Yuna, Grand SummonerYuna, Grand Summoner | Art by Kevin Glint

Hey, everyone! After bringing you the most played Commander cards from the main Final Fantasy set, I wanted to take a look at the Commander precon cards and see which goodies are making the biggest splash in the format.

It's an interesting mix of splashy legends and utility cards, so let's dive right in and see what's going on!

10. Fandaniel, Telophoroi AscianFandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian - 13,116 decks, 457 as commander

This is a clunky way to deal damage, but win conditions in the format are still potent, and therefore nothing to scoff at.

Of course, this is only a win condition sometimes, and a The AbyssThe Abyss other times, but there are always going to be decks playing the color black that can utilize both modes.

One such example is this nifty scam build by Jeff Girten running Papalymo TotolymoPapalymo Totolymo. He calls Fandaniel the "sneakiest way to win in this deck," and that sounds about right for a five-cost card that sort of just sits there and surveils once in a while.

There are other in-universe commanders that can utilize Fandaniel, including Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed (more on her later). He's also a Wizard, which carries a lot of applications outside of Final Fantasy theme decks, including Inalla, Archmage RitualistInalla, Archmage Ritualist's ability to make copies of utility creatures like this.

9. Ultimate Magic: HolyUltimate Magic: Holy - 14,468 decks

This is similar to Restoration MagicRestoration Magic from the Final Fantasy main set. It's worse in the sense that it always costs three to cast and is therefore less flexible and harder to keep up as a defensive protection spell like that or other Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention-type spells.

On the other hand, keeping up the mana when your presence at the table is at risk can be very rewarding, because you get to use it like a Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection. Just make sure you foretell it, though!

Overall, it's a powerful card because it can have a pretty swingy effect on games, including when you take a big swing in an aggressive deck and use this to keep all your (probably buffed or otherwise augmented) creatures alive.

8. O'aka, Traveling MerchantO'aka, Traveling Merchant - 14,285 decks, 54 as commander

It's easy enough to play O'aka in any sort of blue deck that can generate a lot +1/+1 counters, like Yuna, Grand SummonerYuna, Grand Summoner or Kastral, the WindcrestedKastral, the Windcrested. But, why not run him in a deck that actually wants counters to be removed from things?

Sagas looks like the perfect place for O'aka to set up shop.

Ciel Collins seems to agree; they included him in a Tom Bombadil deck featuring cards from Final Fantasy. Two mana for a creature that can generate card advantage is a great deal, and playing him somewhere which will also turn removing counters into additional resources makes O'aka even more of a bargain.

7. Summon: IxionSummon: Ixion - 14,542 decks

This Saga/creature hybrid is another strong addition to the enchantment-based deck, especially when you find ways to keep the story from ending. Removing lore counters from Ixion not only turns it into a more permanent bit of removal/2-for-1 deal, it also lets you buff your team repeatedly, so the incentives are great.

O'aka is, of course, a great way to keep lore counters low, drawing you cards in the process. Tidus, Yuna's GuardianTidus, Yuna's Guardian is a great option for a commander in a deck running Ixion and other Summons, given that you can move lore counters from the former onto Sagas that have either more chapters or more desirable final abilities.

Garnet, Princess of AlexandriaGarnet, Princess of Alexandria is another straightforward way to keep an opposing creature exiled, who can be good either as a two-color Saga commander or as a supporting player in a Tom BombadilTom Bombadil or Terra, Magical AdeptTerra, Magical Adept build.

6. Cid, Freeflier PilotCid, Freeflier Pilot - 15,209 decks, 32 as commander

Like O'aka, Cid is a cheap, effective enabler for a narrow range of archetypes — it says so right on the card! Getting him into play early and threatening to get discounts on Equipments or Vehicles may pressure opponents into dealing with Cid, which then gives you more opportunities to get equipped creatures or monster Vehicles to connect safely.

I've mentioned this before when talking about cards like Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer and Goblin AnarchomancerGoblin Anarchomancer, but giving you discounts on all cards of a certain type can be even better than getting a creature that can tap for mana, because you can double spell more easily with this in play.

5. Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed - 2,075 decks, 16,476 as commander

The Cat Warlock Y'shtola might just have been released, but she's already the 46th most popular commander on EDHREC. I'd say because there are tons of effects in Esper that either drain opponents — it's a whole Orzhov (), even! — or let you cast spells with mana value three or greater at discounted rates.

For the former, we have Sheoldred, the ApocalypseSheoldred, the Apocalypse, Talion, the Kindly LordTalion, the Kindly Lord, Queza, Augur of AgoniesQueza, Augur of Agonies, and more.

To be honest, you don't need to work too hard with creatures like those four-drops to draw a bunch of cards with Y'shtola. You can let her second ability do most of the work and cast discounted spells like Snuff OutSnuff Out, DismemberDismember, UnwindUnwind (it counts!), Deadly RollickDeadly Rollick, and of course the Game Changer Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship, among others.

While you're doing that, why not suit the Cat girl up with CuriosityCuriosity and its ilk to draw cards while you draw cards? I heard you like drawing cards.

4. TransposeTranspose - 17,424 decks

I love a spell that does a bunch of little things, and TransposeTranspose delivers little things in spades. The more things a card does, the more it tends to slot into a wider variety of decks.

Having rebound, for example, makes it great in Y'shtola, but that's a gimme because they came in the same precon. Producing a Wizard token gives you value in a bunch of Wizard and/or Spellslinger decks that touch black, like Inalla or Kess, Dissident MageKess, Dissident Mage.

Decks that are interested in some combination of Wizard and spell payoffs got a lot of love from Final Fantasy, with many cards printed that both produce these 0/1 tokens and some that pay you off for them.

Of course, Magic already has tons of ways to supercharge the tokens and their pings, including Harmonic ProdigyHarmonic Prodigy and Coruscation MageCoruscation Mage and friends.

3. Summon: YojimboSummon: Yojimbo - 19,391 decks

Another Saga sweetheart, Yojimbo provides permanent removal and a 5/5 body, and it does some other stuff as well! If you're doing similar things as you are with Ixion, you're using effects to remove lore counters and to make it so your opponents are more or less permanently disincentivized from attacking you, like a Ghostly PrisonGhostly Prison that itself brawls in combat.

Chapter IV can help you do further Saga shenanigans, especially in a dedicated theme deck where you want to power out things like The Kami WarThe Kami War and Kiora Bests the Sea GodKiora Bests the Sea God.

2. Tataru TaruTataru Taru - 20724 decks, 382 as commander

This cute little two-drop is also reminiscent of Lotho, Corrupt ShirriffLotho, Corrupt Shirriff. If you're playing Tataru TaruTataru Taru, then you probably want to be finding ways to trigger it repeatedly. These ways include running her in decks with Group Hug-friendly commanders like Kwain, Itinerant MeddlerKwain, Itinerant Meddler, Ms. BumbleflowerMs. Bumbleflower, or Mog, Moogle WarriorMog, Moogle Warrior, among others.

Tataru Taru is also kind of interesting as a good ol' hatebear, like Lotho, because if there's anything EDH players like doing, it's drawing a bunch of cards. It's not unlikely that you'll get a bunch of Treasures to work with, making Tataru decent even in multicolor commanders like Sisay, Weatherlight CaptainSisay, Weatherlight Captain and Kraum, Ludevic's OpusKraum, Ludevic's Opus with Tymna the WeaverTymna the Weaver.

1. Sphere GridSphere Grid - 22,918 decks

The most played card from Final Fantasy's Commander set is a cheap enchantment that sees play in one of the game's most fun and versatile themes, +1/+1 counters! The FF set has a lot of synergy with the Grid, with Tidus, Yuna, and Jenova, Ancient CalamityJenova, Ancient Calamity from the main set all working well with things that buff creatures.

Of course, you aren't always getting in for damage with your buffed creatures, so Grid also greases the wheels by granting trample (reach was there, too!). This seems especially useful with commanders like Zaxara, the ExemplaryZaxara, the Exemplary and Skullbriar, the Walking GraveSkullbriar, the Walking Grave, who will always be ready to go with a bunch of counters.

Hey, I've Got Just the Thing!Hey, I've Got Just the Thing!

And that's that for Final Fantasy, and what an interesting mix of cards we've seen do well from the Commander set! What's your favorite FF card from the Commander precons not on this list? Let us know!

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