Spoiled Onions: Gilgamesh

Greetings all you discerning weapon collectors, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The Final Fantasy TCG blog that is the equivalent of drawing an Excalipoor at a critical moment. 

Welp, my resolution to write more on this blog have already gone up in smoke, so it looks like 2026 will have to be the year I make my glorious return to making the written equivalent of really long YouTube video essays. To be totally frank, me and the FFTCG have been having a falling out of sorts with how Tears of the Planet ended up shaping the meta. I hosted a local qualifier where the finals were a mirror match with every turn boiling basically becoming this: "I blank your effect, but you tax my blank, and then I tax you taxing my tax, but you blank me taxing you taxing my tax" and so on and so forth, going on in an infinite loop until both players, the judges, and the onlookers all exploded.

You know the deck I'm talking about... 

The stale meta nonwithstanding, seeing what was capable with the cards from the Magic the Gathering / Final Fantasy collab was also a jarringly eye-opening experience for me. I don't play MTG, but I can't help but feel like a jealous orphan from a Charles Dickens novel looking at a sumptuous feast when I see effects like Relm's Sketching letting you straight up copy any card, or the fact that you can make a Cid deck with unlimited Cids from across the series. By comparison, the constant deluge of FFTCG cards with the effect of "When you play this card, play another card for free" doesn't quite have the Final Fantasy flavor that you would expect. We have some interesting stuff coming out in Gunslinger of the Abyss, like more Priming shenanigans from the XVI stuff and Lightning's insta-party effect that look like a much-needed shot in the arm for the game. On the other hand, we also have the new Category V stuff that looks like it's just another avenue to dump out 4-color Warrior of Light for free, so I guess we'll see what happens. 

And hey, speaking of Final Fantasy V...

Here's a new Gilgamesh from Gunslinger in the Abyss! While I may be masterful at segue's, I admit I struggled a bit when it comes to finding a use for ol' Gilgy here. Of all the Elements, Lightning is probably the worst suited to be running 3 or more elements. You have the exception of Gilgamesh (FFBE) decks, but that deck would likely prefer a 3-drop backup to play off of 7-CP WoL, making the Lightning Shantotto Backup a better option for that with basically the same effect.

That would leave Gilgamesh as an option in constructed for Earth-Lightning decks that run color Fixers like Tyro and Leo, but not only is that quite boring, it's not something you couldn't already achieve with the Opus VI Cactuar Summon (which was, surprisingly, my first ever spoiler. The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh?). Since I was just here complaining that things in the FFTCG aren't as spicy as they could be, why don't I take my own advice and think outside the box here?

Enkidu could be an interesting combo piece for Gunslinger Gilgamesh since he's currently the only Backup Gilgamesh in the game. You can pay for Gilgamesh using Enkidu from your hand and two other Backups to generate 3 different colors and deal something 9K. Then once Gilgamesh resolves, you can pay 2 to play Enkidu from the Break Zone, activating Gilg and the 2 Backups you paid. At least I think that's how that would work. Is there a judge out there that knows if paying for Gilg with Enkidu means Enkidu is "in the Break Zone" at the time Gilg hits the field? If not, go ahead and just EMBARRASS me in the comments. You know you want to. 

Despite being a fairly old card, the Opus 7 Gilgamesh Legend is still a fairly solid card for any Gilg-centric decks. However, because Backup Gilgamesh says it needs to be "Cast" for his effect to go off, "Playing" him with Opus-7 Gilgamesh means he won't deal any damage, regardless of how you pay for it. But playing Backup Gilgamesh first means that you'd have name clash, and couldn't play Legend Gilgamesh, or any other for that matter. Thankfully, Tears of the Planet did provide players with a way of removing your own Backups with the line of Summons that debuted in that set. Of course, playing Adrammelech means you have to remove Backup Gilgamesh from the game, preventing it from powering up Legend Gilgamesh from the Break Zone, but you have to admit, that combo was a lot more interesting than just saying "pitch the Backup whenever you draw it". 

Here's another option for Backup Gilgamesh: Just cheat. Go ahead. Use a banned card. Yeah, I bet you would too. You're just a dirty little cheater aren't you? Using Syldra was probably the first card you thought you would use with Gilgamesh, and you thought nobody would know. But I know. And you know what? You disgust me. Ugh, you're just the worst. 

