Howdy folks, and welcome to The Crystarium! Hidden Hope is on the horizon, and with it, a brand new environment of sealed and draft. With a heretofore hidden twist: Limit Break! Limit Break presents an entirely new axis from which to attack your opponent, and I’m excited to try it out first hand. Until Opus XXII releases and we can actually start getting hands-on experience, all I can do is speculate, but I hope my track record of How to Win Limiteds and of tournament placements in events both in person and online lends me at least some credibility as we move forward into genuinely uncharted territory. Limit Break will hopefully shake things up. Luckily, our first exposure will be Sealed, an environment where it’s much simpler. If you open LB cards, put them in your LB deck. The end. Draft though… well, we’re going on a journey there. At any rate, we’ve got a bunch of exciting cards, plenty of new interactions, and a brand new Jecht (ok maybe y’all ain’t as excited for that one as I am) so I invite you to join me, and together we can unearth the mysteries of Hidden Hope!
Rating Scale
S: You are ecstatic to first pick this, and you will warp your entire deck to play it. Nearly wins the game on its own.
A: You are happy to first pick this. A strong reason to play its element. These cards are the bombs you build your deck to support. Should improve your position dramatically.
B: You are unexcited to first pick this. The cards that form the backbone of your deck. Will likely put you ahead a couple of CP when played.
C: You are upset to first pick this. The meat of the deck. These cards will rarely get you ahead immediately, but may accrue value over time.
D: If you’re first picking this then you have one of the worst packs ever printed. While these cards may have niche application or very specific circumstances where they excel, by and large they do not do much to advance your game plan.
F: If this card is in your deck at all, Godspeed
Fire
Auron
Back Attack is a nice ability here. It lets you accelerate your development if you’re going second by playing a Backup before your first turn. Later it lets you hold up CP for a Summon or Action ability, or for Auron’s ability itself, and have a stable backup plan for that CP if you end up not needing the effect. There’s a fair few damage effects around, maybe not as many as other sets, but Fire, Wind, and Lightning each have some things you can stop. As nice as it is to be able to stop an effect and get a Backup, your top priority here is getting a Backup, so unless you draw this in the later part of the game I caution against holding this longer than you should while hoping to get maximum value. Every turn you don’t play him, Auron loses value, and it’s hard to know how many turns you’ll need to hold him until you find a better opportunity to cast him.
B
Red Mage
Developmental Backup with Multiplay, with a Job that helps get the most out of many other cards, who also has two excellent abilities, one a cheap source of very temporary removal, and one a much more expensive source of hard removal. With the exception of V not being a relevant category, every single characteristic of this card is gold.
A
Ayame
Outside of some convoluted sequence like Maat + Belias, Ayame will never amount to more than raw filler. Fire is the best element to make use of a 2cp 5k, with so many cards like the aforementioned Belias, Carla, Luartha, and Zack. It’s easy to disregard Ayame and think “well I’ll just never play this card” but because of Limit Break, each element has fewer cards than a normal set. Including Foulander, there are only seven Fire Forwards at C or R. Ayame triggers on attack no matter what her power is, so if you have some other source of +2k like Warrior of Light or Baelo, you can use Carla before she resolves to push her up to that 9k threshold. Qator Bashtar can lend a hand too, or just activate twice and get her there himself. As unexciting as cards like Ayame are, odds are you may well be forced to put them in your deck, so knowing how to best make use of them will be important.
D
Angeal
The only card he can search up is Sephiroth (Legacy Sephiroth is a War Hero) but increasing the damage that both Sephiroth and more importantly LB Zack do is well worth the one extra CP.
B
Ignacio
You never know, he could 9k something. If your deck is half fire, it’s a 12.5% chance. In truth, he’s just a big body that helps stock your Break Zone for cards like Ultimecia.
C
Garland
There are a bunch of other Knights in the set, Lilyth in Fire, Baelo and Ramza in Earth, and Agrias and Curilla in Water. Getting one of these back is good just in terms of economy, but these cards are all great to get back. Lilyth has a powerful S that Garland helps you abuse. Baelo helps you get any Earth Character back. Ramza is made cheaper since you now control a knight. Agrias is an incredibly cheap piece of temporary removal that Garland enables. And Curilla helps protect your Garland. Just having Garland out makes blocking any of your small forwards scary, as dropping a Knight in MP2 lets you finish off their wounded Forward. On top of that, this 5k burn is a great starting point for other cards like Foulander and Luartha.
A
Carla
I was kinda low on this card at first. Both her abilities are useful, sure, but are they worth 3? A repeatable source of damage is great for enabling cards like Foulander and Luartha, and for making cards like Machina hit even harder. Giving +2k to an attacker is really valuable when attacking into things with equal or 1k more power. But like a party attack, you lose out on a second attacker, or on blocking with Carla. Unlike party attacks, she can boost outside of her element, which is nice. But what really made me think she was playable was that she can block and kill 10ks. What made me think she was instrumental was how many Cs and Rs in other elements desperately want her. Vallaide, Kain, Prishe, Moth Slasher, basically every Water Forward. No matter what archetype you end up in, Carla will be a key synergy for you.
A
Clavat
There are tons of Standard Unit synergies across the set that Clavat helps enable. The ETF helps steady the randomness of your first few turns. The cheap cost lets them be a great 2nd Backup of their Element. And the Multiplay ignores the diminishing returns of each additional copy. These will be the quiet backbone of many decks.
B
Jecht
At 4cp, Jecht is a bargain. 4cp I feel is a pretty reasonable baseline, pushing him to 3cp should be somewhat easy, but getting him down to 2 or less will take some work. Luartha and Foulander are both great, cheap ways to field Fire Characters, and will be attractive filler for Jecht decks. Ideally you’ll be using him to take out something 8k or less, but sometimes you’ll need to pull the trigger on a scary 9k even though you lose Jecht in the process. Wait, that’s exactly how Braska killed Sin… damn, the flavor is real.
A
Selphie
As the only Cat VIII in Fire, Selphie is a little out of her element here. Both Ice and Lightning have plenty of friends for her, and both her search and her boost are top tier. Should you have cards she helps, she’s great. Otherwise, well, she’s at least better than Ayame. If you’re not in Ice or Lightning but want to play one of their Limit Breaks, Selphie can search up a Quistis to pitch for say Viktora, or a Fujin to pitch for Cloud, giving you more reliable access to your LBs. And I’m not saying that as though it’s some way to salvage her, I honestly think that may in fact be one of her best qualities.
B
Warrior
Each Element has two Standard Unit Backups with Multiplay, making Warrior relatively reliable. 3/9 is a great statline for a C in any set, and particularly so in Opus XXII. Warrior will be one of the primary threats of Fire decks, and might be the You-Must-Be-This-Tall-To-Ride check for the format. If your deck can’t deal with Warrior, don’t expect to win the draft.
