If you didn’t know already, Final Fantasy has its own trading card game which includes all your favorite characters from the series like Cloud, Yuna and even Noctis. Not only will you see characters from the mainline numbered series, but games like Crystal Chronicles and Brave Exvius are also included. Recently, the Final Fantasy card game just released its newest set: Opus VIII , where fans can now make use of a very powerful new Aerith card.

Aerith - Opus VIII Legend

Why Aerith Is so Strong

“ Aerith costs 3 mana/Crystal Points which is a great value."

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Opus VIII 150 IMAGES

How to Beat Aerith

How to Play the Card

FFTCG Opus 8 - Booster Box and Starter Decks 9 IMAGES

In Final Fantasy VII, Aerith is a support character that protects and heals her teammates, and the trading card game does a wonderful job showcasing her strengths with this new card. The biggest reason why this new Aerith card is so powerful is that she essentially nullifies any damage that hurts your fighting characters (or Forwards, as they're called in-game). There are multiple ways a Forward can be damaged but with Aerith in play, any damage done to your Forwards that is less that their HP is nullified.Aerith’s last ability allows the player to reactivate his/her mana cards (aka Backups) when she is sent to the discard pile. So if by some chance Aerith is taken out, the player now has full resources at their disposal to mount a comeback. Considering she has 3 strong abilities, Aerith costs 3 mana or Crystal Points which at 7000 power is a great value. Cards that cost 3 Crystal Points and have 7000 power usually have just one or two abilities that can target a few cards where Aerith’s can affect all your cards in play.Even though Aerith is a very strong card, there are still ways she can be dealt with when she appears on the other side of the table.For starters, Aerith’s reduction of damage works on summons or abilities, so battle damage can still affect her. For instance, if Aerith was blocked by a Forward with a higher power, she’ll obviously lose. Swinging into a big blocker can be easy to avoid, but there are ways to force a battle between two Forwards. In addition, there are summons and abilities that can destroy a Forward without damage. Since Aerith mainly protects from damage dealt, this particular matchup will be tough to avoid unless you have counters in place.What’s great about Aerith is that her affinity is Wind, and Wind has a pretty good selection of cards to help protect her. With that said, Aerith would be perfect in a mono Wind deck that includes cards like Cactuar Conductor (World of Final Fantasy), and Y’shtola (Final Fantasy 14), just to name a few.Cactuar Conductor can nullify the first instance of damage to one of your Forwards, which is perfect for when Aerith receives battle damage. Y’shtola can cancel those pesky summons or auto-abilities that can destroy a target without dealing damage (Y’shtola is pretty much a must-have in wind decks).With the new Opus VIII expansion, there is a new Final Fantasy 7 Earth/Wind starter deck which has great synergy for cards that are associated with the Final Fantasy 7 game. For instance, Marlene can bring her back from the discard pile if she ever gets destroyed, and Cloud can help Aerith survive by increasing her power by 1000 if she blocks.Even without the aid of her allies, Aerith is already a super strong character with just her three abilities. If she can be protected from the (very few) weaknesses that she has, she’s practically an invincible character that will protect your party all the way to a win. What do you think of the addition of Aerith to the FFTCG? For more, why not check out an interview with the game's producer or an unboxing of the Opus VII booster box

Mike Mamon is a Syndication Editor at IGN, devil fruit user, and level 70 Astrologian who's looking forward to Shadowbringers. Follow him on Twitter @xpmnms