Howdy folks, and welcome to The Crystarium! Emerging from the shadows, Opus XXIII Hidden Trials is upon us. We’ve got all sorts of cool stuff to look forward to for Limited this set. Monster madness. Standard Unit shenanigans. Crystal chaos. Scion supremacy. Dancer danger. Return of the Road Trip Boys. And a brand new suite of LBs. All coming at us in short order. If you’re looking to have a leg up for your prerelease, or study up for an upcoming draft, you’re in the right place! Come along and let’s take a look at what hidden trials Hidden Trials has in store for us!

A quick note, typically the cards have been added to the NA card browser by now, but we’re still waiting on those. This means none of the autocard links will display the card. I decided to release a less-functional version of the article rather than wait, as the Prerelease is almost upon us. Once the images are put up on the NA site, the links will all work, but until then I ask your patience and recommend you read with a Materia Hunter card list in another tab.

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

Garland

90% of the time, Garland is going to remove 1 blocker for 1 turn. Which is already great text on a 2cp Backup. But every once in a while you get to do some real shenanigans. If your opponent has exactly two Monsters that are Forwards, taking one turns the other off, negating two potential blockers. If Palom is buffing something that’s taken nearly lethal damage, stealing it removes Palom’s buff and may kill it. You can do the same with Weiss, too. If you’re planning to use a card like Golbez to break a card with a strong death trigger like Caius, Soulcage, or Jegran, Garland lets you take control of the it first which gives you control over the death trigger. Just make sure you’re not using a card like Vincent that says “opponent controls.” Taking something like Vaan lets you funnel your own Crystals into him. Serah, Quina, and Witch of the Fens can also be advantageous to take.

B

 

Caius

As we’ll see shortly, Bahamut is an excellent card. Casting it with the Caius discount does mean you’re giving up the option to interfere with your opponent trying to fetch a card from their BZ, but that’s small potatoes compared to a 5cp discount. Once we move past that, we’re still left with a huge body that’s hard to kill. Limited is a format where the power differential between your best cards and worst cards are significantly higher than they are in Constructed, so it should be pretty often that a 9k is better than three cards in your hand. Doubly so if you have enough Bahamuts to use his ETF again. Oh and as if that all weren’t enough, he also has Brave, letting him apply pressure and (checks job) guard the Seeress at the same time.

S

 

Kain

This card is so good I’m actually upset it exists. Most of the set can’t block him, he’s got an insane S so you can draft a billion of him, he has haste so even if you get rid of him another Kain can take his place, and he’s C so it’s easy to get enough to abuse his S and drop another after he dies. I’ve talked a lot about how I love Commons with Specials, cards that give you a direction to take your draft, so I can’t help but think “well I did literally ask for this” while I stew in my own anger. Give him Palom’s counters and wow now he can block everything all the time forever. Keep a Golbez back and wow now Kain can attack into 14ks and block 12ks. Oh yeah he buffs a bunch of other stuff too, and Dragoon lets him buff literally anyone.

A+

 

Kefka

Kefka provides a great amount of starter damage for another effect like Golbez or Monk to finish off. Samurai is particularly interesting on Kefka because it both boosts his attack trigger to a more relevant 5K, but also lets him attack up into 8Ks. Kefka is a strong role-player, but once you hit Damage 5 he becomes the star of the show. Let this be a warning to those of you playing against Fire: try to take them from Damage 4 to Damage 6 in one turn, lest you loose the jester.

B

 

Golbez

I know I literally just gave Kain a better score like two reviews ago, but I honestly think Golbez might be the best non-H/L in the set. Every one of these abilities is better than the last. Golbez is a huge investment that will absolutely pay dividends over time. He synergizes with goddamn every card ever printed. While Kain may be great in multiples because of his incredible S, Golbez is just a stone cold killer on his own. This lends him to much slower strategies, but even if you’re in a particularly aggressive deck it’s always good to have a Plan B. The big risk here is that you’re paying five (5) crystal points for a card that won’t be good until next turn. Does your opponent have a way to stop you from activating with a live Golbez? Then you’re screwed I guess. But if you’re able to lure out their removal, leave them unable to interact with your all-in-one value engine, then have fun completely taking over the game.

A

 

Soulcage

This cycle is interesting. You get a disproportionately large body which seems absurd at first blush, but that’s because you’ve already invested another card elsewhere. Let’s look at Notsugo. Notsugo does nothing until you choose to break it, meaning if you play one and play a Soulcage, that’s an extra 3CP you’ve invested against Soulcage’s 2. Soulcage is much less intimidating in that respect. Should that Soulcage die, the second Soulcage is considerably cheaper, since you can just use the same Notsugo to animate him. Let’s look at a different member of the R cycle instead. If we play a Gogmagog, they both animate each other, giving us two 9Ks for 2CP apiece. Narasimha and Apkallu both have ETFs which give us value up front, letting us use them as animators without quite so much of an investment. One nice thing here is that if Soulcage is in combat and your other Monster is broken, Soulcage just leaves combat. No easy Two for Ones here. Granted he’s useless until you find a third Monster, but you don’t actually lose him. Thus, the more Monsters the merrier. Soulcage himself is interesting as if you use him as fuel for Notsugo, he can send the Notsugo right back to hand. If faced with Monster removal, in some cases it will be correct to crack both, 9K something, and get the Notsugo back to enable something else later.

B

 

Samurai

You have an excellent Crystal spender at C in Tifa, also Samurai’s break effect is great on Fire’s myriad First Strikers, and in conjunction with direct damage like Kefka or Vaan, pushing them to new breakpoints.

B

 

Zidane

Your only options are Zorn and Thorn and Quina (sorry Beatrix). They’re both quite good cards, and if you have both then Zidane is a no-brainer. If you’re only getting one then he’s tougher to justify. Quina does have a nice S, though.

D

 

Zorn and Thorn

Maybe my favorite card in the set. Not to say that it’s the best card in the set, I just love stuff like this that forces combat interaction. While their ETF is easy to make use of, you’ll need something like Golbez or Tifa (or just a party attack) to really get the most out of the attack trigger. Most of the Monsters in the set are valid targets, so you shouldn’t find it difficult to enable the death trigger. Bonus points if you use Narasimha to combo kill whatever blocked Z&T.

