Final Fantasy (FIN) Limited Set Review: White

FIN is the most excited I’ve been for a set, possibly ever. I’m sure like many others, Final Fantasy played a huge part of my childhood, and I always love revisiting the games. Not only is the IP very exciting, but it’s the second Universes Beyond draftable set (the first being The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth, one of the better limited sets in modern limited). The commons and uncommons are allowed to be a bit more powerful, and the set is designed with a heavy emphasis towards draftability. I hope you’re as hyped as I am, now let’s start analyzing the cards!

5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Gruff Triplets, Virtue of Persistence, The Eternal Wanderer)

4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Virtue of Loyalty, Imodane's Recruiter, Realm-Scorcher Hellkite)

4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Faunsbane Troll, Gumdrop Poisoner, Talion’s Messenger)

3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Candy Grapple, Hearth Elemental, Torch the Tower)

3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Shrouded Shepherd, Spellscorn Coven, Sharae of Numbing Depths)

2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Evolving Wilds, Archon's Glory, Flick a Coin)

2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Mintstrosity, Ice Out, Grabby Giant)

1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Titanic Growth, Scarecrow Guide, Territorial Witchstalker)

1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Dark Tutelage, Kindled Heroism, Impact Tremors)

0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. Cards that “could” be situationally decent, but bad in most situations. (Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Mana Flare)

0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. They rarely print cards this bad these days. (Hew the Entwood, One with Nothing)

Adelbert Steiner

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

You need 2+ equipment in play for this to outsize most other two drops. This is a playable 2 drop if you’re in the market for one, but 1 toughness is underwhelming.

Aerith Gainsborough

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

This requires a lot of support to get off the ground. It’s not powerful enough to intentionally build around, but if you have a lot of incedental lifegain, she can make the main deck. She also pairs well with White Mage's Staff.

Aerith Rescue Mission

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

This seems like a decent tool for aggressive go-wide decks, either adding more to the board or creating an attack opportunity. It will be much worse in non-aggressive decks.

Ambrosia Whiteheart

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

A decent two drop that can save something from dying, or return a card with a good etb trigger.

Ashe, Princess of Dalmasca

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

This card won’t be very good in most decks, but is more like a 2.0 with 6+ artifacts in your deck.

Auron’s Inspiration

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

This doesn’t seem playable in any deck that isn’t a go-wide aggressive deck. In that deck, this can be a nice finisher, and closer to a 2.0.

Battle Menu

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This is a nice versatile trick. The best mode is the kill spell, but the other modes will come up pretty often.

Cloudbound Moogle

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

This is decent for a land cycler, but isn’t a great option if you are splashing white due to it’s double white casting cost.q

Cloud, Midgar Mercenary

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

As long as you have an equipment (preferably 2+ to avoid missing), this is a great value creature.

Coeurl

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This seems decent in most white decks. It should be able to tap most of the creatures in the set, aside from the saga ones.

Crystal Fragments // Summon: Alexander

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This one’s a bit odd, but seems solid in the equipment/aggressive decks, and decent in artifact builds. It will be rare that you flip it, and sometimes you may not even want to, but it will win some games.

Delivery Moogle

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

This should be a good source of card advantage, playable in any deck that has targets.

Dion, Bahamut’s Dominant // Bahamut, Warden of Light

Rating: 4.0 // 5.0

5/5 (flying) is quite a deal for 4 mana to begin with. The backside is pretty nuts too.

Dragoon’s Lance

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

2 for a 2/1 (flyer) that leaves a piece of equipment behind is a pretty good deal.

Dwarven Castle Guard

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

A decent two drop for most white decks, and a bit better in the more aggressive ones.

Fate of the Sun-Cryst

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This is a bit expensive for aggressive white decks, as your opponents are unlikely to have good targets in the early game. It’s still a nice catch-all, that can remove problematic artifacts/sagas.

From Father to Son

Rating: 0.5 // 5.0

There aren’t enough bomb vehicles this set to make a cornercase for playing this. The flashback cost is a bit unreasonable as well.

Gaelicat

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This seems decent in Azorius, and borderline unplayable in the other archetypes.

G’raha Tia

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This is a very slow card, but it can be strong in white decks looking to play the long game. It also works well with artifacts that sacrifice themselves, like Instant Ramen, or World Map.

Machinist’s Arsenal

Rating: 3.0 // 5.0

Assuming you have a good artifact count, this card can dictate the rest of the game. I don’t think it’s all that playable if your deck only has 1-2 other artifacts.

