Even if you're not a Magic: The Gathering player, you've likely seen its recent video game crossovers, including Fallout, Tomb Raider, and Assassin's Creed. Get ready for one of the most exciting yet: Final Fantasy. This collaboration features four mainline games, from Terra to Y'shtola, represented across preconstructed Commander decks.
Browse the image gallery below for a first look at the key card and packaging for each deck. Then, delve into our conversation with Wizards of the Coast about the deck contents, the game selection, and much more.
Final Fantasy x Magic: The Gathering - Commander Decks Revealed
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Launching this June, Magic's Final Fantasy crossover includes a fully draftable, Standard-legal set and four preconstructed decks (shown above). Each deck contains 100 cards: reprints with new Final Fantasy art and brand-new cards designed for Commander. While Commander precons usually center on characters, colors, or strategies, these decks are built around individual Final Fantasy games: 6, 7, 10, and 14.
“The richness of Final Fantasy—its flavor, beloved characters, and unique settings—meant a single game provided ample material for a full deck,” explains Senior Game Designer Daniel Holt, Commander Lead for the set. “Focusing on individual games allowed us to delve deep into their lore, capturing beloved moments we might have missed otherwise.”
"...so many passionate Final Fantasy fans in the building.”“The team balanced gameplay desires with overall story recognition when selecting these four games. While Final Fantasy VII and XIV were easier choices, VI and X required more discussion, driven partly by team favorites,” Holt adds. “Everyone was invested in every stage, reflecting the many passionate Final Fantasy fans within the team.”
Even within those choices, directional decisions were necessary. Final Fantasy VII's remake trilogy ran concurrently with this Magic set's development. Does the Commander precon reflect the original or its reimagining? Dillon Deveney, Principal Narrative Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast and Narrative Lead for the set, clarifies: the story follows the 1997 classic, but the art incorporates elements from both.
“Our approach to Final Fantasy VII was to capture the original PS1 game's narrative, using Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth's modern aesthetics to enhance character designs, story moments, and locations,” Deveney explains. “Where scenes existed in both games, we chose between the original, the modern interpretation, or a unique fusion. Hopefully, the deck feels familiar and nostalgic to players of both versions!”
AnswerSee ResultsNostalgia presents challenges, especially for Final Fantasy VI, lacking the modern art references of other games. Deveney explains their approach: staying true to fan expectations of its pixel art sprites and limited concept art while expanding upon them. “The character designs should feel familiar, a hybridization of references and new ideas.” WOTC even consulted the Final Fantasy VI team during character updates for Magic art standards.
“Our workflow involved concept and card artists pulling from Yoshitaka Amano's concept art, original sprites, and FFVI Pixel Remaster portraits. This synthesized consistent design elements into something new. We then met with the Final Fantasy VI review team for feedback on preserving core elements and exploring new ones.”
"It's our hope that the [FF6] character designs should feel like how you ‘remember’ them..."
The game choices were made, but Commander required choosing lead characters. Cloud was obvious for VII, but others needed brainstorming. Celes was considered for VI, focusing on the World of Ruin, while Yuna was considered for X. They ultimately chose the "lead" characters. Final Fantasy XIV, being an MMO, presented its own unique challenges.
“For Y'shtola, popularity and her spellcasting role were key factors. Her story and character development offered a wide range of abilities and moments,” Holt explains, noting the deck represents her Shadowbringers arc. While a customizable "Warrior of Light" commander was explored, Holt notes that these ideas were complex, and the deck still features many of the hero's moments even without the Warrior as the lead.
Fitting an entire game's story into a Magic deck, with its color restrictions, required careful planning. “We determined color identity for each game and desired gameplay,” Holt says, noting the inclusion of White in all four decks, “for theming and to encompass the heroes.”Deck VI centers on the game's latter half, rebuilding your party from the graveyard. VII's Cloud and his greatsword fit a white-red strategy, but adding green incorporates "power matters" cards and references to the Planet and lifestream. X's Tidus and counters might suggest a Blitzball theme, but the white-blue-green strategy reflects the Sphere Grid leveling system. XIV's theme proved tricky, but its white-blue-black identity allowed for a noncreature spellcasting theme with key characters.
"...fans can expect to see some of their favorite characters in the 99 of each deck..."
Commander focuses on the leader, but RPGs are about the party. "Getting beloved Final Fantasy characters—both heroes and villains—into these decks was crucial,” Holt states. “While I can't reveal specifics, fans can expect to see many favorite characters among the 99 cards in each deck, as new legendary creatures and in exciting spells.”
Magic's Final Fantasy set releases June 13th. If your favorite game or character isn't featured (or even if it is), don't worry—Holt assures that "all sixteen mainline games will have their moments in accompanying products."
Similar to the 2022 Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks, these four decks will be available in regular ($69.99 MSRP) and Collector's Edition ($149.99 MSRP) versions. The Collector's Edition features all 100 cards in each deck with special Surge foil treatment.
Read on for the full, unedited interview with Wizards of the Coast’s Daniel Holt and Dillon Deveney:
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