Cloud, Tidus in New Final Fantasy Commander Decks Unveiled

Even if you're not a dedicated player of Magic: The Gathering, you've likely noticed its recent surge in video game crossovers, featuring popular titles like Fallout, Tomb Raider, and Assassin’s Creed. Now, we're thrilled to offer an exclusive sneak peek at one of the most anticipated collaborations yet: Final Fantasy. This isn't just any Final Fantasy crossover; it spans four mainline games, including Final Fantasy VI, VII, X, and XIV, each represented in unique preconstructed Commander decks that will headline the set.

Explore the image gallery below to get your first glimpse of the lead card and packaging for each deck. Additionally, dive into our in-depth conversation with Wizards of the Coast to uncover what's inside these decks, why these specific four games were chosen, and much more.

Final Fantasy x Magic: The Gathering - Commander Decks Reveal

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Set to launch on June 13, this exciting Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy crossover will not only be fully draftable and Standard-legal, but will also introduce four preconstructed decks, each featuring 100 cards. These decks include a mix of reprints with new Final Fantasy art and brand-new cards designed specifically for the Commander format. Each deck is uniquely themed around one of the four Final Fantasy games mentioned earlier.

Senior Game Designer Daniel Holt, who serves as the Commander Lead for the set, explained the thematic richness of Final Fantasy games: "Final Fantasy games are so rich with flavor, beloved characters, and unique settings that choosing a single game as the theme provided more than enough material to design a full deck of cards around. Approaching each deck as a single game also allowed us to delve deep into the lore of each, capturing even more beloved moments from across the game’s storyline that we may not have been able to achieve otherwise."

The selection of Final Fantasy VI, VII, X, and XIV for these decks was a deliberate choice based on gameplay and story recognition. Holt noted, "This was one of those products where everyone in the building was invested in each stage of development, as we have so many passionate Final Fantasy fans in the building."

Navigating the narrative direction for Final Fantasy VII was particularly interesting, given its ongoing remake trilogy. Dillon Deveney, Principal Narrative Game Designer and Narrative Lead for the set, shared, "Our core approach to Final Fantasy VII was to capture the original PS1 game’s narrative, while using Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s modern aesthetics to push the fidelity of each character design, story moment, and memorable location to the next level. With that in mind, if a scene existed in both games, we had our choice of showing it as the original game did, how the modern version interpreted it, or a unique fusion of both. Hopefully, this deck feels familiar and nostalgic to players of both the original game and the modern series!"

For Final Fantasy VI, capturing the essence of the game's pixel art while expanding upon it was a significant challenge. Deveney elaborated, "We wanted to stick close to what fans would expect from its pixel art sprites and limited concept art while also expanding upon them, and we hope that 'the character designs should feel like how you ‘remember’ them, despite being a hybridization of many different references and new ideas.' To achieve this, we consulted directly with the Final Fantasy VI team to update these characters to the standards needed for Magic art."

Choosing the lead characters for each deck involved careful consideration. While Cloud was an obvious choice for Final Fantasy VII, other decisions required more brainstorming. Holt mentioned, "For Y’shtola, it came down to a mix of popularity of the character as well as being a spellcaster; her story and character development offered a wide range of abilities and moments to pull from to lead the deck. This deck represents her specifically during her Shadowbringers arc."

Crafting a deck to encapsulate the themes and stories of an entire game within Magic's color system was another challenge. Holt explained, "Building these decks called for us to decide color identity for the chosen game itself, but also the gameplay we desired from them. It’s no mistake all four include White, for both theming and it helped cover the wide range of Heroes we wanted to include in each deck."

The deck for Final Fantasy VI focuses on the latter half of the game, centered on rebuilding your party from the graveyard. For Final Fantasy VII, Cloud's equipment strategies align with a white-red Magic deck, enhanced by green to incorporate 'power matters' and lifestream references. The deck for Final Fantasy X, inspired by its Sphere Grid, employs a classic white-blue-green strategy to empower creatures. Final Fantasy XIV's deck, with its white-blue-black color identity, focuses on noncreature spell casting and includes beloved characters.

While the Commander format emphasizes the leader, the rich ensemble of characters in Final Fantasy games is not forgotten. Holt assured, "Final Fantasy games are full of loveable AND villainous characters and getting them in these decks was very important. While I can’t talk specifics on who is included in each deck or their abilities just yet, fans can expect to see some of their favorite characters in the 99 of each deck as new legendary creatures and captured in action on other exciting spells."

The Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy crossover set will be released on June 13. If your favorite Final Fantasy game or character isn't featured, don't worry; Holt assures that "all sixteen of the mainline games will have their moments to shine in the accompanying products."

Similar to the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks from 2022, these Final Fantasy decks will be available in both a regular version (MSRP $69.99) and a Collector’s Edition (MSRP $149.99), with the latter featuring all 100 cards in a special Surge foil treatment.

For the full, unedited interview with Wizards of the Coast’s Daniel Holt and Dillon Deveney, continue reading below.