here it’s just tacked onto an on-curve backup for no additional investment.

Varis
2.5
Well the Three-Element Serah deck has to have some payoff. In addition to fetching any card at all, Varis can cash himself in to get back several strong Forwards: Emperor Xande, Nael, Emet-Selch, both Y’shtolas, Amon, Estinien, Nero (XIV), and Nidhogg. If you don’t think you can reliably cast this off of three backups, skip it.

Class Ninth Moogle
2.5
You may notice the Fire/Ice one got a way better score, and that’s largely because Fire/Ice is a way better archetype than Ice/Wind. Not to say that Ice/Wind is bad, it just isn’t on the same level. At any rate, fixing is always great.

Class Eleventh Moogle
2.5
I think moreso than any other Element, Ice can make best use of +1k buffs. I’m much more likely to run 11th than the other moogle boosters.

Unei
0
Unequivocally the worst card in the Cube, and this is coming from someone who adores Unei in Constructed. The reason Unei works in Standard is because every single card in the deck is bent around her, and you have three Uneis. Here, your deck will have both fewer triggers and fewer targets, all while having less access to Unei. If you take her super early, you could conceivably draft a deck with Varis, Artemicion, Baderon, etc. to dig deep for her, but honestly, that’s a ton of work to enable her, and you could just run Rinoa/Time Mage instead. She just represents such a massive investment of time and resources, and without the strong defensive tools you have access to in Standard, you’re very likely to get aggroed out while you’re still setting up. Unless you’re recurring something insane like Dark Sephiroth, skip her.

Black Mage
2
Getting a second shot at your summons is great, especially Shiva and Glasya.

Terra
2.5
She’s Cat VI, so any deck running Locke or Celes instantly wants her, but on top of that she gets you access to good defensive options like both Zaleras while you are setting up, and late game can cast a bunch of good summons on the cheap.

Nag’molada
2.5
It’s nice to have some amount of odd costed backups to give you some flexibility while building your economy. Nag gives you that flexibility, while also helping to fix Elements. If you’re splashing a third, Nag will help make that a bit more reliable. None of the Monsters in Cube are like giga-bombs or anything, but he does give you easy access to some of the better ones, like Deathgaze and Kanna.

Iedolas
2
Interestingly, as the game goes on his value as recursion rises as your desire for more backups drops, which means that at the very least he’s relevant at almost any point in the game. Ideally you’ll drop him somewhere in mid, where you get to utilize both halves, but often you won’t have the option to wait that long on him. That’s fine, he’s decent the whole game through.

Chronos
2
A nice backup for an Ice rushdown deck, who can most guarantee her as Edward but cheaper. Her sacrifice ability is incredibly hard to hit something relevant with, so don’t count on it. Slower decks will find her to be a much more risky play, as you will avoid her at all costs if she’ll hit only you.

Black Mage
2.5
There are lots of Summons you’d love to pull double duty, and Black Mage is a great way to do that. The dream is to doublecast Pandemonium with Baralai out, but even much less greedy plays will still be good value.

Yuke
2.5
Same as Lilty, nice way to convert your Ice CP into another Element.

Scholar
1.5
Scholar is much more relevant here than in Opus XII, but she still isn’t great. There’s a fair amount of haste, and she can keep you alive if you correctly predict the opponent is going to swing for the fences next turn.

Think this all sounds fun? Looking to do some Cubes? There’s a great tool online at https://www.fftcg-cube-draft.com/ where you can run a Cube with others. At the end of the draft portion, there is a deckbuilder that will create a file for use in OCTGN. If you’re looking for places to meet up for Cube drafts, both the Global Discord and Chocobo Joe’s Cube Club are great places to find other players. For any other inquiries, feel free to reach out to me on Discord at Lossley#5502, or on Twitter at HowWL. Thanks again for reading this admittedly insane amount of words, and I look forward to seeing you next time, here on the Crystarium.

This is the first part in the series of articles about All-Star Draft covering Fire and Ice cards. You can also view the other parts here:

How to Win Limited: All-Star Draft (Opus XII) – Wind and Earth

How to Win Limited: All-Star Draft (Opus XII) – Lightning, Water, Duals etc