And well... that's all I got for this card. I'm curious if there will be any card in Gunslinger of the Abyss that makes Gilgamesh more usable, but in all honesty he's probably best reserved for sealed formats where running multiple colors is a whole lot easier, or Category V title where there's no name clash. But hey, if you ever find yourself in the position where you absolutely need to deal something a hard 12K damage, your boy Gilgamesh will be here. Who knows? Dealing 5k damage has suddenly become incredibly relevant for SOME reason.  

Until next time - Keep on Grinding, 

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Spoiled Onions: Cinque

Greetings citizens of Rubrum, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The Final Fantasy TCG blog that is prophesied to become Agito and be the savior of Orience. 

Man, didn't I just do my review of Hidden Legends? Now we have Tears of the Planet just around the corner! It's not that my publishing schedule is too slow - time is just moving way too fast! I literally *just* got my first box of the Legacy Reprint set and now the pre-release for TotP is two weeks away. *Sigh* such is the life of a card game player, I suppose. In any case, today we're going to talk about Cadets, and not just because my new spoiler is a Cadet card. I mean, that's definitely a huge reason behind it, but this archetype has been on my mind for some time now. 

Cadets were introduced as an archetype back in Opus III, and I don't think it would be too far of a stretch to say that their existence has been a struggle ever since. The fact that they're a numbers-based archetype that was split across Lightning, Wind, and Fire - elements that have no ability to color-fix between the three - was the first strike against them. Second, Cadets suffered from needing to have a lot of them on the field, but would almost never get new Backups to help them hit their number requirements easier. In fact, since they were introduced in Opus III, it would be a whopping eighteen sets since a new Cadet Backup that actually synergized with the deck would be added with Trey. 

However, it looks like TotP will finally give Cadets their moment to shine, and my new spoiler handily remedies a lot of what held them back in the past. I'm happy to introduce what is sure to be an essential part of Cadet decks in the future: Cinque. 

This feels like a card that should have been printed back in Opus XIII when they made the Multi-Element Nine, but better late than never I suppose! And man, what a Backup to give to an archetype that has been so parched for support over the years. She solves Cadet's primary issue of needing to play three different elements by allowing you to play a Class Zero Cadet Forward from the Break Zone for free. With other new Backups like Seven revealed for this set, it seems like playing a 4 or 5 cost Cadet with Cinque will be fairly easy. The fact that she's also got an action ability that lets you threaten to kill an opposing Forward and breaks her so you can play another copy of her is just the icing on the cake.

There's just one problem with Cinque that may not be obvious at first glance. You won't be able to play her. 

It's very important that I clarify that I don't mean that the card is bad (which it's not) or that there are other versions of Cinque that are worth playing over this (which there aren't). What I mean by this is that YOU, the person who came to this blog just to read this post - or lets be honest, just came here to save the picture of the new spoiler and share it on discord without reading any of this -  are not ALLOWED to play it. 

Now I know that this may come as a shock to you, being told you can't use this awesome new card and all. But the thing is, I don't make the rules when it comes to this. I have never actually played a Cadet deck or even Type-0 the game so I don't even have a horse in this fight, were anybody to ever theoretically fight horses. The person who makes the Cadet rules is actually Mr. Daniel "The Producer" Delemos. Is he somebody involved with the creation of the game? No, he's just a guy from my locals. But he's been the ride-or-die cadet guy consistently playing the deck for as long as I've known him. Therefore, he makes the rules. 

You may call him Mother. In fact, I insist upon it. 

With him being the only premier Cadet player in 2025, I took heavy inspiration from his current build to figure out the best ways to play Cinque. It doesn't matter of course, since as I mentioned, you can't play Cadets and all, but sometimes knowledge of what is forbidden can be a comfort of sorts. 

I was quite surprised to see that of the available Nines, it was actually the Opus 21 version of the card that Daniel was running instead of the Multi-Element one. Assuming that you're playing Cinque off of two Backups like Deuce, Rem, or Trey, Nine is a pretty juicy target to play out early. His second effect will already be set if you play him with Cinque, and he's an excellent anti-aggression tool. Being able to dull any Forward for free once per turn helps funnel any other attackers they have into being blocked by Nine, who takes 2k less damage. Assuming you have Moogle Class Zero up, it'll take 10K damage to break Nine, forcing them to play cards like LB Cloud to get rid of him. The versatility of his dull effect can also help clear blockers on your turn as well. 

