Final Fantasy set cards | art copyright Wizards of the Coast

With Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy less than ten weeks away, teams at Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix are gearing up for the launch of an ambitious collaboration.

An interview between one outlet and two major figures at Wizards gives us more insights into the process behind this collaboration and hints of what the future may bring.

According to the interview with Gamespot, Lead Magic Designer Gavin Verhey and Wizards Franchise Vice President Rebecca Shepard gave a few interesting anecdotes about this titanic team-up. Here are a few of the major points we gleaned:

A Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Collaboration Effort

Final Fantasy producer Shoichi Ichikawa is a big fan of Magic, as are many members of Square Enix Japan's team. According to Verhey, the team at Square Enix are die-hard Magic players. "[...] One of the team members over there owns a Black LotusBlack Lotus. These are serious Magic players." Shepard corroborated this and added, "Almost every relationship we've had has been that way; Bethesda, for example, has weekly games." Naturally, Square Enix's team was thrilled to work with Wizards of the Coast.

During the team-up, weekly, occasionally more frequent, mid-lockdown Zoom calls allowed Wizards and Square Enix to foster their rapport. As it stands, Square Enix Japan's love of Magic seems to echo Wizards of the Coast's love of Final Fantasy.

On In-Set Representation

All sixteen Final Fantasy games have "plenty of" in-set representation, albeit with a ton of work needed to calibrate this, according to Verhey. Shepard added, "In [Square Enix's] eyes, no one installment is more important than the other."

This proved a challenge regarding the newest Square Enix installment, Final Fantasy XVI. FFXVI was going through active development simultaneously with Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy, and designers had to make promises not to give each other plot spoilers.

Said Verhey, "When [FFXVI] finally launched, there was a week when the four main designers agreed we wouldn't spoil anything for each other, but we'd post what was happening in our chat as we're going saying, 'This should be a card!'"

For the game attributions on the credit lines of cards, Verhey explains

"We then realized that this is another fun storytelling moment--where a player can say, 'I know this, let me tell you where it's from'--and a little indicator on the card that tells you what game it's from can inspire someone to go and look up what was happening there. We thought it was a great little touch; here's the game the card is from, go find out more or ask a friend about it."

Are All The Concepts Present?

The answer to the question " Will everyone be present in the set?" comes with some disclosure-based baggage at this time. "I'm not going to say who is or isn't there, but it's pretty safe to guess that if you're a major hero or antagonist from a game, there's a good chance you have a spot in the set," said Verhey when asked about what characters would show up. However, the set doesn't necessarily have all the series' party members.

That said, many super-obvious nods will likely be in MTGFIN. Triple Triad (the in-universe collectible card game) is unconfirmed, but Verhey has mentioned his team's awareness of its popularity.

Summons, a major Final Fantasy series conceptual staple, proved less of a challenge to the design team. Summon spells were originally designed with vanishing, but were later turned into Sagas with the team's unanimous agreement.

Five double-faced "Sidequest" cards exist within the set, according to the interview.

On Further Design Innovations

Wizards of the Coast also spoke on their "Through The Ages" subset of cards. This is comprised of all reprints from Magic's history. Beyond this, the subset will depict concept art and scenes from Final Fantasy's history. Square Enix personally provided these concept images to Wizards.

Another major win for the set came in the form of Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura's involvement. The two were even involved with this set's creation, according to Gamespot.

However, those involvements will largely remain a surprise for now. Amano did the art for Dragon of Mount Gulg (Ancient Copper DragonAncient Copper Dragon) while Nomura did the art for Yuffie Kisaragi (Yuriko, the Tiger's ShadowYuriko, the Tiger's Shadow).

What Does The Future Hold?

As for the future, Square Enix collaborations may indeed happen. This may be the first time the two sides have collaborated, but it may not be the last.

Universes Beyond partnerships can be upwards of seven years long. "Universes Beyond partnerships can be five-, six-, sometimes seven-year relationships depending on the pipeline," according to Shepard. With the two teams just four years in, we may get even more Square Enix Universes Beyond cards in Magic.

Furthermore, does this mean we are getting something like a Chrono Trigger or Dragon Quest set? We couldn't possibly say. However, with the way Shepard spoke on the collaborative effort, it doesn't appear to be out of the question.

So, these are the main points we've learned from Gavin Verhey and Rebecca Shepard's interview with Gamespot. As it stands currently, Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy is shaping up to be one heck of a cool set. Hopefully, players will be able to be just as hyped for it when it launches on June 13th!