So believe it or not, we exist. The mono fire players. Players that shrug off the notion that our cards continually see under-powered additions every set compared to the other elements, and yet we embrace the challenge. If you ever see a post calling out for “What’s your deck like?” and you see a fire player, their list is usually similar to every other fire player, since we have very few cards to pick from that are worth playing. But is fire as bad as everyone claims? Let’s take a look.

Victory Conditions as Mono Fire

Mono-Fire decks tend to lean towards a combination of these 2 key victory conditions: Unblockable forwards and forward extermination. We don’t discard, we don’t get super value plays with backups, we won’t have tons of cards in hand, we won’t mill, and we don’t out-muscle the enemy. We either hit the face via trickery, or we napalm the opponent’s forward field and march in with haste. And to be fair, Fire is very good at this. But with our limited selection in powerful cards, it’s all about combos. And as a long time Street Fighter / Marvel Vs Capcom fan, I love combos.

Combos as Mono Fire

Combos are a huge part of the Mono-Fire arsenal, so if you hate math and things that burn, turn back now. Let’s look at some top-notch fire cards that combo. And we’ll start with a powerful summon that can pretty much start any combo off.

Oh yes, this beauty. 8k damage to a forward (9k with 6-010H Caetuna), this summon does a wonderful job of eradicating any forward it targets. And although we enjoy that part of the summon, the other half is the real wombocombo. Choose 1 Forward of cost 3 or less in your Breakzone onto the field dull. So how do we max out the potential with that? We need some 3cp forwards that have ETF effects (enter the field) And fire has some beauties. We can use these 3cp (or less) forwards to either combo with phoenix to eliminate forwards that Phoenix could not finish on it’s own, or they can choose another target to hit. Let’s look at some cards that will combo wonderfully with Phoenix 5-019L.

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So here is an example of some cards that can combo with phoenix. When Vivi enters, he nukes a forward for 4k+ 1K for every card in your opponents hand. Comboed with Phoenix, this will destroy a forward at the bare minimum of 12k+, which 99% of the time will do the job. If you Phoenix in Gadot, you get him + ANOTHER forward to bring in, which can be Cloud 1-009C that deals 2k damage upon entry, Tifa 1-016C that can swing in for damage, etc. Palom 2-015H enters with a nice 7k damage entry, which like Vivi, can eliminate an additional forward. And lastly, we have Cloud 4-145H. While technically not a Fire card, his S ability requires fire and most VII cards that he synergizes with see home in Fire. He is yet another forward that upon entering, will deal 7k damage to a forward. 7k is a perfect number against most forwards, especially popular ice forwards such as Genesis or Locke. There are many other combos, but we are going to move on to getting in unblockable damage.

Essential Fire Backups That Pave the Way

As of Opus VI, there are 4 backups that always have a home in my Fire brews. As seen below.

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I love 2cp backups. It feels great to be able to pitch 1 turn 1, backup secured, pass. Ninja, Red Mage, and Illusionist all serve the same purpose: Despite how stubborn your opponents Forwards are, we will get through them. Red Mage prevents 1 targeted forward from blocking, Ninja does the same after breaking itself, and Illusionist forces an enemy forward to dull by attacking (unless they have Brave), or to sacrifice itself if we have a bigger forward. For 2cp, these backups win games. Pure and simple. And then we have our Opus 6 Lady of Justice, Vermilion Bird l’Cie Caetuna. EVERY time I play this card, the opponent groans. And they should! Search out a summon, typically Bahamut 4-016R, and go “I play this backup, and 9k to your Forward. Please (heh) REMOVE IT from the game *smile smile*”. 9k plus a backup is well worth the 6cp to play it, and you now have bonuses to your summons for the rest of the game. Brynhildr is now a 3cp for 8k damage / Exburst? Why thank you kindly.

Honorable mentions

Some other cards that I enjoy playing in my Fire decks. While not for everyone, I have seen success with them, so definitely give them a try!

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Garland 6-002L is a tad expensive. But if you ever come around to his effect, he is a bully. He can brynhildr at will without dulling, and if you pay 2 additonal cp, he flat out erases an enemy forward and blankets their field with 5k damage. In my current Fire deck, I play 5 garlands (3 Legend, 2 heroes from Opus 4 which also has an S effect.) If Garland is not removed within the round he enters or the very next round, there is a very high chance he is killing something. Lebreau should be in most fire decks, making all the forwards more powerful, but a lot of Fire decks can lean towards being unblockable, where power is not a factor. Tellah can deal 7k damage (taking care of a lot of threats) on his own, or he can S ability, and pretty much destroy any forward. It is not that rare to say “16k damage to ____ forward”. Off it goes! And lastly, 2cp 4-008C Scholar. I tend to include this guy because I enjoy 2cp forwards, but he also can combo with cards such as Garland L to remove 2 forwards, or he can add the finishing touch to many Fire combos. Not bad for a little 2cp.

And that concludes this article! Thank you for reading about my thoughts on Fire, and we’ll see you next time!

(Did you know? The final boss of FFIV: The After Years is a creature known as “The Creator”, who watches over life across the universe. His race would plant crystals across the galaxy thousands and thousands of years ago, to help races evolve and watch how they would progress. If they found a world lacking, they would retake the crystals and destroy the planet. When you break into The Creator’s moon/spaceship, you find crystals from numerous worlds, that are guarded by the boss monsters from Final Fantasy I-VI. This implies that those worlds were created by The Creator’s race, and that he went back and destroyed them at some point in time.)