MAGIC: THE GATHERING—FINAL FANTASY: All the PAX East Reveals

If you want to know everything there is to know about Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, including its cards, its gameplay features, and its creators’ experiences in bringing it to life, you can actually watch the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Debut Showcase from PAX East free online in full. Magic: The Gathering has shared the whole experience on its YouTube channel. But if you don’t currently have an hour and a half to spend, we’ve pulled out the highlights for you below.

Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY: An Overview of Gaming Greats Colliding 

“I’ve been waiting for this…” Sepiroth says in the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY trailer above. And so have we all. The Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy set has actually been in the works for years, and since it pulls iconic imagery and inspiration from across the Final Fantasy world, it’s not hard to see why so much time was required.

In fact, the upcoming Universes Beyond Magic set will showcase characters from EVERY mainline Final Fantasy game that has ever been released, highlighting them through the lens of Magic: The Gathering. 

“We have a deep appreciation for the FINAL FANTASY series, and that passion guided us every step of the way as we created this set,” Shares Zakeel Gordon, Executive Producer for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. “This collaboration is a sincere tribute to FINAL FANTASY as told through the lens of Magic: The Gathering. Whether you’re a FINAL FANTASY fan, a Magic: The Gathering player, or both (like us!) we hope players see our reverence for FINAL FANTASY reflected in everything from the artwork to the game design, all the way down to the flavor text.”

Magic: The Gathering Has Packed a ton of Video Game Inspiration Into Its Collection

And that’s all you can really ask for from a collaboration—deep love, sensical immersion, and great care in creation. In fact, the upcoming Magic: The Gathering set features the LARGEST collection of Final Fantasy artwork that’s ever been in a single game. Magic: The Gathering shares, “Fans will see their favorite stories, characters and moments from FINAL FANTASY depicted across Magic cards, with these icons of the series captured on over 100 legendary creature cards across the entire release.”

Additionally, “As a celebration of this incredible collaboration, FINAL FANTASY Through the Ages showcases iconic Magic cards with FINAL FANTASY artwork. These cards form a Bonus Sheet for the set featuring existing artwork from the FINAL FANTASY series, which highlights artists such as  天野喜孝/YOSHITAKA AMANO and 野村哲也/TETSUYA NOMURA, names that FINAL FANTASY fans will surely recognize.”

Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Card Previews

But, of course, while there’s a lot to know and learn about the Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy collaboration, fans are obviously excited to just SEE more of the gorgeous cards. And happily, Magic: The Gathering is excited to deliver a massive sneak peek. Below, you can check out a gallery of MANY of the new Final Fantasy Magic cards that will come your way soon. So many, we’ve lost count. Enjoy!

Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Introduces New Special Mechanics Inspired by the Video Games

But, as mentioned, of course, there’s more to Magic: The Gathering collaboration with Final Fantasy than just gorgeous artwork. The collection will also feature a host of “special mechanics and content inspired by the series’ rich world and incredible creatures beloved by fans worldwide.”

Some of these special features include:

• Job Select – A hero may walk many paths, and the gear those heroes carry can change their destiny. Job select is a new triggered ability found on some equipment in this set.
• Saga Creatures – Summons are making an appearance in this set, as part of Magic: The Gathering’s first-ever Saga creatures. Players can call the summons for aid in battle.
• Transforming Double-Faced Cards – Double-faced cards return in Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. By casting the front side of the card for its mana cost and fulfilling its required conditions, players can transform it to experience its alternate form. Iconic FINAL FANTASY characters, minigames, story moments, and more are represented on double-faced cards throughout the set.
• Tiered – Some spells in this set offer three different effects, increasing in effectiveness with how much mana you pay for them. These spells all have the new keyword tiered.
• Adventures – Adventuresreturn in this set. This time, you’ll find them on a cycle of Towns.
• Landcycling – Landcycling abilities, seen on cards with a basic land type such as plainscycling, islandcycling, swampcycling, and so on, allow you to discard a card to search your library for a card with the specified land type. Nothing is more important in Magic than reliably playing lands and guaranteeing you have enough mana to fuel the later stages of the game.

What Decks Will Be Released as Part of the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Collection?

But what exactly can you purchase as a part of this collaboration? Well, “Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY will release with four distinct, pre-constructed Commander decks. Each Commander deck for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY tells the story of an individual game from the franchise, letting you relive playing FINAL FANTASY VI, FINAL FANTASY VII, FINAL FANTASY X, and FINAL FANTASY XIV in a brand-new way.” That’s extra exciting because it means you can zero in on the specific parts of the franchise that specifically appeal to you.

In addition to these four Commander Decks, Magic: The Gathering will also have three Secret Lair drops to further capture the worlds of FINAL FANTASY. More details will be available soon.

When Will Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Release? Pre-Order Information and More 

The gorgeous cards and decks of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY will officially release on June 13.

But if you don’t want to wait even another minute to confirm your Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy cards, all products in the collection are available for pre-order now. That includes the collaboration’s Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, Commander decks, Collector’s Edition Commander decks, Bundles, and Gift Edition Bundles.

That’s not all there is to look forward to, though. Wizards of the Coast revealed they will share more about a very special holiday release for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY later this year.