Hey there guys! Welcome back to Lv.1 Onion Knight - the Final Fantasy TCG blog that won't shut up about Mono Fire!
Well, it feels like hardly any time has passed at all since the Opus V release, but as of last week, official English spoilers for Opus VI cards are live! Now I dunno about you guys, but I live for spoilers of any kind. Maybe I'm just impatient, but I'm the type of person who wants to have everything revealed right off the bat - the worst thing you can do to me is not update a new movie's Wikipedia plot summary because damnit, I can't take the anticipation!
But at this point there's nothing to do but wait for new Card of the Week posts and random Facebook spoilers, hoping that these scraps of information will tide me over until July. So what does an Onion Knight do to pass the time without losing what little sanity he has left?
Well for starters, I slipped into my Oracle robes and put a little something together to help scratch that itch: Opus VI Bingo!
So how did I come up with the categories for this? Well, through a combination of digging through existing information, looking at trends from previous Opus's, researching cards from the Final Fantasy Chapters Series, and other sources I'm... not at liberty to talk about, we ended up with this.
As more info gets revealed, I'm going to mark off any matches I predicted correctly. Who knows, maybe by the end of this we'll be able to get a Bingo? Maybe absolutely none of my predictions will be correct. My, wouldn't that be embarrassing? But only time will tell!
But while we wait to see how sharp my prognostication abilities are, why don't we take a moment to talk about the Final Fantasy Chapters Series?
So for those of you who are new like me, or have never heard of Chapters, that was the first iteration of the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game which was only released in Japan. After 15 "Chapters" of cards, the game was discontinued, and eventually rebooted and localized for additional North American and European releases. A lot of the cards from Chapters were ported over to the Opus series. Even with recent set releases, we're still not even close to being caught up to all the Chapters Cards. But trying to predict what's going to be in Opus VI based solely on Chapters can be a bit of a crap shoot.
For one, many of the new FFTCG cards have had their effects, elements, or stats changed from the original release. Sometimes they keep the card exactly the same. Sometimes it's just a minor tweak that was made to balance the card better. For example, the original Buccaboo card had your opponent discarding three frigging cards from their hand, which yeah, two is hard enough to deal with.
Other times the cards are changed completely - The original version of the Opus II Rinoa-L was a Wind Forward which, when sent to the Break Zone, activated all of your cards rather than dulling your opponents Forwards, with a completely different S-Ability and only got her power boost from Sorceress cards rather than any VIII Forward. The only thing that stayed the same was her cost and power! So just because a card was in Chapters doesn't mean it will remotely resemble what lands in the Opus series. Add in a bunch of mechanics that are not currently in the TCG like Leveling Up, Blue Magic, Equipment, ect, and there are some cards that are going to change no matter what.
Additionally, the FFTCG team has been doing a great job of adding in a bunch of new cards that were never in the Chapters series to begin with. Hell, of the spoilers that we've seen so far for Opus VI, all of them are brand new cards with unique effects, which is awesome! Getting new content will keep the game fresh for both English and Japanese audiences. That being said, there are still quite a few cards from Chapters that I would love to see released in Opus VI. So after poring through lists of the original cards, I thought it would be fun to make a list of the top ten cards my poor, fragile little heart is hoping to see in Opus VI.
Before we go forward please keep the following things in mind:
A) I have absolutely no idea if these cards will see the light of day in the Opus VI release. It's just my wishlist of Chapters cards I want to see released. So there are no concrete spoilers here!
B) The rationale for why I want to see these cards ported to Opus VI and the value I see in them is written from the perspective of somebody who has very little idea what they are talking about! Sometimes I'll offer changes for how to improve the card, but it's based on the experience I have in the game so far.
With that little disclaimer out of the way, lets look at some cards!
#10 - Pulsework Soldier (8-052C)
Effect: [↷], Put Pulsework Soldier in the Break Zone: Choose 1 Character you control. Until the end of the turn, it can't Break due to effects other than damage.
