Fire

Ark Angel HM 001R

3cp 6000

Forward – Ark Angel – XI

If Ark Angel HM deals damage to your opponent, double the damage instead. When Ark Angel HM attacks, Ark Angel HM gains +3000 power until the end of the turn.

3.5

Starting this Opus off with one of the best Rs in the set. Most HM attacks put your opponent in an awful position: chump block and lose a ton of CP; or tank 1/3rd of their health. Even if your opponent musters a 9k, you’ll still probably be trading up CP. HM fits best in an aggressive deck, but slower grindier decks will still view it as a premium win condition. At only 3cp, it is almost impossible to deal with Ark Angel at a profit. The only downside is that he is an awful draw if you’re scrambling to stabilize. Wish he were common only so I could make HM 001Cut jokes.

Red Mage 002C

2cp

Backup – Standard Unit – XIV

When Red Mage enters the field, choose 1 Fire Forward. Until the end of the turn, it gains Haste and Brave.

2.5

A nice way to get a surprise attack, or an extra attack out of something you need for defense, but as a one time trick it really isn’t much to write home about. Access to haste is always nice in case your opponent plays risky while you’re threatening lethal. Since his effect is an ETF, Red Mage is relevant as a late game draw, giving it a leg up on a lot of other backup options.

Ifrit 003C

4cp

Summon – XI

EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 4000 damage and 1000 more damage for each Fire Backup you control.

2

It can be pretty difficult to get this up to 8k, the point where it trades on curve, but as long as you’re finding ways to get extra value out of your removal that’s fine. I wouldn’t run too many of these unless I was super deep in fire, and a lot of the other removal in the set seriously outclasses it, but if it’s what you have access to then it’s what you have access to.

Iroha 004R

3cp 7000

Forward – Samurai – MOBIUS XI

If a Fire Character you control deals damage to a Forward, the damage increases by 1000 instead.

D: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 1000 damage.

3.5

Absolutely nuts, makes almost every single fire card in the set better, especially forwards with burn abilities like Sabin and Cloud. As a 3 cp, Iroha can trade up to 10k on defense, which is massive. She lends herself to any kind of deck, as she helps pressure the opponent and stonewalls big forwards. A huge draw to fire when drafting/deckbuilding.

Edgar 005C

2cp

Backup – King – VI

D: Choose 1 Category VI Forward you control. It gains +1000 power until the end of the turn.

2.5

If O7 Wakka is a good baseline to judge from, this card will be solid. The cards it buffs aren’t quite as high impact though as Auron/Jecht/Kimahri/Tidus were, but it still is a cheap combat trick your opponent has to respect at all times. Less good in sealed where your access to VI forwards is going to be much more constrained, but hey you gotta play the backups you have.

Cloud 006L

5cp 9000

Forward – SOLDIER – VII

EX BURST When Cloud enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 3000 damage and 1000 more damage for each point of damage you have received.

When Cloud is put from the field into the Break Zone, you may remove the top 10 cards of your deck from the game. If you do so, return Cloud to the field dull.

5

Stapling removal to an already on curve body usually means the card is busted in limited, and Cloud is no exception. Late game he can deal with most medium threats, and early game you can still pick up a little value here and there. Add on the EX and you have a solid bomb. What makes Cloud a 5 out of 5 however is his resilience. There’s a ton of great removal in this set, and being able to ignore it without spending any extra CP is huge. Most games you’ll be able to pay for his return trigger one time, which will over double the amount of value you can eke out of him.

Black Mage 007C

2cp

Backup – Standard Unit – FFTA

Fi Fi D, Put Black Mage into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Fire Summon in your Break Zone. Add it to your hand.

2.5

Sometimes you just need another Brynhildr. Because it effectively puts two fire cp in your hand, you’re only really paying 1 for this effect (and another 1 every turn you don’t have this backup anymore so use it late game and win quick) so this is a super cheap way to get that critical Bahamut to clear the way to victory, or to blow that 9k out of the water. Not quite as good as lightning Black Mage (who’s review I copy-pasted whole sale here) just because Ifrit is a little worse than Ramuh, but not nearly worse enough to knock a whole .5 off the rating.

Golem 008C

1cp

Monster – Golem – FFCC

When Golem enters the field, choose 1 Forward. It gains +2000 power until the end of the turn.

