Ranking the Five Crystals of Magic's Final Fantasy Set

<h6 style="text-align: right;">Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</h6>
<p>It's another fine Wednesday, and previews for <em>Final Fantasy</em> are continuing as expected! That means more bangers, some neat cycles, and some great callbacks, sometimes all at once! Let's not dawdle; here are the reveals from Wednesday, May 21st, as well as what we missed on May 20th.</p>
<h2>May 20th's <em>Final Fantasy</em> Previews</h2>
<p>So, shortly after publishing yesterday's recap article, we immediately caught wind of some other previews that slipped past us. It was only a small handful of cards, but regardless, we will show those right now:</p>
<div id="attachment_153684" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Lion-Heart-Arena.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153684" class="wp-image-153684" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Lion-Heart-Arena.jpg" alt="Lion Heart, a new card from Final Fantasy. Previewed on Tuesday, May 20th. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Lion-Heart-Arena.jpg 744w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Lion-Heart-Arena-215x300.jpg 215w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Lion-Heart-Arena-733x1024.jpg 733w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153684" class="wp-caption-text">Lion Heart, a new card from <em>Final Fantasy</em>. Previewed on Tuesday, May 20th. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153685" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Aettir-and-Priwen-english.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153685" class="wp-image-153685" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Aettir-and-Priwen-english.jpg" alt="Aettir and Priwen, a new card from Final Fantasy. Previewed on Tuesday, May 20th. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Aettir-and-Priwen-english.jpg 744w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Aettir-and-Priwen-english-215x300.jpg 215w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Aettir-and-Priwen-english-733x1024.jpg 733w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153685" class="wp-caption-text">Aettir and Priwen, a new card from <em>Final Fantasy</em>. Previewed on Tuesday, May 20th. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>Of note: Lion Heart looks pretty drastically different from how it does in <em>Final Fantasy VIII</em>. This is likely because of the policies Wizards of the Coast has to adhere to when depicting guns and gun-like items (such as Squall's gunblade). The art is still fantastic, make no mistake, but it's also very unlike how we expect Squall's weapon to appear, per se. On to May 21st!</p>
<h2>May 21st Reveals</h2>
<p>Wednesday, May 21st had a fair amount of neat cards for players to spoil themselves with. We got a lot of cards in white and blue, with a small peppering of black and green added as well. In addition, the tentpole uncommon dual land cycle previewed today as well. But enough talk; let's look at the previews!</p>
<div id="attachment_153688" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01a-Crystal-Fragments.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153688" class="wp-image-153688" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01a-Crystal-Fragments.jpg" alt="Crystal Fragments, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01a-Crystal-Fragments.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01a-Crystal-Fragments-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153688" class="wp-caption-text">Crystal Fragments, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153689" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01b-Summon-Alexander.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153689" class="wp-image-153689" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01b-Summon-Alexander.jpg" alt="Summon: Alexander, the rear face of Crystal Fragments. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01b-Summon-Alexander.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01b-Summon-Alexander-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153689" class="wp-caption-text">Summon: Alexander, the rear face of Crystal Fragments. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Magitek Armor</h3>
<div id="attachment_153690" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Magitek-Armor.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153690" class="wp-image-153690" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Magitek-Armor.jpg" alt="Magitek Armor, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Magitek-Armor.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Magitek-Armor-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153690" class="wp-caption-text">Magitek Armor, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Slash of Light</h3>
<div id="attachment_153691" style="width: 407px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-Slash-of-Light.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153691" class="wp-image-153691" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-Slash-of-Light.png" alt="Slash of Light, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="397" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-Slash-of-Light.png 366w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-Slash-of-Light-213x300.png 213w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 397px) 100vw, 397px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153691" class="wp-caption-text">Slash of Light, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Clash of the Eikons</h3>
<div id="attachment_153698" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/14-Clash-of-the-Eikons.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153698" class="wp-image-153698" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/14-Clash-of-the-Eikons.jpg" alt="Clash of the Eikons, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/14-Clash-of-the-Eikons.jpg 265w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/14-Clash-of-the-Eikons-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153698" class="wp-caption-text">Clash of the Eikons, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Garnet, Princess of Alexandria</h3>
<div id="attachment_153697" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/13-Garnet-Princess-of-Alexandria.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153697" class="wp-image-153697" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/13-Garnet-Princess-of-Alexandria.jpg" alt="Garnet, Princess of Alexandria, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/13-Garnet-Princess-of-Alexandria.jpg 265w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/13-Garnet-Princess-of-Alexandria-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153697" class="wp-caption-text">Garnet, Princess of Alexandria, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Qiqirn Merchant</h3>
<div id="attachment_153696" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Qiqirn-Merchant.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153696" class="wp-image-153696" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Qiqirn-Merchant.jpg" alt="Qiqirn Merchant, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Qiqirn-Merchant.jpg 265w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Qiqirn-Merchant-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153696" class="wp-caption-text">Qiqirn Merchant, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Locke Cole</h3>
<div id="attachment_153695" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Locke-Cole.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153695" class="wp-image-153695" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Locke-Cole.png" alt="Locke Cole, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Locke-Cole.png 716w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Locke-Cole-215x300.png 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153695" class="wp-caption-text">Locke Cole, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Ether</h3>
<div id="attachment_153694" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-Ether.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153694" class="wp-image-153694" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-Ether.jpg" alt="Ether, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-Ether.jpg 744w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-Ether-215x300.jpg 215w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-Ether-733x1024.jpg 733w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153694" class="wp-caption-text">Ether, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Snow Villiers</h3>
<div id="attachment_153693" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Snow-Villiers.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153693" class="wp-image-153693" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Snow-Villiers.png" alt="Snow Villiers, a new card from MTGFIN. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Snow-Villiers.png 265w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Snow-Villiers-215x300.png 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153693" class="wp-caption-text">Snow Villiers, a new card from <em>MTGFIN</em>. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Omega, the Heartless (English Name Currently Pending)</h3>
<p>Of note, there was one card spoiled that still doesn't have an English render yet. That card is (tentatively) called Omega, the Heartless. That card's gameplay mechanics are not in question, although the name and any added flavor text are, at current. However, here is what that card does, along with its Japanese render:</p>
<blockquote><p>Omega, the Heartless <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-5" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span><span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span></p>
<p>Legendary Artifact Creature - Robot (U)</p>
<p><em>Wave Cannon</em> - When Omega enters, for each opponent, tap up to one nonland permanent that player controls. Put X stun counters on each of those permanents and you gain X life, where X is the number of nonbasic lands you control. <em>(If a permanent with a stun counter would become untapped, instead remove a stun counter from it.)</em></p>
<p>8/8</p></blockquote>
<div id="attachment_153692" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Omega-the-Heartless-Japanese.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153692" class="wp-image-153692" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Omega-the-Heartless-Japanese.png" alt="Omega, the Heartless, a card from Final Fantasy, here shown in Japanese (actual name pending). Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="400" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Omega-the-Heartless-Japanese.png 744w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Omega-the-Heartless-Japanese-215x300.png 215w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Omega-the-Heartless-Japanese-733x1024.png 733w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153692" class="wp-caption-text">Omega, the Heartless, a card from <em>Final Fantasy</em>, here shown in Japanese (actual name pending). Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>The Town cycle</h3>
<p>Finally, the Town cycle of uncommon dual lands has also been revealed! These don't have additional effects or anything besides entering tapped. Still, they're pretty nice callbacks to various locations in the <em>Final Fantasy</em> series' many games. Take a look!</p>
<div id="attachment_153699" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153699" class="wp-image-153699" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands.jpg" alt="The cycle of ten Town dual lands from Final Fantasy. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="600" height="334" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands.jpg 2048w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands-300x167.jpg 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands-1024x570.jpg 1024w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands-768x427.jpg 768w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Town-lands-1536x854.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153699" class="wp-caption-text">The cycle of ten Town dual lands from Final Fantasy. Previewed on Wednesday, May 21st. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>If you are looking at this article via a mobile device or otherwise can't see the names of these cards, we can offer nine of the ten (the tenth is in Japanese, so the name can't be confirmed):</p>
<ul>
<li>White-blue: Sharlayan, Nation of Scholars, from <em>FFXIV</em></li>
<li>Blue-black: Treno, Dark City, from <em>FFIX</em></li>
<li>Black-red: Vector, Imperial Capital, from <em>FFVI</em></li>
<li>Red-green: Gongaga, Reactor Town, from <em>FFVII</em></li>
<li>Green-white: Windurst, Federation Center, from <em>FFXI</em></li>
<li>White-black: Insomnia, Crown City, from <em>FFXV</em></li>
<li>Blue-red: Baron, Airship Kingdom, from <em>FFIV</em></li>
<li>Black-green: Gohn, Town of Ruin, from <em>FFV</em></li>
<li>Red-white: [Rabanastre], from <em>FFXII</em></li>
<li>Green-blue: Guadosalam, Farplane Getaway, from <em>FFX</em></li>
</ul>
<h2>Tomorrow Is Another Day</h2>
<p>We will assuredly have more <em>Final Fantasy </em>previews available tomorrow. Until then, we'll open the floor to you, dear readers. Are you currently building any particular <em>Final Fantasy</em>-centric decks? Are you doing so for Standard, Commander, or any other formats? Do the spoilers from today pique your interest when building them? Sound off below!</p>