B

 

SOLDIER Candidate

Aight listen up cuz there’s six of these bad boys (including DEFENDER Candidate) and I’m only gonna say this once. All these cards are solid. In your average draft there’s between 5 and 8 copies of any given Common, so whichever two elements you end up in, you should be able to get at least eight. Fire and Earth Candidates can both good before hitting the 2 SU threshold depending on deck composition, but the rest will need some amount of set up to shine. Your SU synergies in this set are Warrior of Light and Luso, both of which are great tbh but there’s only two, so a lot of the time they’re going to have to stand on their own. 8Ks can get outclassed, especially this set, so make sure you’ve got some way to make them relevant outside of just having a decent cost-to-power ratio. As far as the Fire SOLDIER Candidate in particular goes, he’s one of the best. First Strike is extremely powerful in Limited, particularly in Fire where you can use Golbez, Samurai, Palom, and Monk as support.

B

 

Terra

Did you know Summons are good? Did you know they’re really good if you get to cast them a second time for even cheaper? Did you know they’re really good if you get to cast them a third time also cheaper? (Offer not available in Water)

A

 

Tifa

As Tifa is Fire’s only Crystal spender, it is perhaps the least interested in having Crystals. That said, other elements are desperate for them, and Tifa helps get a free Crystal out of any Summon speed removal like Golbez, Notsugo, or Bahamut. Tifa also helps soften up large blockers, letting her attack into expensive big bodies like Gladiolus or G’raha Tia without fear, thus opening the floodgates for other Forwards (especially First Strikers) to also swing in. While I mentioned Fire being least interested in Crystals, that should not be taken to mean that Tifa is not a great Crystal spender in her own right. With a cache of only two Crystals, Tifa can outright win combat against almost everything in the set (barring stuff like Damage 5 Kefka). A lot of Fire’s removal is already colossal amounts of damage, so Tifa’s 2k is harder to combo kill with than it may be in most sets, but sometimes you’ll use her and a Monk to take out that damn Yuffie that keeps hitting you.

B

 

Morrow

Kinda nice that a Backup isn’t a dead draw on your final turn. Kefka already makes your opponent want to skip Damage 5, so you probably aren’t going to really get a chance to cast this for damage, short of hurting yourself with Parai or Cecil. Morrow does a good imitation of a 3CP Backup that draws you a card, the issue here is that those can be cast with an off-element Backup, whereas Morrow needs you to have a Fire Backup already if you don’t want to cast him for 2. This isn’t that bad, but it will be mildly frustrating on occasion. It does make him slightly better than a blank 2CP though.

C

 

Nelapa

This isn’t Standard where local dbag Johnny Summonlover comes in with a Summon deck every week and you wanna wipe the smirk off his face. Your opponent is gonna have three, maaaaaaybe four Summons, and they can just… not cast them. Leaving you with… wait, she’s not even a Black, White, or Red Mage? She’s just a Mage?

F

 

Notsugo

There are very few things in this set that this doesn’t kill (that you want this to kill, let me be very clear. There’s plenty it doesn’t kill that you’re not particularly concerned about, but as far as the things you want to kill, it kills most of them dead). Soulcage is a great partner to Notsugo, as the Soulcage puts ol’ Notsy back in your hand to either cast again or pitch for resources. Other ideal pairings involve Narasimha and Apkallu, both of whom get their value on entry, leaving them on the field just waiting for someone to use them. Or just throw another Notsugo.

B

 

Bahamut

5 is a lot of CP, but this kills pretty much everything in the set. Since it doesn’t deal damage, it gets around damage reduction like Porom and Jornee, and since it removes from the game instead of breaking it also get around two other hassles, on break effects like Soulcage, and recursion like Caius. Speaking of Caius, he’s one of the best targets for Bahamut to completely blow your opponent out of the game. Bahamut can be stacked after Caius’ “discard 3 cards” sniping him from the bin while also removing another Forward. Keep an eye on opportunities to gain value twice at once with this card, especially against expensive cards like Luso. That said, don’t sit around on this card awaiting some perfect confluence that may never come. If you need to remove something right here right now, do it. Between Caius, Terra, and how naturally good Bahamut is, every player considering playing Fire will draft them on sight, so be prepared to fight for them.

A

 

Parai

Parai fetches Backups in three different elements, Morrow, Aemo, and Jornee. He also fetches out Maina and Wrieg. In a pinch, he can take you from Damage 4 to Damage 5 for Kefka or Morrow. Element fixing is always helpful towards making Draft decks less inconsistent, and I expect to happily play one or two of these unless my second element is Lightning or Water. Quick side note, since Parai fetches for Ice, Wind, and Earth, he also fetches the elemental CP you need to cast those LBs, letting you do stuff like play a single Wrieg and no other Earth cards in order to enable a Noctis.

C

 

Palom

+2 to a Forward of your choice feels insane in an element with both a 7k First Striker and also an 8k. Boosting Kain to 9k lets him block very nearly the whole set without taking a scratch, and Vincent going to 10k is even more intimidating. You can use Palom to help protect expensive investments like Golbez, helping ensure they live long enough to earn their cost. While the EXP Counters don’t do anything if Palom is removed from the field, they do stick around. This means if you have another Palom later, those older EXP Counters suddenly become relevant again. One thing to be careful about is Palom eating Summon speed removal while his student is in combat. Kain may be able to block infinite 9ks, but if Palom leaves after blocks, Kain’s gonna have a bad time. Pairs nicely with Porom, too.

B

 

Monk

I’ll happily take 4K free damage on my multiplay Backups. Golbez’s best friend.

B

 

Ardyn

Excuse me, he’s how big? In a world dominated by 9Ks, be a 10K.

B

 

Vincent

This card is extremely playable even without the ETF, and holy heck what a beastly ETF. Take a Backup that’s already done its duty, like Garland, and yeet it at their best fighter. Staple good removal to a good body and you’ve got a Limited staple.