Sice's ability to reduce her cost to 1 means you probably don't need to play her out with Cinque early game. Once you've gotten your board set up though, reviving her from the Break Zone can be really impactful. Sice breaks any Forward so long as its cost is less than or equal to your total number of Cadets, so she's an extremely flexible piece of removal. Since she's a Forward, you can also get rid of one of your opponent's blockers and then give her Haste with Seven to swing in for a point of damage. 

Speaking of Seven, you can also pull off some pretty nutty combos with her, Cinque, and the new Queen. Now that you have more Cadet Backups to play with, Queen can enable so many different lines of play. The first and most obvious would be to use Seven's Haste effect twice in one turn by reactivating the Backups you dulled. Seven's Sadistic Spikes Special (say THAT three times fast) counts all of your Cadets, so having a strong Backup line with Cinque also empowers her to take out more of your Opponent's Forwards. 

Queen just giving you an extra 2CP during each of your turns finally helps the deck become more aggressive and build up a wide board. Since Queen will be a target for your opponent's removal, having Cinque to revive her makes sure you're continuously generating value. Plus her second effect isn't limited to once per turn, so you can use her Backup reactivation to yoink multiple key targets from your opponent's Break Zone in one turn,  

Cadets began to see promise in Opus 21 with the Lightning Ace, and now you can make him really pop off. Play him onto the field with Cinque and draw one card. Then use Seven's effect to give him Haste and nab a second card. Pitch cards as needed to Dull your Opponent's Forwards, and in conjunction with Nine, you can make a board full of Blockers useless quite quickly. 

As good as the Lightning Ace is though, I do want to take some time to discuss the old Opus 9 Ace. You would have thought that this card would have been power-crept into oblivion by now, but 1: It's Cadets and 2: His effect is still incredibly relevant. While giving Lightning Ace Haste will still net you two cards in one turn, the Opus 9 Ace shines with his selectivity. Being able to scry the top 7 cards of your deck to find the specific Cadets you need, especially if you need one to trigger an S-ability like Seven or Duece, is still exceptionally strong. Lightning Ace will pay off more in the long term, but I think you could still run one copy of the Opus 9 version, especially since he's an EX Burst.

With the new line of Cadet support this set you can use Jack to... 

Okay, no. There's nothing you can do with this Jack. Not even Daniel can find an effective way to use him. But he is another hilarious example of bad text on a card because it's lore or whatever. There has to be a better way of translating Jack's slow playstyle in Type-0 onto a card than just making him suck, but we'll see if he gets a new card this set. Also fun fact: Jack was a Water card in the original Chapters series. In fact, the Cadets were split across all 6 colors, so the deck could have been even weirder than it ended up. 

So there you have it. Hopefully Cadets gets even more support this set. It's just a damn shame that none of you can use them. Now I'm sure there are some of you out there that are thinking "But I've been playing Cadets too and I-" Lemme stop you right there. No. No you haven't, Okay? If you ever saw the Lightning Ace and thought Cadets are now playable as a mono-Lightning deck, you ain't playing Cadets. If your first reaction to seeing Cadet support is that you're gunna tuck in Miyu so you can search for Carla to ramp into Backups, you ain't playing Cadets. If you didn't print out the revealed Cadet Support from TotP as proxies to test out combos, you ain't playing Cadets. 

But hey, I'm just the messenger here. And while I would consider anybody bringing updated Cadets to a tournament just because they're suddenly good a violation tantamount to a war crime, if you're curious about playing them I'd be happy to accept your paperwork to petition Daniel to allow it. Just make sure your Cadet-use application has been properly signed in triplicate and notarized and I'll see what I can do for you. You know I'll always have your backs, especially if I'm bribed with signed full-arts. 

Fair.

In any case, new cards are coming out soon! Which ones are you looking forward to the most? It better not be Cadets! I'll have eyes and ears at all your locals so I can report any infractions to OSHA. In the meantime I'll be here, trying to get three Full-Art copies of Moogle XI from the reprint set. 

Until next time - keep on grinding, 

 
  

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Spoiled Onions: Viera

 

Greetings inhabitants of Ivalice, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The Final Fantasy TCG Blog that features the largest collection of Final Fantasy artwork ever in a single game. Ever. This has NEVER been done before by any other game on the market. No siree. 