Best Final Fantasy Spoilers For Wednesday, May 21st

Best Final Fantasy Spoilers From Tuesday, May 20th

<p>With week 2 of <em>Final Fantasy</em> previews well underway, Tuesday, May 20th's <a href="http://twitch.tv/magic">WeeklyMTG Twitch stream</a> got in on the action! This week, the stream focused on the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Therein, Wizards of the Coast revealed eleven cards. But what were they? Well, we will elaborate!</p>
<h2><em>Final Fantasy Through the Ages</em></h2>
<p>Overall, WeeklyMTG showcased ten cards from <em>Through the Ages</em>, putting the current count for revealed cards from the bonus sheet to 53 out of 64. We will focus on what that means at the moment in a bit. But for now, we're guessing you want to see those cards, so here they are!</p>
<h2><em>Through the Ages</em> Previews</h2>
<h3>Wild Rose Rebellion</h3>
<div id="attachment_153530" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Wild-Rose-Rebellion-Counterspell-FFII.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153530" class="wp-image-153530" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Wild-Rose-Rebellion-Counterspell-FFII.jpg" alt="Counterspell reskinned as &quot;Wild Rose Rebellion&quot;, a scene from FFII depicted in Final Fantasy's Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Wild-Rose-Rebellion-Counterspell-FFII.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/01-Wild-Rose-Rebellion-Counterspell-FFII-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153530" class="wp-caption-text">Counterspell reskinned as "Wild Rose Rebellion", a scene from <em>FFII</em> depicted in <em>Final Fantasy</em>'s <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Crystal of Altar Cave</h3>
<div id="attachment_153531" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Crystal-of-Altar-Cave-Chromatic-Lantern-FFIII.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153531" class="wp-image-153531" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Crystal-of-Altar-Cave-Chromatic-Lantern-FFIII.jpg" alt="Chromatic Lantern reskinned as &quot;Crystal of Altar Cave&quot;, a major plot point from FFIII depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Crystal-of-Altar-Cave-Chromatic-Lantern-FFIII.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/02-Crystal-of-Altar-Cave-Chromatic-Lantern-FFIII-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153531" class="wp-caption-text">Chromatic Lantern reskinned as "Crystal of Altar Cave", a major plot point from <em>FFIII</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>To the Crystal Tower</h3>
<div id="attachment_153532" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-To-the-Crystal-Tower-Cryptic-Command-FFIII.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153532" class="wp-image-153532" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-To-the-Crystal-Tower-Cryptic-Command-FFIII.jpg" alt="Cryptic Command reskinned as &quot;To the Crystal Tower&quot;, a scene from FFIII depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-To-the-Crystal-Tower-Cryptic-Command-FFIII.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/03-To-the-Crystal-Tower-Cryptic-Command-FFIII-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153532" class="wp-caption-text">Cryptic Command reskinned as "To the Crystal Tower", a scene from <em>FFIII</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Kefka Palazzo</h3>
<div id="attachment_153533" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Kefka-Palazzo-Purphoros-God-of-the-Forge-FFVI.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153533" class="wp-image-153533" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Kefka-Palazzo-Purphoros-God-of-the-Forge-FFVI.jpg" alt="Purphoros, God of the Forge reskinned as &quot;Kefka Palazzo&quot;, a character from FFVI depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Kefka-Palazzo-Purphoros-God-of-the-Forge-FFVI.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/04-Kefka-Palazzo-Purphoros-God-of-the-Forge-FFVI-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153533" class="wp-caption-text">Purphoros, God of the Forge reskinned as "Kefka Palazzo", a character from <em>FFVI</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Darkness of Eternity</h3>
<div id="attachment_153534" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Darkness-of-Eternity-Dark-Ritual-FFIX.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153534" class="wp-image-153534" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Darkness-of-Eternity-Dark-Ritual-FFIX.jpg" alt="Dark Ritual reskinned as &quot;Darkness of Eternity&quot;, a pivotal moment from FFIX depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Darkness-of-Eternity-Dark-Ritual-FFIX.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-Darkness-of-Eternity-Dark-Ritual-FFIX-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153534" class="wp-caption-text">Dark Ritual reskinned as "Darkness of Eternity", a pivotal moment from <em>FFIX</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Fal'Cie Paradise</h3>
<div id="attachment_153535" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-FalCie-Paradise-Carpet-of-Flowers-FFXIII.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153535" class="wp-image-153535" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-FalCie-Paradise-Carpet-of-Flowers-FFXIII.jpg" alt="Carpet of Flowers reskinned as &quot;Fal'Cie Paradise&quot;, a scene from FFXIII depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-FalCie-Paradise-Carpet-of-Flowers-FFXIII.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/06-FalCie-Paradise-Carpet-of-Flowers-FFXIII-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153535" class="wp-caption-text">Carpet of Flowers reskinned as "Fal'Cie Paradise", a scene from <em>FFXIII</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Newfound Adventure</h3>
<div id="attachment_153536" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Newfound-Adventure-Farseek-FFXIV.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153536" class="wp-image-153536" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Newfound-Adventure-Farseek-FFXIV.jpg" alt="Farseek reskinned as &quot;Newfound Adventure&quot;, a scene from FFXIV depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Newfound-Adventure-Farseek-FFXIV.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/07-Newfound-Adventure-Farseek-FFXIV-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153536" class="wp-caption-text">Farseek reskinned as "Newfound Adventure", a scene from <em>FFXIV</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Blessing of the Oracle</h3>
<div id="attachment_153537" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Blessing-of-the-Oracle-Akromas-Will-FFXV.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153537" class="wp-image-153537" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Blessing-of-the-Oracle-Akromas-Will-FFXV.jpg" alt="Akroma's Will reskinned as &quot;Blessing of the Oracle&quot;, a scene from FFXV depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Blessing-of-the-Oracle-Akromas-Will-FFXV.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/08-Blessing-of-the-Oracle-Akromas-Will-FFXV-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153537" class="wp-caption-text">Akroma's Will reskinned as "Blessing of the Oracle", a scene from <em>FFXV</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Astral Titan</h3>
<div id="attachment_153538" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/09-Astral-Titan-Primeval-Titan-FFXV.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153538" class="wp-image-153538" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/09-Astral-Titan-Primeval-Titan-FFXV.jpg" alt="Primeval Titan reskinned as &quot;Astral Titan&quot;, a creature from FFXV depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/09-Astral-Titan-Primeval-Titan-FFXV.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/09-Astral-Titan-Primeval-Titan-FFXV-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153538" class="wp-caption-text">Primeval Titan reskinned as "Astral Titan", a creature from <em>FFXV</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Benedikta Harman</h3>
<div id="attachment_153539" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/10-Benedikta-Harman-Ishai-Ojutai-Dragonspeaker-FFXVI.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153539" class="wp-image-153539" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/10-Benedikta-Harman-Ishai-Ojutai-Dragonspeaker-FFXVI.jpg" alt="Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker reskinned as &quot;Benedikta Harman&quot;, a character from FFXVI depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/10-Benedikta-Harman-Ishai-Ojutai-Dragonspeaker-FFXVI.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/10-Benedikta-Harman-Ishai-Ojutai-Dragonspeaker-FFXVI-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153539" class="wp-caption-text">Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker reskinned as "Benedikta Harman", a character from <em>FFXVI</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h3>Clive Rosfeld</h3>
<div id="attachment_153541" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/11-Clive-Rosfield-Vial-Smasher-the-Fierce-FFXVI.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153541" class="wp-image-153541" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/11-Clive-Rosfield-Vial-Smasher-the-Fierce-FFXVI.jpg" alt="Vial Smasher the Fierce reskinned as &quot;Clive Rosfeld&quot;, the main character from FFXVI depicted in the Through the Ages bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/11-Clive-Rosfield-Vial-Smasher-the-Fierce-FFXVI.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/11-Clive-Rosfield-Vial-Smasher-the-Fierce-FFXVI-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153541" class="wp-caption-text">Vial Smasher the Fierce reskinned as "Clive Rosfeld", the main character from <em>FFXVI</em> depicted in the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h2><em>Through the Ages</em> Game Crunch</h2>
<p>So, there are 53 of 64 cards from <em>Through the Ages</em> currently previewed at the time of writing. With four cards from each mainline <em>Final Fantasy</em> game on the bonus sheet, that means there are a fair few <em>Through the Ages</em> cards left to showcase. But what games are there left to preview for? Let's break it down:</p>
<ul>
<li><em>FFI</em> 0</li>
<li><em>FFII</em> 0</li>
<li><em>FFIII</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFIV</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFV</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFVI</em> 0</li>
<li><em>FFVII</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFVIII</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFIX</em> 2</li>
<li><em>FFX</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFXI</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFXII</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFXIII</em> 0</li>
<li><em>FFXIV</em> 0</li>
<li><em>FFXV</em> 1</li>
<li><em>FFXVI</em> 0</li>
</ul>
<p>At this time, that means that we are still awaiting two previews for <em>Through the Ages</em> for <em>Final Fantasy IX</em>, one from each of <em>FFIII</em>, <em>FFIV</em>, <em>FFV</em>, <em>FFVII</em>, <em>FFVIII</em>, <em>FFX</em>, <em>FFXI</em>, <em>FFXII</em>, and <em>FFXV</em>. After those eleven cards, that's it for the sheet.</p>
<p>With that firmly in mind, what do you think we will see for some of the yet-unrevealed cards? Do you think any particular <em>Final Fantasy</em> characters will definitely make it into this bonus sheet? What do you think <em>won't</em> make it in? Sound off below!</p>


