Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set finally arrives today, and it does so atop a wave of hype. It’s already breaking sales records all over, with a huge set encompassing all sixteen mainline games in Square Enix’s long-running RPG franchise, but not all cards are created equal.
Some cards are already seeing astronomical prices from pre-release, but we imagine they’ll settle down at least a little bit in the coming days and weeks.
Still, with some chase cards currently worth well over a thousand dollars each, you’ll naturally want to know which cards are worth looking out for, and which you might want to pick up standalone rather than ripping over hundreds of sealed boosters.
Thanks to the lovely folks at TCGPlayer, we’ve got a pretty good idea, ranging from protagonists to baddies, to those adorable chocobos.
Here are the big chase cards for Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy on launch day, with prices provided by TCGPlayer. While eBay is also an option (and also owns TCGPlayer), I’ve found TCGPlayer to be the most reliable way to buy single cards, with more knowledgeable (and careful) vendors when it comes to purchasing via a third-party.
The Biggest Chase Cards in Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy
10 – Lightning, Army of One
Lightning, Army of One
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Final Fantasy 13’s protagonist is all about the Stagger mechanic, teeing your foes up for double damage while also offering lifelink, first strike, and trample in a three-cost card.
She’s already up for around $44.13 for the Borderless version at the time of writing.
9 – Summon: Bahamut
Summon: Bahamut
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I love a big ol’ dragon in my Magic collection, and Bahamut certainly fits that bill. Not only does this Summon create a 9/9, but it can remove permanents, trigger card draw, and use Mega Flare to essentially finish a game of Commander. All yours for $52.61 in the borderless variant.
8 – Stay With Me (Rhystic Study)
Stay With Me (Rhystic Study)
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Rhystic Study is infamous for being a wonderful card that taxes your opponents or gives you card draw, and this new art from Final Fantasy X is plucked right from one of the game’s most heartfelt moments. It’s going to cost you, though, since it’s currently up for around $112.
7 – Dragon of Mount Gulg (Ancient Copper Dragon)
Dragon of Mount Gulg (Ancient Copper Dragon)
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The showcase version of this big ol’ beast is going for around $72.25, and is one of three fantastic Yoshitaka Amano pieces likely to be a big draw for collectors. Creating up to 20 Treasure tokens in a single turn? Yes please.
6 – Cloud, Midgar Mercenary
Cloud, Midgar Mercenary
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Low mana cost and double equipment triggers make Cloud very close to Stoneforge Mystic, but with some striking new anime art from Kazto Furuya. The extended art version is just shy of $50 at the time of writing.
5 – Buster Sword
Buster Sword
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What is Cloud without his iconic weapon? Thankfully, the Buster Sword has a borderless version worthy of such a hero. It’ll set you back a whopping $128, though!
4 – Vivi Ornitier
Vivi Ornitier
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This borderless version of Final Fantasy 9 spellcaster Vivi by Toshiyuki Itahana (character designer on the game) is the definition of a collector’s item. As a result, it costs around $100, although it’s a great Commander for an aggro burn deck.
3 – Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER
Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER
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An antagonist just as iconic as his protagonist counterpart, Sephiroth’s card art by the legendary Tetsuya Nomura is likely to make him incredibly popular. He’s currently going for just over $100, and I’d be very surprised if he’s not very, very popular in Commander decks to come.
2 – Y’Shtola Night’s Blessed – Surge Foil
Y’Shtola Night’s Blessed
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Sure, Y’Shtola comes in the Final Fantasy 14 Commander deck, but the surge foil one is fetching a very, very high price already. TCGPlayer has it pegged at around $474 right now.
Honorable Mentions: Borderless Surge Foil Varients
But how about some honorable mentions before we get to number one? As while the top nine features the absolute best cards you should be on the look out for, there’s a few more pricey options to check in with as well, most of which are surge foil borderless variants as well!
1 – Traveling Chocobo
The chase card of all chase cards, there are just 77 gold foil Traveling Chocobos out there, available. There are other versions, including Neon Ink versions going for well over $1000, but if you manage to find the gold foil, it is the one you’ll want to find when you’re cracking open Collector Boosters.
Where to Buy Final Fantasy MTG Sealed Boosters and Sets
I’m going to give it to you straight right from the off. It’s painfully hard to get hold of any of these sets from major retailers right now. While we saw some big restocks over the past month, pretty much everywhere is sold out of Final Fantasy MTG at the time of writing.
I can provide some handy links to bookmark so you can check back in, but for now, your best chance of securing anything will be via the most trusted third-party resellers like TCGPlayer.
Or perhaps, collectors will instead be most interested in the new Final Fantasy x Secret Lair drops, instead. It’s been a busy year for Wizards of the Coast’s limited-time mini-sets, and while the company sold out of all three Final Fantasy drops in record time (leaving many disappointed), you can still get them via third-party sellers… if you’re willing to pay the inflated costs, that is.
There are a trio of Final Fantasy Secret Lair sets, Weapons, Grimoire, and Game Over, each offering unique art and names for Magic: The Gathering cards. Everything is available in standard and foil, alongside the Japanese variants as well.
But, since they’ve sold out, you won’t find Secret Lair drops at the same price as you’d find them directly from Wizards of the Coast (standard $30 nonfoil, $40 rainbow foil), with most being listed anywhere between $80-$150 or above.
This is a huge markup, so if you’re looking to buy, be sure you’re 100% informed of what you’re paying for. You can buy them from eBay, but we’ve always found TCGPlayer, while still eBay-owned, to be the most secure and trustworthy way to nab Secret Lair drops post-release.
Lloyd Coombes is Gaming Editor @ Daily Star. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay. He’s also a tech, gaming, and fitness freelancer seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, IGN, and more.