Happy spooky season everyone! As the leaves begin to fall, and autumn's chill sets in, there's nothing quite as comforting as getting into your coziest sweater, tossing a few logs on the fireplace, and settling in to play some high-stakes competitive card games. But a pumpkin spice lattes aren't the only thing October brings, with ghosts and ghouls shambling out of their hiding places to haunt the living. And among all of the creeps and specters out there, legends speak of one creature that rises out of the Onion patch on Halloween night, flying through the air with new cards to show to all the FFTCG players. 

It's The Mediocre Onion!!

Boy howdy, it sure has been a long time since my last post. A whole two sets have passed with nary a humorous quip or set review in sight from that Onion Knight guy. Well, my patient little scallions, it was quite an eventful few months of "Real Life Stuff", some of it card game related, some of it not. I hosted my first ever Local Qualifier this past summer, which was enough to put me into hibernation alone (though it ended up going surprisingly well!) But to make a long story short, after running this blog for over five years, I really just needed a bit of a break. But thanks to the fine folks over at Square Enix, I'm back from my content-sabbatical with a new spoiler. So let's take a look at Viera from Hidden Legends. 

Backups are kind of a curious thing in the FFTCG, as the game has evolved to a point where a majority of decks seem to want them to take up less deck-real estate than they did in the past. If it's not a searcher or a member of a job/title specific tribal deck, a Backup has to have a pretty big impact to make it into most decks. On top of that, Standard Unit Backups can be pretty hit or miss. While they have the benefit of being able to play multiple of them on the field at once, they're usually just not very strong. This would normally give me very little to talk about, but in the case of Viera, it's actually pretty easy to justify using it as a play extender in Wind-based decks. 

With Viera on the field, you always have the potential to have an additional 2 CP available during your turn. I say "during your turn" because in order to use Viera's effect, you need a Wind Forward to have entered your field during the turn, in spite of the effect not technically being limited to your turn. There are a few exceptions to this, but we'll get into that a bit later. Since the effect doesn't require you to dull Viera, you can use her to generate CP as usual, then break her to activate her effect. In general though, Viera is great for the way she lets you extend your combos, potentially keeping a card in your hand at the cost of one of your Backups. 

Speaking of combo extension, Viera would be a solid addition to everybody's least-favorite deck, Storm. Actually, is Storm still hated as much nowadays, or has stuff like WoL 7 and Chaos decks taken away some of that ire? But uh... In any case, being able to plop down Backups that can generate 2 extra CP can help you get to the required numbers you need to hit Storm cards' casting requirements. You could even Viera alongside Opus 16 Zidane to make sure you get that third cast, giving him Haste and stealing a second card from your opponent's deck. Gross! 

In spite of what I said about Standard Unit Backups earlier, they have actually gotten some support last set, with Limit Breaks like Luso and Cid Highwind making them easier to get them in your hand. Luso being able to search any Job Standard Unit so long as it matches the element of another Character you control means that he can help you ramp up your Backups faster. Cid is also a great way for you to filter your deck for Backups early-game, and Viera would be an excellent target for him. While not a Limit Break, you could also use cards like Opus 22 Warrior of Light to search out Viera. Just make sure you're careful about when you send Viera into the Break Zone so you don't end up losing Warrior of Light's buffing effect with one less Standard Unit on the field. 

Being a 2 cost Wind Backup also makes it a perfect addition for Mono-Wind decks that use Fat Chocobo. I know, I know. Mono Wind is still super unfun to play against. But they comparatively got the worst Limit Break cards, so you know, balance! But yeah, get a free card every turn with Fat Chocobo, play Viera for free with his effect, play a Wind Forward, then use her effect to generate more CP. The Mono-Wind wheel keeps on turning. 

Remember how earlier I said that there were some ways to use Viera's effect outside of your turn? Since the card says it needs a Wind Forward to have entered the field that turn, using Summons or other effects that can play one on your opponent's turn can be a way for you to use Viera's effect outside of yours. You can play Opus 19 Zidane with Phoenix, then reactivate two Backups with Viera. With two extra CP, you can play more Summons or activate any abilities with a cost to catch your opponent off guard.