A

Ice

Red Mage

3CP Backups help smooth out a lot of early game development. Typically if you’re going 2nd and you play a T1 Backup into a T2 3CP Backup that draws a card, this leaves you with 6 cards in hand, forcing either a further play or a discard. Red Mage cleanly avoids that by forcing a discard instead of a draw. It does step on Serah’s toes a bit, but Serah has a 2nd mode to make her more versatile. The difference between normal Red Mage and 5th Backup Red Mage is more negligible than the rest of the cycle, so don’t stress too hard about where to slot her in your build order.

B

 

Weiss

Excellent card all around. 9K Brave for 3 is a solid statline, and he even has a built in way to enable himself. The other Tsviets are all Forwards (Shelke, Azul, Rosso) so you’re always in a position where Weiss’ buff can be removed. Be aware of this risk when pushing Weiss into combat, as a well-timed Bahamut can steal his support away. Shelke is also C, so even if you’re not in Lightning you shouldn’t find it hard to hit 9K.

B

 

Aemo

Losing a Backup is expensive, and you don’t gain any hard value here. What you do gain is peace of mind, knowing your opponent can’t interact for the rest of the turn. Take the Weiss/Bahamut example we just looked at. By using Aemo, you can force the Bahamut before you attack. This sounds great at first, you get to keep your Weiss, but consider instead that you’ve simply changed the card you were going to lose from a Forward to a Backup. Aemo can keep you safe from Summons for the turn, Aemo can remove the ability to draw CP from the hand, leaving only the CP from Backups to pay for abilities. Try to keep this for late late game turns where you are pushing for lethal that turn in order to minimize the cost of losing a Backup, and please don’t just throw this out willy-nilly on Turn 5.

D

 

Anima, Eikon of Eikons

There’s a decent amount of discard in the set, Red Mage and Serah, Jegran, Zenos, and Pacos Amethyst, so it’s possible to force the opponent down to zero. If you manage it, this is a huge tempo swing, one well worth building towards.

A

 

Shiva

Very versatile card. You can use this to keep a problem Forward like Illua or King down, to stop big damage from Vincent or Vaan, to turn a combat trade in your favor, or to turn the tables on First Strikers. It halts aggression, removes blockers, and enables cards like Jihl Nabaat. No matter what situation you’re in, you’ll always be able to find a good use for Shiva.

B

 

Shelke

All the Tsviets love Crystals, so all the Tsviets love Shelke. She’s even fine on her own, as it only takes two Crystals before Shelke is eating 9Ks for breakfast.

B

 

Jegran

Hoping your Forward dies is not exactly the most optimistic gameplan. Still, these abilities are both strong. Aside from big Brave threats like Caius, Jegran can take out anything he blocks, and most hard removal will end up costing significantly more. On the other hand, it’s not exactly impossible for your opponent to cast their removal with zero cards in hand and no dull Forwards, something a Flan or two can help you with. To be clear, Flan does not make Jegran good, it just stops him from being bad. Anima, Eikon of Eikons makes Jegran good (and Legacy Lightning but don’t count on getting one of those).

C

 

Jihl Nabaat

Attaching cheap removal to a normally costed Backup is a great recipe. Just having this on your backline is going to fundamentally change how your opponent tries to interact with you. Wait, didn’t we just get a Jihl Nabaat literally last set? As down bad as I may be for hot villains (trust me, it’s a lot), she was in XIII for like ten minutes. Why do we have six of her?

B

 

Cecil

Between this and Anima, Ice is pretty happy to go to zero in hand. Dull/Freeze 2 is strong text, even if you do end up paying the full 5CP for Cecil. If you manage to draft two copies, using his S will end the game on the spot. Just maybe not in the way you want.

A

 

Zenos

There’s a lot of very strong Break Zone abuse in this set for Zenos to oppress. His ETF may not be able to stop Caius, Flan, or Shantotto, but he can at least tax it. And 4/7 discard a card is a fair enough card in its own right. One thing that may be easy to overlook is that broken Limit Break cards will trigger him.

B

 

Serah

Both options here are solid, and unlike Jegran you should never really be in a situation where neither is useful. It may be tempting early game to use the Dull/Freeze to make their Backup development more awkward, but backlines in Limited are never as clean and polished as they are in Constructed. If they play a single Backup on Turn 1 and you use this to Freeze it, hoping to make their follow-up 3CP Backup harder to cast, they may not even have any 3CP Backups. If you’re just looking for resource tempo, discard is always going to be the stronger option. Save the Dull/Freeze for offense/defense.

B

 

SOLDIER Candidate

I’ll jump through a hoop or two for a 2/8 statline, especially when paired with both Dull/Freeze and Multiplay. I absolutely adore cards like this that reward you for drafting every copy you see, playing into that unique aspect of Limited.

B

 

Drautos

If getting your opponent to 0 for Anima is doable, getting them to 2 for Drautos should be downright easy. The payoff just isn’t there though. He gives you an edge against a handful of Fire, Earth, and Lightning cards (though he can’t even stop Bahamut), but about the only thing that really appeals to me here is White Tiger synergy. Remember, this does not protect against Fight effects like Earth SOLDIER Candidate and Narasimha.

D

 

Knight

Good Crystal, good source of dull, good cost, good Knight.

B

 

Pacos Amethyst

Definitely the least impressive of the cycle. Honestly a little weird how many 8ks have protection clauses (like Drautos and Wind SOLDIER Candidate) considering it’s 9ks you really want to interact with. Although that does make them great recipients for EXP counters. At least it gives you one of the XIII Forwards you need for Lightning.

D

 

White Tiger l’Cie Nimbus

The search target has to have Brave unconditionally, so no Weiss or Gladiolus unfortunately. This leaves Caius, Drautos, and Hythasoufhdns. Dark Knight and Geomancer can both grant Brave, Brionac can become Brave, and both Ardyn and Cait Sith are LBs with Brave, so he’s able to extend his protection to a lot of allies. You’re still paying basically 3CP for an 8k though, which just is not the going rate this set. If I’m not getting Caius specifically, I just don’t care.

