Summary
Bringing a whole new world toMagic: The Gathering, the latest Universes Beyond set has given players the opportunity torepresent their favoriteFinal Fantasycharactersboth on the tabletop and inMagic: The Gathering Arena. There is a character for everyone, with a grand total of 99 legendary creatures in the set and countless non-legendaries. As it stands, every game is well represented in this incredibly well-selling set.
Here’s a look at nine of the legendary creatures added toMagic: The Gathering Arena, ranking them based on how powerful they are at the helm of a Brawl deck. While certain creatures in the set may be great for the physical version of Brawl, known as Commander or EDH, the 1v1 game mode lends itself to different decks, leading these nine commanders to come out on top as some of the most powerful options.
9Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant
Potential For A Uniquely Fun Deck
Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant’s power isn’t as obvious at first glance. Giving an opponent control of something is often something a player wants to avoid; however, there are certain cards that (if used right) can force an opponent to lose the game when the player gives them control.
By utilizing a card like Nine Lives, a player can force an opponent to lose the game without being able to respond, thanks to it having hexproof. This is a seemingly powerful concept; however, it is hindered by its difficulty to pull off and the sheer luck required to draw the necessary cards.
8Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant / Ifrit, Warden Of Inferno
A Powerful But Expensive Commander
Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant is a transform card. Not only that, but it also introduces a newFinal Fantasycrossover mechanic with the Saga Creatures, creatures that only stay on the battlefield for a set number of turns. Clive himself is a 5/5 creature with the ability to discard and redraw cards depending on a player’s devotion to red.
Once transformed, which costs an additional 4 generic and 2 red Mana,Clive becomes Ifrit, Warden of Inferno, a 9/9 demon that leaves the battlefield after 3 turns but allows the player to easily destroy a creature controlled by an opponent and provides a total of 8 red Mana before becoming Clive again. When utilized in a high mana-curve, mono-red deck, this commander has the potential for some seriously powerful payoffs.
7Dion, Bahamut’s Dominant / Bahamut, Warden Of Light
Making Knight Tribal Decks Stronger
Dion, Bahamut’s Dominant is the mono-white version of Clive, offering a little more potential for deck-building. During the player’s turn, Dion gives all knight creatures they control flying, as well as creating a knight creature token upon entering the battlefield. This instantly boosts the lethality of a mono-white knight tribal deck, giving all knights the player controls an easier time dealing damage.
Paying 4 generic and 2 white Mana allows the player to transform Dion into Bahamut, Warden of Light, a 5/5 flying dragon that transforms back into Dion after three turns. For the first two turns of being around, Bahamut buffs up all of the player’s creatures and gives them flying, before destroying a target permanently on its third turn. This is a powerful removal spell encased in an already powerful creature, making for a strong commander hindered only by its mono-coloring.
6Cloud, Midgar Mercenary
Mono-White Equipment
Cloud is one of the poster boys forFinal Fantasyand has several card treatments in the crossover set. Cloud, Midgar Mercenary is possibly one of the stronger iterations of the character, thanks to its ability to search the player’s library for equipment and then trigger equipment abilities multiple times.
While hindered by its mono-coloring, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary has the potential to helm a very powerful equipment deck, especially when paired with cards like the Aetherspark and Cloud’s own Buster Sword. If set up correctly, Cloud can go from a non-threatening 2/1 to an absolute unstoppable beast in no time.
5Sephiroth, Planet’s Heir
Kill Opponents' Creatures And Make Sephiroth Bigger
The other poster boy for theFinal Fantasyfranchise is Sephiroth, another character to receive multiple unique printings in the crossover set. This iteration, Sephiroth, Planet’s Heir is a powerful Voltron commander that works similarly to Bloomburrow’s Ygra, Eater of All, as both gain +1/+1 counters when creatures die. Sephiroth, however, benefits from making all creatures an opponent controls get -2/-2 upon his arrival on the battlefield.
Coupled with the keyword Vigilance, Sephiroth’s ability can quickly spiral into him being a very threatening creature, held back only by his high Mana cost. Players can equip him with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots and watch him quickly become a truly unstoppable killing machine.
4Vincent Valentine / Galian Beast
Mono-Black +1/+1 Counters
Vincent Valentine is unlike other transforming creatures in that he sticks around after transforming. Vincent’s main power lies in his ability, which states that whenever a creature controlled by an opponent dies, a number of +1/+1 counters is put on Vincent equal to that creature’s power. This is similar to Sephiroth, Planet’s Heir, but benefits from the possibility to gain a much larger number of counters depending on the size of the creature that dies.
Upon attacking with Vincent, the player can transform him into the Galian Beast, a 3/2 with both Trample and Lifelink, making an attack much more likely to hit the enemy player as well as heal Vincent’s controller. The Galian Beast also has the ability toreturn to the battlefield as Vincentupon death, making this commander very difficult to deal with.
3Terra, Magical Adept / Esper Terra
Enchantress Reanimation
Terra, Magical Adept is one of the cheapest transforming commandersin the entireFinal Fantasyset and offers players a powerful platform for running an enchantment-heavy deck. Terra’s main ability states that when she enters, the player mills five cards, putting them directly from their library into their graveyard, before returning an enchantment card from those five to their hand. Combined with other graveyard recursion effects, this can make for a powerful opportunity to curate a hand using the graveyard.
Terra can be transformed for the cost of 4 generic, 1 red and 1 green Mana, becoming a flying 6/6 that returns to being Terra after three turns. For the first two turns, Esper Terra allows the player to copy a non-legendary enchantment they control for a turn, giving it haste if it’s a creature and allowing up to three lore counters to be placed on it if it’s a saga. On turn three, Esper Terra provides the player with 10 mana, making casting spells, or re-transforming Terra, even easier.
2Vaan, Street Thief
Play Opponent’s Cards
Vaan, Street Thief joins the ranks of commanders like Etali, Primal Storm, and Laughing Jasper Flint,helming decks that focus on stealing cards from other playersand getting value from playing them. Vaan allows any pirate, scout, or rogue to steal cards from opponents by dealing combat damage, then offers the player treasure tokens if they choose not to cast those spells or +1/+1 counters on each pirate, scout, and rogue if they do.
The strategy of stealing cards is a frustrating one to play against, and Vaan is one of the best commanders for it, being cheap to cast and not requiring the player to put him in danger to activate his ability. Backed up by other heisting cards, Vaan, Street Thief has the potential to be a very powerful commander in Brawl.
1Vivi Ornitier
Everyone’s Favorite Black Mage
Vivi Ornitier is the quintessentialFinal Fantasyblack mage. Vivi starts as a 0/3. However, every time the player casts a non-creature spell, Vivi gets a +1/+1 counter and deals 1 damage to each opponent. Vivi can then use a 0 Mana-cost ability to add X Mana to any combination of red and blue, where X is Vivi’s power. Not even requiring Vivi to be tapped, this ability is hugely powerful and can make the black mage incredibly difficult to deal with very quickly.
Building into a standard Izzet spellslinger deck will best suit Vivi, making a very large creature that consistently deals non-combat damage to opponents and can provide huge amounts of Mana. The main thing Vivi lacks, which can be easily countered with a decent deck, is card draw.
