Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary | Art by Kazto Furuya

Hey everyone! With Edge of Eternities on the event horizon, which I'm extremely excited about for multiple formats, let's take a look back at the monumental set that was Final Fantasy (FIN) and see which cards made the top 10 most played list.

A slight spoiler: I did lump together two cycles, because they do similar enough things and because several members of each are seeing heavy play in the format. This means we get to check out some of the more unique but still popular cards from the set.

Let's go!

10. Traveling ChocoboTraveling Chocobo - 21,536 decks

This mythic is Chris Guest's pick for best Bird card in Commander! I'm not inclined to argue, especially since Traveling ChocoboTraveling Chocobo is both an incredible enabler for Bird kindred with its doubling ability and a potent card advantage engine.

Keep in mind that it doubles not only Bird triggers like that of Choco, Seeker of ParadiseChoco, Seeker of Paradise or Bartz and BokoBartz and Boko, but landfalls as well!

This is absurd upside for just three mana and Chocobo is a great reason to consider building a Bird deck with green instead of just in Azorius ( ) colors.

9. Genji GloveGenji Glove - 21,713 decks

This Equipment does a few things very well: It helps you deal a ton of damage, which comes in handy with cards like The MindskinnerThe Mindskinner and Kotis, the FangkeeperKotis, the Fangkeeper; it doubles combat damage triggers like those of Obeka, Splitter of SecondsObeka, Splitter of Seconds or Professional Face-BreakerProfessional Face-Breaker; and it doubles attack triggers thanks to the additional combat phase, which powers up Aurelia, the WarleaderAurelia, the Warleader and Sephiroth, Fallen HeroSephiroth, Fallen Hero, among others.

Isshin, Two Heavens as OneIsshin, Two Heavens as One nets you more combat steps, while there's also a slew of FIN cards that synergize perfectly with Glove, including Lightning, Army of OneLightning, Army of One and Cloud, Ex-SOLDIERCloud, Ex-SOLDIER.

8. Restoration MagicRestoration Magic - 22,257 decks

This is a wonderful addition to the Selensya-oriented () family of flexible protection spells: Heroic InterventionHeroic Intervention, Teferi's ProtectionTeferi's Protection, Flawless ManeuverFlawless Maneuver, and more.

While it's very difficult for a card to be as versatile, potent, and cheap as Intervention, Restoration MagicRestoration Magic still does an excellent Tamiyo's SafekeepingTamiyo's Safekeeping impression at one mana. Even if Curaga mode costs a whopping five mana, getting that one-mana mode will often make this worth slotting into your decks.

Of course, gaining life as part of the latter two modes makes the spell even better, given that lifegain synergies are among the most plentiful and powerful in the format.

7. Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier - 13,798 decks / 14,027 as commander

Power level aside, I love Vivi because his card is templated with a twist. The first ability makes no sense on an 0/3 — but wait, there's more! It turns out Vivi can be a ridiculous mana generator as the commander in a Spellslinger or Storm-focused deck. He even helps get your opponents dead with the not-insignificant ping ability reminiscent of Coruscation MageCoruscation Mage, GuttersnipeGuttersnipe, and the rest of that gang.

In fact, he's pretty much one of these pingers stapled to a super Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer. What's not to love?

There are a bunch of ways to take Vivi from great to busted. Thankfully for opponents, but frustratingly for you, many are now Game Changers, including protection spells Deflecting SwatDeflecting Swat, Force of WillForce of Will, and Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship. Cheap mana artifacts like Chrome MoxChrome Mox and Mana VaultMana Vault fit the bill, too.

Finally, would Vivi even be an Izzet commander candidate without an easy infinite combo?

6. Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIERSephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER - 18,116 decks, 10,130 as commander

Sephiroth makes a strong mono-black Aristocrats commander, functioning as both an enabler and a payoff, like Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain or Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianYawgmoth, Thran Physician.

In longer games, I think it's realistic to transform him multiple times through recursion effects, stacking draining emblems for added value. While many games may end earlier through infinite combos like GravecrawlerGravecrawler and Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar, the potential to drown in emblems must linger in the back of opponents' minds!

For more, check out my list on the top 10 double-faced commanders, featuring Sephiroth and other goodies, including several straight out of Final Fantasy, which gave double faced cards a lot of love.

5. Summon: BahamutSummon: Bahamut - 28,890 decks

Commander is at this point no stranger to splashy, expensive Sagas with The Kami WarThe Kami War and Kiora Bests the Sea GodKiora Bests the Sea God doing their respective things. Summon: BahamutSummon: Bahamut is, of course, playable in any deck thanks to its colorless identity.