If I had made this list a week ago, I highly doubt this card would be on here. It's a 1-drop monster with a fairly unexciting and situational effect. But here's the thing: Lightning is one of the top Meta elements because it has a lot of very cheap on-entry board control effects. Insta-break cards like Seymour, Orlandeau, Exodus, Odin, Black Knight, and Dragon are all extremely aggravating to deal with. This, in my opinion, makes Lightning the feel like the"Easy Mode" of decks, an opinion that I was magnanimous enough to share with the poor innocent soul who beat me with it at my first constructed tournament.
It may sound like I'm just bitter - and trust me, I totally am - but what I like about Pulsework Soldier is that it provides a cheap, easy solution to insta-break cards. Yes, there's already Doga who has the same effect for Earth decks, but IMO Pulsework is much better at stopping your opponent from gaining an early advantage with Lightning decks. Sure, you can play Doga on turn one, but you have to break him to protect a Forward. Your opponent still succeeds in costing you a resource - as well as a card from your hand if you don't have an active Earth Backup as a cost for his effect.
Pulsework is a better option for early-game, because you don't have to sacrifice resources to protect your field. Just pop the bot and you're good. Oh and since it specifies a Character rather than a Forward, it protects your Backups and monsters, and you can play more than one of it for a bigger barrier against insta-break cards. It may not be a big game-changer, but any card that helps slow down Lightning decks even a little bit is welcome in my book.
#9 - Yojimbo (8-055U)
Effect: Choose 1 Forward. Discard as many cards as you want from your hand. If you discarded exactly 1 card, it gains 5000 power and Brave. If you Discarded 3 cards or more, Break it. If you didn't discard any cards, it gains 2000 Power.
So after just ranting about how much I hate insta-break cards, I can understand it's a bit confusing to see a card with this effect on this list. That being said, there's a few reasons why I would want this card to be ported from Chapters to the FFTCG. For one, Yojimbo is probably the coolest (fight me) Summon from Final Fantasy X, so it would be nice to finally have a Fayth Summon other than Valefor in the game. Discarding cards for a greater effect is also perfectly in line with how you would pay Yojimbo and Daigoro (his dog, if you didn't know) for a more powerful attack.
The thing that I find forgivable about Yojimbo's effect of discarding cards though is that it's a reflexive ability with several options that you can use in a variety of stages in the game, both defensively and offensively. Sure, he's a 1 drop Summon, but if you want to get an insta-break off, he becomes a 7 drop just like Odin, even with an EX burst. If you're going to have the ability to instantly Break an opponent's Forward, I think it should come with a steeper cost. His 3-drop effect is probably the better option of the three actually, giving a Forward a beefy 5k and Brave to push through your opponent's front lines and have a blocker ready to defend. Hell even a 2k boost for a 1 drop Summon isn't all that bad - you could even combo it with Grav'iton to make it 4k.
Earth also has the means to recover the cost of the effects in a way that not only seems less cheap, but can potentially set up the Break Zone for later plays, with stuff like Miner and Tama-H. Overall, Yojimbo seems like a really solid card that would be a lot of fun to play with.
That being said if I were to change anything about it, I would want to give it an extra effect for if you were to discard 2 cards instead. Before Opus V, I would consider that too much text for one card, but well... Wol is a thing, so why not?
#8 - Edge (6-031S)
Effect: First Strike. Wind Element Forwards you control gain this ability: When this Forward has been chosen as the target of an ability, if this is the first time this Forward has been chosen as the target of an ability this turn, the ability becomes ineffective.
Man, poor Edge seems to get significantly less love in the FFTCG than any of the other Final Fantasy IV party members. In Opus V, everyone but him, Rydia, and Kain (and I guess Fusoya if you consider him a full party member) got new cards, with the latter two already having 3 cards. Both of Edge's TCG cards are sort of lackluster in my opinion. One is a booster for an archetype with curiously little Meta support that is kind of inferior to the Water Warrior of Light, since most Ninja cards are also Standard Units (though you can always play both for a 3k boost I guess...). The 2 drop Edge is... okay I guess for what he's supposed to do, but he just doesn't have the same amount of impact as other FFIV cards do, especially since the Ninja archetype doesn't really have too many strong Heroes like Knights and Dragoons do.
