Top 5 Black Cards in MtG: Final Fantasy!

 *sigh*

Welcome back swamp creatures. I'm just going to get it out of the way now: I'm pretty disappointed with this Final Fantasy set. I'll likely make a bigger post about it, but overall it just seems like things are underpowered, overcosted, inhibited, or some combination of all three. Take the above for example. It's a very interesting design, to be sure. The Job Select mechanic is pretty interesting. Until you realize:

1. It's a 3 mana 2/2 with no keywords.

2. It has to actually hit a player to trigger anything.

3. The discard is mandatory, so it's not an actual draw and/or you can't choose to ignore the discard for value instead of damage.

4. It's a Ninja... and it has no freaking evasion!!

Would this have been so overpowered if it cost 2 mana? Or if it was a 3/3? Or if you could choose to either just draw a card or take the discard? Or if it had menace or, heaven forbid, was unblockable? Or even some combination of those? I don't think so.

That's pretty much the theme of the cards in this set. I was talking with another member of the MtG Rebellion Discord and they mentioned that it seemed like FF was a set designed to be like a Modern Horizons or Lord of the Rings set (i.e. Modern targeted), but they had to change to Standard at the last second and just slapped costs and downsides and cut power/toughness across the board. I don't see very many of these cards being Standard playable for a long while, which is crazy because it specifically is the first Universes Beyond set to be Standard legal! Incredibly frustrating.

However... "very many" is not "all". We do have some solid bangers here, and I'm excited to show them. Without further ado, let's get into them! Funnily enough, the nature of the set means there's going to be a lot of honorable mentions, so we'll start with those.

Honorable Mention: Kain, Traitorous Dragoon

This might be an odd pick for honorable mention, as it seems like everyone has just written this card off, but I feel like there's something there that people are sleeping on. I think it'll take a while to really figure out how to use this card, but it's got a lot going for it. Drawing two cards AND making two triggers from an attack trigger is really a very, very big deal, and since it can be scaled with his power there could be something even more there. Obviously the thing that will need to be figured out is how to break the symmetry--if it's a ton of value, you definitely don't want your opponent to be hitting you back with him--but if you can break that symmetry, he represents a TON of value.

Honorable Mention: Gaius van Baelsar

There are a few things that really power up a card. Modality is one of them, spell-level effects attached to a body are another. Gaius van Baelsar gives us both, which earns him a spot on the honorable mention list. The weakness of edict effects, even one as targeted as this, is what keeps him from the actual numbered slots, but I think one of copy of this fellow could be reasonably considered in basically every black deck that isn't balls to the walls aggro, especially because the easiest way to break his symmetry is to use the enchantment mode.

Honorable Mention: Midgar, City of Mako

Again, modality is the name of the game. The effect of Midgar is definitely the strongest out of the full cycle, even if it is narrow, which earns it a slot on this list. While I expect this to be actually quite widespread in playability, its limited impact in lots of situations means I suspect it'll be a single copy in decks that can afford a tapped swamp in some situations. Interesting, but not really strong enough to make the list.

#5: The Darkness Crystal

We're starting off the numbered slots with a very interesting one. This is actually a case where they added something extra to an effect that made it worthwhile. Wizards could've just left that second effect alone as a simple exile replacement and shipped the card... but they gave us lifegain instead. THAT means you can curve this into a Deadly Cover-Up against a board of creatures and turn it into a clear field AND a huge life swing to survive the next onslaught. Not only that, it represents turning your opponent's threats against you when you stabilize. There was already the makings of a black control deck in standard, and while this isn't a sure thing, it may be the piece to push it over the top.

#4: Sephiroth, Fabled Soldier

I'm extremely pleased that they gave the big bad man of Final Fantasy a card worthy of the top 5 list. Sephiroth solves a problem in certain decks that Braids introduced--what happens if they kill your engine? Braids was extremely vulnerable before the end step, to the point where it became optimal on Arena to play Braids in post-combat main phase and immediately turn auto-pass on in the hope your opponent didn't have stops set up correctly. Sephiroth solves that problem--with an ETB trigger, if you want, you are going to be guaranteed a drain for 1 and another card, even if your opponent kills him in response. That's a big deal! Puts you ahead on cards, gives a 2 life swing, and triggers your death synergies. Obviously Sephiroth is more limited since he can only sacrifice creatures, but that's usually what you want to be sacrificing anyway. 