Forwards with the Back Attack keyword are another way you can use Viera's effect on your opponent's turn. Right now, Mid is one of the only Wind Forwards that have Back Attack, the other being Opus IX Edge but I think of the two, Mid has aged a bit better. Viera also doesn't specify it needs to be broken immediately once the Wind Forward enters. After playing Mid, you could potentially wait to use her effect if you need the extra CP to play something like Mist Dragon or Amaterasu, activate the Power boosting effects of Tyro or Princess Sarah, or even letting you cast Cu Sith before your opponent's turn ends.    

In spite of a relatively simple effect, Viera looks primed to be a pretty solid Backup option in a lot of different decks. What do you guys think? What decks would you want to use Viera in? Leave me a comment and let me know! 

Thanks again to Square Enix for letting me do a spoiler for Hidden Legends! Even though it's been awhile, I'm really glad to be posting on this blog again. You can expect to see some new content from this perpetually Level 1 Onion Knight in the near future. Player interviews! Deck breakdowns! Possibly the return of overly long set reviews! Who knows? All I know is, I promise it won't be as long as it was last time. If it is, my mom will never let me hear the end of it, and I'm telling you, having your mom reminding you that you haven't updated your card game blog in awhile is exactly as bizarre as it sounds (Hi mom!).

Until next time - Keep on Grinding, 

     

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Spoiled Onions - Ramza

 

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, 

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Spoiled Onions - Summoner

 

Greetings to all the Standard Units out there, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The Final Fantasy TCG Blog that can only summon one thing, and that's the deep feeling of regret. 

Boy howdy it sure has been a long time hasn't it? Longer than my already very sparse content schedule has been over the years in any case. Unfortunately, I've been dealing with some health issues that, as of the time of writing this, have yet to be resolved, or even properly identified - fun stuff! But spoiler season waits for no man, so I'm here to share a new card from Beyond Destiny with you: Summoner!

Standard Units are usually pretty hit and miss, especially ones that aren't connected to a pre-existing tribal archetype like Monks, Samurais, or Ninjas. Thankfully this one here is pretty good! It's actually somewhat similar to Terra in terms of cost and effect. For 4CP, you can search for a Wind Summon from your deck. Then, when you cast any Summon regardless of element, Summoner gets a boost of 2000 power. 

Much as I've been the Anti-Wind guy on this blog over the years, it's hard to deny that this new Summoner would be a good fit for decks that cast a lot of cheap Summons, like Storm decks. Summoner can help you search out your combo pieces faster so you can get your cast count for cards like Luso or Locke or my personal favorite, Lehko Habhoka. Bouncable with Bismarck, yadda yadda yadda... Look, if you do that, then do at least try and act apologetic about it. Give your opponent a token grimace or something. 

Summoner's power boosting effect can be useful when combined with Lulu. Because both Summoner and Lulu's effects trigger when a Summon is cast, attacking with Summoner means that there's always a threat that any of your opponent's Blockers will have their power reduced to 5000. And since Summoner gains 2000 power, you'll always be stronger than the Forward being targeted by Lulu. Just remember Lulu's effect only triggers during your turn! 

Summoner's power boosting effect isn't limited to your turn though. And even though you can only search for a Wind summon, you'll get the extra 2k for any Summon you cast. You can get some extra bang for your buck with combat-trick Summons like Titan, Belias, and Shivalry. Summoner's power boosting effect certainly seems less significant than giving Wind decks the ability to search for Summons. However, you can catch your opponent off guard with some creative combos, or chain multiple smaller summons together to ensure that you always have a big attacker on the field.

I feel like this Garnet was really ahead of its time when it came out in Opus XI, but now it's starting to find a more steady footing. And by that I mean I've seen a handful of decks running it instead of absolutely none, but in decks with a large count of high-cost Summons, you can make some really explosive plays with her. I ran her in a Water-Ice FFVI deck and nothing is more satisfying than slapping down Ark for free. She also works quite nicely with Summoner, since her action ability still counts as "casting" the Summon. Every cast pumps up Summoner and gives you a Summon Counter for Garnet, so you can always threaten to make Summoner even bigger.  

And that's another spoiler down! Thanks so much to the fine folks at Square Enix for letting me have this opportunity! And it wouldn't be a new set without a Bingo, would it? 

