10 Final Fantasy MTG Cards That Absolutely Nailed Their Flavor

There have always been ample worries about the state of MTG when it comes to Universes Beyond collaborations. Especially when it comes to the more corporate, Hasbro side of the business. But if there is one consistent thing that WoTC manages to do, it is that you can be generally sure that the card designs will always attempt to be as faithful to the material as they can realistically be, mechanically and art-wise.

And for the current Final Fantasy spoiler season, I have picked my personal flavor win favorites that show not just clever card design, but effects and abilities that manage to almost perfectly represent the thing that the card represents.

^{Yep, way, WAY too many flavor wins.}

Wait, wait, please don’t take out your pitchforks after a cursory look at the entries just yet. It was really hard for me to squeeze the myriad of flavor-accurate cards into just ten favorite entries. This is, after all, my personal list!

WARNING: For people just getting into the Final Fantasy series, this list might be a spoiler. Read at your own risk. I will be showing which Final Fantasy series the particular card appears in, plus the spoiler level. This way, you at least have a heads up whether to continue to read the entry or avoid my commentary on it.

(Oh and, this list is in no particular order, even with the technicalities of the last entry)

 

Zack Fair

Series: Final Fantasy VII

Spoiler Level: Very High (you are basically spoiled already just by reading his name, sorry)

Intentional placement of this card as the first entry aside, reading the card’s text immediately brings me memories of that final last stand near Midgar. He starts as just a 0/1 with a +1/+1 counter. A weenie with potential, just like Zack, beginning as an eager SOLDIER recruit. But his sacrifice ability is where the flavor really shines.

For just one mana, you can sacrifice Zack to make another creature indestructible AND give it his counters AND move any equipment attached to him over to that creature. This perfectly captures his heroic final stand where he sacrificed himself to save Cloud and passed on both his legacy and the iconic Buster Sword! This isn’t the first time for MTG with such effects, of course, with cards like Selfless Savior aplenty, but it is still a major flavor win that perfectly honors his story.

It is an iconic moment that any FF7 fan will truly recognize, and seeing it transformed into a card mechanic just feels right. Maybe slap him with Voltron decks alongside commanders like Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist? Pass on the legacy to a new character in your own game!

 

Tonberry

Series: From Final Fantasy V and later

Spoiler Level: N/A

Anybody who's played a few FF games knows that moment of dread when the small green critter with a knife and a lantern appears on the battle screen. A one mana for 2/1. Looks quite harmless, but there’s an immediately noticeable catch.

Entering tapped with a stun counter brilliantly represents the slow shuffling of these monsters in battle, inching ever so closely to a particular party member. Looks like a downside, wasting turns. Looks like a weird gimmick. But you know deep inside that something is amiss.

And then boom, one strike, and your party member’s HP goes to 0. There wasn’t even any damage, nor any fancy animations. Just a flash, or in later games, a tiny stab, perfectly representing its First Strike and Deathtouch abilities when it attacks. Translated to MTG, and it can be relatively chumped somewhat safely, but it will never die in battle that way, at least not on its owner's turn.

 

Summon: Knights of Round

Series: Final Fantasy VII

Spoiler Level: Maybe?

The flavor of summons being saga enchantments alone is already generally a win for me, no matter how each of them is designed. But, Knights of Round takes the ultimate cake, as it was THE ultimate summon in FF7; the one that required breeding a Gold Chocobo and finding that hidden island. Its MTG version honors this perfectly with its high 8-mana cost and impressive effects.

The card's design as a Saga Creature that creates three 2/2 Knight tokens for four turns showcases the original summon's thirteen knights appearing one after another to strike enemies. While white has other token generators that are also sagas, particularly in current Standard, the sequence of token batches over multiple turns uniquely captures the progressive nature of the summon's animation, rather than creating them all at once.

The fifth chapter "Ultimate End" buffs your entire team and gives them all indestructible counters. Not exactly Arthur’s final downward blow, but it’s close! The indestructible counters are permanent, even if the saga enchantment creature itself leaves afterward.

 

Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms

Series: From Final Fantasy V and later

Spoiler Level: Low

Well… not exactly the unique effect, with multiple cards over the years representing similar abilities. But in terms of MTG mechanics, it does click into place as his schtick pretty quickly. This interdimensional warrior is obsessed with collecting legendary weapons (including the memeworthy Excalipur), and his ability to dig through your top six cards for Equipment and put them directly onto the battlefield is perfect for his weapon-hoarding personality.

His focus on Samurai tribal synergy gives him a unique place in Commander decks alongside cards like Isshin, Two Heavens as One or Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei. At 6/6 for six mana, he offers a solid body that can immediately start generating value through his attack trigger. You know, just like the persistent foe who always returns throughout the series!

 

Cecil, Dark Knight

Series: Final Fantasy IV

Spoiler Level: Medium

Cecil's double-sided card perfectly captures his defining story arc from FF4. The front side shows him as a Dark Knight with deathtouch; dangerous but conflicted. His "Darkness" ability causing you to lose life when he deals damage basically represents his guilt over attacking innocent people on Baron's orders.

From a mechanical perspective, this life loss drawback is reminiscent of black cards like Phyrexian Negator or Plague Spitter, but with a redemptive twist built in. The transformation condition, when your life total drops to half or less, mirrors his journey to Mount Ordeals in FF4, providing a clever alternative to more common transform triggers.

His Paladin side gets bigger (4/4 instead of 2/3) and swaps deathtouch for lifelink, showing his evolution from dealing death to preserving life. His protection being attached to an attack trigger is actually perfect, depicting how Cecil leads from the front in FF4's latter half, uniting his friends to stand against both his former kingdom and the cosmic threat of Zeromus.