B
Foulander
Cheap aggressive beater with multiplay. Foulander can naturally attack into one 7k, and at Damage 3 can threaten 11ks. This sounds great on paper, but in practice is foiled by the advanced strategy of having two blockers. Clearly, a one-man-army Foulander is not. But that’s fine! Cards like Luartha and Carla can help you boost both Foulander’s attack trigger and his combat damage to lethal amounts. And since he has multiplay, the easiest is to just play a second Foulander. While he won’t win any awards on his own, he will be a decent addition to many Fire based decks.
C
Machina
If you’re looking to play out a bunch of Backups quick and cheap, Machina can slot easily into your first few turns. His break effect is cheap and deals a ton of damage, so even if you end up playing him for two (or maybe even three!) he’s still worth the investment.
B
Belias, the Gigas
Ideally you get to use this midcombat to save your Forward, 7k another, and then have your boosted Forward kill someone in battle. And then draw a card. That’s an awful lot to hope for. I think most of the time you won’t have the luxury of sitting on Belias for that long. Of course, you should try to engineer some good attacks to make use of it, but if your opponent isn’t biting don’t hesitate to use this even if it just saves your Forward, or just kills one of theirs.
A
Meeth
In the late game Meeth can move some resources around, reallocating them a bit. You’re not actually gaining resources, you pay 2cp and lose a card in hand in order to draw 2, but what this lets you do is turn 2cp from your Backups, that is to say renewable CP, into single-use CP. Then next turn you have the same amount of renewable CP but also have one extra card in hand. Banking that 2cp from one turn to the next. Meeth is also good for digging to that one specific answer or bomb that you need to deal with a situation. Meeth can also, and this one will basically never come up, remove a Backup so that you can play a second copy, like Wol or Rygdea. He can also give you your third FFCC character in order to let Chelinka give Yuri Haste. Honestly though, 99% of the time, Red Mage is just better than this card.
C
Minwu (FFBE)
Not only are both of her abilities game-winningly good, they also work together. The introduction of Limit Break means that going down to zero cards in hand is less troublesome than before. You’re only going to be able to replay things with your Backup CP, so nothing too expensive like Kurasame. One of the best things to cast will be the Summons like Belias, as they’ll draw you a card setting you up for another 10k next turn. I know I just insulted Meeth, but another thing he does well is put you up one card in hand, potentially changing 2 to 3.
S
Lilyth
Your only Crystal spenders this set are Luartha, Helena Leonis, Sieghard, and Garuda (III). Garuda takes too many Crystals to reasonably activate, but the other three are all excellent. Luartha is even in-element, meaning it shouldn’t be that hard to get a way to use the Crystal. Lilyth’s S is the real draw here, 7k is a huge amount of damage to have at your fingertips, and depending on the packs, there should be between four and seven of these floating around. The average power level in this set is lower than normal, so this S kills a higher percent of the format than it would in most other formats. Oh, she’s also a Knight, enabling those synergies too. If you can’t make use of any of these options, she’s just a 2/5 though, so make sure you’re surrounding her with the support network she needs to shine.
B
Luartha
A cheap and aggressive complement to any damage source or small attacker. Steals the show at Damage 3. 10k for 1cp and one crystal is one of the best removal effects we’ve ever had, and you get a 3k besides. She does need to survive until your attack step, so make sure you’ve got a few Lilyths and you’re not staring down the barrel of an active Carla.
B
Fire is one of three elements that has a 9k at C, Warrior (Cloud of Darkness and Sand Worm are the others). It has several ways to interact on the opponents turn like Red Mage, Machina, and Belias. Fire, as always, is a very strong element, and you can honestly do whatever you want with it. Fire has more Backups than any other element (but still not enough to play Mont Leonis) with four Cs, one R, and one H. This doesn’t mean you can slack on picking them up, rather it’s a warning to make sure you’re getting enough Forwards. Cards that should signal that Fire is open are Garland, Jecht, Belias, Minwu, and Zack. If you get passed these, there’s a good chance there are more Fire cards to come. Let’s look at what Fire is looking for in other elements.
Ice gives you Vallaide, who loves Carla as a reliable activator on the opponent’s turn. No other C/R synergies really jump out, but that’s fine because Vallaide is absolutely at his best here.
Wind gives you a ton of aggression. Kain’s best friend this set is Sosha, but Carla is always welcome at his table. Kain and Cid (FFBE) both give you extra Red Mage activations. Yuri dumps multiple Forwards on demand.
Earth gives Sieghard, a great recipient for Lilyth’s Crystal. If you have Garland, Baelo and Ramza are easy pickups. Lich can let you use Red Mage and Machina a second time.
Lightning brings Sice, who is happy to team with Machina to take down 2cps. Drace gives quick access to multiple Fire Forwards. Moth Slasher is at his best when backed with Fire’s direct damage. And Odin and Dragoon give you hard removal for things too big to burn down.
Water gives you a ton of cheap bodies happy to throw in with damage from Foulander, Luartha, and Carla. Folka in particular becomes a terrify attacker when anything that blocks her will die. Leo lets you field a cheap body while actually increasing your hand size. And while you’ve got the biggest Forwards pound for pound, Yuni will help guarantee that.
Ice
Ice Bomb
Freeze on attack is nice. Damage 3 is where Ice Bomb really starts to shine, providing both Freeze and the catalyst for that Freeze, and being able to more easily make sure his attacks are safe. A great way to snowball an advantage, though occasionally you’ll have to just sacrifice him to lock down a problem like Gilgamesh for a little longer. Just remember, like Foulander, Ice Bomb is defeated by the advanced tactic of having two blockers.
C
Vallaide
Hey you remember all those weird little sources of damage I’ve been talking about like Carla, Foulander, Luartha, and Ice Bomb? You better believe there’s a ton more to come. Are you shy of anything to combo with Vallaide? Don’t worry, he combos with his own combat damage.
B
Emina
Gets most of the Backups, Ice Bomb, Vallaide, Cissnei, and Time Mage. Most of the time you’ll be getting a second Backup, but the flexibility to get other things is welcome for the times you’ll draw this in the mid game.
A
Quistis
Doesn’t benefit from Rinoa, sadly, leaving Squall as the only enabler in Ice. Quistis shines most paired with Lightning where five more Cat VIIIs show up to join in, but even her baseline of 3/7 Dull One is playable (if unexciting).
B
Bard
While her first ability isn’t quite as good as Red Mage’s, this is still a hell of a card.
A
Kurasame
7 is a lot of CP. Because he cares deeply about how many Ice Backups you have, Kurasame is pretty unimpressive until you have at least two Ice Backups. At two, I feel like he’s a very cool deal. At three, he’s incredible. If you can swing a huge dedication to Ice, Kurasame’s your man. If you’re just splashing a couple cubes in your drink, find a better flavor.
B
Cloud of Darkness
Ice’s only ways to force discard are Kurasame and Rinoa, so you won’t have as much ability to force CoD to be online as you might in other sets. There are also a bunch of substandard Forwards running around that people are likely going to be forced to play, increasing the chance CoD hits something unimpressive like Vaan. Still, 5/9 kill a dude is big worth at C, and will leave a cloud of despair around your opponent.
