#mtg final fantasy

[ringnis]

I bought the decks.

[anauwu420]

notes about the precon commander deck y'shtola from the ff release (this is hella late compared to the release date but i got it for christmas so whatever i'm super stoked about it:

* feels land heavy. like really land heavy half the time I'm drawing way too many lands specifically (about 40-50% of DRAWN cards were lands for each game i've played so far)

* still has decent synergy and does fun stuff!! its a fun deck to play i like how a lot of different pieces play together but i feel like i'm not casting nearly enough noncreature spells

*as fun as it is there are a lot of lulls in action due to all the lands and lack of casting/pulling noncreature spells

as someone who's built a few commander decks that were at one point competition level, i still like it a lot!! i think it's fun to play, it could use a few improvements but i don't feel as though it needs a total overhaul. i feel like there's been a huge improvement over the years on precon deck quality i mean the edge of eternities precons are SO FUN AND COOL AND EXCITING AND FULL OF SHENANIGANS and even though y'shtola has her problems it's a pretty normal problem to have for precons.

super excited to play around with the new lorwyn eclipsed release i've been obsessing over the collector boosters, might need to get myself a box for my bday 💕💕💕

[maguros-scribbles]

standard's fluorishing

someone at wotc said that during the mouse times but eh, still holds up

i never really got into standard, luckily, but shit that happens is still ridiculous, so here's a wee paintover of Vivi being cauldron'd cause its hillarious

[a-magical-recap]

Final Fantasy Retrospective - Top 20 Competitive Cards

Number 1 - 102 points

Vivi Ornitier

Standard (84), Pioneer (9), Modern (9)

For those who have been paying attention to Magic news, this shouldn't be a surprise. Vivi Ornitier has been the talk of Magic players since his printing, and has been the glue holding Prowess Aggro as a dominant archetype in Standard after the banning of Cori-Steel Cutter. Vivi can dish out a lot of damage very quickly, both by rapidly growing his power and toughness, and capable of repeatedly pinging the opponent at instant speed. He demands near-immediate removal, as allowing a player to untap with Vivi can lead to a wild turn of casting spells and generating mana, creating an overwhelming amount of value while also dealing damage.

[a-magical-recap]

Final Fantasy Retrospective - Top 20 Competitive Cards

Number 2 - 61 points

Fire Magic

Standard (38), Modern (22), Vintage (1)

Fire Magic is a great bit of instant-speed removal against decks that rely on an abundance of small creatures. The flexbility between its 1 damage and 2 damage modes allows for it to be held up to clear the opponent's board in a variety of situations. In Standard it sees play in the sideboards of red aggressive decks including Prowess, Convoke, and Enchantment aggro which have begun sideboarding the card as an answer to Blue/Black Tempo. In Modern it's played in the sideboard of Amulet Titan to answer threats like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer and Dragons' Rage Channeler. These decks are capable of using ramp to cast Fire Magic for 3 damage as well.

[a-magical-recap]

Final Fantasy Retrospective - Top 20 Competitive Cards

Number 3 - 41 points

Cecil, Dark Knight

Standard (26), Pioneer (6), Modern (9)

Cecil, Dark Knight is reminiscent of Jackal Pup, one of the best aggressive creatures in Magic's early days. In an aggressive deck, you don't particularly care how much damage you're taking, so long as you're killing the opponent faster. As a result, Cecil's downside is pretty minimal, especially since he can (almost) never actually kill you with it. A creature with 2 power that can be played on turn 1 is always exceptional, and Cecil bringing 3 toughness, the ability to trade up with deathtouch, and an entire transformed half where he becomes even stronger has helped Blue/Black Aggro dominate Standard since the ban announcement at the end of June.

[a-magical-recap]

Final Fantasy Retrospective - Top 20 Competitive Cards

Number 4 - 31 points

Self-Destruct

Standard (31)

Self-Destruct is a powerful finisher, more or less being a functional reprint of Fling (which just sacrifices the creature outright), a card that was last printed into Standard in 2019. Aggressive red decks in recent Standard have been great at pumping up a small creature into a huge threat, so Self-Destruct is fantastic when you can get in an attack with that creature, deal damage, then deal damage again. With Heartfire Hero specifically, Self-Destruct allows for triple damage as a result of its death trigger. Since Heartfire Hero's banning at the end of June, Self-Destruct has been played in decks where it can sacrifice Questing Druid instead.

[a-magical-recap]

Final Fantasy Retrospective - Top 20 Competitive Cards

Number 5 - 28 points

Starting Town

Standard (12), Pioneer (16)

Starting Town is a fantastic mana fixing land in Standard and Pioneer. While it comes with the twin downsides of only coming into play untapped in the early game and having to pay life to produce colored mana, Starting Town has been enabling decks to much more easily splash into more colors. In Standard it sees play in 3-color aggressive archetypes, primarily the Enchantment Aggro deck that have also been playing Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant. In Pioneer it sees play in 4-color and 5-color decks like Auras and Lotus Field.