Put Golem into the Break Zone: Choose 1 attacking Forward. It gains +4000 power until the end of the turn.

2.5

Golem will start off by letting you get in an attack you couldn’t have made otherwise, and then will sit on the table constantly daring your opponent to block. +4k is a golden threat that will be hard to set up a defense against. With so much removal in the set, though, sometimes your opponent will bait you into using it and then just erase your target, netting an extra 3 cp on their summon.

Samurai 009C

3cp 7000

Forward – Standard Unit – XIV

If you have received 3 points of damage or more, Samurai gains Brave.

If you have received 5 points of damage or more, Samurai gains +1000 power.

2.5

A medium body that gets slightly and slightly better as the game goes on. Samurai is a good baseline for your forwards, not quite filler but also not quite something you’re excited for. Still, her size is big enough and her abilities are both nice.

Amarant 010H

7cp 7000

Forward – Fighter – IX

EX BURST When Amarant enters the field, select 1 of the 2 following actions.

“Choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 7000 damage.”

“Choose 1 Monster of cost 3 or less opponent controls. Break it.”

3

I already said it for Cloud, but get ready to hear the following statement a lot “putting removal on a forward is great.” Amarant likely hits a 3 drop, which clears an investment of 5 CP. This means you essentially save 1 cp on the curve price of a 7k, and get rid of something threatening. As one of the few ways in the set to punish 3 cp monsters like Scale Toad and Deathgaze, Amarant gives you utility that many decks sorely want. Still, while he’s good, much of the other “Forward + Removal” cards in the set are just costed at a much better rate, making him seem underwhelming, especially with so many 9ks running around that Amarant has difficulty interacting with.

Cid (FFL) 011C

3cp

Backup – Helmsman – FFL

When Cid (FFL) enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 5000 damage. If you control 5 or more Fire Backups, deal it 8000 instead.

2

Hitting for 8 simply isn’t going to happen in all but the most stacked draft decks, but that’s ok: 5k is a totally reasonable amount for the cost. Sure it’s no Vivi, but it’s ok for cards to be slightly weaker versions in limited as long as they’re still good enough. There are plenty of things this kills outright, and plenty of things to combo it with, like Sabin, Rain, and Iroha. Shocking though that we keep getting Cids from all sorts of side games but still no VIII, IX, or X.

Zenos 012H

4cp 8000

Forward – General – XIV

If your opponent controls a forward (job: Warrior of Light), Zenos gains +2000 power, Haste and Brave.

When Zenos deals damage to your opponent, choose a forward your opponent controls. Deal it 5000 damage.

2

If you can get him through, the 5k is pretty relevant. Combined with Yotsuyu and Sabin you can 7k pretty much whatever you want. Unfortunately most of the time he’s going to be a vanilla 8k. Not to say that’s bad, it just sure isn’t good.

Warrior 013C

2cp 5000

Forward – Standard Unit – XIV

2.5

With a couple of fire backups, Warrior does a good impersonation of a 3cp 7k, and a great impersonation of a 4cp 9k. There are a bunch of 9ks running around, and having a way to deal with them at C means a lot for Fire’s level of quality in the set. What’s really nice about this effect is that most of the time the threat of it is enough to change your opponent’s behavior, which means you don’t even have to pay for the ability to stop a big forward from bearing down on you.

Duncan 014L

4cp 8000

Forward – Monk – Mobius VI

You may use Duncan’s special ability by discarding a Card Name Sabin instead of discarding a Card Name Duncan as part of the cost.

When Duncan enters the field, choose 1 Forward of cost 4 or less opponent controls. Deal it 4000 damage.

Phantom Rush S D: Choose 1 Forward. Deal it damage equal to Duncan’s power.

4

Duncan does a great Firion/Frimelda impression when he enters, topping off a wounded forward, which would make him a 3.5 on its own. What pushes him to a 4 is the availability of Sabin at C, making his S ability actually reliable, which is almost unheard of on an L in limited. Phantom Rush is mad cheap, too, as you can usually go up 3 or 4 CP with each forward that gets dunked on. Combos well with Red Mage’s brave, as you can attack and S in the same turn cycle.

Bahamut 015H

4cp

Summon – Special

You can only pay with CP produced by Backups to cast Bahamut.

Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 10000 damage. if it is put from the field into the Break Zone this turn, remove it from the game instead.

3.5 sealed / 2.5 draft

The reason for this disparity is that sealed is a slower format, and it’s much more likely you are going to be able to cast it. Also, with a smaller card pool, removal is much more precious and you’re willing to warp your game plan around it more. In draft, the restriction is a serious one, as many decks simply never want to play out that many backups, especially in fire. You need to be in a grindier deck to pull it off, but not only does it kill almost everything in the set, it ignores strong break triggers like Cloud and Lunafreya. Certainly one of the strongest pieces of removal in the set, provided you can actually play it.

Vivi 016H

1cp 2000

Forward – Black Mage – IX

When Vivi enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage. If you control 4 or more Category IX Characters, deal it 7000 damage instead. If you control 7 or more Category IX Characters, deal it 10000 damage instead.

1

Total Title fodder. There simply aren’t enough Cat IXs in the set to make the 7k reliable. Even in water, the only C and R you have are Eiko, Garnet, Whale Zombie, and Meltigemini. Functionally 3cp for 2k power 2k damage isn’t the kind of rate that wins you games. If you’re super deep in fire, it has a lot of minor damage effects that you can combine to deal with larger forwards, and Vivi can help with that and then party attack afterwards, but it’s still a lot of investment for not much return.

Brynhildr 017C

3cp

Summon – XIII

EX BURST Choose 1 Forward. Deal it 7000 damage.

3

Removal good. Not big enough to kill everything you want it to kill, but cheap and with a good EX.

Marche 018R

4cp 5000

Forward – Clan Leader – FFTA

EX BURST When Marche enters the field, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Add 1 Fire Character among them to your hand and return the other cards to the bottom of your deck in any order.

2.5

A body is a body, and even little bois have value. Marche fits best in a fire-centric deck where his ability is most reliable and you are often in a position to party attack with him. His EX is one of the biggest reasons to run him, as he just isn’t going to make much of an impact otherwise. Outside the burst, consider him not as a way to make your deck more consistent, but rather as a 2cp 5k. You’ll want lots of extra sources of damage if you’re planning on actually playing him to the field. If you have a huge Fire bomb like Cloud L, Marche will help your deck get him earlier on average each game, which is a big help. I would never play him to the field if fewer than fifteen fire cards had made my deck, as missing with his ability is a huge economic setback.

Sabin 019C

2cp 5000

Forward – Monk – VI

When Sabin attacks, choose 1 Forward. Deal it 2000 damage. If you control Card Name Edgar, deal it 4000 damage instead.

2

Sabin is pretty on the small side, but getting a free 2k burn on attack lets your other forwards swing into blockers bigger than themselves. Sabin also attacks fearlessly into 7ks, which is nice. He’s pretty much just filler that occasionally will do a really cool trick.

Yotsuyu 020R

2cp

Backup – Acting Imperial Viceroy – XIV

Fi D: Choose 1 Forward of cost 5 or less. It cannot block this turn.

3.5

Being able to negate your opponent’s most threatening blocker every turn is crazy good. You lose 2 cp every time you do this, so if you can’t close the game out quickly, your opponent will out-economy you. The threat of this may also convince your opponent to go hyper-aggro, thinking to nullify her by not leaving behind any blockers to target, so make sure you’re prepared to eat the brunt of their assault.

Rain 021R

3cp 7000

Forward – Knight – FFBE

When Rain enters the field or attacks, choose 1 Forward. You may pay Fi. If you do so, deal it 3000 damage.

3

3k is a nice amount of damage for combo kills. It lets you top off forwards damaged in combat, and there are even a few choice targets that it outright breaks like Zidane. Having a repeatable source of damage tacked onto an on curve forward makes for a strong and flexible threat.

Lava Spider 022R

1cp

Monster – Spider – FFCC

The attacking Forwards you control gain +3000 power.

2.5

I’m not in love with Lava Spider. Keep in mind that once the forward stops being an attacker, it loses the buff. This means that when attacking a 7k into a 7k, both still break. What Spider does allow you to do is turn small forwards into big threats. Spider rises in value a lot in draft if you can pick it up early, so you can immediately go all in aggro, but I think he’ll be less useful in sealed where it’s much harder to get enough forwards that want its buff.