B
Seymour
It’s a lot of CP but it’s a powerful effect. EX is always welcome on swingy effects like this, and though Seymour may look unexciting (and unexcited) he’ll quietly be one of Ice’s most frequent power plays.
B
Shiva
This Summon is going to be a lot harder to get value out of than the rest. It does turn Monsters off, which can help your defense (and let you kill Sand Worm without reprisal, though you’ll probably need Ranger to do it). It removes attack triggers, which can help your defense. It removes the Brave from Maat and Glaive, which can help your defense. That’s… that’s a lot of defense. And it’s a lot of proactive defense, which means you’re just spending CP to stall them. There aren’t that many effects that you can actually get value out of, but there are a few. Kain’s First Strike, Cid (FFBE)’s death trigger, Warrior of Light’s +2k, Curilla’s protection, Siren’s protection, Folka’s invulnerability. And for many of those you’re paying an extra tax just so you can interact with them.
D
Cissnei
She’s on the phone with Square Enix asking why the fuck she has Haste if she can’t even block.
F
Jihl Nabaat
Further driving Quistis and Squall’s desire to pair with Lightning, both of Jihl Nabaat’s targets are also in Lightning. Yaag Rosch sucks, but Rygdea is a good choice. Anything that searches Backups is welcome in Limited, even if you can only draft the less than impressive Yaag. Even if you’re not in Lightning, Jihl can grab extra copies of herself, or let you splash LB Cloud by fetching Lightning CP for him.
C
Shinryu Celestia
For a card without any text, it sure has a lot of text.
C
Squall
It’ll be hard to get him to do his thing. He can’t play Rinoa, Edea, or Ultimecia, so that only leaves Selphie, Quistis, Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin. Assuming you can hold on to Squall long enough for someone else from Balamb to show up, you’re getting great value playing two Forwards for the price of one. Assembling four Cat VIIIs at the same time, even in the same element as Rinoa, will be tough, so as attractive as a 10k is in a format that otherwise doesn’t really have 10ks, don’t get your hopes up.
B
Sephiroth
I can’t tell if I’m feeling warm from those bedroom eyes or his card text. Sephiroth on his face is a 1cp 7k. That’s pretty ok. Cards like Cloud of Darkness really want you to force discard so he’s a decent cog in the machine if you use him that way. But Sephiroth is not content to be a cog in the machine. He’s an iconoclast. By doubling his CP cost, you get to not only play him and force the discard, but kill someone too. And if that’s not enough, you don’t even need to double the CP cost. You can just pay 3 and kill something. And since it’s an ability, you can do it on your opponent’s turn too. Powerful, flexible, with a smirk that could end Alexander the Great’s campaign.
A
Time Mage
I would play five of this card in every Ice deck even without the SU synergy.
A
Medusa
They have to pay roughly the same amount Medusa costs (3+card in hand=5) and in the end you have a free 7k. As long as you’re hitting something more threatening than a 5k with no abilities, you’ll end up at least a little ahead. Whether you need some time to catch up, or you’re pressing an advantage, or even just jockeying for position, Medusa will be an excellent tempo swing. Just please don’t put the counter on Ghido. And please for the love of God remember that Shiva thaws Medusa’s prey out for the turn.
B
Yuke
B
Rinoa
A bit more expensive than your average Backup, but that double discard is so so good. Yeah sure you can reduce her cost by one, but most likely you won’t. Get a couple CP off of her and then crack her for your Cloud of Darkness, or to make paying for your Medusa a headache.
B
Ice exists in the context of other decks. You’re never playing an Ice/X deck, you’re always playing an X/Ice deck. Not to say that Ice is a bad choice to pair with your existing element, it can be a great choice, but it shouldn’t ever be your primary element. Ice has some good cards, yes, but it’s also rife with situational cards. Your Cs are expensive. Cloud of Darkness and Seymour are both breaking the bank to provide what they provide. What they provide is good, but 5 and 7 are huge amounts of CP. Look at Rinoa, with an upfront +1 cost vs other Backups. Yes you have Time Mage, yes you have Jihl, yes you have Sephiroth and Medusa, but the meat and potatoes of Ice is going to be expensive or situational. I write these end segments last, after I’ve done all the individual card reviews, and having done all that I think honestly that Vallaide might be the most important card in Ice (except in Ice/Earth, that archetype doesn’t care about Vallaide at all). Cards that should pull your draft into Ice include: Vallaide, Emina, Kurasame, Sephiroth, and Medusa.
Fire is an excellent pairing. They bring a billion sources of damage for your Vallaide, as well as a ton of aggressive, cheap options to offset some of your more expensive ones. Red Mage is Ice Bomb’s best friend in the entire set. And Warrior stands with Cloud of Darkness to give Fire/Ice the absolute tallest C Forwards in the entire set.
Wind gives you aggression to match the board control you provide. Kain and Cid (FFBE) let you either do minor things in MP1 and follow them up with Ice’s more expensive cards, or let you play expensive cards in MP1 and recoup some of that CP for later. Sosha, while Kain’s best friend, is more than happy to have an affair with Vallaide, himbo that he is. Alexander helps you protect your high CP cards, and Epiornis gives you a cheap evasive attacker to win the game while your more defensive bent holds the fort.
Earth gives you Vossler who can bring some of those high costs down to something more manageable. Exdeath and G Assassin are both tailor made for Ice’s dull/freeze effects. Lich lets you bring extra Rinoa discards to the table.
Lightning gives you reach on both your VIII synergies, giving Quistis and Squall plenty of friends (ok acquaintances) to synergize with, and also gives Jihl Nabaat some stuff to grab. Moth Slasher is an incredible Vallaide enabler. (The following is a joke) Lulu gives you an actual use for Shiva.
Water’s Paladin is extremely happy to reanimate Time Mage. Siren and Yuni both protect you against threats to your expensive investments. And Water is full of cheap Forwards to fill out Ice’s weird curves, most notably Leo.
Wind
Alexander
While this won’t always be a clean 2-for-1, it’ll either trade for an effect or a whole Forward. Skilled opponents will keep their guard up if they see a Wind player with three Backups open, so don’t expect serious blowouts, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find some good value here.
A
Wol
While five cards should make Wol pretty reliable, I’m not a gambling man, and there are so few things Wol kills (Seymour is the only card under H rarity) that I’d much rather just play a 2cp Backup and not take any risks.
D
Epiornis
Decent evasive threat. Not really too intimidating until Damage 3. Even though he’s pretty small, not being a Forward on the opponents turn will make it relatively tough to stop him outside of combat. This is a bit more of a defensive set, and Epiornis provides a unique proactive solution.
B
Enkidu
Extremely cheap 7k. If you’ve got the Gilgamesh, keep an eye out for Enkidu, even if you’re not in Wind, since you don’t actually need Wind CP to reanimate him. Can be used to get extra activations out of Red Mage or Bard.
C
Kain
First Strike is extremely strong in limited. Haste is a pleasant way to take initiative, and the reaction helps either make him cheaper, give him or other attackers “Brave,” or help you double up on effects like Sosha. Who oh wow look at that also combos with Kain’s First Strike.