C

 

Flan

If Pacos Amethyst were better, I would be much more interested in playing cards that enable it. As it stands, I just do not want to be in Ice if I’m going Monsters. This is way too expensive to actually cast for its effect, not when Jegran and Jihl Nabaat are the only other payoffs you have access to. And if I don’t want to run one of these, I definitely don’t want to run three. I rag on Flan now, but I know at some point I’m going to get completely blown out by someone who plays two Forwards on turn 1 and then drops six of these. If you’re committed to Ice but getting cut in draft, you’re probably gonna end up stuck with a bunch of Jegrans and these, and at least they work well together.

D

 

Lightning

There are only four natural XIII Forwards this set, and none of them are in Ice (Caius, Noel, Hope, Serah). Two of the Monster R cycle are XIII, Pacos Amethyst and Gogmagog, bringing our grand total up to six. If you’re in Wind/Ice, Hope offers enough tutoring that you might actually be able to dull something.

D

 

Lady Lilith

Three Crystals is a big ask, since Ice’s only sources are Shelke and Knight. This all but wins the game if you pull it off, though, so I’d say it’s well worth stocking up.

A

 

Kuja

Cheap, annoying, and difficult to deal with. While soft removal like this is inherently less powerful than hard removal like damage or break effects, one thing Kuja has going for him is flexibility. If your opponent plays something even scarier than what you have been dulling, you can just start dulling that instead. Great for defensive decks looking to drag a game long.

B

 

Cait Sith

You aren’t getting to five Ice Backups in Draft, and you definitely aren’t doing it in Sealed. This leaves him as an 8k Brave. Six CP may feel like too much CP to pay for that, but you’re not playing him from your hand so the math works out to him being 2CP cheaper in a sense. Cait Sith is an acceptable option to have. He doesn’t actually take up space in your deck, and gives you an out to dead draws in the mid-late game like 2x Flan or 2x Backup.

D

Wind

Asura

Activating can be a combat trick, letting you make it look like the coast is clear for you opponent to attack you. It also helps deny attempts to lock your Forwards down, like Cecil or Y’shtola. As for the other parts, Serah, Dancer, Quina, Witch of the Fens, Frimelda, Lilisette, and Illua all give you opportunities to make use of Asura. It’s a fine silver bullet to have access to, but I wouldn’t stock up on a card who’s applications are so niche.

C

 

Adelle

It’s so easy to play a blocker for Adelle that you can probably count on not being able to attack next turn anyways. Adelle will give you some extra CP to work with, recover from Freeze effects, give “Brave” to your other Wind Forwards (very relevant for Noel), and double up on activations like Jornee or Dr. Mog. That’s handy, but nothing I want to go out of my way to put in my deck. At least not in a format without a card like Sosha.

D

 

Jornee

More power on demand at little cost? With no hoops to jump through? Absolutely.

A

 

Vaan

Vaan is the whole package. Makes Crystals, uses Crystals, and has a decent S. If you’ve got one Crystal already and a 2nd Vaan in hand for Life of Crime, 8k to the board is a huge play. If you don’t have the Crystal, Vaan still makes the 2nd on his first attack, letting him take down blockers up to 12k with his Crime Wave. He’s less impressive on defense, blocking a 9k and using Life of Crime to deal 16k is a huge amount of CP to lose. Make sure you’ve got some other Crystal producers, a fair amount of Vaans, and most importantly some ways to 186 those pesky 9ks, and Vaan will steal the show.

A

 

Venat

Having a layer of protection from Summons is a great feeling. On top of that, Light Venat is a very good card well worth tutoring for. Important note, because this puts Light Venat into play, you can use this to gain Crystals at Summon speed.

B

 

Silver Dragon

There’s not much Monster removal in the set, but Silver Dragon does help protect the rest of the R Monsters against Forward removal, a welcome bit of assistance. Aside from that, he’s an 8K in a world of 9Ks, that is dependent on others to exist.

D

 

Samovira

Lot of scary 5s out there, and this gives you a very easy out to them.

B

 

SOLDIER Candidate

This one’s ability is on the lower end of the spectrum, but is also in the same element as Jornee, Luso, and General Leo.

C

 

Tyro

Good if you can’t get his trigger, insane if you can. Keep in mind this only triggers on 3 exactly, so if you’re playing Frimelda he won’t trigger if he’s your fourth. He’s even got a Get Out Of Jail Free card in his back pocket, bringing appeal to decks with only 2 elements.

A (Sealed)

B (Draft)

 

Dr. Mog

If you’re in Lightning, you have good synergy with Mog (XIII-2). Anything that fetches a Backup is appealing in my book.

C

 

Ninja

I feel like in any other set this card would be crazy good, but Opus XXIII has the SOLDIER Candidates at C and the Monster cycle at R to provide strong 2CPs that this card cannot circumvent. Other beefy 2CPs include Shelke, Drautus, and Young Excenmille. While Ninja does give you a lot of breathing room, it certainly isn’t the auto-win button it may seem like at first.

B

 

Noel

There are so many XIII Characters in the set that it’s not out of the question that Noel warps in the same turn you Warp him. With only a single XIII Character, a Samovira for example, you remove 1 that turn, 1 at the start of the next turn, and 1 at next turn’s combat step. This puts him into play after only a single turn. Wind doesn’t often get huge Forwards with a bunch of keywords, so enjoy it.

A

 

Hope

There are so, so many good targets for this. Backups like Jihl Nabaat, Serah, Lightning, and Mog (XIII-2) help your economy and help fix your elements. Hope can act as a strong enabler for a Monster deck, with access to Notsugo, Pacos Amethyst, Samovira, Gogmagog, Narasimha, Fencer (XIII), and Apkallu. And then all the Forwards available are great, Caius, Noel, and Serah.

A

 

Maina

With Ninja Backups in both Wind and Lightning, Maina helps fix elements, nabs Yuffie, and helps protect Edge. A narrow but effective range of duties.

C

 

Meteion

Whatever cool Constructed chicanery this card can conspire to cook up, consider her a clear catastrophe here. No Forwards is such a monumental ask, and for what? A handful of temporary CP? Look, in the late game it’s not impossible you manage to orchestrate a boardstate with no Forwards, but like… at most you’re trading her for five CP. Worst case scenario she’s a 2CP Backup. Feel free to put her in your deck, you need Backups after all, and if you actually manage to do something cool with her tell me about it and I’ll buy you a beer.

