Cloud, Planet's ChampionCloud, Planet's Champion and Sephiroth, Planet's HeirSephiroth, Planet's Heir | Art by Magali Villeneuve

Hello, and welcome back to Beyond the Multiverse. I'm Owain, and I'm here with a long-awaited article (one of three, in fact), featuring two Commanders. First up is Cloud, Planet's ChampionCloud, Planet's Champion who's all about Equipment. I've done Equipment decks before, but I'm going to make him slightly different from the others. More on that in a moment.

On the other side, we have Sephiroth, Planet's HeirSephiroth, Planet's Heir, who absolutely doesn't have obsessively romantic feelings for Cloud. Not at all. Nothing to see here. Anyway, with Sephi here, we're killing off creatures, with perhaps some minor graveyard shenanigans along the way.

However, there's just one small problem: Aerith GainsboroughAerith Gainsborough, our third wheel, is in the way. How do we Eliminate the CompetitionEliminate the Competition?

Ah, thank you, Sephiroth. With Aerith now excused to be on a forever date with Sephiroth's sword, we can be on our way. Are you ready to rumble?

Cloud, Planet's Champion Deck List

Rebel With A Cause

We begin with Cloud himself. Boros Equipment decks are nothing new in this series, as this is the third iteration. That said, I'm doing this list a tad differently this time, a small restriction that extends to the Sephiroth list as well: this deck was built with the Final Fantasy Starter Kits in mind. Now, that product isn't made for Commander, but it's a small starting point (Or Starting TownStarting Town, as it were). While, at time of writing, we don't have the lists, the contents were leaked a while ago. With all the rares officially revealed before the lists, the stars aligned, and all of them are in here.

Since the last time, we gained access to some new stuff. Firstly, Beatrix, Loyal GeneralBeatrix, Loyal General will let us dump our Equipment on one creature during combat. This, ideally, would be Cloud, since he'll have double strike and indestructible. Moreover, Gilgamesh, Master-at-ArmsGilgamesh, Master-at-Arms compliments her very well, seeing as we can slam any number of Equipment we find from his trigger. Thirdly, Item ShopkeepItem Shopkeep will give an attacking equipped creature menace, making them harder to block.

Thanks to the set's bonus sheet, we now have access to Sram, Senior EdificerSram, Senior Edificer (skinned as Firion, Swordmaster), letting us draw cards. Next, we have Cid, Freeflier PilotCid, Freeflier Pilot, who recurs Equipment, and makes them cost less to cast again.

Expanding the Armory

If you're looking for some in-universe cards too add, there's plenty to tap into. The rest of the Sword of X and Y cycle (as well as Sword of Wealth and PowerSword of Wealth and Power) becomes available to us. Further, EmbercleaveEmbercleave is brutal to put onto Cloud, if you can reduce the cost low enough to cast it during combat. Thirdly, The Reaver CleaverThe Reaver Cleaver will surely give us lots of Treasure tokens to use if the equipped creature connects.

If you want to retool Cloud, and give him a more controlling slant, look no further than SunforgerSunforger. There's a lot of amazing spells that meet the criteria within Cloud's colors (including a couple of Game Changers, if that's what you're into). As long as you keep reequipping Cloud with Sunforger, and having mana open, you'd be in a good position to respond to someone who might try and disrupt your board.

Next, Fighter ClassFighter Class was made for this kind of deck (an aside: DnD cards aren't Universes Beyond cards, but they're also not in-universe, but they still count for this section). Secondly, a number of the Nahiri planeswalker variants work for the deck. I'd pick Nahiri, the LithomancerNahiri, the Lithomancer because of the utility she provides (be sure to add SkullclampSkullclamp as well if you do).

Play the Victory Tune

Concluding this half of the article, and looking back, there was a noticeable difference between the past article and this one (besides the Starter Kit restriction): One had you focus on going wide, but Cloud wants you to put all of your eggs into one basket, Voltron-style. The Kassandra, Eagle BearerKassandra, Eagle Bearer deck from that article was more about going wide, using as many legendary Equipment as possible (and Final Fantasy has those in spades!).

That said, let's see about his opponent...

Sephiroth, Planet's Heir Deck List

It's Time To Bring Despair to Magic: The Gathering

WARNING: If you love your friends, do not use this deck. You'll lose them by game's end.

In case you haven't figured out why, this is a removal-themed deck. We're blowing up everyone and everything (and stabbing Aeriths along the way) because it helps make our commander bigger and more lethal. That said, all that removal helps clear the way for Sephiroth to get through and impale our opponents with that massively long sword.

Blight GrenadeBlight Grenade takes out a creature, then gives everything else -3/-3, perhaps wiping out an army of tokens. Next, Archfiend of DepravityArchfiend of Depravity will ensure no one's board gets monstrously huge. However, for a real wipe, cast a kicked Rite of ReplicationRite of Replication on our commander (even better if it's a token made from Quantum MisalignmentQuantum Misalignment). This will kill our commander, but they all enter, essentially wiping the board.

All this said, I do want to give a paragraph to one card in particular: Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER. This card is the lynchpin of the deck. You want to trigger him as much as you possibly can so you can flip him and get the emblem (Am I the only one who thinks the Super Nova ability is a flavor fail? Nothing like in the games to me). That said, you also want to keep him (and/or our commander) around long enough to make them threats. Fortunately, there's a few ways to do so, like Orcish MedicineOrcish Medicine.

Looking Beyond Final Fantasy

Firstly, I'd retool the deck to be akin to those infamous Scam decks that terrorized Modern in recent years. Cards like Undying EvilUndying Evil and Not Dead After AllNot Dead After All would be great to keep Sephiroth from perishing while we wipe the board. On the other hand, both Massacre GirlMassacre Girl and Massacre WurmMassacre Wurm clear the board to make Sephiroth bigger (provided he didn't die in the aftermath).

Secondly, we also gain access to blue's blink effects, abusing our commander's ability to wipe the board, and perhaps soft-lock it. Displacer KittenDisplacer Kitten and Deadeye NavigatorDeadeye Navigator stand among the best of these, repeatedly blinking Sephiroth and making our opponents (perhaps) very salty. While not a blink spell, Drivnod, Carnage DominusDrivnod, Carnage Dominus will double up on Sephiroth's death triggers, making him huge very quickly. It's an ability very akin to The MasamuneThe Masamune (aka, Aerith's best friend), which is in the deck's 99 already.

Lastly, while we have FlatlineFlatline in the deck, Sudden SpoilingSudden Spoiling and Polymorphist's JestPolymorphist's Jest will also make opposing creatures much easier to kill. For an alternate win condition, look no further than Revel in RichesRevel in Riches. It ramps us with all the creatures hitting the bin, and hitting the critical number of Treasure tokens with this deck should be a breeze.

I Will Never Be a Memory

In summary, this deck has to be about the most evil, diabolical deck I've come up with so far. It might be something you play once in a blue moon, then perhaps never again. Your friends won't let you bring it out again, I assure you. Then again, it does its job well.

In any case, both of these decks tackle the archetype in different ways. One with a more traditional approach, the other a more controlling style. That said, this is a non-budget path one could take with the Starter Kit. A budget one would drastically change both decks.

Hopefully you enjoyed my take on both of these commanders (and survived my mischief throughout the article. It really came out in force here. No disrespect to Aerith intended). Perhaps they might guide you in creating your own builds. Tune in next time as we dive into the second of the three long-awaited articles (It won't be like today's).