Final Fantasy Through The Ages Sheet WeeklyMTG Reveals

Vivi Ornitier Commander Deck Tech

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian" href="#" target="_blank">Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Illustrated by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pauliusdscr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paulius Dascioras</a></em></p>
<p>Have you always wondered what it would be like to raise armies for fun and profit? Has your research brought you to the brink of madness, delirium, or, at the very least, some other valid graveyard-based strategies? If so, dear reader, then you're in luck! This Commander deck tech revolving around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian" href="#" target="_blank">Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a character from <em>Final Fantasy XIV</em>, is sure to raise eyebrows, if not entire bodies!</p>
<p>In the context of <em>FFXIV</em>, Fandaniel is an <a href="https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/a_realm_reborn/world/#!/threats/content?threats_08" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ascian</a>, or a "Bringer of Chaos," as it were. He's allied with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zenos yae Galvus" href="#" target="_blank">Zenos yae Galvus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, one of the game's central antagonists, and is a secondary antagonist in <em>Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers</em>.</p>
<p>In the context of <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>, Fandaniel is an excellent source of self-mill for you, and an even better source of life loss for your opponents.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian"></div></div>
<h2>What Does Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian Do?</h2>
<p>To succinctly describe Fandaniel's abilities and how they measure in the context of Commander, we must look at them through the lens of his having <em>four</em> abilities, not just the two as printed. The first ability, which allows you to surveil 2 when you cast an instant or sorcery spell, can quickly fill your graveyard when you desire. However, this ability also grants you card selection. Surveiling, like scrying, doesn't <em>force</em> you to put the cards you see into the graveyard, after all. In fact, you put the cards back on top in any order if you don't put them there!</p>
<p>For that reason, the surveil ability is more like half of a copy of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Index" href="#" target="_blank">Index</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (rounded down) for the price of casting something entirely different! That's two abilities in one.</p>
<p>Now, let's look at his other ability. At your end step, your opponents choose how this ability affects them, with there being two choices. On an individual basis, your opponents will either sacrifice a nontoken creature or they will lose a <em>lot</em> of life. Usually abilities that allow opponents to pick their poison are not incredibly beneficial to you. Generally, a discerning opponent will choose the option that benefits them the most (read here as "hurts them the least"). However, if you can either a) limit their options or b) make both options positively sting, none of that will truly matter to you. You couldn't care less about the pain, but your opponents certainly will.</p>
<h3>Breaking the Chain With Fandaniel</h3>
<p>For this deck, we want to look at Fandaniel as an optimal reanimator commander. As a five-mana creature, my thoughts immediately go to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chainer, Dementia Master" href="#" target="_blank">Chainer, Dementia Master</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. However, as a mono-black commander that cares immensely about instants and sorceries, I have other thoughts as well (more on those shortly). For a moment, though, let's quickly talk about reanimation in a Chainer deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chainer, Dementia Master"></div></div>
<p>Generally speaking, I find Chainer to be utterly fascinating. Of all the content I've written throughout my writing career, he's been my most discussed commander. To date, I've written three whole articles on the card. However, Chainer is a reanimator commander that couldn't be further from Fandaniel in a variety of ways. For one, Chainer <em>actually</em> reanimates creatures, while Fandaniel fills your graveyard and potentially others' as well. Chainer isn't limited to your turn, while Fandaniel is somewhat stuck triggering at your end step. And, perhaps most damning of all, Chainer has downsides in costing mana to resurrect things as well as that nasty leaves-the-battlefield trigger he has. Fandaniel is all upside.</p>
<h3>A Common Link In Support</h3>
<p>Truth be told, they complement each other nicely for these reasons. Fandaniel enables Chainer (and others) as a more support-focused card, put simply. This is where that prior comparison I alluded to comes in: Fandaniel is Chainer support in a similar but slightly different way to <em>Portal Three </em><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em>Kingdoms</em>'</span> own <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed" href="#" target="_blank">Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed"></div></div>
<p>Hear me out. Xiahou Dun might be a $90-$150 card (depending on what printing you want), but his effect is novel and supports both of these commanders in a huge way. Far and away, Xiahou Dun is the most expensive card to grace this deck tech, but it's also unique for what it does. In the exact same vein as how you can bring creatures back with it, Xiahou Dun allows you to also bring back instant and sorcery cards. The synergy is there, and it is in the slinging of spells.</p>
<h3>It Takes an Ascian to Raise a Family</h3>
<p>This brings us to the strategy portion of this deck tech. As this is a reanimator deck, we want to fill our grave with creatures and bring them back with our instant and sorcery spells. Put plainly, in the early game, we want to ramp up to 5 mana at least with our 50 or so mana sources while filling our graveyard. Then, in the mid-game, we want to start slinging spells left and right to gain value off of our card selection and continued self-mill. This should allow us to bring a few haymaker creatures back from the dead in the process. Finally, we want to cause such a tough ultimatum for our opponents that they can't help but lose the game.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Fandaniel</h2>
<p>Fandaniel, as a reanimation commander, needs a lot of build-around support. After all, he himself doesn't reanimate. To that end, we have to curate our deck around the goal we're setting: raising the dead for fun and profit!</p>
<h3>Grouping #1: Self-Mill</h3>
<p>To kickstart this deck's overall game plan, we need a way to get cards into the graveyard. After all, the grave is our spawn point for a great many cards! Notable cards that help assist with this include <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Syr Konrad, the Grim" href="#" target="_blank">Syr Konrad, the Grim</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oriq Loremage" href="#" target="_blank">Oriq Loremage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and dredgers <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stinkweed Imp" href="#" target="_blank">Stinkweed Imp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Golgari Thug" href="#" target="_blank">Golgari Thug</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doom Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">Doom Whisperer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, while a good reanimation target in its own right, also serves as a strong self-mill piece. And let's not neglect to mention <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Warring Triad" href="#" target="_blank">The Warring Triad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a new card from the <em>Final Fantasy</em> Commander decks. Apparently, being able to provide double-duty in the early game (both self-mill <em>and</em> mana acceleration) is quite potent.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oriq Loremage"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Warring Triad"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Doom Whisperer"></div></div>
<p>Okay, we have a sizable graveyard. So now what?</p>
<h3>Grouping #2: Reanimation Spells</h3>
<p>To cast a reanimation spell with this <em>Final Fantasy</em> legend is tricky. Whenever we cast an instant or sorcery, we have to adhere to a couple of rules:</p>
<ol>
<li>When we select targets, we haven't yet cast the spell. As such, cards we surveil away won't be legal resurrection targets.</li>
<li>We want instants and sorceries in the graveyard, but not the ones that revive our creatures. At least, this is true in the short term. To that end, we don't want to surveil those away unless there's no use for them, which is a rare situation by the time we have Fandaniel in play.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, in order to maximize our value, we don't necessarily want to run resurrection-based enchantments, so <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Animate Dead" href="#" target="_blank">Animate Dead</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necromancy" href="#" target="_blank">Necromancy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are out while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stitch Together" href="#" target="_blank">Stitch Together</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reanimate" href="#" target="_blank">Reanimate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> proper, and the new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rejoin the Fight" href="#" target="_blank">Rejoin the Fight</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are all in.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reanimate"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rejoin the Fight"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Stitch Together"></div></div>
<p>There are couple of exceptions here. Reanimation that repeats itself, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Strands of Night" href="#" target="_blank">Strands of Night</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for instance, feels good for when or if you run out of fuel. And don't think we forgot about creatures that can do the job as well! That's the second main exception. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sheoldred, Whispering One" href="#" target="_blank">Sheoldred, Whispering One</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Delver" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Delver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doomed Necromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Doomed Necromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> all can take part in this. Furthermore, the new <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ardyn, the Usurper" href="#" target="_blank">Ardyn, the Usurper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from <em>Final Fantasy</em> does a similar trick. We have to appreciate the ingenuity of a creature that brings back friends.</p>
<p>On that note, we include both of the aforementioned legendary mono-black Reanimator creatures as well. Importantly, Xiahou Dun will bring back our black spells for even more mileage.</p>
<p>That's the main idea for how to resurrect things. On to payoffs!</p>
<h3>Grouping #3: Reanimation Targets</h3>
<p>Let's discuss various targets for our resurrection spells. This section can be curated to taste, but we have a few particularly nice ones in here. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archon of Cruelty" href="#" target="_blank">Archon of Cruelty</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a modern classic (and a Modern classic, to boot!). <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vilis, Broker of Blood" href="#" target="_blank">Vilis, Broker of Blood</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> allows you to trade some pain for cards, which is important as life is a resource to the discerning black-aligned planeswalker. We even have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Massacre Wurm" href="#" target="_blank">Massacre Wurm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as a minor board wipe that can, potentially, discourage further board wipes down the road.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Archon of Cruelty"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vilis, Broker of Blood"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Massacre Wurm"></div></div>
<p>When talking about the life loss that Vilis or Chainer inflict upon you, we need to talk about mitigation. Not only is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sangromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Sangromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> a strong inclusion here for its lifegain opportunities, as a flyer, it can prove remarkably helpful in a pinch. We also have the tried-and-true duo of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kokusho, the Evening Star" href="#" target="_blank">Kokusho, the Evening Star</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gray Merchant of Asphodel" href="#" target="_blank">Gray Merchant of Asphodel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to drain opponents to their doom. How fun!</p>
<h2>How Does Fandaniel Win?</h2>
<p>As you'd expect, this deck wants to win by either making opponents unable to prevent losing a ton of life, or simply drains and damages them to death by a horde of ultimately unkillable creatures. The most ideal scenario here is this: by the end of the game, your opponents will lose on your turn because they have no creatures in play and so can't sacrifice them to sate Fandaniel's ability. To this end, obligatory board wipes are nice to have handy.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you could also cast and recast <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Temporal Extortion" href="#" target="_blank">Temporal Extortion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with a repeatedly-resurrected Xiahou Dun, but I hear tell that chaining extra turns is a bit icky. Thankfully, your opponents can choose to let that happen; that frees you from the onus (kind of)!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Temporal Extortion"></div></div>
<h2>Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Altar of Dementia
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Ashnod&#039;s Altar
*1 Sol Ring
*1 The Darkness Crystal
*1 Thought Vessel
*1 Whip of Erebos
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Archon of Cruelty
*1 Ardyn, the Usurper
*1 Bog Witch
*1 Braids, Arisen Nightmare
*1 Chainer, Dementia Master
*1 Crypt Ghast
*1 Dimir House Guard
*1 Doom Whisperer
*1 Doomed Necromancer
*1 Evin, Waterdeep Opportunist
*1 Golgari Thug
*1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
*1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
*1 Magus of the Will
*1 Massacre Wurm
*1 Oriq Loremage
*1 Phyrexian Delver
*1 Pitiless Plunderer
*1 Sangromancer
*1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Stinkweed Imp
*1 Stitcher&#039;s Supplier
*1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
*1 The Warring Triad
*1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
*1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bitterblossom
*1 Chthonian Nightmare
*1 Dictate of Erebos
*1 Necropotence
*1 Strands of Night
*1 Teval&#039;s Judgment
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Bubbling Muck
*1 Damnation
*1 Dead of Winter
*1 Dread Return
*1 Exhume
*1 Final Parting
*1 Nightmare Void
*1 Reanimate
*1 Rejoin the Fight
*1 Stitch Together
*1 Temporal Extortion
*1 Toxic Deluge
*1 Victimize
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Cabal Ritual
*1 Dark Ritual
*1 Darkblast
*1 Darkness
*1 Espers to Magicite
*1 Fell the Profane // Fell Mire
*1 Sacrifice
*1 Snuff Out
*1 Withering Boon
*1 Withering Torment
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Cabal Coffers
*1 Command Beacon
*1 Dakmor Salvage
*1 Fabled Passage
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Scrying Sheets
*1 Shizo, Death&#039;s Storehouse
*20 Snow-Covered Swamp
*1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
*1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
*1 Verdant Catacombs
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2><em>Final Fantasy</em>? More Like Final Fandaniel!</h2>
<p>To conclude, Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian is a new commander from <em>Final Fantasy</em> that's fun for the whole Fandaniel! ...To be fair, I am not sorry for that pun, but I'm <em>also</em> not sorry for providing this deck tech! If it has helped inspire you to look at this card in an inspired light, sound off below! Furthermore, you can check out any of our other deck techs, including <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/group-slugging-with-kefka-court-mage">this one</a> for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kefka, Court Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kefka, Court Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>


Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian Reanimator Commander Deck Tech