Beyond Destiny is already shaping up to be a very interesting set so far. From what I can see, it looks like it's not only introducing a new category, but giving attention to some archetypes that have needed some TLC for quite some time now. I mean, actual real Type-0 Cadet support? Did hell just freeze over? Plus it looks like Warriors are getting some help with cards like Taivas (the Hot Beard Man on our bingo board FYI). Who knows? Warrior/Rebels may actually be GOOD! A man can dream can't he? 

Unfortunately with how I've been feeling, I wasn't quite up for doing a review and raffle for Dawn of Heroes. I do have a prize waiting and ready to go, so with any luck I'll be up to doing some longer format content again soon. This has honestly been a pretty rough time for me, but it would have been a lot harder without my local group of friends from the FFTCG community to help me get through it. I'm still not out of the woods yet, but hopefully soon I'll be back to my plucky Onion Knight self soon. 

What cards are you hoping to see in Beyond Destiny? For my personal well being, I really hope it's some good FF8 cards. Otherwise I'm never going to hear the end of it, but that's the risk you take on when you're dating a diehard Squall fan. 

Until next time - keep on grinding, 

 

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Spoiled Onions - Yuffie

 

Hey there everyone! Welcome back to Lv.1 Onion Knight - The Final Fantasy TCG blog that really needs to invest in a PS5 so it can finally play Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Oh, and Final Fantasy XVI now too.

Gather round all you Bards, Blue Mages, and Beastmasters! Your bearded blogging Onion Knight has a bewitching bombshell to broadcast! As the release of Dawn of Heroes quickly approaches, it's time for the Final Fantasy TCG community to sink its ravenous fangs into some fresh new spoilers - and would you look at that? I've just so happen to have one for ya right here! Now now, don't shove! There's plenty of spoilers to go around for everyone! It's my very great pleasure to reveal this new card to you from the FFTCG's 20th set: Yuffie (20-061C)! 

The Legendary Yuffie from Resurgence of Power is one hell of a difficult act to follow, especially for a card of the Common rarity. However, this little Ninja has a few tricks up her sleeve that may make her worth considering - namely two jumbo sized Shuriken Counters. Being able to deal a whopping 8000 damage on attack is pretty uncommon, especially for a 2CP card. Though she may need to wait a turn to use them without Haste, she immediately becomes a huge threat to enemy Forwards if she isn't dealt with, making her a cheap, effective way to bait out any pesky removal your opponent may have. 

Since Yuffie's Counters are placed onto her when she enters the field, you can also use self-bounce cards like Chocobo or Bismarck, Lord of the Mists to return her to your hand, then play her again to get two more Shuriken Counters, or even save her to pay for the Legendary Yuffie's Doom of the Living S-Ability later on in the game.  

Like all good Onion Knights, I aspire one day to achieve my fullest potential by becoming a Ninja. It should come as little surprise then that Ninjas are one of my all time favorite decks to play. I think that this new Yuffie works quite nicely alongside Edge, since his ability to reduce the cost of all your Ninjas means you're only paying 1 CP for the ability to remove two of your opponent's Forwards with Yuffie's Shuriken over the next few turns. Plus, if they have any Forwards that are too big for Yuffie to take out by herself, you can finish them off with one of Edge's Shuriken Counters. There'll be so many Shuriken flying around, it'll be like a mid-2000's anime convention full of Naruto fans. Wait, Naruto is still popular? Damn, way to make this Ninja wannabe feel old. 

While Yuffie's removal makes it easy to pick off your opponent's Forwards in the earlier rounds of the game, her low power means that once the board starts to fill up, she might find herself smacking into a stronger blocker before she has a chance to fire off both of her Shuriken. Bringing her dad Godo into the mix means not only does she get a little more survivability with an extra 1k power, you can leave Godo open to give Yuffie First Strike when needed. Comboing the First Strike damage with cards like Brynhildr or even a Shuriken from Edge can let you take out the Forward blocking Yuffie, and a second with her Shuriken.

Yuffie can also find some good synergies with her Final Fantasy VII party members too - when she isn't too busy eyeing their Materia to snatch of course! The new cowgirl Tifa Legend coming out this set seems like she really wants to be played alongside Wind cards in order to keep reactivating your Backups and get off more attacks. Yuffie can use her Shuriken to help clear the board of anything that might get in Tifa's way. Once Yuffie has finished up her Counters, you can use From Nightmare's Cid Highwind to bounce her back to your hand, activating two Backups to pay for more attacks from Tifa and letting Yuffie restock her supply of Shuriken Counters. 