A
Ranger
There are a fair amount of things that the first ability deals with, but it won’t be often you want to lose a Backup to deal with them. His second ability is way more expensive than the actual costs of any Monsters, except for Sand Worm, who honestly kinda wants to die. If you can engineer a situation where you can hit their Sand Worm while you have no Forwards, then great, Ranger did something cool, but most of the time he’s just gonna get you a rebate on Geomancer.
C
Clavat
This one helps Chelinka give Yuri haste, so it’s slightly better than most of the cycle. Except the Water one. OK, you got me, they all help Chelinka give Yuri haste, but this one is in the same Element so it’s gonna do it the most often.
B
Cid [FFBE]
Sticky threats like this feel very outside of Wind’s wheelhouse, but I’m here for them. Cid can be a cheap Forward, Cid can provide lasting CP bonuses turn after turn, Cid can protect your crew from opposing Summons, Cid can block turn after turn after turn. Are any of these effects gamebreaking? Surely no. But they’re still good. Seek to pair with abilities that require a dull like Sosha.
B
Sosha
Good sized body, great action ability, and unlocks Kain’s true power. The backbone of any Wind deck.
B
Chelinka
Assuming you have Yuri, Chelinka will let you make the most of him. You probably want two, just in case you draw one early. You only need one other FFCC Character for Haste, luckily Wind has one at C: Clavat. The whole 1cp cycle of Backup Standard Units are all FFCC, and there’s also Meeth, Chime, and Leo to round things out, so getting the most out of Chelinka shouldn’t be hard.
C
Dorgann
A great set of abilities. This set has lots of scary 5s, all the Monsters are very playable, with a default that draws a card so Dorgann is never dead. While there are plenty of troublesome cards Dorgann can’t do anything about, he’s able to deal with most of the true problems. And since he removes from game, he handily skirts on-death abilities like Glaive, Sand Worm, and Moth Slasher. He also helps keep Break Zones under control, especially relevant for Lightning’s wealth of BZ oriented cards like Edea and Seifer wanting lots of cards, and Lulu and Lightning wanting specific cards.
A
Nanaa Mihgo
Each primary element has a summon Nanaa Mihgo can cast, although Carbuncle isn’t exactly useful on an empty stack. Some good 2s you can yoink include Vallaide, Time Mage, Ghido, Fujin, and Lulu. There will be times when you’ve got no targets, and other times when all your targets are underwhelming, but Nanaa Mihgo is flexible enough that she’ll be able to put in some good work in most games.
A
Bartz
Wol, Warrior of Light, Faris, Lenna, and Bartz himself. That’s not a very big list. His ability to protect himself feels kinda unnecessary. I mean, he’s a 5k. If your opponent wastes their Jecht on him, great. His S is pretty damn good, but is contingent on a few things. 1: More than one need to be in the draft pool. 2: You need to draft them. 3: You need to draw two copies at the same time. 4: You need a target. 5: You can’t have drawn that target already. That’s a lot to ask, and I just don’t feel like the payoff is worth the investment.
F
Geomancer
Fat rebate, tough to interact with, this lady’s gonna be a hassle for many decks to deal with.
B
Hope
Shiva, Jihl Nabaat, Alexander, Yaag Rosch, Rygdea, and extra copies of Hope. That gives us two Rs in Ice, two Cs in Lightning, and two Rs in Wind. None of these are super exciting, but if you’re in Wind/Lightning this helps ensure you hit your Backups early. His S is top tier, so if you’re going this route feel free to go hard.
C
Helena Leonis
Helena Leonis presents an excellent way to turn any random Crystals you have laying around into real, genuine board presence. So let’s take a look at all the ways Wind has to generate Crystals. And that has been our comprehensive look at all the ways Wind has to generate Crystals. In truth, Lilyth and Severo are the only two ways to generate Crystals in the entire set. If you happen to have three or more of those, then Helena Leonis stands as the best way to make use of those Crystals. But that payoff isn’t so good it’s worth warping your deck around, and most decks won’t be able to get anything close to full value out of her, so don’t get your hopes up.
C
Lilisette
The EX is not likely to matter, but sometimes it’ll snipe a small body, or convince a 2nd attacker not to swing into you. 4k or 5k should be about the average damage range for Lilisette, but it won’t be too rare that you can push it up to 7k. Still, this is a highly situational card, so despite it being Common and extremely prevalent in your draft packs, one is about all you’ll need. Excellent with Garuda (III).
C
Reddas
Yet another card with actually zero support. At least he’s a 5/9.
C
Frequent readers will know I’m 100% a certified Wind hater. But even I have to admit it’s one of the stronger elements this set. Yuri giving you a guaranteed two bodies is strong. Kain is honestly so good that you’re not asking what other elements can bring to you, but how other elements can support Kain. I genuinely think he’s the best C/R in the set for Draft and Sealed. There are plenty of Wind cards that don’t quite break the bank, but even they are fine in the aggregate. You’re gonna find a good time to cast Lilisette at some point. Alexander is potentially even better than Carbuncle at protecting your crew. Epiornis is the premiere attacker of the set. Cards that should pull you into Wind include Alexander, Kain, Cid (FFBE), Sosha, Dorgann, Nanaa Mihgo, and Geomancer.
Fire is your ideal pairing. Their wealth of damage options help your wealth of damage options. Helena Leonis is the tippy top tier of Crystal payoffs for Fire’s Lilyth. Belias is honestly the answer to every one of your dreams. Carla is a great complement to Kain, your centerpiece. And Red Mage makes an early Chelinka Yuri even more deadly.
Ice… exists. If your opponent dares to swing out at you, you’re happy to have Seymour to hold the fort. Cloud of Darkness, Sephiroth, Medusa, and Time Mage can help drag the opponent down to the point where your offensive can easily overwhelm them.
Earth is always Wind’s favorite friend. Always. Except maybe this time. Sand Worm helps offset your power problem, and G Assassin and Exdeath both fill in your dearth of hard removal, but honestly you can find better help elsewhere.
Lightning lets Hope dig for actual Backups. Odin fills in a lot of your gaps, and Lightning helps you double up on your Odins. Moth Slasher is an excellent combo with your Sosha. And Dragoon makes Sosha even cheaper.
Water gives you Anima, who really wants to be cast off of the Backups that Kain and Cid (FFBE) will reactivate. Water really wants more copies of Yuni, which Sosha absolutely provides. Yuni also helps make Kain the best he can be. Lastly, Miwa and Piranha both help you get the most out of your Sosha.
Earth
Vossler
The only King in the set is LB, so nothing to search with his ETF. His attack trigger is great, though, so Vossler still ends up being a great inclusion. Glaive and Nacht are both expensive Forwards who would desperately like a discount, and even smaller cards like G Assassin and Sieghard love being cheaper. Keep in mind if the next Forward you cast is Ramza, you’ll still have to pay 1, even if you’ve got the Knight to make Ramza free.