<p>The <em>Final Fantasy</em> preview season is now in full swing, and official spoilers are popping up left and right. As such, we're rolling out a daily spoiler recap so players can look for these previews before their addition into the official <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/products/final-fantasy/card-image-gallery">Card Image Gallery</a> for the set. So, without further ado, here are the official reveals from Monday, May 19th!</p>
<h2><em>Final Fantasy</em> Reveals</h2>
<p>First, let's look at the spoilers from the <em>Final Fantasy</em> set proper. Five have been revealed so far today.</p>
<div id="attachment_153390" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Coral-Sword.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153390" class="wp-image-153390" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Coral-Sword.jpg" alt="Coral Sword, a new card from Final Fantasy. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Coral-Sword.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Coral-Sword-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153390" class="wp-caption-text">Coral Sword, a new card from <em>Final Fantasy</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153394" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Syncopate.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153394" class="wp-image-153394" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Syncopate.jpg" alt="Syncopate, a reprinted card from Final Fantasy. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Syncopate.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Syncopate-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153394" class="wp-caption-text">Syncopate, a reprinted card from <em>Final Fantasy</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153393" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Queen-Brahne.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153393" class="wp-image-153393" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Queen-Brahne.jpg" alt="Queen Brahne, a new card from MTGFIN. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Queen-Brahne.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Queen-Brahne-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153393" class="wp-caption-text">Queen Brahne, a new card from MTGFIN. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153392" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lindblum-Industrial-Regency.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153392" class="wp-image-153392" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lindblum-Industrial-Regency.jpg" alt="Lindblum, Industrial Regency, a new card from MTGFIN. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lindblum-Industrial-Regency.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lindblum-Industrial-Regency-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153392" class="wp-caption-text">Lindblum, Industrial Regency, a new card from MTGFIN. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153391" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haste-Magic.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153391" class="wp-image-153391" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haste-Magic.jpg" alt="Haste Magic, a new card from MTGFIN. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haste-Magic.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Haste-Magic-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153391" class="wp-caption-text">Haste Magic, a new card from MTGFIN. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>The previews for <em>Final Fantasy</em> from May 19th are mostly red-centric, with a few outliers, especially from the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet. In terms of the main set, we mainly got spoilers of lower rarities, with Lindblum, Industrial Regency as the one rare from the main set as of the time of writing.</p>
<p>For those collecting cards from specific games in the series, the spoilers today yielded cards from <em>FFV</em>, <em>FFVII</em>, <em>FFIX</em>, and one reprinted card - <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Syncopate" href="#" target="_blank">Syncopate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> - from <em>FFX</em>. A fine haul going into Week 2 of previews!</p>
<h3><em>Through The Ages</em> Bonus Sheet</h3>
<p><em>Through the Ages</em>, the bonus sheet for the set, continues to produce some really cool previews. Getting a reprint of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kraum, Ludevic&#039;s Opus" href="#" target="_blank">Kraum, Ludevic&#039;s Opus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, for example, really seems like a bang-up job from the set design team. Meanwhile. seeing <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire" href="#" target="_blank">Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as Ardyn from <em>FFXV</em> feels like a home run, flavor-wise.</p>
<div id="attachment_153395" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A-Promise-Fulfilled-Light-Up-The-Stage.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153395" class="wp-image-153395" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A-Promise-Fulfilled-Light-Up-The-Stage.jpg" alt="A Promise Fulfilled, a reskin of Light Up the Stage, originally printed in Guilds of Ravnica. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A-Promise-Fulfilled-Light-Up-The-Stage.jpg 488w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A-Promise-Fulfilled-Light-Up-The-Stage-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153395" class="wp-caption-text">A Promise Fulfilled, a reskin of Light Up the Stage, originally printed in <em>Guilds of Ravnica</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153396" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ardyn-Izunia-Varragoth-Bloodsky-Sire.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153396" class="wp-image-153396" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ardyn-Izunia-Varragoth-Bloodsky-Sire.jpg" alt="Ardyn Izunia, a reskin of Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire, originally printed in Kaldheim. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ardyn-Izunia-Varragoth-Bloodsky-Sire.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ardyn-Izunia-Varragoth-Bloodsky-Sire-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153396" class="wp-caption-text">Ardyn Izunia, a reskin of Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire, originally printed in <em>Kaldheim</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<div id="attachment_153397" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Barnabas-Tharmr-Kraum-Ludevics-Opus.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153397" class="wp-image-153397" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Barnabas-Tharmr-Kraum-Ludevics-Opus.jpg" alt="Barnabas Tharmr, a reskin of Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, originally printed in Commander 2016. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Barnabas-Tharmr-Kraum-Ludevics-Opus.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Barnabas-Tharmr-Kraum-Ludevics-Opus-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153397" class="wp-caption-text">Barnabas Tharmr, a reskin of Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, originally printed in <em>Commander 2016</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>Overall, with nearly two weeks left in preview season, we can hardly believe that Wizards of the Coast has already revealed so many cool cards! Even today's previews make us wonder what tomorrow holds.</p>
<p>How do you feel about the previews so far? Are you enthused by the set thus far? And how about the bonus sheet? Are there any characters or concepts from <em>Final Fantasy</em> that you're awaiting but haven't graced <em>Through the Ages</em> yet? Sound off below!</p>


Best Final Fantasy Spoilers for Monday, May 19th

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ultimecia, Time Sorceress" href="#" target="_blank">Ultimecia, Time Sorceress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://scryfall.com/search?q=a%3A%E2%80%9CMikio+Masuda%E2%80%9D&amp;unique=art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mikio Masuda</a></em></p>
<p>Five-mana Dimir legend, surveils two when it enters and attacks, yeah yeah, whatever. It has a transform cost for eight mana that you can activate if you exile eight cards from your graveyard. Is there anything interesting that this card does? What's the backside? 7/7, menace, ok cool. TAKE AN EXTRA TURN?! What the heck is this? Never before has it been possible to take an extra turn in pEDH (or Pauper Commander), as there's never been a common or uncommon card with that effect. But with the arrival of <em>Final Fantasy</em>, we've got a commander that can stretch time out for us.</p>
<p>Is thirteen mana and eight cards from our graveyard a good price to pay for an extra turn? Absolutely not. But come on, it's an extra turn. We've got the opportunity to do something never done before. So let's not waste any time!</p>
<h2><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ultimecia, Time Sorceress" href="#" target="_blank">Ultimecia, Time Sorceress</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards side-by-side"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ultimecia, Time Sorceress"></div></div>
<p>Ok, so what exactly are we gonna do with Ultimecia? Well, we're gonna take as many extra turns as possible. What else would we do with her? Our goal here is just to trigger her ability over and over again. Once we do that, we'll just win with the insane advantage that extra turns give.</p>
