2025 release year: Final Fantasy. This franchise is beloved by many and known by even more, so seeing these iconic heroes of many players' childhoods come to decks for the first time is super exciting. The cards coming out are focused on the ever-popular Commander format of playing, with four specific Commanders being highlighted in the stream.

Many of the cards coming in the release were shown on the Magic: The Gathering official Twitch stream on February 18. Devs explained that they wanted to focus on iconic eras of Final Fantasy, creating cards that embody the characters fans know and love while properly conveying them into Magic: The Gathering format. The designers focused on the end goal of allowing fans new and old to enjoy seeing their favorite characters come to life on the table, and with this goal in mind, it's hard to say they missed the mark with how many truly excellent and exciting cards are coming with this release.

10 Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER From Final Fantasy 7

This Naya Commander Represents His Game Well

Cloud is one of the most recognizable faces from the Final Fantasy roster. With FF7's remake schedule in full swing and Advent Children recently released to theaters, it's no surprise that Cloud's making a prominent appearance as headliner for one of the four Commander pre-builts in the set.

"Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER" is a 4/4 Creature with Haste, and his main mechanic is facilitating card-draws through your equipped creatures. Additionally, if you can get Cloud up to seven power, he will eventually start chugging out mana as well through Treasure tokens, allowing you to more easily equip the rest of the creatures on the field.

Outside of his Voltron-style deck capacities, "Cloud, Ex-Soldier" is a really neat tribute to FF7 in a few ways. His equipment mirrors the Materia and weapon upgrading system of the game while still playing inside MTG rules, and the bonus he gets from allied creatures' equipment reflects the importance of keeping your party well-stocked and ready for battle as well. Cloud does his best work with his team by his side, and this Commander card fully embodies this sort of gameplay.

9 Terra, Herald Of Hope From Final Fantasy 6

Despite A Lack Of Magic-Style Inspiration, This FFVI-Inspired Commander Shines

As fans of the game will know, Final Fantasy 6 doesn't have the same 3D character art to pull from like some of the other games in the series, making developing cards like "Terra, Herald of Hope" a bit trickier. Despite this challenge, WOTC has knocked it out of the park with this beautiful rendition of FF6's Terra Branford as hero and savior. Through collaborating with their FF6 review team, the design team was able to create a card for Terra that was both an accurate and fresh take on one of FF6's main heroes.

For players planning on playing Terra as their commander, it can be useful to build a deck with a plethora of cheaper creature cards that have helpful abilities and/or "Enter The Battlefield" effects. This way, players are able to play them from the graveyard, get the "ETB" effect, then potentially sacrifice them and replay them from the graveyard again later.

Mechanically, Terra is a fascinating card, using the mill mechanic of Black decks while still allowing players to build into the burst power of Red and creature-creation of White. Her Trance ability allows players to gain flying as well as mill cards during their combat phase, then pay 2 mana when she deals damage to cast those milled creature cards from the graveyard onto the field. With Terra on the field, players can overwhelm opponents with sheer numbers thanks to her flying attribute; this makes her harder to block, allowing more cards to be played from the graveyard.

8 Tidus, Yuna's Guardian From Final Fantasy 10

Hailing From FFX, Tidus Is Master Of Proliferation

Final Fantasy 10 is a classic of the series, following Tidus as he and Yuna fight to save the world from Sin, a monstrous creature bringing destruction and chaos. Despite the game's serious themes and story, it still retains some of that classic Final Fantasy shine that's translated well to the Tidus' card art. This card features Tidus in his full splendor, and as someone who can't help but love blond-haired FF protagonists, this card is a must-collect for me.

Proliferate is an MTG keyword; whenever you Proliferate, choose any creatures on the battlefield and add one counter of every type the creature has to itself.

Like many Simic Commanders, "Tidus, Yuna's Guardian" focuses on proliferation and counters. However, it's not just his ability to proliferate that makes him a good Commander. Tidus also, at the beginning of the player combat phase, can move a counter from one controlled creature to another.

For instance, when played with "Aragorn, Company Leader" from the MTG/Lord of the Rings collab, Tidus can move Aragorn's first strike, vigilance, deathtouch, or lifelink counter onto another card. Having more counters on more controlled creatures allows Tidus to more readily proc his "Cheer" ability, allowing him to Proliferate and draw, though this can only occur once per turn.

7 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed From FFXIV

I'm Dealing Damage And It's Not Even My Turn

"Y'shtola, Night's Blessed" focuses on spellcasting and ability usage in homage to the MMORPG elements of FFXIV as well as her character arc. The card art features a moment in the Shadowbringers arc, during which time she develops into a leader alongside the people of the Rak'tika Greatwood; not only does this card call to a significant time in her character development, it also reflects her mechanical power as a card. Her Blue/Black/White mana coloration means she'll be able to prioritize spells over creatures, allowing players to wield the same level of power as she did in-game.

Y'shtola also synergizes well with common Black and White deck themes that focus on dealing small damage and healing outside of the player's combat.

Y'shtola has a few things going on mechanically, and they all combine to make her a powerful Commander. Vigilance allows her to continue to defend after attacking, and her abilities provide card generation as well as do damage whenever the player casts a non-creature spell with a mana cost of three or higher. Notably, her first ability allows her to draw a card on other players' turns while also potentially dealing damage on other players' turns if she casts a spell outside of her own turn.