D

 

Yuffie

Coming from Magic: the Gathering, I’m used to that game’s draft priorities, and one of the big ones is “evasion.” Being hard to block was something you should always be on the lookout for. We rarely get that in FF, maybe once or twice a set, and this might be one of the best ones for Limited. Yuffie does come with a constant cost for her ability, however she keeps paying you back. Usually being 5k would be a big hindrance, but a lot of the removal in this set is cards like Vincent or Bahamut, which cost way way more than Yuffie does. Cards like Golem and Quina are still around to ruin her fun, but the more removal used on her, the less there is for your other cards.

B

 

Dragoon

First Strike, now there’s an ability with some teeth. With Vaan at C, Wind is perhaps the element most hungry for Crystals.

B

 

Luso

Luso is fine if unexciting if you’re using him to play out another Backup. The math works out the same as if you played a 1CP and a 2CP Backup individually, but it does let you play a Backup of any element off of a Backup that can also be of any element. Better uses will be to replay a Palom, any of the SOLDIER Candidates, Drautos, Excenmille, Portia, or Illua. His ability to Break a Monster on demand is well suited for this set. Luso may be a bit cumbersome, but he’s a decent addition to any Wind decks. Just try not to get Bahamutted.

C

 

General Leo

Most of the Backups in the set cost 2, so it should be trivial to make Captain General Leo a big boy. Like Luso, Leo also allows you to skip elemental requirements, so feel free to fix your elements or play any of the myriad good 2CP Forwards and Monsters.

B

 

Cid Highwind

I’ll take anything that helps make sure I hit my Backups early.

A

 

Deathgaze

There’s plenty of very good 5s out there, notably Golbez and Brionac. Three of the Rare LBs are 5cp, Vincent, Kuja, and Nyx. And even if your opponent never plays a valid target, it’s like like he’ll ever be a dead draw.

B

Earth

Dark Knight

Sometimes +2K, or even just +1K is enough to get something through. Dark Knight is particularly good on things with attack triggers or abilities that dull them, buffing Layle or enabling Brionac’s ability. It also sets up for Narasimha.

C

 

Ignis

Good thing Gladiolus is C and also has an S because 9 times out of 10 that’s what you’re doing. The only possible other targets are Drautos, Prompto, and Regis. Ignis has a good effect, I’ll grant him that, he’s just extremely inflexible.

C

 

Vincent

As usual, this set is littered with VII Forwards. Five SOLDIER Candidates. Four Tsviets. Tifa. Yuffie. LB Cait Sith, Cid Highwind, even the other Vincent (ok maybe that one’s a little risky). This card is solid if you pay full price and it’s stunning if you Warp it in. 6 is a ton of counters to churn through, and even managing to string four Forwards together still leaves you waiting two turns, but if you’ve got a gap in your early development this is an incredible investment. And again, even at full price this card is fine

A

 

Warrior of Light

Boy that’s exactly how many you need for SOLDIER Candidate. Warrior of Light is excellent at any stage of the game. Early he can fetch Backups of any element and play them out without even needing that element’s CP. In the mid he helps power your SOLDIER Candidates, field extra Forwards, gain Crystals, and build towards powerful 5th Backups like Dark Knight. In the late, he throws full power Ice Earth and Lightning SOLDIER Candidates as well as 5th Backups like Ninja, Monk, Puppetmaster, and Dancer. If you’re desperate for Crystals, you can even crack the Crystal Backups in MP1 then play them out again. An extremely flexible card that churns advantage turn after turn.

A

 

Emet-Selch

Luckily we’ve got multiple targets for this (sorry Jecht…) in Vincent, Hypatius, and Regis. None of those are C or R but you should be able to snap up at least one during the draft. All of those are good cards, and getting an 8k burn on top of casting them normally sounds great. Maybe skip warping Vincent if you’re going this route.

B

 

Gladiolus

With Ignis and Prompto both at C it will be trivial to get Gladio permanently powered up. The real draw here is Dawnhammer. I expect 9ks to be problematic this set, and Gladio offers a cheap, repeatable way to bring the hammer. Ignis, Regis, and Noctis all help to either bring Gladio back or tick the clock closer to dawn, and I expect this will be one of the defining cards of the set.

A

 

Golem

Let’s take a peek at the power breakdown in Earth: two 5Ks, one 7K, six 8Ks, and four 9Ks. All the Hs and Ls are on the higher end of that spectrum, so the average shifts down a bit, but I would be more than willing to point this at a 7K, maybe even an 8 depending on deck composition. If you’re going the Golem route, you’ll want to avoid Monsters to keep your odds as high as possible. Which is rough because Gogmagog and Narasimha are both very good. In a deck with Shantotto and/or Terra, Golem becomes a very valued card, but casting it blind with no synergy and not getting a kill is going to hurt. At least you can’t whiff.

C

 

Gogmagog

An undying 9K for 2 is incredible. Note that when Gogmagog returns, they return active and can still block. Gog is at his best in Water, as Apkallu and Gizamaluke both generate cards, making them the cheapest Mons to throw under the bus. Meanwhile, Quina licks their lips every time Gog rears his ugly heads. Throw a Witch of the Fens in there and you’ve got a case to be made for the strongest archetype in the set. Gog has a touch of non-synergy with Lightning, since some of Lightning’s cards really want to BZ stocked, and Gog ejects the Monsters he eats from the game entirely.

A

 

Jessie

If you’re in the SOLDIER Candidate deck, pushing them from 8K to 9K is huge. Especially since you can do this before Earth SOLDIER Candidate resolves.

B

 

Shantotto

Golem’s a fine Summon, so you’ll always have access to something to matter what elements you’re in. At one Summon, Shantotto’s a fine card. At two Summons, Shantotto is one of the most efficient cards in your deck. Being able to snag your opponent’s Summons will sometimes be correct, even if you can’t generate the Element needed to cast them. You can deprive a Terra of her Bahamuts before killing her, or limit Queen’s fuel. Most of the time though it will be better to avoid being cute and just grab two you can actually cast. One nice thing is that, since Bahamut can only remove one target, you’re still up a whole Summon if they Baha Blast your tots.