B
Exdeath
I like to make room for one or two Backups like this, ones that you’re not playing for their ability to make CP, but rather for the effect printed on the card. When I’m splitting my cards into types, I’ll often chuck cards like this into the Summons/Monsters pile, as that’s really the reason why we play them. Exdeath has a strong ability, comes bundled with EX, and continues to provide value for the rest of the game. An eminently playable “Summon” if I’ve ever seen one.
B
Carbuncle
A great way to protect your important Characters or to invalidate your opponent’s effects. It only protects one person, and only cancels the whole effect if that effect had only one target, but that leaves plenty of good things to stop with it. The funniest might well be Sephiroth who, when cancelled, can no longer cast himself from exile. Most of the effects you want to stop cost the same or less than Carbuncle, so getting the rebate is attractive. On the flipside, if you see your opponent pass with three Backups and Earth CP available, maybe don’t swing your 9k into theirs. Since this will cancel single target effects (like Sephiroth) it makes it a great response to cards like Odin or Anima (X) as it also cancels the card draw. Of course, this won’t trump all removal. Cloud of Darkness and Faris both circumvent it, as does Shantotto. And Shiva will mean all you did was pay 3 to dull your own guy. But if you have something important you wanna keep around, like Ghido or Gilgamesh, then a couple of Carbuncles will help them gain value turn after turn.
B
Qator Bashtar
The only cards he gets are Luartha, Ninja, and Agrias. Those are all pretty good targets, but it is a limited list. His action ability is extremely threatening, and promises to make every combat step a nightmare for your opponent. If you’re going to sacrifice Backups, don’t use it just to make trades. A 7k and a Backup represent more economy than a 9k. Sometimes it’ll be correct to make trades, just make sure you’re not getting the raw end of a deal. Much better is to threaten wins in combat. Attacking a 7k into an 8k, and the like. He’ll make a decent addition to any Earth deck, and a great addition to decks with the three cards he can actually play.
B
Gabranth
Gabranth is in kind of a weird spot. His primary use is for slower decks to set up efficiently while being pressured, but you need to have pitched a Backup to do that, the same kind of card you’re trying to actually play. In the midgame he’ll help you get a second use out of cards like Baelo. If he got anything other than a Backup I’d think he was really good, it just feels like early on you won’t really have Backups in your BZ to recur, and later on you’re not really that interested in more Backups. He’ll definitely put in some good work in some games, but I think those games will be few and far between. He’s only 2cp, so you may as well play him anyways. Just don’t hold onto him hoping to set up some complicated game position just so you can get a small rebate.
C
Ghido
An excellent early play. Ghido is extremely hard to deal with, dodging frequently played removal like Exdeath and Odin, and having too much power to be taken down easily by damage effects. Cards like Baelo will help you ramp the counters up quickly. With Ghido out, you can kinda just offer trades with impunity. What are they gonna do, block? You kill their guy and draw two cards. Ghido is also great insurance against Shiva, as suddenly your 2/10 can enter the fray. Ghido presents a difficult problem for your opponent to solve, one that only gets worse as the game drags on.
A
Gilgamesh
His 5 Backup thing is cool but hitting 5 is a luxury you really shouldn’t count on. The real draw here is that he gets to kill whatever and whomever he wants, all the time, constantly, forever.
S
Glaive
There are several effects in this set that prey on dull Forwards, so Brave is a very welcome ability. With Diana out, even moreso, as you can declare an attack then dull to clear a blocker. His death trigger helps continue fielding Forwards too. He’s definitely the least exciting of the bunch, and will tend to be the one you want last.
B
Sandworm
DO NOT cast this if your opponent doesn’t have any Forwards he can choose. Shai Hulud’s death trigger is not optional, so be cautious about his hunger being turned on your own Forwards. Aside from that, Sand Worm is an incredible aggressor who is extremely difficult to kill profitably. Or evenly. Or even mildly negatively. Once he can start forcing blocks, well, the salt must flow.
A
G Assassin
Why is this card so much better than Seymour?
A
Sieghard
I usually don’t recommend Earth for aggressive play, although there have been sets where it’s decent. Sieghard really really wants you to play a slower game and hit four backups. Once you do, let me recommend: you don’t have to wait for a fifth Backup so you can play Sieghard efficiently. Just pitch two, play Sieghard, and slam a second Forward.
A
Summoner
Great for turning the worst card in your hand into your best summon, and especially great for recurring Carbuncle, even if it is prohibitively expensive to do so.
B
Nacht
Just outrageous value. Assuming you’ve got three other WoDs in your deck, Nacht effectively costs 3, and then he continues to generate value by dropping Forward after Forward, turn after turn. All the WoDs are solid, and if you happen to draft two Nachts you can even search a second to enable his S.
S
Prishe
Connecting even once with Prishe basically pays her cost back. Prishe wants dearly to be paired with Fire, Red Mage can target her to trigger her +2k at will, Auron can give a surprise +2k from the hand, Carla boosts her to 9k, Belias boosts her to 10k, and Lilyth’s S makes her a very attractive recursion target. There are plenty of other random cards that secretly threaten to give her a buff on demand, Bard, Alexander, Carbuncle, Qator Bashtar, Baelo, and Diana, so don’t forget about those either when attacking with or blocking a Prishe.
B
Baelo
Economical Backup early, gives you some recursion late, and has a pretty decent break effect too. Just an all around decent card.
B
Ramza
With Baelo in the set, both discounts are relatively easy to get. Ramza’s cheap and big, and while he may not do anything fancy, he’s still pretty efficient. Notably, Water can cast him for free, both by activating both discounts and off of Curilla’s ETF.
C
Lich
This set looks like it’ll be on the slower side, so Lich will very frequently be at least a 7k. If you don’t have a Backup to get back, it makes less economic sense to cast him, as you need to both get the rebate and have him pumped up well to really make him worthwhile. Lich is at least kinda friends with Qator Bashtar, as he can bring a Backup back to be sacrificed on the altar of +2k. If you’re deep enough in Earth to make him functionally a 2/8, then he’ll be great, but most decks he’ll just be filler.
D
Lilty
B
Earth is begging, begging, to be paired with Ice or Lightning. Sand Worm is the best C/R after Kain, and you should play to its strengths. Sieghard lets you basically do anything you want in the endgame. And Exdeath and G Assassin help punish any misstep your opponent may make. Earth does have a few situational cards, Glaive, Prishe, Ramza, and Lich come to mind. Cards that should pull you into Earth include: Literally any H or L, Sand Worm, G Assassin, Sieghard, or Prishe.
Fire’s Garland and Lilyth help your Knight cards. Lilyth also gives you a Crystal to make the most of Sieghard. Lich helps you get a second helping of both Red Mage and Machina.
Ice gives you the dulls to make the best out of your Exdeath and G Assassin. I don’t really need to say anything else to sell you on that combo.
Wind is there too.
Lightning is clearly, obviously your ideal pairing. I mean look at Glaive, and Alba, and Diana. You’ve got the Carbuncle to protect their multiple bombs. And the Summoner to double tap not only your Carbuncle but also their Odin.
Water has some great Knight synergy. Agrias and Curilla both want to use your Knights. And your Qator Bashtar wants to double up on that Agrias. G Assassin is actually, truly the best Standard Unit in the set, so if a Warrior of Light is involved then that boy is your OG.
