10 Final Fantasy Characters Who Deserve To Be In Magic: The Gathering (And What They Might Do)

Nearly two years after it was announced at Gen Con 2023, the Final Fantasy crossover set will finally be released for Magic: The Gathering this summer. Although only a few card names have been confirmed so far, it’s pretty easy to guess which characters might show up in the upcoming set. While Final Fantasy has a massive roster of characters to choose from, some are so iconic it seems impossible that they wouldn’t show up in the set.

Although it’s unclear how much input Square Enix has over the direction of Magic’s set, they would also likely want newer games to be highlighted for cross-promotional purposes. This could mean seeing some more characters from Final Fantasy 7 to keep up the hype for the ongoing remake trilogy, or characters from Final Fantasy XIV to encourage new subscribers. The focus here will be on characters who have not been officially announced, so Emet-Selch and Lightning are off the table. However, those previewed in art but who haven’t been confirmed for a creature card like Kefka will appear.

Sephiroth Could Have Fun Wrath Mechanics

Sephiroth’s Plan To Destroy The Planet Seems Fitting With Wrath Cards

Sephiroth is easily one of the most iconic Final Fantasy villains. Not only is he the main antagonist of the hugely popular Final Fantasy VII, but he has also appeared in the Kingdom Hearts spin-offs and games like Dissidia Final Fantasy. Sephiroth has already been shown in multiple pieces of art from the upcoming Magic set, so it seems very likely one of them will be for a Legendary Creature card.

There are several directions a Sephiroth card could take. Although it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the game focus on his combat prowess, it could be even more fun to get a card that alludes to his ultimate plan of summoning Meteor. This could focus on a board wipe mechanic that would take out the rest of the creatures on the board, but possibly leave Sephiroth standing, similar to Sarulf, Realm Eater. Board wipes in Magic are also called wraths, which seems thematically appropriate as rage initially led Sephiroth to develop his plan.

Celes’ Rune Knight Skills Could Be Great For Control Players

Celes’ Ability To Absorb Spells Fits Magic’s Counterspells

Although Final Fantasy VI is largely considered one of the best games in the series, many of its characters don’t share the same level of recognition as other series leads like Cloud Strife. However, one character does tend to stand out in discussions of the game and that’s Celes. Celes begins as an antagonist but ends up joining the party. Her compelling backstory and emotional redemption arc solidify her as one of the game’s best characters, so it would be great to see her show up on a Magic card.

When trying to translate Celes to Magic: The Gathering, one of her abilities stands out. As a Rune Knight, Celes can negate and absorb some enemy spells, gaining MP back as she does. Giving Celes the ability to counter an opponent’s spell and absorb it as mana for her controller’s next turn could make her an incredibly powerful addition to a control deck. This Mana-Drain-like ability would likely be too powerful for Standard if it wasn’t either a one-time “enters” ability, or very expensive to activate, but if Magic can figure out how to balance it, it would fit perfectly.

Kefka Would Make A Perfect Double-Sided Card

Kefka’s Card Could Represent His Transformation In FF6

Kefka is widely considered to be one of the Final Fantasy series’ best villains. Initially the court mage for the Gestahlian Empire, Kefka ends up going rogue and attempting to seize power for himself. He ultimately succeeds and even becomes the all-powerful god of magic. Aside from being both powerful and successful, Kefka has a popular design. His court-jester dress, unstable personality, and brilliant schemes essentially make him Final Fantasy’s version of the Joker.

One great way that Magic: The Gathering could adapt Kefka for the card game is by making him a dual-faced card. The starting side could depict Kefka in his starting form, and then, by fulfilling some requirement or paying some cost, players would be able to flip him to his godly form. Gods are a powerful and popular creature type in Magic, so Kefka would fit nicely into that mold.

Bahamut Could Be A Powerful Dragon Commander

Bahamut Is An Iconic Final Fantasy Character And Works Well In Magic

The Dragon King Bahamut has appeared in quite a few Final Fantasy games, going as far back as the original. Though he was initially just an NPC, Bahamut has gone on to be one of the most powerful Summon monsters in multiple installments of the franchise. As one of the most recurring Final Fantasy characters, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Bahamut turn up in Magic: The Gathering. This is especially true given the prominence of dragons in the TCG.

Dragons are a powerful creature type in Magic and one of the few that is largely represented across all five colors in the game. As the King of Dragons in Final Fantasy, it would make sense for Bahamut to appear as a five-color Legendary Dragon that players could build a dragon-themed Commander deck around. Funnily enough, this wouldn’t be the first Bahamut to appear in Magic: The Gathering, as Dungeons & Dragons also has a dragon god named Bahamut who appeared in an earlier set.

Balthier Feels Right At Home With Several Magic: The Gathering Trends

Balthier Could Interact With Multiple Magic Staples Like Treasure Or Pirates

Balthier may not be the protagonist of Final Fantasy XII, but he sure thinks he is, and honestly, it’s not hard to see why. Nothing against Vaan, but Balthier’s big personality and character arc about realizing his persona is a mask of his insecurities help make him one of the game’s standout characters. This skyship piloting pirate also fits very nicely into several recurring motifs in Magic: The Gathering.

