Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) and their mega-popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering are no strangers to crossovers. In recent years, the Universes Beyond label has seen the five colors of mana, jargon, and mechanics from the card game applied to countless different licenses. These have included properties like the Walking Dead, Fallout, and Assassin’s Creed. Temple of Geek went hands-on with Assassin’s Creed during last year’s Summer Game Fest.
Final Fantasy, the long-running RPG video game franchise, is the next property to get the Magic treatment (don’t confuse this with the preexisting Final Fantasy TCG!). Today is the first day of the set’s preview cycle, with WOTC unveiling a wide variety of cards spanning its vast history.
Final Fantasy Commander Decks
Commander has always been one of MTG’s most popular formats, with players building 100 card decks based around a legendary creature. The Final Fantasy set is coming out with four preconstructed decks focusing on a handful of fan-favorite characters. Like past Commander precons, these decks will likely be made up of new cards and reprints of older cards that work in synergy with the respective commander.
Very Flavorful Design
Some cards, like Cecil, Dark Knight/ Cecil, Redeemed Paladin and Jumbo Cactuar are extremely “flavorful”. This means they capture the essence of the characters in a narrative sense, while adhering to MTG’s familiar mechanics. For example, in Final Fantasy IV, Cecil starts the game as a borderline evil Dark Knight, eventually bidding farewell to his bloodstained past and emerging as a Paladin midway through the game. His double-faced card shows this character development. Cecil starts out as the black mana Dark Knight version. Satisfy certain conditions, and he’ll transform into the white mana Paladin.
Tonberries, an enemy from the games, are famous for taking a turn or two to attack the party. The card enters the battlefield with a stun counter on it, preventing it from attacking until the next turn. Whoever the design lead is on this set deserves a cookie – it’s clear they have a deep knowledge and appreciation of the Final Fantasy games.
Great Representation of Past Games
So far, we’ve seen cards from the original Final Fantasy in Garland, Knight of Cornelia/ Chaos, the Endless (another double-faced card), and the more recent XV in Side quest: Catch a Fish/ Cooking Campsite, which depicts Noctis taking a load off. As a longtime fan of both Final Fantasy games and Magic: The Gathering, I’m very happy to see the whole franchise get some love. Anyone else getting Final Fantasy VII fatigue?
Notably, this set is doing something new that no other set has done previously. In Magic, there are enchantment cards called Sagas that have different effects as turns play out. Sagas make their return in Final Fantasy, depicting the games’ popular summons like Shiva. What’s interesting here is that Shiva is also a creature, able to attack and block. This has never been done before, so it’ll be interesting to see if WOTC continues this trend. Also, it adds more to the flavor of this set by sacrificing it at the end of the third turn – Final Fantasy summons only stick around for a short time as temporary back-up.
Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover set is available starting June 13, 2025. What Final Fantasy games are you hoping to see represented in Magic: The Gathering’s Universes Beyond crossover? Let us know on our Discord channel.