Lightning
Ultimecia
15 is a lot of cards, relegating Ultimecia to being a late game closer for a slow, slow deck. A narrow application, but one she performs very very well. Just ignore that she’s in her DLC costume.
A
Alba
Without being played off of Nacht, Alba’s basically a 3/7 Haste, which is fine. Glaive and Diana are both happy to have friends, so Alba won’t be a draw into the WoD deck, but once you’re there you’re happy to see her. And of course once you do have Nacht you can move her rating up to an A.
C
Edea
Ultimecia, Seifer, Quistis, Squall, and Selphie are all great targets for her search, and then she helps fill your Break Zone for Lightning’s wealth of BZ synergies, notable just mentioned Ultimecia and Seifer, but also Fujin, Raijin, and Lulu. Oh, and on top of all that, she’s also powerful, repeatable removal.
S
Odin
Solid if narrow removal with the option to be very plus.
A
Garuda (III)
Lots and lots of stuff this kills, and every once in a while you’ll get to kill two things. Probably not doing anything with the Crystal ability tho.
A
Sice
Her classmates Machina and Ace are here to support her. Between the three of them, it’s pretty dang unlikely you’ll get to play her on the cheap, but Machina makes it pretty easy for Fire/Lightning decks to break 2cp Forwards.
C
Seifer
The mill is a great way to roll the dice on Fujin and Raijin, and also helps hit the BZ threshold for so many Lightning cards. As we’ve covered already, Lightning has multiple Cat VIIIs for Seifer to get back, and his attack trigger is incredible. Not every day you get a card that’s both the motor in the machine and the machine’s final product, but Seifer really does do it all.
S
Selkie
B
Diana
Diana is great even if she’s the only WoD you’ve got. She can get rid of blockers, or act as a sort of super blocker, forcing a useless attack from the Forward of your choice. If you use her on their turn then again on your own turn, you get rid of two blockers. She can stop powerful attack triggers from the likes of Vossler and Gilgamesh. She can invalidate Forwards much larger and scarier than her like Sand Worm and Warrior. And with assistance from her friends, you can seriously gain dominance of the board. Unlike Alba, who really needs assistance to shine, Diana is strong to start with. And that power scales exponentially the more assistance she has. Worth running even if you’re not in Earth.
A
Drace
Luartha, Ayame, Lilyth, Vallaide, Cissnei, Time Mage, Chelinka, Bartz, Hope, Ghido, Prishe, Ninja, Fujin, Raijin, Lulu, Vaan, Agrias, Miwa, Yuna. These may not all be impressive, but even getting something unimpressive means Drace can fix for any element. Which means Drace can fix for any LB. And some of these genuinely are impressive. Drace makes an early game Ghido much more reliable. She pulls up S fodder for Lilyth. She puts Miwa in your hand, letting you threaten a powerful combat trick. And, again, she gets you the CP you need to cast any Limit Break.
A
Ninja
2/8 Haste? Sign me up right now.
B
Fujin
Aside from Raijin, all the cards Lightning plays that actually want a stocked BZ are H or L, so at first it seems like if you don’t have those, then surely Fujin will be bad. But even alone, she threatens to be a 2/7 First Strike. And Raijin will make both 2/9 Haste First Strike. And between Ultimecia, Edea, Seifer, and Lulu, surely we can find at least one other payoff for Fujin’s mill, or an enabler to mill her.
B
Moth Slasher
I love cards like this that pull you into specific draft patterns. Moth Slasher is cheap and aggressive, and doesn’t stop being aggressive for a long time. Make sure to back it with ways to finish off anything that blocks it so you can keep the Slasher train rolling.
B
Yaag Rosch
Why does this card exist? Quistis, Kurasame, and to a lesser extent Time Mage and Tidus are the only things that can hit Backups, and Time Mage and especially Tidus are both very happy to hit Yaag Rosch. So really the only thing you’re doing is limiting the amount of Backups Quistis and Kurasame can hit to just Yaag, two cards that probably aren’t hitting Backups to begin with. Honestly, the best case here is discard fodder so Ice decks can run LB Cloud.
D
Raijin
Don’t really have anything more to say about Raijin that I didn’t say for Fujin.
B
Rygdea
Dunno why Rygdea got reassigned to a completely different arm of the military, but here we are. Both modes here are excellent, and you really can’t go wrong with a Rygdea or two. Lightning has both some truly great cards as well as a bunch of cards that fill your BZ, making this perhaps the best Element to have this card in.
B
Dragoon
The ETF is a nice way to push an attack through but really isn’t that interesting. The action ability though, that’s where the real gas here is. Odin’s got such a narrow window of targets that Lightning is happy to have the much more flexible Dragoon able to hit those scary 5s.
B
Lulu
There’s plenty of Summons around, so you should be able to use her Remove 2 once, maybe even twice. She does kind of work against the interests of Ultimecia so you’ll have a bit of a balancing act there between getting your BZ to 15 while also removing Summons from it. Edea also wants to hit 10, but she at least helps put more Summons in the bin for you to use. Being able to downgrade Summons to a super cheap 5k is great, especially considering how narrow Odin is. You can even respond to her Attack Phase trigger by discarding a Summon, then using that Summon as one of the two you remove in order to deal 12k total. The only issue here is that all of the Summons are really good, so you’ll be fighting to draft enough of them.
B
Lightning is an extremely powerful element this set. You’ve got the natural synergy of Alba and Diana, the hard removal of Odin and Dragoon, and the optionality of Drace and Rygdea. All these cards should pull your draft into Lightning, along with pretty much any H or L. Honestly, aside from Yaag Rosch, all of Lightning is great, and you should be finding excuses not to play Lightning, rather than the reverse. The following C or Rs should tell you Lightning is open in draft: Odin, Diana, Drace, Ninja, and Dragoon.
Fire potentially gives you the Selphie who searches for half your cards. Other than that, you’ve just got the normal Fire synergies we’ve already gone over, which Lightning is more than happy to abuse.
Ice gives you the companions to all your Cat VIII cards, Quistis and Squall. Ice also gives you beef, and Bard and Seymour grant the ability to punish opposing aggression.
Wind lets you shift into maximum aggro. Moth Slasher+Sosha will clear the way for your bulk Forwards like Yuri+Chelinka. And Lightning will help you re-Odin anything that might get in the way.
Earth, with Nacht and Glaive, is the clearest, best pairing. Sand Worm gives you a top end you weren’t quite able to meet, and Carbuncle helps you protect your best cards.
Water’s Yuni helps your Moth Slashers stay relevant. Ninja is ecstatic to be brought back with Paladin. And Drace has a wealth of options.
Water
Blue Mage
Piranha (and others) can be a bit situational, and Blue Mage gives a decent way to turn them into something potentially more useful. Blue Mage’s action ability is pretty narrow, and nine times out of ten it’s gonna be used to get a Piranha as a combat trick. Shame it can’t get Sand Worm, but honestly that would be absurd.