Making your Wind Forwards immune to ability targeting is pretty nice, especially since cards like Illua have been seeing more play and are generally a pain to deal with. Edge would make Wind decks extremely resilient to troublesome abilities, still having a line of defense against Summons with Yshtola's effect-cancelling ability. Suddenly that frail little Adelle becomes harder to get rid of. Cards like Zidane-L and Nana Mihgo require more Forward management from your opponent to prevent free hits. I have no idea if this soft of ability would help make Wind stronger in the Meta, but it certainly makes it more "evasive".
I would honestly kiiiiind of prefer that if this card were ported from Chapters, it would give the effect to Ninjas of any element rather than just Wind, but I may be the only person who's riding the Ninja support train at this point. Considering that we didn't get a new Edge card in Opus V, I'm hoping that the other half of the characters from FFIV who didn't get new cards will see some light in Opus VI. Speaking of which...
#7 - Golbez (7-092L)
Effect: The cost of Golbez in your hand is reduced by 1 for every Dark element character you control.
When Golbez attacks, choose 1 Forward. If you control a Dark element character, you gain control of it and it gains Haste until end of turn. It also becomes Active.
Unlike Edge, both of the Golbez cards in the TCG have been much more impactful, being able to build a variety of decks revolving around his effects. Both of his cards are also pretty damn fun to play, being my introduction to 3+ element decks. I like the synergy the Opus II version has with the Four Fiends, both from a flavor and a gameplay perspective. He's just an all around cool dude, so I wouldn't mind getting this version of him in Opus VI... with a few slight changes.
Rather than have his effects triggered by having a Dark Forward on the field, it would make more sense to have it attached the number of Archfiends in play, keeping it in line with the previous Golbez cards' themes. The second effect is where the real fun begins though. Whenever he attacks, be basically gets to do your opponent dirty by stealing their Forward and slapping them in the face with it. Did they just play that Forward before passing to you? Well now it has Haste, so get ready baby. Oh you swung with it last turn, so now it's dulled? That's cute, but now it's rolling with Golbez, active as the day is long.
There aren't any cards in the game right now with effects that steal your opponents Forwards for your own use, and with practically no cost it might be a little over powered. Being able to do that every turn forces a response to Golbez really quick or else it's game over. Also if you're feeling really sassy you could just ram their stolen Forward into another one to clear out their field. If I were going to balance the cost for the effect, I would make it so that you have to discard/break an Archfiend card as a cost for the steal, or at least need to have Zemus specifically on the field. That way it takes a bit longer to set up, but you still get that sweet Golbez mind control effect. Are you seeing why I want this card in Opus VI? It's the ultimate card for petty, spiteful players such as myself.
#6 - Jecht (7-010R)
Effect: Blitz King [S] ◆ ◆ : Make all Forwards you control Active. They can attack once more this turn. This Ability can only be used on your turn.
As a poor, lonely Mono Fire player, I can't help but wish for cards that do more than just "does damage to a Forward." It's still my favorite element, and stuff like Pheonix and Vermillion Bird L'cie Zhuyu definitely gave Fire a push in the right direction. The Firion and Guy spoilers we've seen so far seem promising too. It just seems like other elements have way more tricks up their sleeves. One of the most successful tactics Fire has right now is Attack Phase manipulation. Red Mage, Ninja, and Tifa-L for bypassing troublesome blockers, or Cinque to force your opponent to block with a valuable Forward. Forcing your opponent to take an action during battle has a lot of potential, but a member of my local group said it best in that right now, Fire is just kind of a worse Lightning. That's where Jecht comes in.
On the one hand, the fact that outside his S ability, he's just a 5-drop 9k beater is nothing to write home about. I would probably tack on an additional effect just to get a bit more value out of it, or at least give him First Strike or something. Unlike Opus I Jecht, who goddamnit I really really wish was a better Fire Legend, you don't have to dull him to use his ability, so you can still attack with him and the rest of your Forwards, then activate his S-ability. This would really push the aggressive play style that Fire is trying to support, and works well with cards like Sabin, Opus I Golbez, and Emperor Xande in Mono Fire.
