MtG x Final Fantasy – Bundle & Starter Kit Review
While some of the Magic: the Gathering crossover material has made certain sections of its fanbase scoff, there’s no denying the Final Fantasy crossover was the most anticipated – a merging of two die-hard fanbases with a huge amount of overlap. There are few properties so well suited to fit the card game format, which Final Fantasy itself has already done with its own branded Final Fantasy TCG. But that isn’t Magic: the Gathering, still the world-leading Collectible Card Game. As a life-long/lapsed/reborn Final Fantasy fan, seeing familiar faces in such an iconic format is incredible exciting and one of the many reasons MtGxFinalFantasy became the best-selling set in the history of Magic before it even launched. Now the dust is settling, it’s easy to see why when spending some time with the Bundle Pack and Starter Kit products.
Magic: the Gathering Final Fantasy Bundle
The ubiquitous bundle pack is comprised of the same material as our previously reviewed Tarkir Bundle, albeit flush with Final Fantasy trappings. The storage box emblazoned with the Final Fantasy logo on top features Sephiroth and Lightning on either side feels sturdy, with a light matte finish and more than enough space to store the included cards, even double sleeved. The set-specific pearlescent white spin-down die capped with a Mog silhouette makes me wish these boxes came with a few more given how versatile they are and how nice it would be to have a few more on the play field. The Bundle serves to highlight exactly why Final Fantasy is such a perfect fit for MtG, its included Foil Land cards showing an iconic location from every mainline entry I through to XVI. With a second set of non-foil regular lands, it should make it easy enough to ensure your Final Fantasy deck has all the gorgeously illustrated lands you could need. Of course, the included dividers and tokens might go unpunched by seasoned players, but especially in the case of MtGxFinal Fantasy, every Bundle is someone’s first, so their inclusion is appreciated, especially as a way to mitigate packaging waste.
For a game about magic, heroes and monsters, the 9 included Play Boosters further reinforce that Wizards really couldn’t do any better than this pairing of IP, allowing three Draft games which, having been superseded by the Commander format for a lot of players, still evokes joy through each card reveal thanks to the incredible artwork portraying friends and foes, both new and familiar. It says a lot that some of the artwork had me pining to revisit my favourite entries in the series (shoutout FFVIII and XII) while thinking it might be high time I investigated XIV and XVI. To cap it all off, each Bundle features two randomly selected Traditional Foil-Extended Art Legends, in my case the Legendary Creature Golbez, Crystal Collector from Final Fantasy IV and Emet-Selch, Unsundered, another Legendary Creature from Final Fantasy XIV that can transform into Hades, Sorcerer of Eld. Given the standard price of Play Booster packs, it’s not a huge leap for the price of the Bundle and the included extras should make it worthwhile, especially for any Final Fantasy fans now building a Magic: the Gathering collection.
Magic: the Gathering: Final Fantasy Starter Kit
I had to double take when I saw the retail price of this set – two decks, featuring Sephiroth and Cloud Strife, for under $30AU? Forget what’s in here, that’s incredible value for newcomers to MtG, especially for a set which I suspect will go a long way towards converting numerous people to the game. Built for the Standard format, each 60-card deck includes 1 Mythic and 5 Rare cards which unsleeved fit snugly into their bespoke tuckboxes. An included Starter Kit Play Guide outlines how to start playing Magic in a good amount of detail, beginning with an explanation of each Color and its playstyle through to each action possible in-game and the rarity of each card. Unlike the Final Fantasy Commander decks which are all Wedge decks (three colors), the Final Fantasy Starter Kit decks are regular old two-color combos, Cloud a Boros red/white deck and Sephiroth a Dimir black/blue deck. These colours fit thematically for each character, although notably absent is any direction for players on what exactly they should be trying to achieve with each of these decks. This won’t be remiss for MtG veterans, but I’ve found across other pre-con products this sort of information invaluable, moreso for newcomers and kitchen table players who aren’t as well versed in all the strategic angles of each color. The included tokens will do the job, but are a bit rough to punch out and will likely be the first thing replaced by whatever dice or other options players have handy.
Sephiroth’s deck features 21 unique cards across 8 singles, 4 doubles, 5 triples and 2 quads running on 9 Basic Water Lands and 12 Basic Swamp Lands. With far more Black than Blue cards, it makes sense why the lands skew that way. Focusing on increasing draw, buffing token characters and adding to and pulling from the graveyard, Sephiroth is a little technical compared to Cloud but provides a good challenge for both player and opponent.
Cloud’s deck features 24 unique cards across 14 singles, 7 doubles, 1 triple and 2 quads powered by 8 Basic Mountain Lands and 13 Basic Plains Lands. As a result of so many singles, Cloud can feel a little swingier than Sephiroth, relying in powering up equipped creatures and dealing high damage but feels a touch more straightforward to play.
To top things off, there are also codes included to add each deck into Magic: the Gathering Arena, with an extra code a handy way to get a friend involved online. Overall, the MtG Final Fantasy Starter Kit is an excellent purchase for Final Fantasy fans keen on checking out a truly iconic match-up in the MtG format, providing value for money and an almost perfect entry-point. For already established MtG players, $15 per deck for such a coveted set is still a damn good deal.
Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy products were kindly supplied for review by Wizards of the Coast.