B

 

SOLDIER Candidate

I love that this card is relevant even before you’ve hit the 2 Forward threshold, as you can just cast it as a 5k burn. Also in the same element as Warrior of Light, making this the best of the cycle by a wide margin.

B

 

Narasimha

One sided Fight is great in an element chock full of 8s and 9s. Then, once it’s done its duty, you can feed it to Gog.

B

 

Hyladaosudghnfsa

Hydalaen is deeply dependent on having Emet-Selch around to be good. Six CP is just too much for a 9K, even if Highondrugs has Brave. Hillshaveeyes’ gamble is appealing, and while I know I shouldn’t I’m probably going to go for it. Halloffame’s Brave makes it too appealing. Best if  Hyt:(^_^XD is used in response to removal, or after declaring a block. This rating is in the context of having both Hythythythy and his buddy Emet. Don’t play Higgledy-Piggledy on his own if you can avoid it.

B

 

Geomancer

Between Warrior of Light and cards that want Brave like Brionac, Geomancer’s pretty well positioned in Earth.

B

 

Brionac

Big ass Brave attacker that can swing fearlessly into pretty much anything. Brionac is one of the better Crystal outlets, able to swing in for 11k, block next turn, and then activate before their turn is over. While he may be huge, he’s also a huge investment. If your opponent finds a way like LB Vincent to take him out before he can get into the action, they’re going to feel like Brainiac.

A

 

Prompto

There are a ton of Monsters in this set, so I’m happy to see a way to deal with them at C. It’ll be tough to decide whether to hit the C Monsters or the R ones. The R ones don’t have Multiplay, and without a partner they’re dead on board anyways. On the other hand, the C ones are C, and thus much easier to replace. Also can get you more fuel for your Gogmagog if you’re going that route. Oh, and he powers up Gladio.

B

 

Wrieg

Narasimha and Apkallu both do nothing after their ETF, and Wrieg offers a great way to convert them back into resources. If you’ve got Quina and Gogmagog out, instead of hitting the actual Monster you want to die, hit Gogmagog and then sacrifice a Monster to him so you get a Quina trigger too.

B

 

Layle

Budget Brionac. He’s a good source of Crystals, and while his Crystal ability is too expensive for its cost, it’s a fine fallback if you can’t get your other Crystal spenders online. Sometimes it will be correct to suicide him into a larger blocker in order to break stuff, and Golem (or even just the threat of Golem) can help him trade up.

C

 

Regis

Hold on, lemme copy paste something real quick. Good thing Gladiolus is C and also has an S because 9 times out of 10 that’s what you’re doing. Drautos is a cast restriction, so you can safely reanimate him no matter your opponent’s card count. 7CP for two 9Ks is pretty hot, and I look forward to two Forwards.

B

 

Eiko

Earth went from having the best LB card to having the worst.

F minus

 

Noctis

You know that bomb Legend you drafted? Now you have two.

A

Lightning

Azul

A lot of the removal in this set is damage based, though a lot of it is not. Assuming Azul survives until your opponent’s turn, Azul turns into an easy way to eliminate two Forwards. Pick someone that can’t kill Azul, force it to swing, then mirror the damage to something else. Not many Forwards in the set can tussle with a 10k. Keep in mind that forcing something to attack doesn’t force it to attack first, they’re just not allowed to leave combat until they do attack with that Forward. So if your opponent is sitting on King, Azul is not long for this world. There’s a bunch of smaller Forwards this set that randomly can’t take ability damage, or can’t be chosen, and they’ll be thorns in your side for sure, but by and large Azul will either eat some premium removal or multiple Forwards.

S

 

Alisaie

Kain, Vaan, Gladiolus, Quina, and Lilisette are all excellent targets for this, as they boast powerful Specials that Alisaie will help to enable. Since she looks at the Break Zone, you’re likely able to play whatever she fetches, making her also good at recurring your best Commons like Brionac or Portia. You can even save a wee bit of CP by cracking Alphinaud to play her out, then fetching another Alphinaud, letting you essentially pay for Alisaie with two water CP. And if you happen to get two copies of some bomb H like Azul, then have a nice 3-0.

B

 

Estinien

There are ten Scions in the set, five of them are C, three are R, and two are H. Even if you’re not in Water, you still have access to six. It will be hard not to have targets for this. He can even get Cardname Estinien, so if you have two you can loop them indefinitely. Scions is a great archetype without this card, and perhaps the best archetype with it.

A

 

Odin

9 is so much CP, and 6 Lightning cards is a lot of Lightning cards. You’re probably not casting this until the late game, and almost never more than once. Still, you’re golden once you can make it cost 3, and EX is powerful text. There are some synergies here to explore, too. Jack helps dump Lightning cards to use for fuel. Lunafreya is happy to abuse Odin. Wind decks with ninjas like Maina and Yuffie can splash Odin to gain access to Limit Break Edge.

B

 

Puppetmaster

There will be a lot (and I mean a lot) of times where your opponent leaves a single blocker up, daring you to get closer. Puppetmaster says “I can’t beat the shit out of you without getting closer” and handily negates that level of protection. This will let you sneak in one, maybe two damage in the mid game. Late game? When Puppetmaster is your 5th Backup? Well, ok you already have both G’raha Tia and Y’shtola, so Puppetmaster is nothing special, but it’s still good goddammit.

B

 

King

A 1/9 with upside? And that upside is repeatable, unconditional removal? King is an apt name.

S

 

Queen

Queen is decent on her own. Being able to grow to 11k makes combat frightening. On top of that, she also acts as a safety net for fellow Cadets.

B

 

G’raha Tia

Perfectly acceptable card. Good with Golbez’s 5K to the board. Good denying blockers in the late game. Good at finishing things off that Jack or SOLDIER Candidate weren’t quite enough for. You can’t rely on being able to cast this for probably the first half of the game, but you also don’t really want to either. Pitch the first one for CP, then play the 2nd one once you’ve got some synergy set up.

C

 

Krile (XIV)

There are four Forwards in Lightning and one more in Water that can receive Krile’s blessing, and all are extremely happy to. She can even boost G’raha Tia’s ETF to 5k, which is pretty relevant with so many of them running around. Like I said with Estinien, it will be more often that you are getting a benefit out of this than not.