<p>Conveniently, I instantly spotted an easy way to retrigger Ultimecia. Even though the card is designed to only do it's thing once, if we blink it while it's transformed, it'll go back to the front face, and then all we have to do to get that extra turn is retransform it. Simple enough, and there's no shortage of cards that'll do that for us. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Displace" href="#" target="_blank">Displace</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Flicker" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Flicker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Time Twist" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Time Twist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Siren&#039;s Ruse" href="#" target="_blank">Siren&#039;s Ruse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and a few others will do nicely. In total, we have eight cards that can be used to blink our commander, that range from the efficiency of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Essence Flux" href="#" target="_blank">Essence Flux</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Skyskipper Duo" href="#" target="_blank">Skyskipper Duo</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghostly Flicker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Essence Flux"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skyskipper Duo"></div></div>
<p>Now eight isn't a whole lot, and I did consider adding cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Not Dead After All" href="#" target="_blank">Not Dead After All</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>to the mix. This is part of a trick I've used many times, and it involves casting <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Not Dead After All" href="#" target="_blank">Not Dead After All</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, then sacrificing the targeted creature, essentially replicating a blink effect. It basically doubles the amount of blink spells you can have in a blue-black deck, and the only cost is having to play some sacrifice outlets. But here we have enough card advantage to find our blink spells. And if not, we're running a few transmute tutors like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Muddle the Mixture" href="#" target="_blank">Muddle the Mixture</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Not Dead After All"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Muddle the Mixture"></div></div>
<p>Still, the only thing we're doing is taking extra turns for an absurd cost, so it's not like we're losing a lot if we can't do that ten times.</p>
<h2>Fueling the Ultimecia Extra Turns Engine</h2>
<p>The next thing to figure out is how we're gonna get eight cards into our graveyard every time we want to activate Ultimecia. I thought it wouldn't be a difficult task, but consistent mill is surprisingly difficult to find in pEDH. Our commander surveils two cards every time it enters, so all we really need to do is find six more cards. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sage&#039;s Row Denizen" href="#" target="_blank">Sage&#039;s Row Denizen</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would add two every time we blink our commander, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sinister Starfish" href="#" target="_blank">Sinister Starfish</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deranged Assistant" href="#" target="_blank">Deranged Assistant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> could also do some work. But the only other thing we could really rely on would be <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tome Scour" href="#" target="_blank">Tome Scour</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dream Twist" href="#" target="_blank">Dream Twist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and that's pretty inefficient.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sage&#039;s Row Denizen"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deranged Assistant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tome Scour"></div></div>
<p>So after coming to the conclusion that I didn't really want to run a card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pelargir Survivor" href="#" target="_blank">Pelargir Survivor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, I jumped to a solution I knew would work, even if it came with some downsides. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persistent Petitioners" href="#" target="_blank">Persistent Petitioners</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are absolutely incredible at milling. Get four of them on the board, and you can mill twelve cards every single turn. That's nuts! And as a little bonus, the numbers line up so that you'd only have to activate them twice to fuel our commander for three turns. Perfect!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Persistent Petitioners"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Persistent Petitioners"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Persistent Petitioners"></div></div>
<p>But about that downside I mentioned. Because <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persistent Petitioners" href="#" target="_blank">Persistent Petitioners</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are so reliant on each other, you need to absolutely guarantee that you're gonna find four of them every single game. Twenty-eight copies is my personal minimum. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem at all, because milling would be your primary game plan, but here, we're only using it to supplement our primary strategy of blinking our commander for extra turns. That means we're taking up a lot of space with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persistent Petitioners" href="#" target="_blank">Persistent Petitioners</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that we'd rather use on blink spells, or ramp.</p>
<p>The upsides of the Petitioners definitely outweigh the downsides, but it means we're gonna have to really make the most out of our other 43 cards, if we're running 31 lands. Sorry, 30 cards. We're using 13 slots for blink cards and tutors for blink. I think I want to use ten of those slots for ramp, and maybe five of them for card draw like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Night&#039;s Whisper" href="#" target="_blank">Night&#039;s Whisper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Oh and another five for removal and stuff. Can't forget the important things in a deck! But that only leaves us ten cards for figuring out how to win.</p>
<h2>How Does Ultimecia, Time Sorceress Win?</h2>
<p>Yeah, we still have to do that. Believe it or not, taking extra turns over and over again doesn't actually win, it just annoys the heck out of our opponents. Luckily, I have a plan.</p>
<p>After it's transformed, our commander has seven power, a number that spells doom for our opponents in just three hits. And keep in mind that because we're taking an extra turn, our commander will be able to attack without summoning sickness. Then, we can blink it again, reactivate it, and attack on our next extra turn as well. The only thing we need to make this work is evasion, and Pauper has no shortage of spells that make a creature unblockable. These will all do the trick:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slip Through Space" href="#" target="_blank">Slip Through Space</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Distortion Strike" href="#" target="_blank">Distortion Strike</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Artful Dodge" href="#" target="_blank">Artful Dodge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
<li><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="You Come to a River" href="#" target="_blank">You Come to a River</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slip Through Space"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Artful Dodge"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="You Come to a River"></div></div>
<h2>Ultimecia, Time Sorceress Pauper Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Ultimecia, Time Sorceress - Pauper Commander" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Ultimecia, Time Sorceress // Ultimecia, Omnipotent
[/Commander]
[Instants]
*1 Arcane Denial
*1 Blur
*1 Counterspell
*1 Dark Ritual
*1 Displace
*1 Dizzy Spell
*1 Essence Flux
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Ghostly Flicker
*1 Go for the Throat
*1 Muddle the Mixture
*1 Perplex
*1 Planar Incision
*1 Siren&#039;s Ruse
*1 Teferi&#039;s Time Twist
*1 You Come to a River
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Archaeomancer
*1 Deranged Assistant
*1 Dreamscape Artist
*1 Mulldrifter
*28 Persistent Petitioners
*1 Sinister Starfish
*1 Skyskipper Duo
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Charcoal Diamond
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Decanter of Endless Water
*1 Dimir Signet
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Mind Stone
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Artful Dodge
*1 Deep Analysis
*1 Distortion Strike
*1 Enter the Enigma
*1 Feed the Swarm
*1 Lórien Revealed
*1 Night&#039;s Whisper
*1 Read the Bones
*1 Sign in Blood
*1 Slip Through Space
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*15 Island
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*15 Swamp
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<p>And with that, I think we've got a great deck. Ok, maybe great is too strong of a word. We've got a wild deck, that's for sure. It's more than capable of taking multiple extra turns in a row, cause once you have around ten mana on board, you can really get rolling. But is ten mana, four <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Persistent Petitioners" href="#" target="_blank">Persistent Petitioners</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on board, a few blink spells, and a few unblockable spells in hand too much to ask? Yeah, totally. But who really cares? We're taking extra turns in Pauper. It's something that's never been done! We're really pioneering here.</p>
<p>We may be making our way to an Artic wasteland, but progress is progress.</p>


