Midgar, City of MakoMidgar, City of Mako by Josu Solano

Final Fantasy depicts grand adventures across different locales, time periods, and plotlines. It therefore makes absolute sense that the main land cycle of the new Final Fantasy set is a series of famous towns you adventure in throughout the series.

And, they’re even mechanically adventures! Or technically speaking “cards that have an Adventure” to use specific terminology.

But What Is an Adventure?

In Magic, certain cards have two different ways you can cast them. There’s the core spell, which takes up most of the card, and a subtype Adventure spell, located in the bottom left.

In the example above, Murderous RiderMurderous Rider is a creature that’s a Zombie Knight, has lifelink, and when it dies it gets put on the bottom of its owner’s library. All for three mana. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, instead of casting this card as the creature Murderous Rider, you can instead cast the instant Swift End. This destroys a creature or planeswalker and you lose two life, also for three mana.

If you cast a card using its Adventure, you put it into exile. You can then play the non-Adventure portion of the card from exile. Which, aside from meaning you can effectively play two spells with a single card, also means that once you cast an Adventure, its associated creature is “safe” from forced discard effects.

Below are a few more examples of Adventures. Note how the mana costs, spell type, and sometimes even colors change.

Broadly, Adventures are a very nice way to maximize your value per-card. It gives you the flexibility of having a permanent and non-permanent effect, oftentimes where the Adventure supports its associated spell.

Entropic Decay allows you to mill four cards before casting Gray SlaadGray Slaad, meaning you’re much more likely to have a 4/1 with menace and deathtouch. However, if you already have four creature cards in your graveyard, you can skip casting Entropic Decay.

In this case, it’s an optional cost to mill four cards for two mana. Which for black, is never a bad thing.

Town Cycle

There’s a specific cycle in the Final Fantasy set that I call the “Adventure Town” cycle. This is because it’s a series of lands, one of each color, each of which has the Town sub-type as well as an associated Adventure.

Also, they all enter the battlefield tapped, as most non-basic lands do.

I’m not a Final Fantasy fan, though I’ve certainly been interested in seeing what all of the hype is about. Though that does mean I won’t have the full lore implications of how the Adventures tie into their associated games.

That being said, let’s go on an adventure!

Ranking the Final Fantasy Adventure Lands

#5 - Faith & Grief (White)

First up is Ishgard, the Holy SeeIshgard, the Holy See, which unfortunately is my pick for the least impactful Adventure. A city-state in Final Fantasy XIV, it survives both the harsh snowfalls of winter as well as literal, actual dragons.

Seems to me like one of those is the larger threat, but hey! Snow-land synergy is real. And it’s coming for you.

For five mana, Grief & Return allows you to return up to two artifacts and/or enchantment cards from your graveyard to your hand.

This is nice, but it’s overpriced. When playing a non-basic land, you have to ask yourself “Is this land’s effect worth the inability to access its mana the turn I play it?” Spending five mana to grab up to two artifacts or enchantments and put them in your hand is most certainly not. If it was cheaper? Not constrained to artifacts and enchantments?

Even if it was limited to a single artifact or enchantment but returned directly to the battlefield, it might be worth it. But as it stands, it only half-supports commanders such as Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary. Therefore, I’d just pass.

#4 - Lasting Fayth (Green)

Next up is Zanarkand, Ancient MetropolisZanarkand, Ancient Metropolis, which as a green player I was hoping to be able to put higher. Luckily, it isn’t the worst ability, just a bit expensive. This former metropolis is most known for its role in Final Fantasy X, where it occupies an odd double reality of being both a destroyed city as well as a perfect recreation of said city.

For six mana, Lasting Fayth creates a 1/1 colorless Hero creature token. Then you can put a +1/+1 counter on it for every land you have.

This is a lovely effect that absolutely does not work for six mana.

Green doesn’t hurt for mana production, meaning you could reasonably activate this effect earlier than turn six. However… Then you’d be limiting its growth. It needs lands to scale, meaning you need to wait until you can play a fair amount of lands. Which you already want to do, even if you’re not playing a commander like Tifa LockhartTifa Lockhart.

If you wait with this card dead in your hand or you just don’t draw it until later in the game, there are other things you can spend your mana on at that point.

A 7/7 is nice. For six mana it needs to be justified, which with this Hero’s scaling is certainly justifiable. However, it’s holding back the land it’s attached to. And because of that, I can’t say it’s fantastic.

#3 - Mage Siege (Red)

Running in the middle is Lindblum, Industrial RegencyLindblum, Industrial Regency, though if you were to bump it up or down a spot on your list, I couldn’t blame you. A sprawling city in Final Fantasy IX, it pushes technological, mercantile, and even logistical boundaries as it advances ever forward.

For three mana, Mage Siege creates an 0/1 black Wizard creature token that deals one damage to each opponent each time you cast a noncreature spell. Something to note, this is also the only instant of the Adventures in this cycle, the rest are sorceries. How often that will come up, I’m not sure. But it’s worth noting!

Ping damage is always nice, though I don’t need to harp on how fragile a 0/1 creature is. The fact it’s a Wizard does actually hold some weight, as Wizard typal is an archetype that does encompass red.

It’s three mana, and with the mana cheating red does so efficiently, having this land enter tapped isn’t as bad as in some of the other colors. So I don’t see any reason to avoid bringing this along, particularly if you’re trying to capitalize off of its synergy with some of the Final Fantasy commanders, such as Cloud, Planet's ChampionCloud, Planet's Champion. Lots of artifact support in this set!

#2 - Overture (Blue)

Jidoor, Aristocratic CapitalJidoor, Aristocratic Capital is home to the wealthiest man in the world, at least in Final Fantasy VI. It’s an economic hub for players to stock up before setting out.

For six mana, Overture forces target opponent to mill half their library, rounded down.

This is probably the most niche of the Adventures, as six mana in blue isn’t cheap. However, any mill deck would love this. Even control decks might flirt with it, since disrupting an opponent’s deck can be quite powerful. Milling half their deck with Overture before clearing their board with a commander like Sephiroth, Planet's HeirSephiroth, Planet's Heir is absolutely devious.

And, of course, no color excels at returning cards to their hand like blue does. Lands are certainly trickier to return, but if you can do it? That’s high value, even if at a high cost. Definitely worth including in the right circumstances.

#1 - Reactor Raid (Black)

My pick for the best Adventure of this cycle is Midgar, City of MakoMidgar, City of Mako. And based on the popularity of Final Fantasy VII, where it plays a key role as the oppressive and struggling opening area, I shouldn’t be surprised!

For three mana, Reactor Raid allows you to sacrifice an artifact or creature to draw two cards. It's cheap, it draws you cards, and it sacrifices a permanent. All things black loves.

With all the artifact support this set is seeing, you could burn a disposable artifact. But my mind immediately went to Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER. Again, for only three mana, you draw two cards, you gain a life, an opponent loses a life, and you are 25% of the way to transforming Sephiroth.

Reactor Raid gives you value in the early game, the mid game, even the late game. Card draw is invaluable, and sacrificing will contribute towards other triggers.

Far and above, Midgar is supreme.

What Do You Think of the Adventure Lands?

Let me know in the comments! I’m confident Faith & Grief is the worst, even with the artifact support of the set. I’m also set on Reactor Raid, given how flexible it is. I could really shuffle the others around any order, so I’d love to hear what you think!