This week I received a surprise gift from a friend. It was a single card for the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. Specifically it is for Ysayle, my favorite character from Final Fantasy XIV. Before receiving it I knew the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game existed, but never really gave it any thought, now I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole.
The Final Fantasy Trading Card Game is like Magic: The Gathering but with iconic characters and monsters from Square Enix’s RPG series. There are some complexities to the game, especially in its differences to Magic. Instead of different colors of magic there are eight different elements that determine similar attributes. Players still must construct a deck of their own, in FFTCG it must have 50 cards exactly. You win by dealing seven points of damage to your opponent directly.
There are also some specific mechanics that the FFTCG has that try to fix common issues with MTG. As laid out in a helpful Reddit post , FFTCG has a smart resource system in place to combat MTG’s common bottlenecking problem that forces you into a card draw loop. It also has a mechanic called EX Burst that gives losing players a better chance at changing the tides, giving you more control over how the game plays out rather than you being so beholden to card draws.
All those specific mechanics make FFTCG sound great, and as someone who has only ever dipped her toes in card games but never fully taken the dive, it makes me feel like this could be a more welcoming experience. The card designs are also a major part of that. I have a strong affinity for the Final Fantasy series and its long-history of impeccable character designs. Seeing some of my favorite protagonists, villains, and weird little guys rendered in a beautiful art style on the cards makes me want to buy a bunch of them, even if just to look at them. I haven’t actually played a match yet, and it’s not just because I only have one card.
There are fans of the FFTCG out there. Just look at the game’s subreddit or dedicated sites like ffdecks.com, but the community is definitely smaller than MTG’s. Living in New York City, I’m sure I could find a local game shop that does run the occasional game, but by and large, opportunities for playing seem few and far between. As a newcomer it’s hard to find a casual place to learn the basics. I could buy as many cards as I want and read over the rules (which I have done) but I wouldn’t have people to play with, and I don’t think my fiancée would appreciate me trying to force her to play. This makes it all the more confusing to me that there isn’t an online version.
With the likes of Magic: The Gathering Arena making that card game more accessible to players across the world, and a great point of entry for curious newcomers, it feels like a no-brainer for the FFTCG. Yet, until a good online version of the game is released, I think my growing interest in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game will be limited to purchasing cards so I can look at them. Though it turns out my friend’s gift was strategically timed, as on August 2, FFTCG will release Hidden Trials, its latest set . Maybe I need to consider setting up Discord matches, at least that way I can excuse the ill-advised spending I’m thinking about doing right now.
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