Being able to attack twice per turn is pretty great, and you can combo with cards like Nono and Zemus to slip through your opponent's defenses. But honestly, I would love to use this guy's effect with Eald'Narche - a card that I finally have two of!! YES!! MY SPIRIT IS FREE!! I CAN MOVE ON FROM OPUS V!!
Ahem... but yeah, imagine activating Paradise and then Blitz King to effectively give yourself a third turn and win the game. Tidus won't be the only one with daddy issues after that.
#5 - Quina (8-075R)
Effect: When a Monster is removed from the game, Quina gains the abilities of that Monster until end of turn.
◇ : Choose 1 Monster in the Break Zone. Remove it from the game. Quina gains 1000 Power until end of turn. This ability can only be used once a turn.
Okay, so first of all, this artwork of Quina is an absolute trip and that's one of the main reasons why I prefer Amano's style over Tetsuya Nomura's as the standard for the Final Fantasy series. FFIX is one of my favorite games, and even though Amano didn't do the character designs for it, I love the art he did of the characters. I miss when Final Fantasy games were more high fantasy - where the worlds and characters were more colorful and inventive and weird. What even is Quina? S/he looks like a terrifying Muppet in colonial garb. Weirdly enough, I prefer that to the slew of beautiful Armani Exchange models we've been getting as leads in later installments.
But let's talk about this card shall we? Opus III saw a heavy focus on Category IX cards, with a small handful of them in Opus IV. It would be cool if we could get some new versions of those characters. There's actually a whole series of cards from IX in Chapters that use the Amano artwork and have some pretty fun effects. It was a close tie between Quina and Garnet, who's Chapters card has the ability to cast two Summons from the Break Zone, but I think Quina could have a lot of fun synergy with Monster decks.
S/he is a Water element which already has a good deal of Monster support with stuff like Gao, Mira, and Relm, so that's a plus right off the bat. Second, you can use Monster cards to generate CP while also using the Break Zone as a secondary resource for Quina to use their abilities from later. Choosing a card like Behemoth or Malboro not only gives Quina great defensive abilities, but an extra 1k to boot.
The only issue is that a lot of Monsters in the FFTCG gain their effects by putting them into the Break Zone either as a cost or in response to an opponents play. The effect would probably need to be reworded to be something like, "When a Monster is removed from the game, Quina gains the effect of that Monster without paying its cost." and change the second effect to: "This ability can only be used once per turn and ignores abilities that turn a monster into a Forward of X power." It might still be a little broken to use cards with effects like Buccaboo and Ozma for only 1 CP, so maybe amp up the ability cost just a bit. Either way, it would be cool to see a mechanic that utilizes a Blue Magic-like effect in the FFTCG.
#4 - Ajido-Marujido (5-001S)
Effect: When Ajido-Marujido enters the field, Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 10,000 Damage.
◆ [↷]: Choose one Forward and one Summon on the Stack. Deal 1000 Damage to the Forward for each 1 cost of the Summon.
Okay, so if you're going to be a Fire card with an effect that does damage, THIS is how you do it. He's kind of costly for a Backup, but I'd compare him to the Heroic Yuna in terms of a Backup offering immediate removal on entry. There's not a whole lot that's going to survive a 10k blast unless your opponent wants to invest more resources into bulking up their Forwards. For a damage card to be on par with an insta-break card, it needs to hit that 8k sweet spot. We've been seeing more cards in Opus V that hit that number with Pheonix and Grenade, but it's the burn combined with his second effect that really makes me hope we see this little guy in Opus VI.
Lets go over the pros and cons of the second effect shall we? For starters this card not only gives you an extra burn when you play a Summon, but it can also be triggered in response to an opponent playing a Summon on the stack as well. Giving fire a few more control options would be a great boost to the element. Is this card the one to do it? Well it really depends on the Summons that are being played. At first glance Ajido's effect would be great alongside Phoenix-L. You could potentially deal 8k and an additional 7k to another Forward while getting a 3 cost back from the Break Zone. The only thing really preventing this is the abilities cost. Having to tap AND pay an extra 1 fire CP makes playing alongside big, costly Summons a bit clunky. Most commonly played Summons have an average cost of 2 to 4, with a few popular cards like Diabolos being outliers.
