Hello to all you survivors of the War of the Lions, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight - The Final Fantasy TCG Blog that was asked to become one of the Knights of the Round but couldn't due to contractual obligations.
As February gives way to March, the chill of winter gives way to the cautious hope of the coming spring. Some of you may be spending your respective hibernations playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Well I'm not, because I don't have a PS5 and it's nobody else's fault but my own for playing the first part of a three part game on a late stage console. And now I'm here, re-subbing to FFXI on my dusty old rig while everyone else is enjoying the new game.
... I swear I had a point with this. Something about hope? Perhaps such that has been hidden? It's on the tip of my tongue.
Ah well, anyway here's a new Ramza.
Knights are probably one of the most diverse Tribal decks in the FFTCG in terms of colors you can run them in. Originally seeing most of their cards in Water and Lightning, over the years we've seen support for Fire and Ice Knights as well. We've seen a small smattering of Knights in Earth so far, but from what we've seen spoiled from Hidden Hope, it looks like Earth Knights may finally be getting their chance to shine.
Ramza is pretty interesting in that while he has an initial CP cost of 4, he can become a free 8K Forward if you meet both of his conditions. The first condition says that Ramza costs two less if you control another Job Knight. This means that he can have his cost reduced by either Forwards or Backup Job Knights. The problem is that before Hidden Hope, the only other Backup Knights besides another Ramza have been Segwarides and Pelinore, both of which are cards which have definitely shown their age since their Debut in Opus III. But now with the reveal of cards like big boi Baelo here, there's actually a good Backup option to get Ramza's cost down - and definitely a way better option for Duke Goltanna to target in a Lightning/Earth Knights deck instead of the old WoFF Backups. Ramza's second condition means that you won't be able to get him fully free until your Main Phase 2, since you'll need a Forward you control to attack. However, the effect does not specify that it has to be a Knight that attacks to make him cheaper. If you can attack with any other Forward, then during your Main Phase 2 cast Lasswell, you'll not only have both the conditions to cast Ramza for free, you'll also be able to Dull and Freeze two Characters with Lasswell's effect. Ramza is also a much bulkier than Lasswell, so attacking with him to force a discard is safer as well. Oh hey that rhymes, haha... 
Okay, let me make one thing clear here: I am not recommending that the card you play with Curilla be Ramza. I mean, you totally could, and you'd still end up getting a free Ramza out of the deal regardless. It would probably be better to play out two smaller Knights like Beatrix, Charlotte, or Physalis to name a few. But if you play out Curilla, and two more Knights, then finish your turn playing Ramza for free (assuming you got an attack out), you have a very large board for your opponent to deal with - especially if you have Ovelia to buff your Knights by an extra 1k. That extra power really adds up when you combine it with Curilla's added protection effect!
I'd also like to point out that Ramza can totally be played as a card in any deck that wants to build a wide board or accrue more casts per turn so long as you at least have one Knight Forward or Backup on the field. It will be interesting to see how things play out. My personal thoughts is that Ice/Earth will be the best place to play him, possibly in a deck like this one by Chocobilly. But who knows? Only time will tell if running Earth Knights will be worth it this set.
And there's my spoiler for Hidden Hope! But of course, it wouldn't be a new spoiler season without a new Bingo wouldn't it? Well, wouldn't it??? Yeah, that's what I *thought*!
Will Hidden Hope be the set where we finally see Angelo make her triumphant debut into the FFTCG? Will Earth Knights become the best version of the Knights deck? Will we finally get to see Dancer Galuf in all his samba glory? Stay tuned to find out - same Onion-time, same Onion-channel!
Until next time - Keep on grinding,
