Today is Wednesday, May 28th, sixteen days before the upcoming Final Fantasy set formally releases! As such, we are going to begin something special. Every day up through June 12th, we will provide you with a superlative list of some of the best cards from the set, sorted by each video game in the series. We want to start with Final Fantasy I and end on FFXVI. If that sounds good, let's begin at the very beginning!

But First, Criteria!

Each day, we will gauge between one and three cards from the game in question by the following criteria:

• Honorable Mention: This superlative will generally either be a cycle, a grouping of cards from a given game, or a card that otherwise didn't quite make the cut for the other superlatives.
• Best As A Commander: This superlative denotes the best legendary creature(s) from the game in question.
• Best In The 99: In Best in the 99, we will choose the best cards for the 99 of a given Commander deck.
• Most Flavorful: As described, this card (or cards) will be the most flavorful card and most analogous to the game if possible.
• Best In Show: This one card will be the best overall (at least, in this author's opinion).

With that in mind, let's discuss Final Fantasy I!

Honorable Mentions

The Honorable Mention for this game is a set of three common cards that work to create a very flavorful environment relative to what they do. Three cards fit the criteria for this in a big way, which is why this has to be an Honorable Mention; if it were just one, it would be Most Flavorful. The Honorable Mentions are:

These three Equipment with job select are amazing at providing story beats within the context of a given match. Black Mage's RodBlack Mage's Rod makes the creature it's equipped to a Black Mage (a la the Wizard tokens from the set), Warrior's SwordWarrior's Sword makes the creature a Warrior (as expected), and White Mage's StaffWhite Mage's Staff turns your creature into a White Mage. The concept is simple and intuitive, and for what it's worth, it rocks.

Best As A Commander

Unfortunately, at this time, Garland, Knight of CorneliaGarland, Knight of Cornelia is Best As A Commander by default. This isn't shade for Garland, as the card is fine, especially in Pauper Commander. I just wish there were more competition in this category.

Being able to surveil off casting a noncreature spell is nice, especially when built around. Getting a 5/5 flying Demon later on is also nice. And, a 3/2 body for two mana is also pretty sweet. So, Garland gets this one largely by default, but certainly deserves it in some contexts.

Best In The 99

From the moment it was revealed, Starting TownStarting Town has turned heads as an additional copy of Mana ConfluenceMana Confluence or City of BrassCity of Brass. While it's decidedly not either of those cards, its power as a versatile land can't be overstated. It's a really good land, but it's undoubtedly better in the early game. Furthermore, because there are only eight cards revealed from Final Fantasy I (at the time of writing), this is the pick of the litter, so to speak.

Most Flavorful

A card like Town GreeterTown Greeter is pretty fun when we consider the implications of, for instance, revealing and putting a Starting Town or better onto the battlefield. This is even better when it's a card like Midgar, City of MakoMidgar, City of Mako, or Gohn, Town of RuinGohn, Town of Ruin. It may generally be a weaker play, but at least you can tell your opponents, "Welcome to Midgar, City of Mako", or whatever other Town you chose.

That brings us to our Best In Show. What FFI card achieved this? Well, it could be none other than...

Final Fantasy I Best In Show

...Adventurer's Airship!

Every Final Fantasy game in the series has some kind of want for an airship, just as every game after FFI has some version of Cid. It's natural to the series at this point, and from here till FFXVI, and probably even beyond, the idea of the airship will remain ubiquitous to the series. As such, this card has the flavor chops to hold its own with the rest of them.

As for mechanics, as a common card, Aventurer's Airship is quite stacked. Sure, the mana value is one higher than Smuggler's CopterSmuggler's Copter, as is the crew cost, and for one less toughness, but this card does a great job imitating it. Copter was banned in Standard in January 2017, in Pioneer for a span, and in Brawl from the beginning. Therefore, this card theoretically could make some waves in a great many formats upon release. And that, dear reader, is why this card is Best In Show among the cards from Final Fantasy I.

Conclusion

I wish there were more options to choose from at the time of writing, but the options I had to choose from weren't too shabby. Tomorrow we will seek to look at Final Fantasy II and the similarly small pool it provides. But for now, let's open the floor to you. Do you think these options are correct? Were there some discrepancies I've missed? What superlatives would you give to other games, and what makes the cut,in your eyes? Sound off below!