Cards to Watch for the Upcoming Final Fantasy MTG Set

Here in this column, I find it’s often beneficial to think outside the box when it comes to picking out solid cards for speculation. When picking “specs,” people usually only focus on what's coming out in the next set or two - the constant bombardment of new products makes it nearly impossible to think past this short-term, after all. 

I’m here to tell you that one set coming out in 2025 is going to get some more details soon. And before everyone turns their attention towards it, you might want to consider picking up some of the cards laid out here. It’s the upcoming Final Fantasy set, due sometime next year. 

Mind you, these spec picks are based on, well, speculation - meaning every prediction I lay out could be incorrect - but if you're trying to pad out some trades between now and when more details are revealed (which I predict might coincide with the upcoming February 29 release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to build hype), these are some of what I would look out for.

Level Up

Final Fantasy may be the ultimate RPG series, and what is more indicative of RPGs than leveling up? Starting at level 1 and watching your characters grow is crucial to the experience, and I would honestly be shocked if we didn't see any presence of leveling up in one way or another. It would be really interesting to have a creature know something like Fire, and see it level up to Fira and Firaga as the board state progresses, and I think they will try to find a way to make this work.

That being said, everything that holds value from leveling up holds that value because they are useful for all sorts of counter shenanigans. Things like Inexorable Tide or Doubling Season aren't going to skyrocket again due to the return of this mechanic, since their value is so ubiquitous. Rather, I imagine we’ll see some new cards that help specifically curtail the leveling up process that isn't just Proliferate. 

$0.50$0.49

$0.39$0.49

With this in mind, we have to think of what cards could benefit from this - while stuff like Lighthouse Chronologist and Hexdrinker might benefit from whatever may come, their Level Up cost is already at just one mana, so I’m thinking some of the stranger choices that have higher Level Up costs might find their place in the limelight - things like Brimstone Mage, Echo Mage, Joraga Treespeaker, and Hedron-Field Purists might start seeing some more play in certain Commander circles.

This would also be a great opportunity to pick up any copies of Venerated Teacher you can reasonably find. Foils are sitting at less than $0.50, and since this is the only printing of this card, if it doesn’t see a reprint in the Final Fantasy set and the Level Up mechanic indeed returns, there's a chance it may be sought after. 

Brimstone Mage	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.25
Echo Mage	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.50
Hedron-Field Purists	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.39
Joraga Treespeaker	CardKingdom $1.99	TCGPlayer $1.89
Venerated Teacher	CardKingdom $0.35	TCGPlayer $0.20

Party Mechanic

Another core part of Final Fantasy is not just leveling up your main character, but spending time with and strengthening your entire party as well, while you grow together as a team. I imagine we'll see some sort of mechanic present that powers up your creatures relative to what other types of creatures you have on your side, although Wizards wouldn't have to look too much further than their existing Party mechanic. 

Introduced in Zendikar Rising, Party gives you benefits for having a Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, or Wizard on your field, with the best benefits coming from having a full Party (i.e., at least one of each of these). This only makes sense to implement in the upcoming Final Fantasy set, since when you’re playing these games you’re always trying to go for a balanced, diverse team, and you usually want to have a Party similarly composed of classes like those laid out in MTG’s mechanic. 

$0.28$0.49

The current cards that benefit from Party are, to be quite frank, a bit underwhelming. But there is room to expand and more or less build this mechanic from the ground up in a newer, exciting way. In my mind, Coveted Prize is probably the most powerful card that benefits from having members in your Party, but even that in its current form is only fringe playable. 

If we’re looking to see what cards can benefit from reintroducing Party to the game, it’s not those that benefit from the mechanic, but those that help set it up - namely, Tajuru Paragon. This rare from Zendikar Rising basically gives you a full Party off of itself. And if there are any upcoming cards in the Final Fantasy set that require a full Party to activate, this will definitely be the easiest way to assemble that. Again, this is all just speculation, but for less than $0.50 for an extended art foil version of this card, it might be worth keeping an eye out for this one.