Finally, there's some real potential to let the damage fly if you use Yuffie in party attacks with Noctis on the field. Once she swings, you can double up on two instances of 8k damage with Noctis's effect, and your opponent will still have to deal with the party attack on top of that. And considering that Category VII already has a tribe that focuses around party attacks with AVALANCHE Operatives in an element that can color fix to accommodate Yuffie and well... 

Lets just say your opponent might as well call themselves Mako Reactor 1, because they're about to get blown up. Kaboom! 

All-in-all, I think Yuffie has an unusually powerful effect for a Common. I'd even go so far as to say she's like a miniature Braska's Final Aeon with her high on-swing damage. In fact, that's exactly what I said about her as a hint in my latest Bingo board. 

Okay okay, it's definitely a bit of a stretch there, but I was in a bit of a pickle on how to hint at which square was my spoiler since the art for the Yuffie card had already been shown awhile ago. I couldn't very well put a square that said Job: Ninja because that would have been a dead giveaway (and gotten me a bunch of "well they already showed Yuffie" comments to boot) so I decided to hint at her effect instead. Of course, you could also argue that the newly revealed Jecht counts as a "Mini BFA", but he already got a square! Save some for the rest of us, Jecht! 

In any case, what do you guys think of this new Yuffie? Are there any other combos you can think of with her, or any decks you think she'd do well in? Let me know what you think! In the meantime, I'll be here, waiting for Dawn of Heroes to release and making a jumbo sized origami shuriken made out of nothing but Signed Yuffie cards. 

Until next time - Keep on grinding, 

  

 

 

 

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Spoiled Onions: From Nightmares - Buffasaur

 

Salutations all you creatures of the deep, and welcome to Lv.1 Onion Knight: The Final Fantasy TCG blog that has been around long enough to remember when "Cloud of Darkness Monster Decks" were a thing. 

Monsters certainly are an interesting class of cards in the FFTCG aren't they? Ever since they were introduced as the hot new mechanic waaaaay back in the pioneer days of Opus IV, Monster cards have always felt a bit like the card designers experimenting with new mechanics to see what sticks. Doing a little bit of everything from becoming Forwards, to using counters, to working as hand traps, it was often a bit difficult to figure out how you can make space in your decks for Monsters in the past. Lately though, Monsters have really been hitting their stride and have seen a pretty big resurgence, with powerhouses like Typhon, Tros, Byblos, and Melusine wreaking havock in all kinds of decks.

Of course, all of the cards I just mentioned have the benefit of being of the "Hero" rarity, so it's hardly surprising that they'd have a power level to match. So can a "Rare" monster rise through the ranks of the denizens of darkness and upgrade from lowly minion to midboss? Let's find out with this new spoiler fresh out of From Nightmares: Buffasaur!     

Buffasaur is a unique Category: FFCC Monster with a simple but powerful effect. When your opponent plays a monster while Buffasaur is on the field, you can put him into the Break Zone to deal it 8000 damage at the cost of one point of damage to yourself. This kind of aggressive board control can essentially invalidate the CP cost your opponent paid to play a Forward, especially when you consider just how prevalent cheating out Forwards for free is in the current state of the FFTCG. Because of the way Buffasaur's effect is worded, you're responding to the Forward entering the field, rather than choosing the Forward you're dealing damage to. That means that cards that can't be chosen by abilities can still be hit by Buffasaur's damage, and you would also be able to bypass Cecil's protection effect as well. Not too shabby for a 2CP monster! 

Folks who have been playing the FFTCG since the early days will notice that Buffasaur's effect is incredibly similar to that of Grenade from Opus V. However, there's an important distinction between the two cards' effects that I think makes Buffasaur much more useful: Grenade triggers as soon as a qualifying forward enters the field, whereas with Buffasaur, you can choose whether or not you want to activate the effect. Having control over when you choose to trigger Buffasaur means that your opponent also can't play around it by sacrificing a small, cheap Forward to waste the trap you just set.

Buffasaur also improves on Grenade by not limiting its effect to Forwards of 8k power and under. This means that you can combo Buffasaur's effect with other sources of ping damage like Mutsuki or Iroha to finish something off. (It was called to my attention that because Buffasaur is placed into the Break Zone, you can't buff his damage with Iroha's effect, since he's no longer a Fire Character you control at that point. Thanks to Stephen Thomas Sause and Andrew Needham for pointing that out!). 

