Wizards of the Coast has been gradually rolling out what it's got in store for Magic: The Gathering and its big Final Fantasy crossover this summer. Over the weekend, the team debuted a significant chunk of cards, from both the main set and the Commander decks, and fans are enjoying some of the fun and even surprising cuts from their favorite Final Fantasy games.
The Universes Beyond collaboration with Final Fantasy is getting both the usual Commander treatment and a booster-driven series, so there are a lot of cards to go over. The main set tinkers with the entirety of Final Fantasy's mainline, numbered games, running from Final Fantasy 1 to Final Fantasy 16. The Commander Decks, meanwhile, focus on four specific games: Final Fantasy 6, 7, 10, and 14, with their respective Commanders of Terra, Cloud, Tidus, and Y'shtola.
Some of the cards shown at last Saturday's Magic: The Gathering panel at PAX East captured the journey of individual characters throughout their games. Final Fantasy IV's Cecil, for example, has an entire mechanic around transforming from a Dark Knight into a Paladin. The summons of Final Fantasy utilize a "Saga Creature" set-up, to act as powerful but temporary forces on the field, melding Magic and Final Fantasy concepts in the process.
Then you have cards like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, with artwork from Square's Tetsuya Nomura. The transformation along the card illustrates Sephiroth's various forms throughout the FF7 universe, from a young fighter into, eventually, Safer Sephiroth on the card Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel.
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And what would a Final Fantasy be without some Cids? The Final Fantasy set will include a Cid from each of the numbered Final Fantasy games, though Wizards is opting for the older Cid from Final Fantasy XV over his daughter, Cindy.
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After Saturday's panel, though, Wizards of the Coast released the decklist for the four aforementioned Commander decks, and fans started poring over the art and additions to see how the team adapted those four Final Fantasy games into Magic. Pretty well, it turns out.
Reprints, or new versions of existing Magic cards, get some clever crossovers with Final Fantasy lore. Skullclamp, for instance, draws on the Jenova project in Final Fantasy 7 for its art.
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Together, Forever also takes an emotional stab at the Final Fantasy 10 fans out there. It shouldn't be surprising that Final Fantasy 10 has some emotional wellsprings to draw from, with its central protagonists' journey through a ruined land, on a somber pilgrimage. Several decks' cards reference some notable character moments, by the way, so you might want to go into these decklists aware that there will be some story spoilers for each respective game.
But to lighten things up, one of Final Fantasy 10's more iconic, and frequently memed, moments also made the cut with Inspiring Call.
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In fact, Wizards found more than a few ways to incorporate Final Fantasy's less-serious moments into cards. Clever Concealment puts a spin on the Wall Market scene with Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa in dresses, heading to Don Corneo's, and even has a mechanic that seems fitting for the occassion. I'm a big fan of the Secret Rendezvous card, which has four different versions of the Golden Saucer date scene from Final Fantasy 7 with each potential date: Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and Barret.
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Even still, fans have been discovering the tiny details that show how much homage is being paid to the source material. The Final Fantasy 14 set, in particular, has quite a few references to the critically acclaimed MMORPG. The Hildibrand Manderville card mimics the infamous gentleman's habit of disappearing and returning, making for quite an interesting White/Black card in the process.
One user on the FFXIV subreddit noted that the Archaeomancer's Map card uses a real possible location found in a Gaganaskin Treasure Map, for instance.
In turn, Final Fantasy 14 players have been having fun with the cards. There are some jokes about wondering who the Thancred card represents, referencing the "This is Thancred" meme. And there's the alternative flavor text a user added to the Rite of Replication card, commemorating everyone's favorite speech from A Realm Reborn:
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Even the Tome of Legends card depicts a Wondrous Tails book, with all the little details you see in-game when a player picks up their Tails and, of course, several missed four-in-a-row connections.
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There's some clear attention to detail put into these cards, and it's certainly got me intrigued to see the full set. While the Commander games got a lot of love in these cards, a few reveals from Saturday's panel like Commune With Beavers have me eager to see how some of the other Final Fantasy games got adapated into the full Magic set.
Magic: The Gathering's Final Fantasy set is out on June 13, 2025, with pre-release weekend one week prior.
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