This flexibility — as well as its interesting card typing — makes it worth overcoming the steep mana cost finding ways to cheat it into play. I'm loving how EDHREC users are doing that!

Tom BombadilTom Bombadil doesn't care too much about casting Sagas, helping you spin the wheel in the hopes of hitting a big one off the top of your deck. A multicolor Saga deck is a total blast, especially now that Bahamut has joined the ranks of Sea God and Kami War.

Meanwhile, Zhulodok and the new Ultima, Origin of OblivionUltima, Origin of Oblivion are all about mana accelerators, making nine mana a pretty easy investment to manage.

Finally, Kaalia of the VastKaalia of the Vast doesn't care one bit about Sagas but is happy to have another splashy Dragon creature to cheat into play as early as possible.

Browsing Bahamut's Top Commanders section on EDHREC yields a ton more suggestions on how to get around that mana cost or otherwise make it even more busted, including discarding it with Hashaton, Scarab's FistHashaton, Scarab's Fist in play to make a smaller version.

4. Buster SwordBuster Sword - 31,455 decks

As a role-playing game (RPG) franchise, Final Fantasy is no stranger to swords and other items that augment your heroes. It's great how well this can translate to MTG! We saw that above with Genji Glove, and now, here's an Equipment that sees even more play.

How good is this ability? Well, first of all, it's busted with the various incarnations of Cloud from FIN and the Commander set. It's his sword, after all!

Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER conveniently gets to seven power with his Buster SwordBuster Sword, turning on his Treasure-generating ability. The mono-white Cloud, Midgar MercenaryCloud, Midgar Mercenary, meanwhile, lets you cast two things from your hand as long as you hit an opponent.

Finally, Cloud, Planet's ChampionCloud, Planet's Champion doesn't particularly care about the free spell ability; he just wants to get in there and will make it easier for you to do so!

The Cloud synergies certainly pack a punch, but that's just scratching the surface of how you can use Buster Sword to cheat on mana (let's power out Bahamut, eh?). For more on FIN's Commander-ready Equipment, check out this article by Ciel Collins!

3. The Crystals

The first of two cycles I've lumped together, the Crystals are all pretty powerful and versatile artifacts in various decks touching on their colors. Even at steeper mana costs like four, getting discounts on colored spells will pay dividends in the mid to even early late game as casting multiple spells in a turn is a sure way to eke out an advantage.

Meanwhile, the static abilities are all pretty pushed to improve certain decks, especially the The Earth CrystalThe Earth Crystal which acts as another precious counter doubler in Hardened ScalesHardened Scales decks.

And, if you haven't gotten enough value out of the discount and static abilities, you also get an expensive, splashy activated ability on each one that synergizes well with the static! Dana Roach writes more about the Crystals here.

2. The Adventure Lands

You, as a discerning connoisseur of EDH, probably already know that lands are powerful, especially lands that double as spells! Whether they have useful abilities like Phyrexian TowerPhyrexian Tower or Castle GarenbrigCastle Garenbrig, cheap buyouts like Lonely SandbarLonely Sandbar or Waterlogged GroveWaterlogged Grove, or actual spells tacked on to them like this cycle, lands that also act as spell slots are pretty busted!

It almost matters less what these Adventure spells actually do and more that they do something at all. 

Of course, not all cycle members are created equal. For example, Midgar, City of MakoMidgar, City of Mako sees the most play, possibly because its ability fits very well into the Sacrifice theme decks that are very popular in decks touching black.

Still, even the least-played, Zanarkand, can threaten to sway the outcome of a game when cast very late. Considering that you might have drawn a basic land instead of a killer spell, I'd say the Adventure lands will only get more popular as time goes by.

1. Starting TownStarting Town - 32,710 decks

This sort-of Mana ConfluenceMana Confluence debuted to rave reviews from EDHREC writers, including cEDH reviewer Callahan Jones and Dana Roach. Their predictions were spot on, as Starting TownStarting Town is basically a rainbow land that can also make life-loss free mana in a pinch that also comes into play untapped when it matters most. What a great card!

Any multicolor deck is going to want this alongside less versatile options like City of BrassCity of Brass and Mana ConfluenceMana Confluence, because losing a little life will often not matter when you're trying to do busted things.

Thank You!Thank You!

And that's a wrap for Final Fantasy! I played zero FF growing up, but it's still so interesting to see how the deep lore and mechanics of that franchise have been translated into Magic.

Join me next time for the most played cards from the Final Fantasy Commander set! Until then, what's your favorite FIN card not on the list, and do you think the franchise's flavor translates well here? Let us know!

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