The only real "downside" to Buffasaur by comparison is that it deals you a point of damage upon using its effect. But honestly, are there still people out there who are like, "A point of damage? From my own card?? Why I never!!" or whatever? Don't get me wrong, you definitely want to be careful about when you use Buffasaur's effect and all, but nowadays there are so many cards with damage-specific effects that pushing yourself towards a specific damage number can actually be quite helpful, especially for non-targeting removal like Buffasaur provides.

Mira is an excellent example of how you can use Buffasaur's self-damage to your advantage. Most decks that use Mira generally run her alongside Luminous Puma so you can play it for free with her effect and recover two cards from your Break Zone. But getting to Damage 5 can sometimes be a bit tricky, especially if your opponent is determined to keep you at Damage 4 so they can attempt to set up and take you out in one turn. Buffasaur not only helps Mira play larger targets, but also guarantees you'll be hitting your target for a total of 10k damage with his effect when he leaves the field. It could even be worth it to just use Mira's effect to recover your Buffasaur, making it all the more difficult for your opponent to play Forwards while enabling cards with damage effects like Basch or Bahamut. 

Being a 2-cost monster also makes him a good target to use with 5CP Relm's effect too. Playing both Buffasaur and Goblin with Relm's effect makes it extremely dangerous for your opponent to play even very large Forwards, since you can knock out a Forward even up to 11k power with their combined damage. Using Buffasaur's self-damage in Water/Fire decks that have a lot of powerful EX Burst cards like Leviathan and Remora is also a good option, especially if you can keep re-triggering them with Akstar. 

Okay so this is a bit of a weird one, but I can't resist coming up with at least one crackpot combo. Despite her amazing artwork, this version of Mira definitely hasn't seen a whole lot of play. But since Buffasaur is a Category FFCC character, he synergizes pretty nicely with her. When Buffasaur triggers and is sent to the Break Zone, you can use Mira to search for another copy of it, setting up another trap for your opponent. Of course, you could also just do this with the original Mira from Opus IV, and Buffasaur would only cost 1 with that version of her. 

But you can get really wacky with Opus XI Mira's effect since as an FFCC character, you can also turn him into a Forward and punch your opponent with it while you wait to blow him up. Just make sure you don't go overboard being a fierce divalicious hunty with him though, since it would be neither fierce nor divalicious to lose Buffasaur to a blocker before you get to use his effect. Remember you can only trigger Buffasaur on your opponent's turn when a Forward is played to the field.

And there you have it folks! Thanks again to the fine, upstanding folks of Square Enix for letting me reveal another new card for From Nightmares. I was told that I was given this spoiler specifically because its name "suited my interests", and I have absolutely NO idea why...

Would I trade a Signature Cloud card for a playset of Full-Art Sabin? No, because I would already HAVE a playset of them, thank you very much!  

From Nightmares is certainly shaping up to be an interesting set, and I really do appreciate the wider variety of Monster effects we're seeing, rather than slightly altered versions of the same effect across each element like we've had in the past. I suppose it makes sense though, since with the reveal of the Weapons from Final Fantasy VII, it would seem that the set is placing a pretty heavy thematic emphasis on some of the most daunting horrors to be found throughout the games. And had I been smart enough to figure out the theme behind the title of this set beforehand, I may have made some more informed choices with my Bingo this time around, though there's still plenty of time to get lucky with it! 

I actually had a bit of a rough time figuring out what might be coming in this set, and I admit that I was actually really thrown off by the fact that there were three different artists credited as doing art for Final Fantasy II this time around. Hence my madman's wish for more Rebel support. Maybe instead, I should have dedicated a square here to one of the iconic monstrosities found in FFII like... uh... the Emperor of Hell? Yeah that's all I got, so both of you Final Fantasy II fans reading this can school me in the comments. 

As an XI fan, I am both fully aware that I live in a glass house, and yet I still come fully armed with stones to sling. 

In any case, what do you guys think of the new cards shown so far? Do you think the old dreams of a fully Monster-centric deck will finally be realized this set? Or will it be the stuff of nightmares instead? In the meantime I'll be here, single-handedly inflating the market price for those full art Sabins. 

Until next time - keep on grinding, 

     

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