To get the best value out of him, you'd need to save his ability for Summons of at least 4CP. It's not necessarily a bad effect, it's just kind of situational for a 5 cost. My solution for this? The more balanced option would be make it so you just need to dull Ajido-Marujido to even out the cost a bit. The insane Fire fanboy in me would have it become a Once Per Turn auto ability though to give Fire an extremely chaotic form of board control. You could slam down Pheonix-L's for big burns, and make your opponent think twice about playing Summons onto the stack. I dunno, maybe this is an ability that seems better on paper (or in my mind - where fools fear to tread) than in execution, but with a few tweaks he could have some real potential.
#3 - Sin (7-126S)
Effect: The cost of Summons in your Opponent's hand increase by 1.
During your Main Phase 1, choose one monster in either Break Zone. You may play it onto the Field.
Ok, so here's where I stop trying to make things balanced and go into the realm of absolutely ridiculous cards. Of course, this version of Sin from Chapters isn't quite as ridiculous as the other one, but considering that a new Yuna card was just announced, I think it would be cool to see this big baddie in the TCG. There are only 3 Forwards in the game that have a cost of 8 - two of which have ways of getting them out for a cheaper cost. So that just leaves Opus I Sephiroth, who is one of the few ways in the game to break a Backup, but is too expensive to justify dropping 8 CP on an 8k Forward with First Strike. Sin however feels like it's worth such a big cost.
Besides the fact that its a gigantic 10k Forward, Sin gets you continuous value every turn. The fact that he makes Summons cost 1 more is nice, but not really a huge game changer. He's still easily dealt with by cheap Summons like Leviathan, Opus V Ifrit and Mateus. Maybe it would be better to have him just immune to being targeted by Summons, or make the Summons cost an extra 2CP to play, forcing your opponent to manage their resources better to get rid of Sin. The thing about this card I really like is the fact that every turn, you can take a Monster from EITHER player's Break Zone and play it onto your field.
Imagine using Sin's ability with Monsters that force your opponent to play around them like Black Knight, Clione, or Leyak. Okay now imagine that you can do that with your opponent's Monsters. I can practically taste the salt already. Being able to continuously recycle either player's Monsters may seem a bit overpowered, but considering the fact that it requires such an investment, I think in this case it's justified.
#2 - Leo (9-159R)
Effect: [X] [↷] Search for 1 [Job (Standard Unit)] of cost (X) or less and add it to your hand.
At the start of your Main Phase 1, if you control 10 or more [Job (Standard Unit)], you win the game.
I'm actually kind of surprised that I put Leo so high up on this list, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for alternative win conditions.
While Leo is still waiting for his day in the sun, Mira was ported from Chapters to Opus IV in order to tie in with the new Monster mechanic that was introduced in that set. Originally she was a Dark Forward, and one thing I noticed from researching Chapters is that there were quite a few cards that were originally Light/Dark that were changed in the FFTCG. Considering how they can clog up your hand, its definitely for the better to just give them synergy with other elements.
With that in mind, It would be cool if Leo would become a Wind or Water element card, considering that those elements have a lot of methods to meet that win condition. You have Chocobo Knight and Fat Chocobo in Wind, and Brahne and Merlwyb in Water to help fill up the field. Then of course you have Leo's effect to search for Standard Units of any cost. While it may seem daunting to get 10 cards on the field, keep in mind that it doesn't say they have to be Forwards, so you really just need 6 Forwards and 4 Backups total.
Of course, this strategy is easily countered by Shantotto and other removal cards, but it would make for an exciting new playstyle where it becomes a mad dash to swarm the field with as many cheap units as possible before your opponent can respond. And besides, nothing would be sweeter than forcing your opponent to use their removal cards on your little 1 drop Knights.
