Hey there everyone. Today’s article will be continuing off from the last article, which was the Top 10 things I love about Final Fantasy TCG. We left off at number 6, so let’s press on!

#5 – The Franchise

This should be a given. It’s Final Fantasy! Who hasn’t heard of Final Fantasy? The memories, the drama, the fantastic gameplay, over 25 years of classic entries on our favorite consoles, the amazing soundtracks, there’s no denying just “being” Final Fantasy lends itself a huge amount of flavor and credit. People play this TCG for just the characters alone, or for the oppertunity to summon their favorite Primals/Avatars/Espers. Even the minor npcs or subcharacters that are put on cards carry a ton of nostalgia with them, from the commons all the way to the legends.

#4 – The Fluff

As I mentioned in a previous article and intend to continue on as a weekly routine, this game is absolutely packed with card abilities and flavor that link back to it’s video game sources. This gives a lot of the cards a ton of depth and authenticity that enhances the enjoyment a Final Fantasy fan would get out of this game. The ETF effects, the S abilities, the synergy cards have with their team (“If you have a VII forward, Cloud does damage”), etc, all work wonderfully in themed decks as well as their corresponding elements.

#3 – Value

No, not value from a great turn or play that got you multiple forwards or wiped their board, I’m talking about real financial bang for your buck. Let’s break down a single booster box for you. On average, you can purchase a booster box for $100. Maybe less, maybe more, but online, that is your typical price. 36 booster packs. You are guaranteed 1 copy of every hero card, and at the minimum 7 non foil legends. So let’s take Opus 2 in this example. You get a copy of Al-Cid, that’s $18. We’re down to $82 to compensate. You get an Ashe, that’s $7 on average. Hovering at $75 now. Raubahn is $5 a copy, down to $70.

Some of the other heroes you are guaranteed to get go anywhere between $1-$3 a piece, so with certain heroes not seeing play, etc, you can get down to about $55. Some of the commons and rares (Cyclops for example) go from 50 cents to $1, but for sake of it being bulk, we won’t even include that. Guaranteed 36 foils a box, and the cheapest foil goes for $1, usually reserved for commons that don’t see play, but retain their foil collective value for being foils (which many players collect). Now realistically, you are not going to reliably sell all of those foils easy peezy, so let’s do $20 from foils, just a flat out number that is extremely conservative. You are down to $35. You now have 7 legends, which at $5 a piece minimum, you have broken even. And that’s ANY box! That’s without me including specific legends, heroes, specific foils which can go from $10-$25 a piece, the mountain of commons and rares you just accumulated, etc. Rinoa Legend? $20. Al-Cid Hero foil? $25. Raubahn foil? $10. An Astrologian COMMON foil? $3-$5. Vincent Legend non foil? $13-$15. Ashe Foil? $10. The game absolutely screams value. So when you get a booster box with 3-4 foil legends, and then an Al-Cid foil, you are banking hard. And many cards that aren’t necessarily valuable now, tend to see synergy in future sets. I am still praying for Jecht to see some life in a future set, so I can retire.

#2 – Gameplay

Well well, this really is the meat of a game isn’t it? As far as game-play goes, this TCG is glorious. There are new decks being brewed all the time, extremely powerful commons that see play in multiple decks, very balanced elements (Fire still needs help but works great in tandem with other elements), and a pace of play that seems very rewarding and fun. The budget for top tier decks is not that bad either! But declaring party attacks, playing summons to react to an ability, all wrapped in the Final Fantasy packaging, it’s really fun. On top of that, the concept of discarding a card for 2cp resources makes it so you don’t feel cheated at the beginning of the game. While there is a disadvantage for not having backups for the opening few turns, you don’t get “mana screwed” in this game. Resource management is a huge strategy, and I think it makes smart play and investing very rewarding as opposed to other games. And you get to say things like “Okay, I respond to your attack by summoning Bahamut, he nukes your forwards”. \o/

#1 – Community

The community in this game, is the best. Bar none. I have never seen a better community that surrounds and supports each other and the game in question, then this group. The amount of friends I have made since I started playing the FFTCG community back in December of 2016 is preposterous. People donate cards to each other. Store owners stay in frequent contact with each other to not take advantage of promotions that one store might be running at a specific time. Players go to events or concerts or their local shops and donate packages of cards to spread their fandom of the game. People offer each other decks at tournaments so that they can play. I’m literally going to Gencon just to meet up with friends I have made via the FFTCG-US facebook group. And the community is pretty much the reason I push so hard with my content and support, because the positive feedback and unity of players is priceless. And there’s always memories of our favorite Final Fantasy games that bring us together as well.

And with that, our list comes to a conclusion! Thanks for reading! Are there things you felt should have made the list? Do you agree with what was listed? Let me know!

(Did you know? Not counting characters who can change job classes, Freya Cresecent from FFIX is the first playable female Dragoon in the series, with only two others taking this role after her: Oerba Yun Fang from Final Fantasy XIII and Barbara from Final Fantasy Dimensions.)