 

Lightning, Army of One

Series: Final Fantasy XIII

Spoiler Level: Negligible

Lightning's card may not represent dramatic moments or her other peculiarities, but it still beautifully translates both her fighting style and personality from FF13 when you first start the game. First Strike, Trample, and Lifelink. All keywords that together, create a versatile, aggressive threat; just like Lightning's combat prowess in the game.

The real highlight is her "Stagger" ability, of course, which doubles damage to a player and their permanents after she deals combat damage. Unlike symmetrical damage doublers that affect all players, Lightning's “targeted” approach creates advantages for the player while adequately giving the core concept of FF13's stagger mechanic.

Being in Boros colors (red/white) gives her access to plenty of double strike enablers like Reyav, Master Smith or Boros Charm, which can turn her stagger ability into a game-ending combo; similar to how Landing a stagger and then unleashing a series of powerful abilities was the key to victory in FF13.

 

Sin, Spira’s Punishment

Series: Final Fantasy X

Spoiler Level: Caution

Sin is generally described by the Besaid as an ancient force of destruction that has terrorized Spira for a thousand years. Now, 7/7 might feel puny for a colossal entity almost comparable to a major Eldrazi like Emrakul. But whenever it enters or attacks, it exiles a random permanent from your graveyard and creates a token copy, repeating if it's a land. This mechanic represents Sin’s various regenerative capabilities, the creation of Sinspawn, and also shows the mysterious cycle that the people of Spira are trapped in.

Let any human settlement grow too large, or advance too far, and suddenly you have Sin knocking at its doorstep, ready to annihilate everyone, spitting out a corrupted husk afterwards.

There is an argument to be made about the Final Aeon possession also being part of this mechanic, but I am not really so sure. At least from an MTG perspective, this puts Sin alongside graveyard commanders like Muldrotha, the Gravetide, but with the chaotic twist of that aforementioned cycle.

By the way, BGU mana cost is also quite fitting (at least for me), possibly representing Sin's connections to oceans (blue), death (black), and the natural cycle it's strangely bound to (green).

 

Phoenix Down

Series: From Final Fantasy IV and later (the name, not the concept of a revive item)

Spoiler Level: N/A

Phoenix Down is one of Final Fantasy's most basic items. In the original games, it is a revive item, restoring a fallen ally, but with minimal health. The card's first ability perfectly captures this function: returning a fallen (graveyard) creature to the battlefield, but in a weakened state (tapped).

The mana value restriction of 4 also represents that it is a basic item for reviving your party members, not a miraculous Lazarus stone. As an MTG card, this puts it in similar company with budget reanimation spells like Miraculous Recovery, though with the artifact flexibility that allows it to be sacced for other purposes if no longer relevant for that turn.

The secondary ability to exile undead creatures reflects how revival items in the games often damage undead enemies instead of healing them; a mechanical quirk (J)RPG fans in general would recognize. This dual functionality makes Phoenix Down a flexible sideboard option that maintains perfect flavor resonance with the source material.

 

Yuna, Hope of Spira

Series: Final Fantasy X

Spoiler Level: High

A pretty straightforward effect for the token summoner of FF10. Of course, being that Summons in this set are saga creatures, it makes sense that she can support that specific card type combination. The funny added hint is that the buffs include her, reminding me of when players break her out of her starting sphere grid build, and start to bonk her opponents for 99,999 damage.

Her recursion effect is also spot on for her summoner status. But the finality counter can also be somewhat loosely interpreted for that heartbreaking plot twist. Which is, at the end of the game, when you have to fight your Aeons against Yu Yevon’s possession.

Needless to say, she is custom-built for Commander with Sagas and enchantment creatures, and her GW colors give access to the best enchantment support. The trample/lifelink/ward package makes your enchantment board actually threatening during your turn.

 

Cid, Timeless Artificer

Series: From Final Fantasy II and later (FF1 Cid is a retcon)

Spoiler Level: N/A

Even at a glance, you probably already have an idea why I saved this for last. Cid is a recurring character in virtually every Final Fantasy game. Do keep in mind, though, that they are not the same character; they are completely different people who just happen to be named Cid, and happen to be a machinist or technologist of some kind.

It seems that, rather than picking just one version, WoTC decided to capture Cid's meta-role across the entire franchise through its unique fifteen-variant artworks (representing the Cid of each main number FF game), plus the "any number of cards named Cid" clause - the first time these two design elements have been combined in MTG.

The ability to boost artifacts and Heroes based on Artificers present and in the graveyard is a great nod to the Cids throughout the series supporting the protagonists with their technical expertise. MTG-wise, it is kind of like most other recently developed Lord cards, though its expanded target range is immediately taken into account for its Final Fantasy flavor.

Of course, given his artificer reference as an MTG card, he’s given the most popular color combination of Azorius. And hey, even the Cycling part might even be considered part of his flexibility flavor too!

 

BONUS: Quina, Qu Gourmet

Series: Final Fantasy IX

Spoiler Level: Negligible

Quina from FF9 is obsessed with frogs and food. They spend a good chunk of the game catching frogs in Qu's Marsh (there's even a golden frog sidequest), while their main battle ability is actually "Eat" - consuming weakened enemies to learn Blue Magic (enemy skills).

This card splits these two aspects of Quina. The frog-generation ability represents their frog-catching obsession, while the "sacrifice a Frog for +1/+1 counters" tries to recreate their eat-to-grow-stronger philosophy. That flavor text is spot-on too; it's their actual quote from the game, and it works even if this card isn't as aligned to their Blue Magic shenanigans as Quistis Trepe.

In Commander, this card works great in token strategies, pairing nicely with things like Jaheira, Friend of the Forest to create an army of tasty Frogs. Also, quite a nice touch that “Qu” as a creature type is exclusive to Quina… for now.