Spoiled Onions - Resurgence of Power: Quistis

 

Greetings SeeD candidates in training, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The Final Fantasy TCG blog that is participating in "No Burst November" in solidarity with all those brave souls who have ever lost a game they should have won to an EX Burst, and are totally handling it in a healthy and productive way. 

Boy howdy it sure has been awhile since last we met here. I even missed doing my usual review of the last set! What did I miss while I was away on Onion sabbatical? Has Glaciela Wezette finally earned the 20 dollar price tag she commands on TCGPlayer? Have they finally banned Bismarck? Is the Morze's Soiree deck still meta, or has everyone just made a gentleman's agreement not to use it anymore? 

In all seriousness, I really just needed to take a little bit of a mental health break, which I know must sound hilarious considering I'm talking about the very arduous task of writing about trading cards here. But after running this little dog-and-Chocobo show for the last 4 years, I kind of hit a wall when it came to thinking of stuff to write about. I was also honestly kind of tepid about Rebellion's Call and I couldn't really figure out how to write a good-faith review of the set that didn't boil down to a bunch of weirdly specific issues I personally took with the way certain cards were designed. Sure, I could write a whole article about how much of a missed opportunity it was to not have that one Ranger Backup be a Dancer to give consistency to an actual Tribal deck like Samurai, Dragoons and Monks got, but would anybody read it? 

Put him in the game you cowards. 

You might not guess it from just how much sarcasm I usually inject into this blog, but I do actually care about writing something that people will get some sort of use out of. And trust me, nothing quite saps the old creative juices quite like sitting down and forcing yourself to try and write something just for the sake of writing something. But hey, who knows? Maybe I can still write something that's both fun and educational without writing a friggin' dissertation every time. And that's why you guys keep coming back here right? To learn stuff? 

... 

So yeah, anyway, here's a new spoiler from Resurgence of Power.  

Quistis, AKA Miss Trepe if you're nasty, hits the scene to take your other Forwards to school. It's been a good while since we've gotten a new Quistis card - or solid category VIII support in general, a fact which I'm constantly reminded of by the curiously high number of the FF8 fans I seem to have in my life. But with two other solid Quistis cards, all you Trepies out there might find yourself hard-pressed to include her in your VIII decks. Of course, that all depends on what other support Category VIII gets this set (a new searcher not named "Rinoa" comes to mind...) but Quistis's entry effect is powerful enough that you may want to rethink how you build those old VIII decks you're dusting off in preparation for the new set.   

Removing your opponents choice on which card they have to pitch with a random discard is certainly stronger than regular discard, which might explain why we haven't seen it on too many cards before now (Fun fact: Only 4 other cards in the game before now have Random Discard effects). Since Quistis's effect triggers on attack, cards that can attack more than once are prime targets for her buff. And wouldn't you know it - the new Gilgamesh being introduced in this set also just so happens to be Category VIII! Dealing with two attacks from a 9K power Forward is already going to be difficult for your opponent to deal with, let alone randomly losing two cards from their hand. With more Category VIII cards being introduced in Lightning like Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin, Ice/Lightning might just be the way to go with VIII decks in Resurgence of Power. 

So if you REALLY want to go unga bunga on your opponent's hand, you also have Ravana, Savior of the Gnath as an option to use with Quistis's random discard since he can attack a whopping four times a turn. Since it's impossible for him to get Brave like Gilgamesh though, you have to rely on cards breaking to activate Ravana again and keep on swinging. Of course, it doesn't say that it has to be your opponent's cards that break, so an Ice/Lightning deck with cards that can put themselves into the Break Zone like Coeurl and Kazusa can help get more attacks out of him. It will take a few turns of setup beforehand, but once Quistis hits the field, your opponent will have to take 3 or more attacks, losing a random card for each one, and have one of their Forwards broken by Kazusa on top of that.

Using Quistis's effect in Ice/Wind can also quickly shred your opponent's hand size thanks to cards like Chelinka and Byblos. Turn Byblos into a Forward after Damage 3, then play Quistis to pump him to 9k and play Chelinka to give Byblos Brave and a second attack. With this combo your opponent will be forced to discard 4 cards from their hand, and can also Dull/Freeze 4 Forwards as well, all for only 5 CP. Other cards with on-attack discard effects like Serah or Lasswell are great options to target with Quistis too. 