Ultimecia, Time Sorceress - Taking Extra Turns In Pauper Commander

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Together Forever|fic|257" href="#" target="_blank">Together Forever</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/fgq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yuu Fujiki</a></em></p>
<p>I don't consider myself an investigative journalist by any means, but there's been something on my mind I'd like to talk about. I'd gone online digging around to find out how much Booster Boxes costed in 2020. No, I'm not suddenly interested in Booster Boxes for no reason. With the recent release of the estimated cost of <em>Final Fantasy</em> sealed product, a lot of us are worried that there might have been a sudden hike in prices disproportionate to the natural growth of the game.</p>
<p>I say "worried" because angry isn't the right energy for this. There are certainly many reasons that people in this hobby could jump on the hate train about any slight change to this game, but I think the vast majority of players, not just haters, are reacting negatively to the price of <em>Final Fantasy</em>. It's not just saltiness for the sake of saltiness, but real concern across the entire fanbase.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Yidaro, Wandering Monster|prm|80921"></div></div>
<p>The question really comes down to: are we going to be paying too much for this hobby? This brings me back to my lack of investigative training: how much did a Collector's Booster Box cost in the past, and has it drastically changed? This is surprisingly hard to figure out, from the hours I've spent trying to find this out online.</p>
<h2>What is MSRP?</h2>
<p>Way back in 2019, <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> (WOTC) stopped using MSRP on their products, which is the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. It basically means, in a vacuum, this is what WOTC would like the product to cost for consumers.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hansk, Slayer Zealot|sld|144"></div></div>
<p>I'm not here to discuss what a move like this means to WOTC, or even speculate on their reasons for putting this kind of policy into place, but it's important nonetheless to demonstrate how this would affect the market for consumers. And it does explain why the information I was looking for is hard to find.</p>
<h2>The Effect of MSRP</h2>
<p>MSRP, from the manufacturer, doesn't factor in how various thing might drive up retailer costs, and thus consumer's cost. Demand, accessibility, scarcity, and profit margins of the retailers might drive up this price. Hype also plays a huge role on this too, because it translates into demand, which translates into potentially higher prices initially and presales.</p>
<p>WOTC brought back MSRP in 2024 with the release of <em>Foundations</em>. which should give us a clear number to judge WOTC's responsibility for the cost of their sets. Unfortunately, while spooking around the internet for a few hours, I found it extremely difficult to find those release day prices.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Copper Dragon"></div></div>
<p>The closest I found was a Reddit post claiming they looked on 401 Games to compare the cost. I used the same site and will use this as my reference. I understand this might not be the most accurate, but it's still worth demonstrating. A <em>Foundations</em> Collector Booster box was priced at $356.95 (Converted from CAD to USD) and a <em>Final Fantasy</em> Collector Booster box is priced at $606.83. I double checked it, and that's a difference of roughly $250.</p>
<h2>Premium Like <em>Modern Horizons</em></h2>
<p>Some of the grumbles I've seen online explaining this price hike is that Universe Beyond (UB) sets are meant to be luxury sets, like <em>Modern Horizons</em>. This is confusing because <em>Final Fantasy</em> is going to be a Standard-legal set. So it would need to be Standard accessible, right?</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rhystic Study|sld|478"></div></div>
<p>I also looked up <em>Modern Horizons 3</em>'s Collector Booster box price and it came to $428.34. That's still a roughly $178 difference. That's concerning. I'm not oblivious to the fact that these prices for <em>Final Fantasy</em> are inflated in the way they often are with preorders, but the difference is still too stark. I'm sure the prices will come down with the flood of the market, but likely not 100+ dollars.</p>
<h2>Cost of Popular IPs In <em>Magic</em></h2>
<p>I'll be completely upfront that I'm not in a position to know whether WOTC has a legitimate reason for the price hikes. We have no idea how much it truly costs WOTC to get a popular IP like Final Fantasy and how much it might be overcharging to prepare for bigger IPs in the future. It's possible they just raised prices because they thought they could get away with doing so - just for the profit. We just don't know.</p>
<p>Something more important to note here is the duality of bringing in new players into this hobby and retaining them. The struggle here is that as the prices for this hobby go up with Universes Beyond sets, it both disillusions those enfranchised in the game to keep playing and might gatekeep new players because of initial costs to play.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zethi, Arcane Blademaster|sld|432"></div></div>
<p>New players will likely involve themselves with this hobby by buying the products that brought them in, which makes a larger barrier to entry at this price point. If the sets become increasingly more pricey to maintain, it might not bring players. It's hard to see the break point.</p>
<p>The balancing effect of this is unknown to us. Maybe the cost is worth it, maybe it's the best WOTC can manage while providing prospective and enfranchised players with new content. Even giving WOTC the benefit of the doubt, it's hard to say. It's understandable that we'd see the hike in price and get afraid that it'll destroy something we all love.</p>
<h2>The Elephant in the Room</h2>
<p>Either way, Standard is going to suffer from this. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkzXtoG_bZE&amp;ab_channel=TolarianCommunityCollege" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tolarian Community College</a> made a great video that discusses what this might do to Standard. It points out the fact that this will be the new normal for the format because all Universes Beyond prices will be like this moving forward. It's a higher price point than Modern, while being Standard playable cards.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abaddon the Despoiler"></div></div>
<p>Universes Beyond is planned to be half of all future sets going forward, so this is a price hike on half of all Magic product. Look at what happened to cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orcish Bowmasters" href="#" target="_blank">Orcish Bowmasters</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The One Ring" href="#" target="_blank">The One Ring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> did to other formats because of their single printing in LOTR. Imagine that, but for Standard sets.</p>
<p>Reprints need to be normalized for Universes Beyond cards. Universes Within, or something? I don't even know if this will be enough. I'm not sure I know what can solve this problem. Maybe UB can't be Standard-legal or UB can't be half of all sets.</p>
<h2>FOMO</h2>
<p>I've just been speculating on how much it will cost financially, but are we going to buy this stuff? Of course. <em>Magic</em> has a loyal fanbase. We love set releases and new cards. All over my Bluesky is hype about how incredibly designed and satisfying these <em>Final Fantasy</em> cards are. What WOTC refuses to do is to give us bad product. That's why it's been a huge hobby for a lot of people for a long time.</p>
<p>This is tough when we see others cracking packs and opening product like this. Commander is a friendly enough format that sitting out of one set won't warp your play experience, at least for just one set. But it's hard not to want the <em>Final Fantasy</em> product and the future <em>Avatar: The Last Airbender</em> product line, and everything that comes after.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards side-by-side"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slicer, Hired Muscle"></div></div>
<p>Players are in a tough environment to not to feel pressured into these new and better sets with cards that are incredibly pushed and powerful. The power creep in these sets is important. It gets harder and harder to know how to spend the little money we have for our hobby.</p>
<p>This isn't a criticism of <em>Wizards of the Coast</em>, but an observations of the nature of new sets and cost of those sets. I've seen people online lamenting their inability to afford to participate in this set because of the sudden hikes in price. This feeling adds to the fear that I spoke about again and again - the fear of not being able to participate in a hobby you love.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The One Ring"></div></div>
<p>Is this kind of marketing potentially harmful? I'm not saying people should feel entitled to things we do as a hobby, but practices like chance and FOMO are psychological techniques that have proven taxing to deal with socially. I don't mean to pressure ethics here, but it's worth considering how these practices might affect the health of the fanbase.</p>
<h2>Is This Universes Beyond's Fault</h2>
<p>As a fan of Universes Beyond, I'm in a weird position. I see a lot people looking for something to blame about what's happening here. I want to navigate this carefully. We're in a position where the thing we want is what's causing us strife. If no one wanted <em>Final Fantasy</em> there would be no problem with the cost, but that's not the case.</p>
<p>In 2020, with the release of the Godzilla alternate cards and the Walking Dead Universes Beyond Secret Lair, I doubt WOTC or the fans had any idea it would take off as much as it did. I cannot understate, however, how making UB Standard legal, after initially promising that it wouldn't be, has made opting out of UB impossible for those who had been doing so this far.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Tenth Doctor"></div></div>
<p>This makes the need of <em>Final Fantasy</em> more important than the want. Players who want to remain competitive will have to pay premium on top of premium. It's tough, and I'm conflicted. UB poses a real financial threat to the hobby, but it's simply because of how much people want these IPs in the first place. I don't want to understate or ignore this. I'd like to give you a simple answer to this situation, but it's just not simple.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>I can give you one thing though: a request. <em>Wizards of the Coast</em>, we're looking for transparency. I'd like to understand your choices about these prices and some acknowledgement of the fear a lot of players are experiencing. If we could better understand where you're coming from with this choice, I'm sure we could come to some kind of calm.</p>
<p>I highly doubt that WOTC isn't considering players when they make choices. If the push for Modern and Standard and the Commander Brackets and ban list is an indication of anything, it's that they want to listen and make as many people happy, while still being able to produce this game profitably.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Captain America, First Avenger"></div></div>
<p>Maybe that's a bit too kind, but hey, I'm an optimist. If there were any points I missed, or any pieces of research you'd like to send my way, I appreciate it. I'm <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/strixhavendropout.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@strixhavendropout on Blue Sky</a>.</p>


