The Forbidden Opus: An Opus II Review

Hey there all you Ninjas and Sages, and welcome back to Lv.1 Onion Knight, the FFTCG blog that exists to make you look like a better player by comparison! 

Okay, so I was totally ready to write a post about my attempts in trying to make a deck revolving around Edge from Final Fantasy IV. I really was. I finally got around to finishing the GBA version of the game, made my way through the Lunar Ruins, did everybody's trials and beat Zeromus EG. And then, just when I was prepped and ready to write an earth-shattering article about how Ninjas need more archetype support in Opus VI, this happened:
 

 I'm really doing a great job at selling this whole unemployment fantasy to you all.   

So yeah... we bought a box of Opus II this week. Up until this point, I really hadn't had much experience with the cards from this set. When we first started buying packs, I mostly focused on III and IV. Sean's favorite Final Fantasy has always been VIII though, and because Opus II has such a heavy focus on cards from that game, he started off buying those packs. Once we started getting more serious about the game, our focus switched to getting the new cards from Opus V and the big staple cards from I. We opened about 16 packs of Opus I during casuals last week and didn't pull a single Maria or Shantotto, and since we both need at least two of them, odds are we're still going to be pulling from there for a good while. 

But as we started to buy packs we noticed something strange recently: All of our local shops were selling out of Opus II. Some people from our FFTCG group told us that the set was now out of print, so the shops we frequented would likely not be getting them back in stock any time soon. I have no idea if this is actually true or not, but that seemed to be the consensus with the people we played with. I found this strange because even though it's an older set, a lot of the cards from Opus II are very popular in top tier decks: In particular, my new least favorite card to play against, Al-Cid.

Pretty hard to stay mad at a guy with such luxurious chest hair though.

In any case, we both figured that it would be a good idea to pick up a box, and here we are. So instead of the content I said I would write about in my last post, I thought that because I haven't really gotten too many of these cards, it would be fun to go over our pulls and give my thoughts on some of the individual cards from the set instead. So if you're one of the 3 people who regularly read this blog and were really looking forward to that Final Fantasy IV Edge deck, what can I say except well... maybe next time. Otherwise, lets dive into the mysterious and alluring collection that is Opus II.

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The Pulls:  

Even though this was the second box of FFTCG cards we purchased together, Sean wasn't around to help me open Opus V, so this was his first time diving into a fresh sealed box. He had yet to experience the rush that I had last time tearing into the shrink wrap and getting buried in a pile of discarded wrappers as you opened all those packs. It's like opening the Ark of the Covenant, except without the whole face melting and spontaneous combustion thing. 

Anyway we quickly divided the piles of booster packs and dug in. I usually don't have incredible luck pulling super valuable cards, so you can imagine my surprise when I pulled this:

Cue the Liberi Fatali Chorus

Rinoa! And a foil one at that! As a FFVIII fan, this was probably the number one card that Sean was looking for from this set, so that's pretty lucky. Now you're probably wondering when it comes to sharing a box of cards between two people, how do we decide who gets what? Well for the most part if it's a card that the other one has really been gunning for, we'll claim the exclusive "ownership rights" of that card, so we can use it in our decks. Otherwise it goes into the binder for either one of us to use. 

That being said, a majority of the good cards that had been pulled in the past had already gone to Sean, as he tends to focus on Ice, Lightning, and Earth cards. So he made me a deal: He'd keep the Rinoa in exchange for the foil Opus I Shantotto he pulled awhile back. Since XI is my favorite, and they're both fairly valuable cards, I was more than happy to accept this. I plan on repaying his generosity by using it against him it at every available chance, because that's just the kind of boyfriend I am. 

Oh yeah, and then I pulled this: 

I take back everything bad I ever said about you baby!

So yeah, a foil Al-Cid, and this one I wanted since Sean had pulled a regular one back when we first started playing. Now, I realize that:

A) I just made a big fuss about how I wish this card would get banned. 

B) I have yet to use lightning in any of the decks I've made. 

But now that I actually have this card... well, I reserve the right to be a hypocrite when it comes to rare cards, okay?? 

In any case lets take a look at all the goodies we pulled from our Opus II box. 

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Legends

I was kinda hoping to get a foil of the Emperor. I guess I should have specified which one...

Heroics

Is it weird that I was more excited about the Foil Edge than the Arc?  

So yeah, all things considered it was a pretty good haul! Two Al-Cids, a foil Zemus, Vayne, Xande, and Rinoa is nothing to sneeze at. I was kind of hoping to get the L Cecil or Vincent from this set, but unlike Eald'Narche, it wasn't all that disappointing - Sean had already gotten an Opus II Emperor, so now I have one too! Maybe now that I've gotten these cards, the FFTCG cool kids will let me sit with them. Probably not, but an Onion Knight can dream.
 

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Final Thoughts

Opus II was a bit of a strange one for me. On the one hand, I'm pretty surprised that this set is becoming harder to find in stores. Out of all of the FFTCG booster boxes listed on Amazon, Opus II was about 30 dollars more expensive than the other ones, and at the time I ordered, the only one not eligible for Prime shipping. From what limited experience and knowledge that I have with this game, a lot of really powerful and meta-defining cards originated in this set. Hell, most of the top decks in the Crystal Cup had decks featuring cards like The Emperor, Rinoa, and Vayne. If the rumors are true and Opus II is really out of print, I hope that there's a reprint somewhere on the horizon, because it would be nice if these high value cards were more readily available. 

Also it's nice to have a character on the packs that isn't from FFVII or... Lightning. 

If I had to pick an element that "won" this set, it would definitely be Ice... which is probably why I didn't focus on it much when I first started playing, being more interested in Fire cards. At first I didn't really understand why Rinoa was such a valuable card, but the ability to dull all of your opponents forwards can completely change the pace of the game. You can use her ability both offensively and defensively, and is in general a really great card even outside of VIII focused decks. Vayne is another powerful Ice card that will keep getting better as new sets are released. Being able to dull and lock down any 5 drop or higher is incredibly valuable, and shuts down a lot of powerful cards in Opus V like Vaan and Ramza. I'm really not surprised that Ice tends to be popular in the tournament scene with cards like these, and cards from Opus III like Genesis and Kuja only helped make it more powerful.

There are a lot of big beefy Lightning cards in this set too, with stuff like Edea Al-Cid and Amon that can really disrupt your opponents forwards and generally be a pain to play around. Mono Lightning decks are pretty much a thing because of the cards from this set, so if you're a newer player who's looking to play that element, I would definitely start collecting Opus II. 

It also has the other elements beat in sheer fabulousness.

If I had to pick a losing element in this set, it would be Fire, which is kind of a bummer for me since it's my favorite element. Sure, Emperor Xande is one of the key cards in my Marche/FFVI Forwards deck, and probably one of the better fire cards in general, but unlike the other Legends from Opus II, he pretty much has to be played in Mono Fire, which at the moment, is pretty far behind other elements in terms of power and viability. Sure I have fun in casuals with it, but in comparison to other Mono Lightning or Mono Water, it just doesn't keep up.  Every set Fire gets just a little closer to being competitive in the "meta" sense with stuff like Pheonix and Zhuyu in Opus V... it just needs a few more cards that do something other than "Does Damage"... Who knows, maybe Opus VI will make those fire ninjas i keep talking about top tier or something. 

In any case, that's enough of this Noob's opinions for now. What are some of your favorite cards from the Opus II collection, or your thoughts on the set as a whole? Where does it rank for you on the scale of best/worst Opus? Lemme know in the comments! 

Until next time - Keep on Grinding,