All around, I view Quistis as a long overdue upgrade to Argath from Opus I, sacrificing the instant speed of his discard for more potent random hand disruption that has higher potential to abuse with combos. Topping it all off with the ability to buff up one of your Forwards by 2k, and you've got a versatile new option that fits nicely into discard-heavy Ice decks. Not too shabby for a Common eh? 

"Who are you calling common??"

So that's my spoiler for Resurgence of Power! Thanks as always to Square Enix for the opportunity to reveal new cards to the community! And thanks for giving me permission to soft spoil the card early in my latest Bingo! Is it cheating? Absolutely! But after losing the Bingo from Rebellions Call, don't I deserve it?

I swear, that's not the reason why I've been away for so long... haha... 

Looks like things are off to a much nicer start this time around though! I'll be eagerly awaiting more card reveals while I prep for our NY local two-deck Title tournament in a few weeks. I'm calling it the "Doom Series" because it's like... you know, a twisted version of the Reraise series? Do you get it? 

This rapier wit is why they pay me the big Gil here folks.

Until next time - keep on grinding,

 

 

 

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Spoiled Onions: An Exclusive Opus IX Spoiler - Father's Day Edition

Hey everybody, and welcome back to Lv.1 Onion Knight - the Final Fantasy TCG blog that totally wouldn't be willing to commit a felony to get their hands on that new Prishe/Shantotto playmat that's only available at the 2019 Master's tournament in Japan. Nope. Not at all. 

Let me start things off by wishing everybody out there a Happy Father's Day! If you happen to be a dad, then hopefully you'll be a more active presence in your child's life than the character whose card I'll be revealing today: Opus IX Laguna! 

With the recent announcement of the remastered version of Final Fantasy VIII coming out in the near future, a lot more people will have the chance to experience the game; myself included, much to the chagrin of my boyfriend since it's his favorite title in the series. Even if VIII isn't quite your cup of tea, Laguna is still one of the most iconic characters from Final Fantasy and has what is probably the most kick-ass theme song in the series. Seriously, it should be mandatory to blast "The Man with the Machine Gun" whenever you play a Laguna card. 

Though he's made other appearances in the FFTCG, this Laguna is different from most of the other versions in that he doesn't interact with any Card Name Squall - at least not directly. The effect of this card is pretty straightforward in that he is a Forward who searches for another Ice Forward and adds it to your hand. Most other 5 cost Forwards with a search effect in the game have an EX burst attached to it, which Laguna does not. However, all of those other Forwards have a more narrow scope of the cards that they can tutor, such as only searching for one specific character or job, like Ignis or Hugh Yurg. 

Opus III Steiner is probably the broadest of the Forward searchers we've seen in the game, being able to search any of the Category IX Characters, rather than just Forwards, but he's not without drawbacks. He absolutely needs to be played specifically with other Category IX cards in order for him to be on curve for a pseudo-3 cost Forward, which limits the types of decks and engines you can run him in.

The new Laguna on the other hand trades his ability to EX Burst for having the broadest search conditions on a Forward we've seen so far - ANY Ice element Forward - while also having a pretty substantial 8k body to fall back on. Because of this, he could realistically find a place in just about any Ice deck that wants more consistency to search for their big play makers like Genesis, Sephiroth, or Dark Fina, while establishing a larger board presence. 

However, in Opus VIII we've seen title-centric decks like VI, VII, and IX get enough solid support to make them not just playable, but competitively viable. With the focus on Category VIII in Opus IX, I'm hopeful that the same can be done for Squall and Co. So lets take a look at some possible plays centered around a Category VIII deck with Laguna. 

I'd be pretty remiss if I didn't mention Ysayle, considering that both she and Laguna do exactly the same thing, just with her in the backup slot. However, combining the two actually makes for some pretty optimal plays, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to run both of these long haired beauties in the same deck. Four may be expensive for a backup, but many decks that have a 3-cost searcher Like Gestahlian Emperor Cid or Gramis don't mind overpaying for it turn one just to start establishing their boards and get their combo pieces in order. Cards that can "search for a searcher" tend to be a great way to make your deck more consistent, so a Category VIII deck where you play Ysayle turn one and search for Laguna would be a pretty efficient turn one play On turn two you can pitch two cards from hand and dull Ysayle to play Laguna and search for another Forward, which is where things start to get interesting as more options open up to you.