Airships are quite popular in Magic: The Gathering, with some of the game’s earliest stories focusing largely on the skyship Weatherlight. Pirates have slowly become a more well-established creature type, and treasure has become a hugely popular mechanic too. There are even other sky pirates, like Avishkar’s Kari Zev. This gives Balthier a lot of room to work with using already established elements from Magic: The Gathering.

Bartz And Boko Would Be Perfect Partner Commanders

Bartz And Boko’s Friendship Works Perfectly With The Partner Mechanic

Bartz is easily one of the most likable Final Fantasy protagonists. Throughout Final Fantasy V, he is upbeat, supportive, and manages to keep a sense of humor throughout the adventure. To make him even more endearing, he has a close friendship with his adorable Chocobo partner named Boco (or Boko depending on the version of the game). Although Bartz could appear on his own card, it would feel like a missed opportunity not to use one of Magic’s most fun mechanics to include Boco too.

Magic: The Gathering’s Partner mechanic allows two characters to act as a player’s Commander, whereas they usually just get one. This is often done to signify that the two characters have a strong bond, just like Bartz and Boco. Partner is usually a Commander mechanic, so this would mean Bartz and Boco would have to appear in supplemental Commander products instead of the main set. They may also be given a unique version of Partner - like the Stranger Things variant “Friends Forever” - since the Partner mechanic has caused balance issues in the past.

Magic Could Have Fun With Yuna’s Ability To Summon Aeons

Summoning Creatures Is A Major Part Of Any Magic Game

Yuna is one of Final Fantasy X’s principal characters, and also the main character of Final Fantasy X-2. There’s a lot to like about Yuna, from her strong character arc to her unique design. Artwork featuring Yuna alongside Final Fantasy X’s Tidus has already been previewed for the card Together Forever, so seeing her appear on a creature card would seem to make sense. Yuna’s special abilities would also work well in Magic.

Yuna is a talented summoner. Seeing as Magic: The Gathering focuses heavily on players summoning creatures to aid them in battle, she would seem to fit right in. There are a few ways that Magic could incorporate Yuma’s summoning on her card. The first would be to give her an ability similar to Yisan, the Wandering Bard which would allow her to summon creatures from the deck. Yuna could also have some conditions or a cost to pay on her cards that would allow her to summon a unique and powerful creature token.

Ultimecia’s Time-Bending Abilities Could Be Very Powerful In Magic: The Gathering

Time Travel Effects In Magic Are Typically Very Powerful

Final Fantasy VIII may not be everyone’s favorite installment in the series, but it’s hard to deny that its main antagonist, Ultimecia, would still be perfect for a Magic card. Ultimecia has a strong sense of style, and her clandestine tactics make her as dangerous off the battlefield as she is on it. Ultimecia seems like she would fit nicely alongside fellow Magic schemers like Lazav for Queen Marchesa.

While Magic could focus on Ultimecia’s trickery for her abilities, they could also make her incredibly powerful if they focused on her time-bending spell. In Magic, time travel spells typically translate to giving players an extra turn. Giving Ultimecia an ability that gives her controller extra turns wouldn’t just make her a highly sought-after card, but it would also reflect her ultimate desire of being able to control the universe. It would also be thematic if this ability had a drawback allowing opponents to play a creature, mirroring how Ultimecia’s time spell allowed Squall to defeat her.

Magic Could Make Aerith’s Biggest Moments Mechanically Relevant

Aerith’s Death And Contribution From The Life Stream Could Be Captured On Her Card

Boiling Aerith down to her ultimate fate in Final Fantasy 7 is a bit of a shame, as she is an overall great character. Still, it’s hard to deny that her death at the hands of Sephiroth is one of the most well-known moments of any Final Fantasy game, and it seems unlikely that Magic won’t reference it in some way. Previewed art for Sephiroth already seems to depict the moment of her death.

Although many know about Aerith’s death through cultural osmosis, fewer probably know about her role in the game’s conclusion, helping to summon Holy to combat Meteor from inside the Lifestream. Magic could adapt this by giving Aerith an ability that triggers when she dies, or else can be activated from the graveyard. Maybe something like Innistrad’s Disturb mechanic could allow players to recast Aerith transformed from their graveyard, with a back side of her card featuring her in the Lifestream or Holy itself.

Chaos Could Play Into One Of Magic’s Most Fun Archetypes

Chaos Cards In Magic Create Fun Situations

Chaos is the major antagonist of the first Final Fantasy game. As its name suggests, Chaos represents the idea of chaos and is the opposite of harmony. Although not as compelling as some of the series’ later villains, it would be nice for Magic to pay homage to the beginning of the Final Fantasy series by including its first major villain. Magic also has the perfect way to incorporate Chaos which could be a lot of fun.

In Magic: The Gathering “chaos” is used to refer to cards that introduce some element of random chance to the game. This is featured on cards like Chaos Warp which will shuffle a card from one player’s side of the field back into their deck, and then potentially drop a new creature from the top of their deck onto the field. Giving Chaos fun effects that shake up the game through the use of random chance wouldn’t just be fitting, it could also make it one of the most memorable cards from the crossover by creating so much havoc.