Let's Talk About the Magic Final Fantasy Prices

<p style="text-align: right;"><em>Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</em></p>
<p>This past week was full of previews from <em>Final Fantasy</em>, the newest <em>Universes Beyond</em> set for <em>Magic: The Gathering</em>. Because of the longevity of the beloved <em>Square Enix</em> video game series, the set is extremely expansive. In fact, this set is so comprehensive that its spoiler season will last about three weeks altogether! With that, here are some of the most interesting and impactful cards to grace the set, released this past week.</p>
<h2>May 12th <em>Final Fantasy</em> Previews</h2>
<p>The scarcity of new content on May 11th made the following day's previews feel extremely refreshing. Plus, we got a handful of cool cards, both new and reprinted alike. However, let's choose just one really good one from the set proper as well as the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet.</p>
<h3>Matoya, Archon Elder</h3>
<p>Our nomination for the coolest new preview from the main set goes to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Matoya, Archon Elder" href="#" target="_blank">Matoya, Archon Elder</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. While not an Archon <em>nor</em> an Elder in creature type, Matoya is still a very strong Human Warlock. It exceeds the power of cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eligeth, Crossroads Augur" href="#" target="_blank">Eligeth, Crossroads Augur</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> not by sheer force or effectiveness of ability, but by costing far less mana for an ability that is above rate in comparison. It's quite good in decks that want to scry or surveil to your heart's delight.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Matoya, Archon Elder"></div></div>
<p>Beyond this, there weren't a <em>ton</em> of extremely impactful new cards revealed this past Monday. However, we <em>did</em> get a cool card from <em>Through the</em> Ages.</p>
<h3>Syr Konrad, the Grim as "Golbez, Clad in Darkness"</h3>
<p>According to Scryfall, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Syr Konrad, the Grim" href="#" target="_blank">Syr Konrad, the Grim</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is getting a reskin in <em>Through the Ages</em> as Golbez, the big bad from <em>Final Fantasy IV</em>. While the card's render isn't available in English so far, the stunning art by legendary concept artist <strong>Yoshitaka Amano</strong> is worth mentioning here.</p>
<div id="attachment_153055" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Golbez-Clad-in-Darkness.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153055" class="wp-image-153055" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Golbez-Clad-in-Darkness.jpg" alt="Syr Konrad, the Grim as FFIV antagonist Golbez, with a classic piece of art by famed Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Golbez-Clad-in-Darkness.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Golbez-Clad-in-Darkness-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153055" class="wp-caption-text">Syr Konrad, the Grim as <em>FFIV</em> antagonist Golbez, with a classic piece of art by famed <em>Final Fantasy</em> illustrator <strong>Yoshitaka Amano</strong>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>With that, let's go forth to Tuesday, May 13th!</p>
<h2>May 13th <em>Final Fantasy </em>Previews</h2>
<p>The previews from May 12th were fun, but Tuesday, May 13th, is where the previews for the week really started to pick up. The <a href="http://twitch.tv/magic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WeeklyMTG live stream on Twitch</a> showcased quite a few cool things in an "Ultima" theme. This included the 2-player Starter Set for the expansion as well as many, many promo cards. However, one card from that stream stood out above the rest:</p>
<h3>Ultima, Origin of Oblivion</h3>
<p>To round out the awesome theme that the stream showed off, <strong>Blake Rasmussen</strong> and <strong>Gavin Verhey</strong> showed the public <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ultima, Origin of Oblivion" href="#" target="_blank">Ultima, Origin of Oblivion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ultima, Origin of Oblivion"></div></div>
<p>Ultima is a fantastic colorless creature that likely qualifies as "mass land denial" for those keeping track of the Brackets for their Commander decks. It'll find a home in many decks run by Eldrazi or other colorless commanders. It might even be good enough to take over as the commander of those decks. Time will tell if players will be responsible about using Ultima respectfully at their tables!</p>
<p>Moving on, there was only one <em>Through the Ages</em> reprint for May 13th (not counting promo cards), but it was pretty cool:</p>
<h3>Brainstorm as "Endwalker"</h3>
<p>Endwalker, a reskin of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brainstorm" href="#" target="_blank">Brainstorm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, shows a scene of the party from <em>Final Fantasy XIV</em>. Having Brainstorm as a reprint in the bonus sheet of this expansion is honestly really fun. Many players haven't gotten to experience the sheer power of Brainstorm in a Limited environment; now, provided they can afford it, many will!</p>
<div id="attachment_153057" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Endwalker.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153057" class="wp-image-153057" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Endwalker.jpg" alt="Endwalker, a reskin of Brainstorm from the Through the Ages bonus sheet from Final Fantasy. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Endwalker.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Endwalker-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153057" class="wp-caption-text">Endwalker, a reskin of Brainstorm from the <em>Through the Ages</em> bonus sheet from <em>Final Fantasy</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h2>May 14th <em>Final Fantasy </em>Previews</h2>
<p>Wednesday, May 14th had even <em>more</em> previews than the previous day. When we say that spoiler season really started ramping up, we aren't kidding. Therefore, it started getting difficult to choose just one great new card and reprint from the day. However, we (probably) nailed it.</p>
<h3>Choco, Seeker of Paradise</h3>
<p>When they revealed <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bartz and Boko" href="#" target="_blank">Bartz and Boko</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> during the debut of preview season, players speculated as to the best possible commander for the duo. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Choco, Seeker of Paradise" href="#" target="_blank">Choco, Seeker of Paradise</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, it seems, is that commander.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Choco, Seeker of Paradise"></div></div>
<p>This bird synergizes with many of the other Chocobo-themed cards shown so far. It facilitates <em>landfall</em> triggers in an influential way to the game. Plus, it even has a minor payoff for achieving <em>landfall</em>. Not to mention, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Traveling Chocobo" href="#" target="_blank">Traveling Chocobo</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> elevates Choco to an absurd degree. Hands down, Choco is the Bird commander that people wanted in <em>Final Fantasy</em>.</p>
<h3>Yawgmoth, Thran Physician as "The Emperor, Hell Tyrant"</h3>
<p>The Emperor is one of the scariest antagonists in <em>Final Fantasy</em>, originally from <em>FFII</em>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yawgmoth, Thran Physician" href="#" target="_blank">Yawgmoth, Thran Physician</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is one of the scariest (if not <em>the</em> scariest) big-bads of <em>Magic</em>. Therefore, this merging of properties makes a ton of sense for the <em>Through the Ages</em> sheet. Behold!</p>
