Final Fantasy Key Art | by Magali Villeneuve

Welcome back to Beyond the Multiverse! Last week, I mentioned that I'd be covering why the Final Fantasy set was the best set in the Universes Beyond product line. Firstly, there was so much ground to cover. With that, the card choices (new or old) meant that Brackets 2 and even 3 were possible. Secondly, this was strong for a Standard set, though only time will tell how much weaker this will become. Also, the supplemental parts of the release, even the bonus sheet, was incredibly powerful.

All that said, I began wondering: what would decks made from this IP alone look like? To answer this, I have assembled 10 (yes, 10!) decklists for you. I assembled a big collection of cards from the release (Nope, not even going to touch that Force of NegationForce of Negation). What lists I'll be posting here are ones I can assemble from what I have, plus so many more.

Let's get right into it while I pray the editors don't kill me for what I'm about to pull off.

Deck#1-Yuna

Starting off with one of the stronger lists I've made, this deck has been a powerhouse in tables when I played the deck. You might think that having so few Yuna targets would make this weak, but I've been able to consistently hit them each game. Not to mention, Yuna's a strong card all around, and those finality counters can be easily removed with Nesting GroundsNesting Grounds. This ensures that you can always recur that Summon. The important part, though, is protecting Yuna, because she's such a key piece to the plan. For that, we have the usual suspects, like Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention and Lightning GreavesLightning Greaves, to protect her when it's not our turn.

Deck#2-Ardbert

Ardbert reminded me a lot of a favorite (in-universe) commander of mine: Tolsimir WolfbloodTolsimir Wolfblood. Naturally, I had to build him for that reason. With this deck, we want to be running as many multicolor cards as we can. Unfortunately, there aren't many, but we make do. He also has a legendary theme built in alongside +1/+1 counter synergies. The beauty of this list is that there's overlap between these themes. The result? An aggressive Orzhov (black-white) list that aims to mow down your opponents like a lawn.

Deck #3-Clive

Surprised to see a mono-color deck here? That's because it's very possible with Final Fantasy, a rare, if not unprecedented feat. The only trouble is that the decks may end up same-y, depending on who your commander is. Here, it's mostly running the best red cards, and making things work. Fortunately, the deck does this quite well. The Fire CrystalThe Fire Crystal giving your creatures haste is very good gravy, since we want to be swinging right away.

This is also a good time to mention why I love this set in particular. For those of you familiar with the Dissidia games, you can absolutely mix and match the heroes and villains. Here, we could see Clive crossing swords with Kefka, for example. Essentially, the deck is its own game, and you its creator. Even most of the multicolor legends have a mono-color version, which can slide into various decks. We see this demonstrated here, and in the other decks in this article.

Deck#4-Orphan

Thanks to the bonus sheet, we gain access to some classic commander choices, and this is one of them. Within the confines of the IP, the commander becomes harder to abuse but is no less versatile. Chances are, you're going to be ramping really hard to cast the commander, and use the ability to bring something back. Just be sure to leave some mana open to protect it. Muldrotha/Orphan has a reputation that's well-deserved, and is a removal magnet. Especially synergistic are the Summons: you finish the Saga, then recast them again from the graveyard. Even better if you can cast two of them (one, a creature, the other, an enchantment).

Deck #5-Hope

This deck is essentially a lifegain deck with milling shenanigans. At its heart, this deck is a control deck: police the board while you gain life on your turn so Hope can trigger and mill opponents. Beware, however, of cards that shuffle themselves back into the library when milled. If you're up against one of those, then milling will not help. That said, it's not like we don't have other ways to win, and we can always do some politicking with opponents to deal with it. However, since you'll end up milling them as well (Hope's ability hits each opponent), then no one may be likely to help you unless you buy some karma with them.

Deck#6-Locke

A little PSA before I dive into this one: no matter how many lands you hit off of his trigger, you only get one Treasure. An upsetting discovery (for me at least).

Anyway, it's a good thing that this deck is a Treasure/theft deck, so we can be able to use our opponents' stuff against them. Of course, you will end up casting your own stuff from exile as well. Not that's a bad thing, considering it gives you more options. However, most of the key creatures here are tiny, so making them unblockable (or having evasion) is key here. Also crucial is having a mass of treasures to work with.

Deck#7-Golbez

Surprised to see a Bracket 3 deck here? It's definitely possible, especially if you're in blue and/or black. It certainly demonstrates a piece of the power of the release's bonus sheet. At its heart, this deck's an artifact deck, so the goal is to get as many out as you can, and protect them. I put in as many cheap artifacts as I could to achieve this goal. Doing that and pitching creatures in the graveyard, you can consistently get Golbez's trigger to fire off. Even better if you have Y'shtola RhulY'shtola Rhul out, so then you can trigger him twice.

Deck#8-Barnabas/Tidus (Kraum/Thrasios)

The only deck featuring the partner mechanic, this deck is something of an odd child. It was born out of one of my biggest frustrations with the release: the lack of Vehicles to enable Balthier and FranBalthier and Fran. There's so few Vehicles across the IP represented that a deck with them is not feasible. That said, I did goldfish the deck, and it played out like a ramp deck sprinkled with a Vehicle subtheme. Adding black into the deck (by replacing Kraum with Vial Smasher the FierceVial Smasher the Fierce) will add a couple more Vehicles. Whether that'll be enough or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, it wouldn't take much to tune the deck to have a more focused lands theme.

Deck#9-Lightning

If you want to go fast and furious, this deck's for you. It has all the hallmarks of an Equipment-based deck. The deck's Equipment all have a low casting cost, so we have more chances to equip right away. You want to give Lightning double strike at all costs: the first hit will trigger her and, while the second hit will deal double damage, the effect will double up, dealing quadruple damage next time! Extra combat steps are also really good with her, which is why Genji GloveGenji Glove is perhaps the best card in the deck. Pull that off, and you'll prove once and for all that lightning can hit the same spot twice.

Deck#10-Tifa

The last deck is also our second mono-color entry. We want to buff up Tifa as much as we possibly can before dropping our lands for turn. I say that because she starts with a puny 1/2 statline, which is why there's a +1/+1 counter subtheme here. The more counters Tifa gets, the stronger she'll be. However, our opponents will be seeing the gameplan from a billion miles away, so there's ways in the deck to protect her. We're also in green, so the abundance of ramp spells can help stave off the Commander Tax for a while, and Tifa's low casting cost will help here.

The Last Hurrah

As the title of this section suggests, this will likely be the last time I'll cover anything Final Fantasy-related. At least until a holiday release is confirmed (if that rumor's true). Also, by briefly showcasing all 10 decks, it can give you an idea why I loved the release so much, and how they can hold a candle to even precons. There's other lists I have not touched on here, but are up on Archideckt, so be sure to check that out if you're looking for more ideas. That said, we're going to need to start looking towards the future, but first, there's a couple of things. Tune in next time for a special, off-the-books article.