B
Agrias
Earth and Fire both have Knights at C, so in a lot of decks you’ll be able to somewhat reliably get her ETF. And if you can’t, once you hit Damage 3 she’s still got more power than Water’s 2cps, Vaan, Miwa, and Yuna.
B
Anima (X)
I’ve wanted Seymour’s mom to be a card for so long, and to be honest I did not expect it would be one of the best cards in the set. Neatly dodges death triggers like Sand Worm and Glaive, isn’t restricted to specific costs like Odin, and in a long set even helps you mill out your opponent.
A
Vaan
Joining Ayame and Cissnei, we have yet another 2cp Do Nothing.
F
Warrior of Light
I’m sorry, he searches any Standard Unit? Warrior of Light helps ensure you hit your Backups, and does it for every element. Like Drace before him, this also means he fixes for any LB card. Did you pick up a Zack? Great, now pick up a Warrior or whatever and you’re good to go. Done with your Backup development? Go get a Paladin so you can then get a third Forward. +2k to your whole team should be easy if you draft enough SU’s, and it’s a hell of a boost. At H, there’s a decent chance you can even get a second copy, and no one will ever see Shield of Light coming.
A
Clavat
Warrior of Light and Paladin are both good enough that Clavat is probably the best of this cycle.
B
Curilla
Your targets are Garland, Lilyth, Baelo, Ramza, and Agrias. That’s not a big list, so don’t come crying to me when she whiffs. Still, 5/9 who helps protect some of your Forwards and enables Agrias is still pretty fine, and if she does hit, then you’re livin the good life. Curilla is Water’s biggest maindeck Forward, so honestly you’re kinda happy just to have a 9k.
B
Siren (V)
A nice little protective veil. Even if it won’t always work, Siren should stop enough effects to make her worthwhile. Pleasantly, she doesn’t just protect your Forward, she cancels the whole effect, so things like Belias won’t give the +3k or draw a card. And since it’s “you may” they can’t just mill you out with empty Ayame triggers. Many games of limited are decided by who has the better removal, and Siren gives you a huge leg up in that competition by threatening to invalidate any amount of your opponent’s removal. Her Damage 3 exists, I guess.
A
Severo
A solid ETF with an even more solid action ability. There are some Forwards that you 100% do not want to bounce, but unlike Standard, it shouldn’t be hard to find ones that you do want to bounce. Because he’s slightly more expensive and has an ability that’s occasionally outright bad, do not count on Severo as one of your developmental Backups. You will find more success if, like Exdeath, you treat him as a summon during the draft and deckbuilding process
B
Chime
For most recent sets, I would say hitting five Backups was pretty unlikely, but the defensive bent of this set coupled with the introduction of LB has convinced me that Chime is a real card. Real expensive, and real situational, but real. Especially if you’ve got the Warrior of Light to help get you to five Backups. If you’re in Lightning, maybe skip this one, as the amount of deck Lightning already churns through will get you dangerously close to running out of deck, and you don’t need to exacerbate that.
C
Paladin
Most of your options in Water are really unexciting, Vaan, Miwa, and Yuna. Agrias is potentially strong. There are tons of other 2s around the set to bolster the ranks, and honestly even getting something truly weak like Cissnei or Bartz is still a solid Power-to-Cost ratio, a 7k Brave and another body for 5cp. If you’re all in on the Warrior of Light train, Time Mage and Ninja both happen to cost 2, boosting you from 2 SUs to 4 in the blink of an eye.
C
Piranha
In a deck looking to combine smaller effects to take down larger powers, Piranha will shine. Treat it like Brynhildr, most often as a way to finish off damaged blockers, but occasionally you’ll be able to let cards like Machina reach new heights. Then you can even use him as a party attacker for smaller Forwards like Agrias and Yuna. When trying to push for that final point of damage, you can even cast them in MP1 to take a bite out of scary blockers. In a slower deck looking to leverage powerful effects to drag a game out, Piranha will be nearly useless. They won’t help your 9k take out an 8k, and they can’t really do anything on your opponent’s turn. They’re good at facilitating aggression, at pushing an advantage, and won’t help you on defense.
C
Faris
Good at literally every step of the game. Great way to reuse small Forwards with good ETFs like Agrias, Yuna, or Piranha. Can be used as a developmental Backup early. Flexible, powerful, and cheap.
A
Folka
The amount of times removing her from the game is actually a good idea will be few and far between, but if you’re in a position where you’re gonna chump block with her anyway, then congrats you’ve stopped the bleeding for one turn. On Damage 3, Folka becomes interesting as an unkillable attacker. Water has so many small Forwards, and Folka is a great party attacker for them, letting cards like Vaan and Yuna trade up into 8 or 9ks. Piranha also works as a MP2 play to shrink whatever blocked Folka down enough that the 7k damage kills it, and similarly Yuni is another excellent shrinker. She is still very killable on your opponent’s turn, and when you’re on Damage 3 you’re not always in the position where an unkillable attacker is what you need to not lose the game.
B
Miwa
This is I think the most promising card that will turn out to be the most disappointing. It reads so good, but against most non-Ice decks, the reason you’re losing isn’t because your Forwards are dull, or slightly too small, or had some damage on them already. Its because they’re all dead. So please, don’t wait until Damage 5 to play Miwa. Use her to stop Foulander from combo killing your Forward. Bait your opponent into attacking you by leaving all your Forwards dull. Get an extra activation from Yuni. Negate the Lilisette trying to wipe out your blocker. Don’t wait for some mythical god turn where Miwa dresses up like Gandalf and rides in from the East at first light on the 5th day to end the siege. Better not to let yourself get sieged in the first place.
C
Yuna
Great complement to Tidus. Since Tidus is LB, you always have access to him, so you never have to worry about drawing both at the same time. Yuna both gives a discount to Tidus and helps boost you to his threshold of 8, and then gives you a Summon back to boot.
Without Tidus, she’s… uh… pretty?
B
Yuni
Why is this card so much better than Carla? Same idea, helps keep your attacks safe, threatens to trade up on block, but unlike Carla, Yuni has a solid ETF as well. Also, Water is so full of small bodies that honestly you kind of need a Yuni or three.
B
Lenna
This is a great set to splash extra elements. Normally you have to run enough cards of an element that you draw two of them together in order to play one, but this set lets you run as few as one. The moment you draw your single Ice card, now you can cast Viktora. Citra, Raegen, and Little Leela make it even easier to hit four. And it’ll still be nearly impossible. Having her baseline be 1/7 is pretty ok, just understand that you are probably not getting the sacrifice off. Unless you’re playing Sealed. Then slam Lenna in your already four element deck and go.
C
Water has a lot of really cool cards and two major problems. One is the Forwards. They’re tiny. You’re gonna have to party or Piranha or Yuni or Faris just to make trades, then Paladin or Leo to restock the board cheap, or look to other elements for assistance. The second problem is Backups. Water has the fewest. Now I know someone out there is saying “Wind has the fewest with 4, Ice, Earth, Lightning, and Water are tied with 5” but an important note here is that Water has three at C and two at R. Mathematically that means even Wind, with four Backups at C, will have more Backups in the full draft than Water. So make sure you’re drafting them early. Anima, Warrior of Light, Siren, and Tidus should be your major draws into Water.