6 Jumbo Cactuar From Various Final Fantasy Games

Attack Of One Thousand Damage, Brought To You By Cactuar

Cactuar are vicious foes every time they appear in an FF title, and this MTG collab is no exception to the rule. While they look cute and funny, Cactuar have very high evasiveness and can be tough to beat, though they reward a handsome amount of gil once having done so. Their signature attack, 1,000 Needles, is an annoyingly gimmicky attack that deals 1000 damage and ignores all defense, and of course, this is the move designers have chosen to bring to its Magic: The Gathering card.

Like all green creatures, "Jumbo Cactuar" has a main utility that's high damage it can deal. As long as the player pays his seven-mana summoning cost, they'll be able to hit their opponents with his 10,000 Needle attack. On top of that, Green is the most likely color of all to have Trample, which allows any excess damage not blocked by a creature to be conferred to a target player. If the target player is unable to shut "Jumbo Cactuar" down or get it off the field, they'll find themselves on the receiving end of 10,000 Needles—and crushing defeat.

5 Yuffie Kisaragi From Final Fantasy 7

Another Final Fantasy VII Protag Makes Her MTG Debut

Yuffie is one of the main characters in Final Fantasy 7, and this fan-fav ninja warrior is just as strong in Magic as she is in FF. Known for her huge shuriken weapon and Materia-hunting ways, Yuffie originally s the party in search of Materia to use to save her homeland from Shinra. After a while, she becomes a valued member of the team as well as a formidable warrior.

Yuffie's strengths in-game translate well into the Magic format; her Blue, card-draw facilitation reflects her Materia-hunting background, while her Black-deck chip damage represents her strength in battle. As long as you have a ninja on the battlefield, Yuffie, as a Commander, will facilitate exceptional resource gain and combat prowess. Once you get the card draw started, you should have no problem funding Yuffie and your creatures' abilities.

4 Sephiroth, Planet's Heir From Final Fantasy 7

More FFVII Main Characters, But Come On, It's Sephiroth

Perhaps more than Cloud, Sephiroth is one of the most recognizable and iconic characters of the entire Final Fantasy franchise, so it's only right that he gets his own pre-built Commander deck that comes in the starter kit. Sephiroth represents vengeance and chaos in all forms, as his story arc follows his creation, rebellion, and finally attempts to ascend to godhood. The "Sephiroth, Planet's Heir" card follows a similar arc, with Blue and Black mechanics to back it up.

If an opponent creature is reduced to 0 toughness through his ETB (Enter the Battlefield) effect, they'll die, adding another +1/+1 counter to Sephiroth.

As mentioned before, Blue decks promote card-drawing while Black decks promote lifesteal and "death and taxes" playstyles. Sephiroth falls more firmly into the "death and taxes" camp than he does card-draw, gaining +1/+1 every time an opponent-controlled creature dies. As your opponents creatures fall, Sephiroth will gain power, eventually becoming strong enough to take on anything on the board.

3 Sin, Spira's Punishment From FF10

Tidus' Nemesis Enters To Create Chaos And Generate Mana

Sin is the antagonist of Final Fantasy 10, and he will threaten your battlefield just as much as he did the world of Spira. Without Tidus' intervention, Sin was posed to continue wreaking havoc across Spira, demolishing cities that relied too much on technology. His awesome power is displayed in his card art, which depicts his huge, whale-like form as it soars across the skies of Spira.

Mechanically, Spira operates primarily out of your graveyard. Whenever Sin enters or attacks, you must "exile a permanent out of your graveyard at random, then create a tapped token copy of that card. If the exiled card is a land card, repeat this process." Alongside landfall cards or cards like The Gitrog Monster, "Sin, Spira's Punishment" will allow you to create a pretty deep mana bank.

2 Emet-Selch, Unsundered/Hades, Sorcerer Of Eld From FFXIV

Fill Your Graveyard, Then Use It As Your Second Hand

Though Emet-Selch won't completely eradicate the board like a Reing eradicates a world, he can be dangerous if allowed to go unchecked for long enough. This Ascian is a major antagonist of the Shadowbringers arc of FFXIV, and this shows in his MTG card. His Blue/Black typing is emblematic of his deadly power and control.

Emet-Selch is a transforming card, meaning he has two sets of abilities that can be used, though once he's been transformed he can't go back. His initial side allows him to draw and discard cards quickly, allowing you to build up cards in the graveyard that can be used once he's been transformed. This type of Commander will take good planning; if you transform Emet-Selch too early, you run the risk of running out of cards in your graveyard before you can defeat your enemies.

1 Summon: Shiva From Various Final Fantasy Games

Rather Than Chasing Shiva Herself, Look Out For Her And Other Summon Cards

Shiva's card-draw abilities make her an asset to any Blue deck, but it's her card type that makes her really interesting. Summon-type cards are new with the Final Fantasy collab in MTG; they operate like Saga cards but are treated like creature cards in battle. They have abilities, but also interact with lore tokens and chance abilities as they progress. There are sure to be more Summon cards than just Shiva Final Fantasy's collaboration with Magic: The Gathering, though they won't be released until later this year.

Source: Magic/Twitch