Magitek Armor

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This seems decent in most decks, providing 5/5 worth of (conditional) stats for 5 mana.

Magitek Infantry

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

Thiese look promising. If anyone remembers the unassuming power of Whisper Squad, this seems to be in a similar vein. The activation cost does cost 1 more, but they do become 2/1’s and helps your artifact count.

Minwu, White Mage

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

There aren’t many clerics in the set, but there is a decent amount of lifegain. This card can become strong in a deck with 2+ White Mage's Staff though.

Moogles’ Valor

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This can be a decent “finisher” for go wide decks that produce a lot of tokens. It’s unplayable in most decks that don’t do exactly that.

Paladin’s Arms

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This is a decent piece of equipment, that can be nice to equip on evasive creatures after the Hero goes down.

Phoenix Down

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

There’s only a few creatures this can kill this set, making the first mode the main consideration. These types of recursion are a bit unreliable, but it is on the cheaper side. I’d only play this with a good amount of self-mill, a deck that wants artifacts, or multiple bomb creatures with CMC<=4.

Restoration Magic

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This works as a nice trick to save a creature, and can lead to some blowouts on the final mode during big combat steps.

Sidequest: Catch a Fish // Cooking Campsite

Rating: 1.0 // 5.0

This card is on the slow side, but can provide a lot of value through the process. I still don’t like this card, but I’m happy to be proven otherwise.

Slash of Light

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

A nice removal spell that lends itself to more aggressive builds.

Snow Villiers

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

This can be a decent beater in go-wide decks.

Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

This works well in a few scenarios, like trading random tokens for cards in the late game, or activating it in response to a removal spell. This also works really well with sagas. You can give your opponent your saga after it reaches it’s final chapter and would be sacrificed.

Summon: Choco/Mog

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

I’m not a huge fan of this card, but it can be solid in a “true” go-wide deck that spits out 1/1s like a hypothetical girl I met.

Summon: Knights of Round

Rating: 3.0 // 5.0

I’m not quite sure how realistic getting to 8 mana is in this set, but assuming you have some help to get there (likely from Green), this will end the game fairly quickly.

Summon: Primal Garuda

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

This card shines when you get value out of every chapter, but there will be scenarios where you want to play this as a finisher, even if the first chapter doesn’t have a target.

The Crystal’s Chosen

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

4 2/2’s by themselves is a decent deal for 7 mana, but this isn’t a card for aggressive white decks that want to end the game before getting to 7 mana. This is likely a card for soup decks (maybe Selesnya or Orzhov) that plan on getting to 7 mana most games.

The Wind Crystal

Rating: 1.0 // 5.0

This doesn’t do all that much until you activate it’s ability. It can be extremely powerful at times, but the floor of this card is pretty low.

Ultima

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

Board wipes can sometimes show up at awkward times, but they create huge blowouts pretty regularly. The end the turn clause doesn’t really make this too much worse than other board wipes, unless it’s late enough when you can play an additional spell post-wipe.

Venat, Heart of Hydaelyn // Hydaelyn, the Mothercrystal

Rating: 3.5 // 5.0

There are a shit ton of legendary spells this set, so it’s pretty likely to draw you at least a card if it sticks around. The activated ability is insane as well.

Weapons Vendor

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

There’s a shit ton of equipment this set, and 99% of it has an equip cost >1. In a deck with no equipment, this things alright filler, but nothing too crazy.

White Auracite

Rating: 2.5 // 5.0

This is a pretty sweet piece of removal. The mana rock that it leaves behind shouldn’t be overlooked, especially with the high amount of equipment/activated abilities in FIN.

White Mage’s Staff

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

The lifegain isn’t super impressive here, as there aren’t many synergies. But this is still a solid two drop for most White decks.

You’re Not Alone

Rating: 1.5 // 5.0

This is a relatively weak combat trick, but should be considered for aggressive White decks that want to attack as often as possible.

Zack Fair

Rating: 2.0 // 5.0

A decent one drop for early game oriented White decks. It makes combat very difficult for opponents, especially if he is equipped.

Top 3 White Commons:

White Auracite Weapons Vendor Paladin's Arms

White has some great aggressive cards here, and the Job select mechanic really helps you stay relevant later into the game by equipping smaller creatures. There are also some great utility spells to enable these aggressive strategies. There’s a few nice cards for later game scenarios, but White’s looking like it wants to be aggressive this set. I’ll be breaking down Blue next, stay tuned!

Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!