B

 

Thancred

OK, I’m tired of reviewing Scions already. Oh God, I’m not even halfway done yet. Thancred is insane. While all of the Scions are good, he’s the real payoff. 4/8 break any Forward. Then when he dies you can bring something back. Absolute value engine. Oh and Estinien brings him back. Oh and Krile makes him a 9K. Oh and Urianger digs you deeper towards him. Oh and he can reanimate Witch of the Fens for some reason.

S

 

Jack

Jack exists on the basis of other cards. Odin, King, Queen, Alisaie. Jack makes for a strong enabler for all these much better cards, but is quite lackluster on his own. 7K just doesn’t cut the mustard this set, even if you’re not paying much for it. If you’re loaded up on cards that want to abuse the BZ, it’s worth picking up a Jack or two for filler. Just make sure you’ve got an answer to Zenos.

D

 

Serah

Hey, you want to win every combat forever? While it’s not impossible to use Hope to assemble 3 Forwards with Noel, I wouldn’t even try. -2K is absolutely enough on its own. It makes all the smaller powered cards in Lightning real threats, Jack, SOLDIER Candidate, Y’shtola, Rosso, Black Widow. It makes removal in other elements so much better, particularly Witch of the Fens and Vaan. It takes so much wind out of your opponent’s sails that you should have no trouble overtaking them.

S

 

SOLDIER Candidate

Haste makes this one of the better of this cycle. King, Queen, and Odin make this one of the lesser of this cycle. Draft accordingly.

B

 

Ninja

Azul and Rosso are your only Lightning spenders, and a single K of damage is going to be tough for Lightning to make use of. Still, Azul is really really good. If your other element really wants Crystals, Ninja can be a great supplement since it’s less likely to be contested during the draft.

B

 

Fencer

While it’s true that are a bunch of major threats at 5CP and up, there are some real ones at 4cp down too. Kain, Kefka, Vaan, Warrior of Light, Gladiolus, Serah, Azul, Estinien, Excenmille, Quina, Witch of the Fens, Beatrix. Certain Monsters are better to sacrifice than others, Soulcage, Narasimha, Apkallu, and Gizamaluke spring to mind, but hard removal is always welcome, even if it is on the expensive side.

C

 

Black Widow

Do you think Notsugo is good? What if you could Notsugo every single turn?

A

 

Mog (XII-2)

Every XIII Forward is solid gold, so please, crack away. Mog (XIII-2) is searchable by Dr. Mog who… wait, hold the phone…. Wow, can you believe this? Dr. Mog is in the same element as two other Mog (XIII-2) targets! Both Noel and Hope! How’s that for coincidence?

B

 

Y’shtola

Thank Hydaelyn, we are officially halfway through the Scions (Ysh is 6 of 10). There are five Backups amongst this set’s Scions. Two in Lightning and three in Water. In dedicated Scion decks, Ysh reads “dull ’em all” but even in Lightning/X decks, it shouldn’t be hard to get at least a Dull 2 (and at 2CP cheaper than fellow Miqo’te G’raha Tia).

B

 

Rosso

None of the Tsviets particularly want haste (Azul specifically doesn’t want haste) and neither Ice nor Lightning are particularly well set up to capitalize on a 4K ping, not more so than any other element. While Rosso’s Tsviets synergy may be lacking, where she shines is in allowing smaller Forwards to attack. Oh, did your 9K block my Lady Lilith? Rosso swings and finishes it off.

C

 

Edge

Limit Break 3 may be a big cost in Standard, but here in the land of only having two or three LB cards total, Edge may as well be free. Not only do all of your Lightning attacks suddenly have a huge burn attached to them, but he can even grant those shocks to Maina and Yuffie too. If you can prep for a party attack, you get a free 14K meltdown.

A

 

Nyx

With all the 9Ks running rampant this set, how are you gonna say no to a 9K for 1?

B

Water

Apkallu

If you’re all in on the Monster train, this is the best enabler in the set. Otherwise it’s totally useless.

A

 

Altennia

While there are Dark Knights and Griffon Knights and even a Nightshade, Jegran and Beatrix are your real options for synergy. Both are happy to be 10k attackers, both are easy enough to pick up, and Altennia herself attacking as a 9k is pretty decent. Being able to swing into 9ks is important, however that’s pretty much all this card does. If you’re in on Beatrix, Altennia is a serviceable assistant, but total filler otherwise.

D

 

Alphinaud

Probably just a 2CP Backup that helps your Scion count. There is a line where you pitch Alisaie, use Alph to bring her back, then get another Alph from your deck to replace it. This saves you a CP during the early game, lets you play Alisaie without needing Lightning CP, and saves you from a dead draw later on, but Alisaie has other good uses so sometimes you’ll want to hold back on her until later.

C

 

Urianger

With so many Scions in the set, this actually has a pretty decent chance of hitting. And even if it doesn’t, you really want as many Scion Backups as possible.

B

 

Young Excenmille

With only a single Crystal, you get a 2/9 that’s hard to interact with. Then you can continue to convert Crystals into other fearsome Forwards like Altennia, Witch of the Fens, Young Rahal, and Lilisette. So whether you’re on Knights, Monsters, Crystals, or Dancers, Excenmille will help get you where you’re trying to go.

A

 

Dancer

Good early for topping off a Blocker, or paving the way for an attack trigger. Can be used in conjunction with Quina or Witch of the Fens to give them a little extra reach. As your 5th, you pretty much have free rein to make whatever attacks you want to. Wipes the board when combined with Golbez.

B

 

Gizamaluke

You gotta be heavy in Monsters to want this, and even then expect it to whiff like 25% of the time. When it does hit, however, you’re in business. Also Water’s Monster synergies are so good that even if it whiffs you’re happy.

C

 

Quina

This set is teeming with Monsters. It won’t be hard to get two triggers off Quina yourself, and it will also limit your opponent a fair amount. Top that off with an incredible S that looms overhead every single combat step and you’ve got quite the tasty package.