#1 - The 5 Ark Angels
Guys... I tried my best not to make this list just a bunch of Final Fantasy XI cards that I wanted ported from Chapters. I really did. I exercised an incredible amount of restraint in only putting one XI character in there up until now. But that's all going out the window and my number one slot is going to five different cards under the same umbrella. Is that cheating? It's my blog, so I'm going to go ahead and say no.
Now that both of the Zilart Princes were introduced in Opus V, it would only be natural for the Ark Angels to make their appearance in Opus VI. The only one that we've gotten so far, Ark Angel EV from Opus IV, wasn't even a port of the original Chapters card, but a new card made from the Lord of Vermilion artwork. If we're going in some sort of dubious "release order" based on Chapters, these cards were from sets that would correspond to ones found in Opus V, so it's time for them to hit the stage. All five of these cards are incredibly cool, with unique effects we haven't really seen in the game yet, and the fact that they're more XI cards is icing on the cake.
So really quickly, I'm going to go through each one, and give some brief thoughts on them. -Cracks Knuckles- C'mon guys, you've made it this far right? We're in the home stretch here.
Ark Angel GK (6-043U)
Effect: Earth Element Forwards you control gain Brave.
Meikyo Shisui [S] ◆◆◆ [↷]: Choose up to 3 Dulled Forwards. Break Them
The big guy of the group and also my personal favorite since I played a Galka in XI. Lets see... Searchable and playable by Star Sibyl, able to punish an aggressive opponent or wipe the field with Ice support. What's not to love?
Ark Angel MR (6-029U)
Effect: Ark Angel MR can not be blocked by Forwards of cost 3 or more.
Charm [S] ◆◆ [↷]: Choose two Forwards your opponent controls. They each deal damage to each other equal to their power.
So I think this AA is giving Golbez a run for his money for sassiest card on this list, because making your opponent's Forwards Hecatonchier each other is just too damn sassy. The ability to swing past 3+ is only shared by Koboldroid. Good for getting that last hit to finish a match.
Ark Angel EV (6-071U)
Effect: Opponent's Abilities must choose Ark Angel EV if able.
Invincible [S]: During this turn, Ark Angel EV doesn't receive the effect or effects that have chosen it as a target.
This AA might be the least exciting member of the group, but the ability to not only protect a more valuable Forward from targeting, but also completely negate the effect could help maintain your field advantage, or play mind games with your opponent who may not want to waste an effect if it's just going to be cancelled.
Ark Angel TT (6-015U)
Effect: When Ark Angel TT enters the field, choose 1 Dulled Forward. Deal it 5,000 Damage.
Amon Drive [S] ◆ ◆ [↷] : Dull all Characters your opponent controls. They don't become Active during your opponent's next Active Phase.
Okay so... this guy here... Wow. I can't in good conscience suggest that this keep the same ability at this cost. Not just Forwards but ALL Characters, AND they don't activate next turn? That's a lot of power packed into a 2-drop. Maybe pick two Forwards to dull and freeze or a combination of Forwards and Backups? I dunno, but can you believe this guy was equivalent to a Rare in Chapters? Geez...
Ark Angel HM (6-057U)
Effect: ◆ ◆, Ark Angel HM becomes Active and can attack once more this turn. You can only use this effect during your turn.
Cross Reaver [S] ◆ [↷]: Deal 5,000 Damage to all Forwards your opponent controls.
Finishing up the quartet we have the Hume. The S-ability is kind of uneventful, but could potentially board wipe when combo'd with Cyclops. That being said, with the action ability, please... I'm begging you. If you port this from Chapters to Opus VI, for the love of the RNG gods... Change it's element to Fire. Please... if you've ever loved me or my money... just give me this one thing... -sobs-
So we've finally made it to the end. What did you guys think? Is there anything you're really hoping for in Opus VI? Would you like to see these, or any other cards from Chapters in future sets? Am I officially the BuzzFeed of Final Fantasy TCG blogs? I'd love to get your opinions!
Until next time - Keep on Grinding,
