Cloud 11-127L

Full disclosure here: Cloud’s my favourite card in Opus XI by quite a long way. He’s an absolute Swiss-Army Knife of a card, and is playable in almost every situation. He can go into whatever forward or backup you need at the time – most commonly I find myself going for Jessie, Zangan, or Opus X Zack, depending on how my opening hand is looking. As a neutral play mid-game, you can play him onto the field and search out Light Aerith to threaten to replace him if your opponent goes to the effort of removing him. At a base 4CP cost, most people playing any kind of FFVII variant are going to be playing him for 3CP under Jessie’s effect, which puts him to an effective 1CP 7k statline while allowing two of our Card Name Tifas to get their reduction too. On top of this, we tack on a 3CP unconditional break, and we have an absolute monster of a card. Sure, you’ll mill 7 cards to RFG if you use the effect, but you’re probably ending the game a lot sooner if you’re using it intelligently, and you’re almost definitely warping your opponent’s choices on what they put onto the field, even if you don’t realise it.

Prior to this card feeling released, FFVII Fire/Earth has always felt a little bit clunky with a high percentage of 4CP cards, especially on the backline. Now, a turn 1 Cloud can really help the deck get set up and search key cards like Jessie early, which is obviously when they will actually do the most. It also allows the deck to bust through troublesome cards like Y’shtola and Aerith, and allows you to target key threats like Yuri and Locke without having to worry about drawing into the correct removal to deal with them. If you’re using this card sensibly, you will find in some matchups you just play Cloud into Opus VIII Tifa, drop a Red XIII and win while your opponent tries to stabilize.

On top of all this, he has a Damage 5 ability, which I absolutely don’t forget in 100% of my games!!! While it’s not a game changer of a Damage 5 ability, the extra 2k power can absolutely help you win the grind game when needed – the only thing to be wary of at that point is Sephiroth (or worse, Octaslash).

Cloud will also let you prop up FFVII decks that otherwise you weren’t able to effectively. Do you want to run Turks? Go for it, this Cloud will give you a tonne of extra stability as well as excellent spot removal. Fancy running Ice Remnants with 7CP Sephiroth + Genesis? Cloud has your back. Want to run Earth/Wind FFVII but have felt like the deck lacks a playable Cloud? This card will fit right in. I saw this card get quite a bit of heat because it was revealed after Sephiroth, but trust me, it plays infinitely better than it reads and I can see it being a firm 3-of in my VII deck for quite some time.

I also want lockdown to be over so I can get a third Full Art, thanks.