Coveted Prize	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.40
Tajuru Paragon	CardKingdom $0.49	TCGPlayer $0.28

Legendary Creature Abundance

We’ve seen it a lot recently, especially with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, but since every Final Fantasy game has a unique roster of characters, I imagine this will be another set brimming with legendary creatures. There can only be one Cloud Strife or Sephiroth on your side of the field, at least in my mind, so why not invest early in cards you know that can break this rule? While things like Helm of the Host and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces will no doubt accomplish this, their values are already inflated and unlikely to change. If you're trying to find more affordable cards that will also get you there, look no further than Spark Double and Irenicus's Vile Duplication. 

$3.68$3.99

$1.49$2.49

Reprinted in Ravnica Remastered and Commander Masters, Spark Double is a simple but effective clone that ignores the limitations of the legendary rule. And with all the different variations that now exist of it, it’s more affordable than ever. It doesn’t completely shut down the legendary rule for you like Sakashima of a Thousand Faces does, but at roughly 1/10 monetary cost (but the same mana value), and the inclusion of a +1+1 counter, it more than gets the job done. The same can be said for Irenicus’s Vile Duplication, which is also the same mana value but gives your duplicate creature flying instead - a much stronger upside. Irenicus’s Vile Duplication has the added benefit of only being printed in one set and invoking the name of a character from another property, Dungeons and Dragons, meaning it’s much less likely to see a reprint soon, and makes for a safer long-term hold. Sitting at less than $4, this is a clone spell that is rightfully sought after, and only has room to grow between now and the Final Fantasy release.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the potential of Mirror Box, which is currently around $1.50 and is a powerhouse in decks that can utilize it properly - mostly Rat Colony or Relentless Rat decks. If there is an abundance of legendary creatures in the Final Fantasy set, there’s a chance this can go up a bit. But, unlike the last few cards discussed that have an observable effect on cast, this can be a big “do nothing” spell until the right moment when it really starts to change the game. I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick a huge amount of these up, but again, if you’re looking to pad out trade value, you could do a lot worse than this.

Irenicus's Vile Duplication	CardKingdom $3.99	TCGPlayer $3.68
Spark Double	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $5.57
Spark Double (Anime Borderless)	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $5.08
Mirror Box	CardKingdom $2.49	TCGPlayer $1.49
Mirror Box (Showcase)	CardKingdom $3.49	TCGPlayer $1.80

Two Other Quick Picks

These are the three biggest predictions I have for the set, but there is so much potential content Wizards can draw from these games that there are a few other quick picks I would like to bring to your attention to get you thinking on the possibilities of this upcoming set.

Equipment - With such iconic weapons as the Buster Sword, Masamune, and the gunblade from FFVIII, there’s a small chance for a pseudo-equipment theme. These are all weapons that, narratively, require great strength to handle, so they will probably have high Equip costs, meaning anything that makes things Equip for zero or auto-equips, like Puresteel Paladin or Sigarda's Aid, could see increased play.

$8.25$10.99

$0.75$0.59

Summons - In Final Fantasy these are spells, but they are also creatures, so I'm thinking there is room for some overlap with these in the form of an Adventure-style mechanic, where they somehow exist as creatures and spells on the same piece of cardboard. Summons are also usually overly powerful, so I imagine we will see the return of legendary instants and sorceries, but with a twist. In the case of a high mana value historic creature/spell hybrid card, anything to help cheat it out will become relevant, including oddball picks like Thran Temporal Gateway or even Peri Brown - keep an eye out for cards like these.

Puresteel Paladin	CardKingdom $2.99	TCGPlayer $2.60
Sigarda's Aid	CardKingdom $10.99	TCGPlayer $8.25
Thran Temporal Gateway	CardKingdom $0.59	TCGPlayer $0.75
Peri Brown	CardKingdom	TCGPlayer $0.25

In Conclusion

Final Fantasy has so much depth of content that I could go on and on with potential speculations based on aspects of the games they could implement - I haven’t even touched on what they can do with materia, airships, and so much more. The sky is truly the limit for this set. If you’re looking to fill out your carts or trades between now and when more information is revealed, these are some solid choices to look out for.

Further Reading:

Shocklands and the Ramifications of Staple Reprints in Magic