So lets say that you've also played a 2 drop backup onto the field on the turn that you played Laguna - now you can play 4 drop cards more efficiently the next turn. Some of the best cards in Category VIII that you could search for with Laguna are the new Opus IX Quistis or Opus VI Rinoa that will both do the same thing for you, which is let you grab yet another card, though if you needed to you could also search for a Genesis or Lasswell too depending on what your opponent is doing. 

If searching for a searcher is good, then what about searching for a searcher who searches for a searcher? Or uh... a reveal-er? Do we have an official name for the type of card that Quistis is? Anyway the point is that you can continue to build up your board of forwards while consistently chaining cards together. You could also search for Rinoa, play it, and then search for Quistis with Laguna's effect again. There are probably better offensive options to use this Rinoa on, but the general idea is to build up more Category VIII Forwards which can help set up some other plays. 

At this point after using Quistis's effect, one of the better cards you could hope to reveal would be the new Opus IX Squall AKA the best looking guy here. Assuming that none of the Forwards you've set up have been broken yet, you've not only made Squall cheap enough to play on the same turn you put him into your hand, but more powerful with Quistis's boost to SeeD Candidate cards. Congratulations, you've played a 9k that dulls a Forward on entry for 2 CP. You may kiss the bride. 

Another option to go for with Quistis would be Opus II Rinoa, assuming that you are choosing not to run the Opus VI one. Depending on how heavy you get into Category VIII support, it could make her into an absolute monster - with just Quistis and Laguna on the field she's a 9k Forward that your opponent is going to have trouble getting around without dulling their field and opening themselves up to attack. I'm actually surprised this card hasn't been seeing more play lately as it's not a bad counter to Veritas, but I guess it's become a frenzied Nuclear Arms Race to see who can set their own abuseable removal combos first, and Opus VI Rinoa is a more aggressive option in ice with all its on-entry effects. It would be interesting to see if a Category VIII deck specifically brings Opus II Rinoa into the spotlight again though. I'm secretly hoping for an Angelo Backup... 

"This card can only be played onto the field by physically throwing it at your opponent."

Of course these are just some ideas with what we have revealed to us so far, but as far as Laguna's is concerned he's a straightforward card that will only improve as more viable targets for him become announced. Who knows, maybe they'll introduce an VIII Standard Units rush type build with Galbadian Soldiers? Either way, with what we've seen so far, things are starting to look good for Category VIII decks.

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So there you have it everyone! I hope that you guys enjoyed this spoiler and are as hyped for Opus IX as I am. And speaking of Opus IX Spoilers... 

Opus Bingo is back! If you haven't seen it on Facebook or Reddit, here's our currently updated board. Some of these new cards look absolutely crazy, and I'm super excited to try out some crazy new deck builds we haven't seen before. We still have a little over a month until prerelease, so in the meantime I'll be here, waiting and absolutely not plotting on how I can get myself that XI playmat by means of an elaborate Machiavellian scheme.

Until next time - Keep on Grinding, 

      

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Spoiled Onions: An Exclusive Opus VI Card Reveal!

Hey there Final Fantasy Fans, and welcome back to Lv.1 Onion Knight - The FFTCG blog that's just one needle short of 1000! 

Today I'm super excited to reveal a new card that will be released in Opus VI! This is my first time doing a Spoiler post, so I'm going to do my best to channel my inner Richard Brady and give you guys a rundown of some of the ways I think this card can be used and other cards it combos well with. Wow, who would have thunk that this silly little blog would be my gateway to becoming a real live content creator? 

This is what all nerdy content creators dream of...

In all seriousness though, I want to give a big thanks to the North American Final Fantasy TCG team for selecting me for a Spoiler reveal - I never thought I would be chosen for something like this, so it really means a lot to this low-level Onion Knight! I also want to thank everyone for reading this blog too! When I started doing this, I figured that people wouldn't be all that interested in a silly casual's blog, with maybe a handful of reads here and there. But my last post had over 800 views! That's 790 more than I thought it would get! I really appreciate all the support from the community, and I've really enjoyed interacting with everyone both locally and on Reddit and Facebook. 

In any case, that's enough of this mushy vulnerability stuff - lets take a look at a new Summon from Opus VI - Cactuar! 

