Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ Mechanics
Experience all your favorite FINAL FANTASY characters, items, and moments like you've never seen them before in this epic Magic: The Gathering release. Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ explores sixteen mainline games from the beloved RPG series, and there are plenty of new and returning mechanics to review. Let's get started!
Job Select
A hero may walk many paths, and the gear those heroes carry can change their destiny. Job select is a new triggered ability found on some Equipment in this set.
When an Equipment with job select enters, you create a 1/1 colorless Hero creature token, then attach that Equipment to the newly created token. Each Equipment with job select works like other Equipment. Its other abilities will tell you how it benefits the equipped creature, and it can be attached to other creatures you control using its equip ability.
If the Equipment is no longer on the battlefield as the job select ability resolves, you'll still create the Hero token, although you won't attach any Equipment to it.
Tiered
Some spells in this set offer three different effects, increasing in effectiveness with how much mana you pay for them. These spells all have the new keyword tiered.
Each card with tiered is a modal spell with three different modes. Each mode includes an additional cost. To cast a spell with tiered, choose one of its modes and the associated additional cost. For example, if you want to cast Ice Magic with its Blizzard effect, you'll just pay the mana cost of
No matter which mode you choose, the spell's mana value is the same. A spell's mana value is always based on that spell's mana cost, not any additional costs you pay. Ice Magic's mana value is always 2. Additionally, the name of the spell is always Ice Magic. The three tiers each have a flavor word for additional … well, flavor, but these words have no effect on gameplay.
Saga Creatures
FINAL FANTASY's classic summons are ready to hit the battlefield in the form of Saga creatures. These versatile permanents combine the storytelling of Sagas with the combat readiness of creatures. Each Saga creature features a new card frame to help organize its abilities.
Saga creatures follow all the same rules that other Sagas do. In case you haven't seen Sagas before, here's a quick overview.
Each Saga has a number of chapter abilities preceded by a Roman numeral symbol. If more than one chapter ability has the same effect, the Roman numeral symbols are just grouped together with the appropriate line of text.
Each Saga enters with a lore counter on it. This causes its first chapter ability to trigger. As your first main phase begins during each of your turns, you add a lore counter to each Saga you control, including the Saga creatures. Any time you add a lore counter to a Saga, check the number of lore counters it now has. The chapter ability matching the new number will trigger. After the last chapter ability finishes resolving (or otherwise leaves the stack), you sacrifice the Saga.
In some unusual cases, you may put more than one lore counter on a Saga at a time. This can happen if you control a permanent, like Doubling Season, that doubles the number of counters a permanent enters with. If this happens, not only does the chapter ability you landed on trigger, but any ones you passed along the way. So, if Summon: Fenrir enters with two lore counters on it, both its first and second chapter abilities will trigger, and you can put those abilities on the stack in either order. These kinds of replacement effects don't affect the turn-based action of putting a single lore counter on a Saga at the start of your first main phase.
A Saga creature, premiering here in Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, is also a creature and can do everything a creature can do. It can attack, although not the turn it comes under your control. It can block. If it has any abilities or flavor text in addition to its chapter abilities, those abilities and flavor text will be in a separate part of its text box under its type line. Saga creatures aren't on the battlefield for a long time, but they can make a devastating impact in their short time with you.
Transforming Double-Faced Cards
Transforming double-faced cards are a staple of Magic design, and the promise of your permanents transforming to upgraded forms is an exciting one.
Each transforming double-faced card (or TDFC) has two card faces; the front face features a single up arrow symbol in the upper-left corner, and the back face features a single down arrow symbol in the upper-right corner.
When you cast a TDFC, you cast it as the front face, and it enters the battlefield with its front face up. If it enters the battlefield some other way, it enters with its front face up unless you're specifically told to put in onto the battlefield transformed.
While a TDFC is on the stack and while it's on the battlefield with its front face up, it has only the characteristics of that face. This is also true if the TDFC is in a zone other than the stack or the battlefield. For example, if Emet-Selch, Unsundered is in your graveyard or library, it has those characteristics. It's an Elder Wizard creature card, not an Avatar creature card. The only time the characteristics of the back face really matter is when the permanent is on the battlefield with its back face up. How does that happen? By transforming it!
Most TDFCs have an ability that tells you how the permanent transforms to its other face. For example, as Emet-Selch's last ability resolves, you have the option to transform it. If you do, turn the card over so that its back face, Hades, Sorcerer of Eld, is face up.
A double-faced permanent that transforms is still the same permanent, so any Auras, Equipment, and counters will stay on it. Any effect that was affecting it continues to do so. Some back faces have abilities that allow them to transform back to their front faces, but for back faces like Hades, it's a one-way journey, although some other spells and abilities may still cause it to transform back.
The back faces of TDFCs don't have a mana cost. There are, however, two things you should know about the back faces of these cards. First, while a double-faced permanent is on the battlefield with its back face up, its mana value is calculated using the mana cost of its front face. This is an exception to the general rule that each face has its own characteristics. So, Hades's mana value is 3 because Emet-Selch's mana cost is
Adventures
Adventures return in this set. This time, you'll find them on a cycle of Towns.
These cards have two parts. The Adventure is an instant or sorcery that occupies the lower-left quadrant of the card. Adventures have their own name, mana cost, type line (including the Adventure subtype), and rules text. The other part is a permanent—a land, in this case. The land's name and type line are in their customary positions, and its rules text is on the right side of its text box.
As you play a card that has an Adventure, such as Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital, you have a choice. You can play the permanent part. For Jidoor, that means playing a land. If you do this, it goes onto the battlefield as you'd expect. You ignore the Adventure part and all its text.
You can also choose to cast the Adventure spell. If you cast Overture, it goes on the stack as you'd expect of a sorcery spell. From there, it can be responded to or even countered. If it resolves, you'll follow its instructions and the targeted opponent will mill half of their library. But the tale doesn't end there. After resolving the Adventure spell, the card is exiled. It's not put into the graveyard.
After an Adventure resolves and the card is exiled, you may play the card from exile but not the Adventure. After Overture resolves, you exile the card and may then play Jidoor from exile. Note that playing Jidoor from exile this way still counts as your land play for the turn, so you can do this only during your main phase and only if you haven't already played another land that turn.
While a card with an Adventure is in your hand, library, or even exile, it has only the characteristics of the permanent, not the Adventure spell. For example, if an effect allowed you to search your library for a land card, you could find Jidoor, but if you were searching for a sorcery card, you couldn't find Overture.
Landcycling
Landcycling abilities, seen on cards with a basic land type such as plainscycling, islandcycling, swampcycling, and so on, allow you to discard a card to search your library for a card with the specified land type.
Note that you can search for any land card with the specified land type, not only basic land cards. Nothing is more important in Magic than reliably playing lands and guaranteeing you have enough mana to fuel the later stages of the game, and these versatile cards keep you from falling behind.
Weave together your own story with the fantastic creatures, spells, and items of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. Follow along with all the previews as we reveal the exciting cards from the set. Preorder Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY at your local game store, online retailers like Amazon, and elsewhere Magic products are sold before the set's worldwide release on June 13, 2025.
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