Final Fantasy Commander Decks Revealed, Feature Cloud, Tidus, and More

Get ready for a magical adventure! This June, Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy collide in an exciting crossover event featuring four preconstructed Commander decks. Each deck, showcasing a different mainline Final Fantasy game (VI, VII, X, and XIV), offers a unique gameplay experience and stunning artwork.

A First Look at the Decks:

Browse the image gallery below to see the lead card and packaging for each deck.

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Deck Details:

This collaboration includes a fully draftable, Standard-legal set and four preconstructed Commander decks. Each deck contains 100 cards—a blend of reprints with new Final Fantasy art and brand-new cards designed for Commander gameplay. The decks are themed around individual Final Fantasy games, allowing for deep dives into their respective lore.

Game Selection:

The choice of Final Fantasy VI, VII, X, and XIV was a careful balance of gameplay considerations and story recognition. While FFVII and XIV were easy choices, FFVI and FFX were selected due to their popularity among the development team. The entire development process was a collaborative effort, fueled by the team's passion for Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy VII's Story:

The Final Fantasy VII Commander deck tells the story of the original 1997 game, incorporating modern aesthetics from the Remake trilogy to enhance character designs and locations. The deck offers a nostalgic experience for both original and Remake fans.

Final Fantasy VI's Artistic Approach:

Recreating the pixel art style of Final Fantasy VI presented unique challenges. The team consulted directly with the FFVI team, blending elements from original concept art, sprites, and the Pixel Remaster to create updated character designs for Magic.

Commander Choices:

While Cloud was an obvious choice for FFVII, other Commander selections involved careful consideration. Terra was chosen for FFVI due to her prominence in the World of Ruin storyline, and Y'shtola from FFXIV represents her Shadowbringers arc, showcasing her spellcasting abilities.

Deck Design and Color Identity:

Each deck's color identity was chosen to reflect both the game's theme and desired gameplay. Notably, all four decks include white, facilitating the inclusion of a wide range of heroes. Deck strategies vary, with FFVI focusing on graveyard recursion, FFVII incorporating equipment and “power matters” elements, FFX utilizing a Sphere Grid-inspired creature empowerment strategy, and FFXIV emphasizing noncreature spellcasting.

Supporting Characters:

Beyond the Commanders, each deck includes many beloved Final Fantasy characters as legendary creatures and in spell art.

Release Date and Collector's Editions:

The Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy set launches June 13th. Both regular and Collector's Edition versions of the four Commander decks will be available. The Collector's Edition features all 100 cards with special Surge foil treatment.