Fire will look to synergize small Forwards with damage effects, combining multiple things to take down larger Forward for less than was paid to cast them. Look for Carla, Luartha, Foulander, and then Red Mage can deal with blockers too big to take down. The presence of Garland or Curilla in your pool should pull FiWa into a Knight oriented build, as both Lilyth and Agrias are strong.
Ice gives you access to Vallaide, who turns even the wee Piranha and Leo into death machines. You also get Time Mage for incredible SU synergy with Paladin and Warrior of Light.
Wind gives you Sosha and Lilisette to make your small Forwards relevant, as well as a clean win condition in Epiornis who can go for the throat while you play defense.
Earth pulls you immediately into Knight synergies with Baelo and Ramza. Qator helps get the most out of Agrias, while Sand Worm gives you a huge attacker.
Lightning is happy to use Fujin and Raijin to stock your BZ for Paladin. Ninja, like Time Mage, is a 2cp SU who slots in well. And Dragoon gives you both a power boost and some hard removal that you may otherwise be lacking.
Light/Dark/Limit Break/Legacy
Eden
Kill two things is a good effect even at a high cost. While getting a solid discount will of course be ideal, feel free to take this even if it’s the only VIII card in your deck.
A
Citra
You’re gonna have to wait a while until her ETF is online, but (almost) all the Summons in the set are great targets for this. Definitely best with Belias and Alexander, as her -2k trigger help them reach new heights.
A
Raegen
Relatively unimpressive without the ETF. There’s not much support for having a ton of elements in this set, so Raegen comes at a serious deckbuilding cost. Being able to tutor into play your best card is a hell of a payoff, though, and if you can make it work then go for it. During the draft phase, if you can’t decide which elements to settle on and see one of these, that’s a good sign to just keep your options open and draft a diverse array of cards. Raegen also works well with splashing off-element LB cards, which I’ll talk about with Zack in a second, since the cards discarded to cost will be outside your normal elements. In Sealed, this card is an auto-include, as you’re very likely to play four elements anyways.
A
Zack
Our first LB. Zack’s pretty self explanatory, so I’m gonna take this opportunity to talk about LB in general. You get to fill out your LB zone with normal cards, so even if you only draft one you still have fuel for it. Because you always have access to your LB cards, something you can do is draft a single card of that element. For example, let’s say you’re in Water/Lightning and 3k on demand sounds like something you want. You can put literally any Fire card in your deck and use it to pay for Zack’s elemental requirement, functionally turning that random Fire card into Zack. For the LBs that demand a heft elemental fee like Shantotto, or dedication to an element like Ace, this won’t really be that good (granted Totto is still a 4/9) but for cards like Zack, Viktora, and Cloud, they’re very easy to splash. Also because you always have access to them, expect LB cards to be rated significantly higher than an equivalent normal card.
B
Mont Leonis
Constructed only, I’m afraid. There’s just no reasonable way to hit five Fire Backups in limited. Having a 9k on demand is still useful, even if he’s grossly overcosted, so you may as well pick him up if you’ve got nothing else in the pack you actually want to draft. Helps mitigate those late game situations where you just draw two Backups two turns in a row.
D
Viktora
The ETF has a pretty easy condition to hit, and it’s a huge chunk of damage too.
A
Serjes
Knowing the best spot in the game to play Serjes will be an important skill. It’ll be easy to use him early to push through one or two points of damage, but unless you have a second Serjes I think this is a really weak application of his ability. He’s best at either giving you some breathing room against an aggressive opponent, or closing the game out by eliminating a key blocker. Sometimes you’ll also need to use him to stop a serious threat like Gilgamesh too, and that’s ok.
B
Ace
Pretty easy to get this up to 3k in the mid game, and maybe even 5k in the late game. His attack trigger is a pleasant bonus even if it isn’t totally reliable. You really do need to be killing two things with this, 8 is a massive amount of CP.
B
Yuri
His +4k when you control 5 Backups is a trap. Where Yuri really shines is in a deck that wants two cheap attackers and can help make sure those attacks can get through. Wind has cards like Sosha, Lilisette, and Ace who will help make them relevant in Wind, and Fire and Ice will be the best elements to pair them with for more, most notably Red Mage who can help you ignore blockers. OK full disclosure it’s not actually a trap to wait for 5 Backups, this set is slow enough you can do absolutely it, I just wanted to showcase that you absolutely can play Yuri early if it’s appropriate.
B
Shantotto
Honestly probably the best card in the set. Full reset on demand for 9? Yes please. And still a pretty efficient body if you don’t need the board clear. You do need a heavy commitment to Earth, but what a payoff.
S
Maat
Great power to cost ratio, and gives you access to one great combat step during the game, and the Brave helps allow you to be as aggressive as you want that turn without opening yourself up for counterattack. Brave also makes two Ex Bursts irrelevant, Seymour and Exdeath. This LB I think is the most important one to be aware that your opponent might have, as a well timed Maat can completely recontextualize what can and can’t safely block that turn.
A
Cloud
While he won’t be breaking anything too troublesome, Cloud still represents a huge tempo swing, and unlike the similar Zack and Viktora he’s even bigger.
A
Lightning
Odin’s a decent summon, so having access to more Odins is good.
B
Tidus
A very late-game play, but one that puts you seriously ahead. Yuna is one of his best enablers, but cheap monsters like Piranha are also very welcome. And if you’re getting seriously pressured you can always just play him as a cheap 9k.
A
Leo
Leo is a nice little extender, a good way to make a positive neutral play without really committing much of your resources. Good target for Faris. Good party attacker for other small Forwards. Good chump blocker to buy time while you stabilize. Not great at any of that, but good.
B
Little Leela
Decent statline, nice attack trigger, minimal LB cost, goes in any deck.
A
Fat Chocobo
Fat lot of good this card’ll do you in a set with no Chocobos.
F
Chaos
In his first outing, Chaos shared a set with the Shijins and Soiree, two easy-to-draft decks that brought his cost down low low low. This time, just assume he’s gonna cost 7. Which is fine. Stealing a body is much more potent than normal removal, as you’re both removing a body and gaining one. So in the end you’re altering the board state by three, +2 on your side and -1 on your opponent’s. And even if they give you some dinky piece of chaff, you can still trade it up with anything you want.
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Sephiroth
Boasting both a powerful ETF and attack trigger, Sephiroth will put you ahead instantly, then continue to snowball advantage for as long as he lives.
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This is absolutely one of the sets of all time. Limit Break promises to completely recontextualize the future of FFTCG going forward, and this is the first opportunity to explore how that future will pan out. There is so much up in the air right now about how this new mechanic will change things, and I hope you will join me in discovering not only how it will change constructed formats, but how Draft and Sealed will contend with such a monumental shift.
We hope you enjoy the new set, and please hit me up with a photo of your sealed/draft decks on Twitter at @HFftcg. Have a great day, and we hope to see you again next time on The Crystarium.