A

 

Witch of the Fens

Square Enix gotta be bewitched putting this in the same element as Apkallu and Gizamaluke, which are the most card advantagey Monsters in the set. As long as you have Monsters to throw every which way, Witch of the Fens basically reads “win every combat.” Your Forwards are safe to fenture forth, and she fends off counterattackers with ease. She even has a built in 1 card rebate. Fentastic.

S

 

Defender

DEFENDER Candidate’s effect is nice but will be less relevant than you want it to be. 2CP for a sometimes 8k isn’t really that impressive in Water. If you’re looking to leverage SU synergy, I think it’s fitting that the Water one is the one with a different name as it’s going to be the one used least.

D

 

Tataru

There are so many Scions that this really shouldn’t be hard to enable. At that point, Tataru acts as a double Backup that can bank the CP between turns, which is every bit as good as it sounds.

B

 

Frimelda

GOATed in Sealed, since you’re almost required to build a deck that will enable her. Very hard to pull off in Draft. If she were H and there were a good chance at getting two of them, it would be more tempting to build around her, since her trigger is very strong. Noctis should be the first card you look for, letting you get a second shot at Frimelda. Tyro works well in the same deck, as you’re already trying to exceed his condition. There’s not much multi-element support around, so keep an eye out for anything like Parai or especially Hope and Warrior of Light that let you fix your elements.

S (Sealed)

D (Draft)

 

Fourchenault

Perfectly serviceable at full price. Bounce is much better than it used to be now that it’s hard removal for LB. Very easy to get this card down to 2 or even 0. Activating a Scion can be useful too, letting Estinien or Thancred attack and still block, or getting a 2nd activation out of Krile, but I’d wager that nine times out of ten you’re yeeting a Forward.

C

 

Portia

0/5 is fine. Good party attacker. Dancer is C and Lillisette is R so it takes some work to tuck a Forward, but not that much. Once you’re able to start dropping 0cp hard removal, you’re in a pretty good position.

B

 

Porom

A pale imitation of her brother. While this is better at protecting your target from multiple smaller sources of damage, Palom’s +2K is better in so many other circumstances. Excellent when paired with Palom, but in other archetypes the best you can really hope for is keeping Witch safe or increasing Defender’s defenses.

C

 

Oracle

Excenmille is the only Crystal spender in Water, so very often you’re using Oracle to supplement your 2nd Element. Preventing 1K really isn’t that relevant on your turn, and unless you’re baiting a First Striker into blocking, it’ll almost never be worth a Backup.

C

 

Young Rahal

Two Crystals is huge. There are so many great Crystal spenders in this set, and Rahal enables them extremely well. And then does an impression of Altennia afterwards.

A

 

Leviathan

Sometimes your best card goes to damage. This helps ensure you still have access to it. It also helps churn through your deck, digging towards your better cards and helping to fuel Summon synergies like Terra and Shantotto. You are just spinning your wheels, though, and paying CP to do it. Not a lot, sure, but it’s not irrelevant.

D

 

Lilisette

Good S, tutors a Backup, enables, Portia, EX, all that together’s got me dancing for joy.

B

 

Beatrix

Unexciting but cheap 8k. One big positive to having Forwards in your LB is it lets you play more Backups in your actual deck without worrying about a lowered threat density.

C

 

Lunafreya

There’s not much EX in the set (seven cards), but Lunafreya still manages to be excellent. In the she helps ensure you hit your Backups early, lets you dig for your bombs late, and gives you a body in the meantime. This card is the oil making sure your engine operates smoothly.

A

Light/Dark/Starter/Legacy

Venat

Two Crystals, gets you the best card in your deck, and if she doesn’t live long enough to do that she takes someone with her. Oh yeah, also 9ks are godlike in this set and she doesn’t die to Samovira.

A

 

Illua

Good at 3 Backups or less, and great afterwards. There are plenty of natural 5ks around, Palom and Porom, Shelke, Dr. Mog, Yuffie, Layle, Rosso, Portia,  and Cid Highwind, and that’s just at C and R. Paired with Fire’s damage or Serah’s -2k, Illua has enough reach to hit all sorts of stuff. Worth packing a couple breakable Backups so you can switch back to -5k if you need to.

B

 

Chaos

You need a lot of Monsters, luckily there are a lot of Monsters. Witch of the Fens, Notsugo, Samovira, Fencer (XIII), Black Widow, all of these help churn Monsters into the Break Zone. Between them and discarding for CP, it should be a doable challenge to get enough fuel. One nice thing is Chaos doesn’t choose, so even if your opponent has no targets you still force the discard. An excellent capstone to the Monster deck, and a huge reason to move into that archetype.

A

 

Luso

Every Element has Standard Unit Backups and Forwards, making Luso pretty flexible. Whether you need more econ or are trying to grow your SOLDIER Candidates, Luso will lend a helping hand. He even gets to attack as a 9k some of the time, making him more than just a cog in the machine.

B

 

Lightning

You don’t need much of a discount to make a 10k Haste appealing. One thing to keep in mind is if you have more than two cards in hand, you can cast a Summon or discard to activate an ability mid-combat to give her +1k. Jegran is a great way to convince your opponent themself to lower their hand count, so that his Discard 2 will be less painful. After all, no one is going to expect to get punished by Opus XV Lightning. There is name clash with Backup Lightning, so make sure to draft accordingly.

B

 

Rydia

OK so our choices are Bahamut (not happening) Shiva (playable on main) Asura (who fucking cares) Golem (not impossible to get enough counters) Odin (actual pipe dream) and Leviathan (again, who fucking cares) which leaves us with Ice/Earth as the only combo that wants her. Is it so good that you’ll force Ice/Earth? Hell no. But if you happen to be here, and you happen to have a Cecil or two, then sure, maybe this card has a chance to shine.

D

 

Refia

Fitting that she’s playing in a mirror, cuz her reflection’s the only friend she’s got.

F

And there we have it. Feeling ready to take on your next Limited event? What cards, themes, or archetypes have caught your eye? I know I’m excited for a few different deck directions, and I can’t wait to crack some packs soon. We hope you enjoy the new set, and feel free to shoot me a pic of your sealed/draft decks on Twitter at @HFftcg. Have a great rest of your day, and we hope to see you again next time on The Crystarium.