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Debuting in Final Fantasy VI, these prickly little buggers have become the bane of parties everywhere with their signature 1000 needles attack, and have long since become one of the most recognizable mascots for the Final Fantasy games. This little guy has even played basketball with Mario and Luigi, appearing as a playable character in Mario Hoops 3-on-3. This particular Cactuar is from Final Fantasy VIII being summonable as a Guardian Force after defeating the optional Jumbo Cactuar boss. 

Even though there is already a Cactuar card in the game, this one has a fairly unique effect, while keeping a similar theme of dealing varying amounts of damage. Not only is this version a Summon instead of a Monster, but it does more damage depending on the number of different elements you use to pay for it. Whereas the original Opus IV Cactuar card can be splashed into a variety of different decks, this one requires a bit more specialization to get the most out of it.

Unlike cards like Atomos (3-074R), Hecatoncheir (4-093R), and Raubahn (2-093H), it allows decks that run Earth to have a form of flexible removal without needing you to have a beefy Forward out on the field already. This Summon also has the potential to wipe out just about any forward in the game, with a maximum output of 16,000 damage - that's a lot of needles! Even with only 2 different elements, it hits the "sweet spot" of 8,000 damage, which is on curve for a 4 drop. 

What's great about Cactuar is that it doesn't cost more to do increased damage, you just need to have different elements to pay for it. It should go without saying that you don't want to be playing this card in Mono Earth. That being said, there are plenty of ways to get the most out of this little guy. 

Oh hey, its Leo! Not the Leo I was hoping for from Chapters, but it's still pretty cool to finally see this guy in the TCG! It should go without saying that with Leo on the field, it is really easy for Cactuar to pump out its bigger numbers regardless of the backups you run. Plus, depending on the number of Characters you have on the field, you can potentially get a really strong forward out for only one CP! The only real downside is that as a Forward, he's a bit more difficult to maintain on the field unlike the other backups that combo well with this new summon. Here I was trying to find more card combos for Cactuar, but it looks like multi-color decks are going to be getting a good amount of support in Opus VI! 

 

Now obviously, if you want to beef up Cactuar's damage, you'd want to be running either Chaos or Cosmos. That being said, the Star Sibyl/Kam'Lanaut Combo makes running Chaos a faster and more efficient way of getting additional elements onto the field. Even if you mainly run 2 elements in your deck, with Chaos out you'd be able to boost Cactuar to 12,000 damage, which is already huge for a 4 drop. 

  
Any other cards that can function as an additional element would also be great to play alongside Cactuar. Shantotto has been a staple removal card since her introduction in Opus I, and her ability to be any of the six main elements at once makes her even more valuable. Of course, you have to be okay with wiping out anything on your field as well, and considering this is more of a late-game card, you may not need to run Cactuar, but it could be useful for clearing out some pesky Forwards that are immune to targeting/summon damage like the Legendary versions of Y'shtola, Zidane, and Garnet, or bypassing Illua's bubble. Also now that Monster decks are becoming more prevalent, Cactuar can clean up any Monsters that can become Forwards after her big board wipe, should your opponent choose to activate them.

Kimahri on the other hand is much cheaper and easier to get out early game. I'm not usually a huge fan of cards that are dependent on what your opponent has out on the field, but unless you're up against a mirror match or Mono Earth, it's a quick way to get a wider variety of elements onto the field. I would love to see 3+ element decks get more meta support, but there's one deck archetype that Cactuar would really do well in... 

I'm sure a lot of you saw the spoiler and the first thing your minds went to was that it would be great in a Golbez deck, since both versions are dependent on utilizing multiple elements. Hell, so long as you're running Chaos/Cosmos, you don't even need to be running any other Earth cards to make use of Cactuar in a Golbez deck, or really any other deck that runs 3 or more elements. You can wipe out any problematic forwards that are too big for your 2 drop Forwards to run over and clear the way for that sweet Golbez win, or use it with the Heroic Golbez to destroy one Forward, Dull another, and get in a free point of damage.

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For a Common, Cactuar is actually a pretty versatile card that lets you cheat bigger damage for a relatively low cost. I've actually been getting more interested in running multi-element decks, so it looks like it could be a powerful card with the right setup. And hey, at the very least it'll be fun to use in drafts!

So what do you guys think of this card? Can you think of any combos or decks that would work well with Cactuar? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Until next time - Keep on Grinding,

  

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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, 

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