Hey everyone, RB here! Kageyama-san and I are back with more Card of the Week articles for Opus XI: Soldier’s Return! Since we’ve already shown off quite a few FINAL FANTASY VII cards that are on their way, I wanted to move to other Categories for now. One thing that I love about Opus XI is how there are a lot of tribal themes throughout. That is, there are plenty of new characters who synergize with characters that share their Category or Job. Each one makes me go look back at all of the older cards to see how a deck might come together. With that in mind, let’s take a look at Ursula 11-064L.

Yang’s daughter from FINAL FANTASY IV: THE AFTER YEARS appears as one of Opus XI’s Earth Legends! Ursula strives to train with the most powerful Monks in the kingdom, and brave Mt. Hobs, in order to become stronger, and that’s exactly how this version of her works in FFTCG! She even has beautiful original artwork from Akira Oguro whose artwork I’m sure you recognize from plenty of other FFTCG cards! He’s actually the Character Designer for FINAL FANTASY IV: THE AFTER YEARS, so it’s very fitting. You can even see Mt. Hobs in the background! Let’s look at her abilities.

Ursula 11-064L is a 4 CP, 5000 power Forward, category IV and Job Monk. She has an auto ability that reads, “When Ursula enters the field, choose 1 Job Monk or Card Name Monk of cost 2 or less in your Break Zone. Play it onto the field.” She also has an action ability that reads, “Put 1 Job Monk or Card Name Monk other than Ursula into the Break Zone, Select 1 of the 2 following actions: “Until the end of the turn, Ursula gains +4000 power and Brave.” “Choose 1 Forward. Deal it damage equal to Ursula’s power.”

Clearly, if she wants to be the best, she’s going to have to be surrounded by the best, so you’re going to want a lot of Monks in your deck to go along with Ursula. Of course, there are more Monks in Opus XI, and I wanted to share one of them today!

Monk 11-079C features beautiful new artwork from Kumiko Koike, who has illustrated some new FFTCG Original characters this set. It has an action ability that reads, “1 Earth CP, Dull Monk, and put Monk into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 3000 damage for each Job Monk or Card Name Monk you control.” Since you’re already going to be playing lots of Monks, this Backup feels right at home in an Ursula deck. You can put Monk directly into play with Ursula’s auto ability, and you can use them as a cost for Ursula’s action ability!

Of course, Ursula will become strongest by fighting alongside her father. Yang 9-075R will have a lot of targets if you’re playing lots of Monks. Playing his ability on Ursula can allow you to take out multiple forwards in one attack, with enough Monks, you could easily board wipe your opponent. Yang 3-095R is a perfect option early on if you have Ursula in hand. He’ll put Ursula into play with his auto ability, and then she’ll put a Monk into play from your Break Zone. You get 3 characters for the price of one!

It would also be good to include cards that buff Ursula outside of simply putting together Monks. Rydia PR-051, who will be making her booster pack debut this set, immediately comes to mind. You could buff Ursula AND Yang, and with enough Category IV characters, even search for 1 CP Summons to help push your strategy even further. Titan 10-076H and Belias 9-017C immediately come to mind. They’re even L3 viable! In fact, aside from Opus III Yang, all of the cards in this week’s Card of the Week could fit into an L3 deck featuring Ursula!

What do you think? Are you going to take up the path of the monk? We hope you enjoy the first Opus XI Card of the Week reveals. Kageyama-san will return next week with a familiar villiain who’s ready to strike!

Until next time.

RB