Get ready for a magical adventure! This June, Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy collide in an exciting crossover event. This isn't just any crossover; it features four preconstructed Commander decks, each representing a different mainline Final Fantasy game: VI, VII, X, and XIV.
Check out the gallery below for a sneak peek at the artwork and packaging for each deck!
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This collaboration boasts a fully draftable, Standard-legal set alongside the four Commander decks. Each deck contains 100 cards: a mix of reprints with new Final Fantasy art and brand-new cards designed specifically for Commander. The unique twist? Each deck is themed around a single Final Fantasy game.
Wizards of the Coast's Senior Game Designer, Daniel Holt, explains the selection process: "Final Fantasy games are rich with lore, characters, and settings. Focusing on a single game per deck allowed us to delve deeply into each world's narrative." The team balanced gameplay desires with the games' overall popularity. While FFVII and FFXIV were easy choices, FFVI and FFX required more deliberation, ultimately chosen for their popularity within the development team.
The design of the FFVII deck cleverly blends the original game's narrative with the aesthetic enhancements of the Remake trilogy. Principal Narrative Game Designer Dillon Deveney clarifies: "We captured the original's narrative using the Remake's modern visuals."
The FFVI deck presented its own challenges, given the game's pixel art origins. To overcome this, the team consulted directly with the FFVI team, blending elements from Yoshitaka Amano's concept art, original sprites, and Pixel Remaster portraits.
Commander deck leaders were carefully chosen. While Cloud was an obvious choice for FFVII, other selections involved extensive brainstorming. Ultimately, the "lead" characters were selected, with Y'shtola from FFXIV representing her Shadowbringers arc.
The color identities of the decks were strategically chosen to reflect both the game's theme and desired gameplay. All four decks incorporate White, enabling a wider range of heroes. The FFVI deck focuses on graveyard recursion, FFVII leverages equipment strategies, FFX utilizes the Sphere Grid system, and FFXIV emphasizes spellcasting.
Beyond the main characters, the decks feature a wide array of beloved characters from each game.
The Final Fantasy set launches June 13th. Both regular ($69.99 MSRP) and Collector's Edition ($149.99 MSRP) versions of the decks will be available, with the latter featuring Surge foil treatment on all 100 cards. And for those wondering about other Final Fantasy games – all sixteen mainline games will be represented across the entire product line.
Which Final Fantasy Commander deck are you most excited for?
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