<div id="attachment_153058" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-14-25-TTA-The-Emperor-Hell-Tyrant-Yawgmoth-Thran-Physician.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153058" class="wp-image-153058" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-14-25-TTA-The-Emperor-Hell-Tyrant-Yawgmoth-Thran-Physician.jpg" alt="Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, as The Emperor, Hell Tyrant. Originally illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano for FFII. Image credits: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-14-25-TTA-The-Emperor-Hell-Tyrant-Yawgmoth-Thran-Physician.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-14-25-TTA-The-Emperor-Hell-Tyrant-Yawgmoth-Thran-Physician-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153058" class="wp-caption-text">Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, as The Emperor, Hell Tyrant. Originally illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano for <em>FFII</em>. Image credits: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<h2>May 15th <em>Final Fantasy </em>Previews</h2>
<p>On Thursday, May 15th, we got fewer big-deal previews from within the set proper, but we got a bunch of cool <em>Through the Ages</em> reveals. While there's much potential for debate over the coolest <em>TTA</em> card from May 15th, there is no contest about that within the new cards from the <em>Final Fantasy</em> set at large:</p>
<h3>Triple Triad</h3>
<p>According to <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/morgan-sanchez" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Morgan Sanchez</strong></a>, our Content Operations Manager here at EDHREC, "[They] put a card game into your card game so you can card game while you card game." Truer words could not have been spoken, Chief. Here's <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Triple Triad" href="#" target="_blank">Triple Triad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, revealed by <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/amazonian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazonian</a>:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Triple Triad"></div></div>
<p>Thinking more about this riff on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sunbird&#039;s Invocation" href="#" target="_blank">Sunbird&#039;s Invocation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, it feels somehow sacred to have the layers that Triple Triad does, in a flavor sense. In the <em>Final Fantasy</em> video game series, Triple Triad is a collectible card game minigame. This card is now in a set based on that video game. And to make matters even more funny, it causes a really cool minigame-style scenario! The layers are <em>deep</em>, dear reader!</p>
<h3>Rhystic Study as "Stay with Me"</h3>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhystic Study" href="#" target="_blank">Rhystic Study</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a card that basically <em>always</em> needs a reprint from a standpoint of card accessibility. However, for reasons of Constructed destabilization, it's remarkably difficult to insert into a set. Fortunately, <em>Final Fantasy</em> has a great bonus sheet opportunity with <em>Through the Ages</em>.</p>
<div id="attachment_153059" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-15-25-TTA-Stay-with-Me-Rhystic-Study.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153059" class="wp-image-153059" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-15-25-TTA-Stay-with-Me-Rhystic-Study.jpg" alt="Stay with Me, a reskin of Rhystic Study with art from FFX. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-15-25-TTA-Stay-with-Me-Rhystic-Study.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-15-25-TTA-Stay-with-Me-Rhystic-Study-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153059" class="wp-caption-text">Stay with Me, a reskin of Rhystic Study with art from <em>FFX</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>Rhystic Study is as oppressive as ever, but its inclusion on the <a href="https://edhrec.com/top/game-changers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Game Changer</a> list may cause it to see a bit less play. However, with more players opening the card than they have been previously, some players might want to use their shiny new card. Time will tell!</p>
<h2>May 16th <em>Final Fantasy </em>Previews</h2>
<p>That brings us to Friday, May 16th. While the day isn't quite over yet, the cards previewed so far are plentiful. We have seen a fair few cards from the set proper and even more <em>Through the Ages</em> cards. These are the two cards that might be the coolest spoilers for the day.</p>
<h3>Summon: Knights of Round</h3>
<p>Many players across social media had highly anticipated Summon: Knights of Round. While it's slow for a creature card, as a Saga card, it's quite competent. This is especially true in formats like Commander where Sagas have more value to them due to increased synergies.</p>
<div id="attachment_153069" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-FIN-Summon-Knights-of-Round.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153069" class="wp-image-153069" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-FIN-Summon-Knights-of-Round.jpg" alt="Summon: Knights of Round, a new card from Final Fantasy. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-FIN-Summon-Knights-of-Round.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-FIN-Summon-Knights-of-Round-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153069" class="wp-caption-text">Summon: Knights of Round, a new card from <em>Final Fantasy</em>. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>Also, that last ability is <em>extremely</em> powerful. It could even lead to the end of games with a big enough board state!</p>
<h3>Tymna the Weaver as "Cecil Harvey"</h3>
<p>The last <em>Through the Ages</em> card we will go over in this recap is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tymna the Weaver" href="#" target="_blank">Tymna the Weaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, here reskinned in <em>Final Fantasy IV</em> regalia as Cecil Harvey. Tymna is a fantastic and potent cEDH commander due to its colors, its Partner ability, and the way it accrues card advantage.</p>
<div id="attachment_153063" style="width: 411px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-TTA-Cecil-Harvey-Tymna-the-Weaver.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-153063" class="wp-image-153063" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-TTA-Cecil-Harvey-Tymna-the-Weaver.jpg" alt="Tymna the Weaver, here reskinned as Cecil Harvey from FFIV. Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix" width="401" height="559" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-TTA-Cecil-Harvey-Tymna-the-Weaver.jpg 672w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-16-25-TTA-Cecil-Harvey-Tymna-the-Weaver-215x300.jpg 215w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-153063" class="wp-caption-text">Tymna the Weaver, here reskinned as Cecil Harvey from <em>FFIV</em>. Illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano. Image credit: Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix</p></div>
<p>Speaking of cEDH and partners, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thrasios, Triton Hero" href="#" target="_blank">Thrasios, Triton Hero</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, Tymna's most notorious partner in the competitive scene, is also in this bonus sheet, as Tidus, Zanarkand Fayth. <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> has pulled no punches with this bonus sheet, so far!</p>
<h2>What Will Next Week Bring?</h2>
<p>The previews were so cool this week that it's hard to believe that the <em>Final Fantasy</em> set's spoiler season has two more weeks to go! Still, <em>Wizards of the Coast</em> probably has a bunch of cool things left in store for us.</p>
<p>While we wait for the next week of previews, let's open the floor to you, dear readers. Are you excited for more previews in the coming weeks? Is there anything that hasn't been represented in the set or bonus sheet yet that you'd like to see? Sound off below!</p>


mtgfin