I'm not going to talk a lot about the transformation effect, as it seems pretty unlikely that it would actually happen, but if it does your sacrifice deck is supercharged. A forever, unanswerable blood artist effect is exactly what you need to give you inevitability--and there is a simple (if contrived) way to trigger it on curve. If you play fodder on turns one and two, play Sephiroth on three, and Rankle's Prank on four, if your opponent has also kept up with creatures then Sephiroth will trigger four times right off the bat. Likely? No. Fun and just possible enough to earn a spot on this list? Absolutely.

#3: Dark Confidant

Heeeeeeeeeeeeee's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

To be honest, while I am surprised that Bob is coming to Standard, I shouldn't be. With the power creep in Standard this is no longer the Modern-staple effect it used to be. With similar effects (with more upside!) on cards like Caustic Bronco, Dark Confidant now fits right in. The difference is of course that he's more passive--no need to risk the creature to get the effect. I'm not sure what deck he fits in at the moment, but there's such a variety of decks that COULD want him that he deserves a slot on this list. Not much to say about this one, probably one of the easier choices I made for this.

#2: Demon Wall

This is a new record--the highest recorded uncommon on one of these lists! (the previous best was Withering Torment at #3 on the Duskmourne list). Another amusing fact, this is the second time in a row the #2 spot has gone to... a 2 mana demon.

Yes, it's an Unholy Annex world we live in for black. Any way we can turn that on BEFORE we play it is a big deal, and Demon Wall is no exception. Rot-Curse Rakshasa had a lot going for it, and it will eventually find a home, but the fact that Demon Wall can play defense very, very well is exactly what the Annex decks were looking for. You can play this on two, stave off a Cori-Steel Cutter token, and drop an Annex to start draining them. That is, unfortunately, not something Rakshasa could ever do.

Not only that, Demon Wall could just be a general 2 drop consideration in black midrange decks. The defensive 2 mana creatures with future value are lacking right now. The best we had previously were either Servant of the Stinger (too easy to get stonewalled late), or Sinkhole Surveyor (you have to take it OFF defense if you want it to scale with bigger threats). With the coming of Demon Wall, we get the best of both worlds--it's solid defense early, can fight off three and even some four drops, and turns into a 5/5 menace beater in the late game. THAT'S what we want our two drops to do. To be honest, this was in consideration for best card in the set. However, that honor can only go to...

#1: Cecil, Dark Knight

It's so funny to me that the best black card was the first one they showed us!

It's difficult for me to overstate just how insane Cecil is as a card. First off, he's huge. A 2/3 is an above-rate statline for a TWO drop--for a ONE drop, that's plain bonkers. Not only that, he has deathtouch! If Cecil blocks something, it will die, no questions asked! The simple pile of stats and keywords would make Cecil intensely playable even if he was a french vanilla... but he ALSO, over the course of a long game, will transform into a giant, lifelinking, board-buffing threat. Like, excuse me??? THIS is the kind of thing we're looking for! Aggro decks will want him. Midrange decks will want him. Given that he survives a lot of the cheap board-wipes in black (Malicious Eclips, Scavenger Regent for 2), he might even slot into a black control deck as an early board control tool that can leverage your oppponents aggression into turning into his own threat. 

Not only that, if you have a transformed Cecil, you can play another normal Cecil no problem, and TOGETHER they are a menace. Deathtouch/Indestructible is a potent pair of keywords, and if they block the transformed Cecil (since it's huge), and your life totals are right, you'll get another one instantly. This card absolutely supercharges black in a myriad of ways and I suspect will be a powerful staple until it rotates out.

And that's a wrap! I'll admit, after finishing this article, I'm more excited for FF than I was when I started. While there are a lot of disappointing duds, there's also a lot of cards that excite me. See you out there on the ladder!