🔗 Share this article

A significant aspect of the allure within the *Final Fantasy* Universes Beyond set for *Magic: The Gathering* lies in the manner countless cards tell familiar narratives. Consider the Tidus, Blitzball Star card, which gives a glimpse of the protagonist at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a wildly famous professional athlete whose secret weapon is a specialized shot that pushes a defender aside. The gameplay rules reflect this perfectly. Such flavor is found throughout the whole Final Fantasy offering, and some are not fun and games. Several are poignant reminders of tragedies fans continue to reflect on decades later.

"Powerful tales are a key part of the Final Fantasy legacy," noted a lead designer for the collaboration. "The team established some broad guidelines, but ultimately, it was primarily on a card-by-card basis."

Even though the Zack Fair may not be a top-tier card, it represents one of the set's most clever examples of narrative design through gameplay. It artfully echoes one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most pivotal cinematic moments with great effect, all while utilizing some of the product's key systems. And even if it doesn't spoil anything, those acquainted with the story will quickly recognize the emotional weight behind it.

The Mechanics: Story Through Gameplay

At a cost of one white mana (the alignment of good) in this collection, Zack Fair enters with a starting stat line of 0/1 but arrives with a +1/+1 counter. By paying one generic mana, you can remove from play the card to bestow another creature you control indestructible and transfer all of Zack’s markers, along with an artifact weapon, onto that other creature.

This card depicts a moment FF fans are extremely remember, a moment that has been revisited throughout the years — in the first *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even reimagined iterations in *FF7 Remake*. But somehow it lands just as hard here, communicated completely through rules text. Zack gives his life to save Cloud, who then inherits the Buster Sword as his own.

A Spoiler for the Scene

A bit of history, and here is your *FF7* warning: Before the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are severely injured after a confrontation with Sephiroth. After extended testing, the friends manage to escape. The entire time, Cloud is delirious, but Zack vows to protect his companion. They finally arrive at the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is killed by Shinra soldiers. Left behind, Cloud then takes up Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the persona of a elite SOLDIER, leading directly into the start of *FF7*.

Simulating the Legacy on the Battlefield

On the tabletop, the abilities in essence let you recreate this entire event. The Buster Sword is featured as a strong piece of equipment in the collection that costs three mana and grants the equipped creature +3/+2. Thus, with an investment of six mana, you can transform Zack into a solid 4/6 while the Buster Sword wielded.

The Cloud Strife card also has deliberate combo potential with the Buster Sword, letting you to look through your library for an weapon card. Together, these three cards function in this way: You summon Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you cast Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you play and equip it to Zack.

Owing to the manner Zack’s sacrifice ability is worded, you can potentially use it when blocking, meaning you can “block” an attack and activate it to cancel out the attack entirely. Therefore, you can perform this action at any time, transferring the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He subsequently becomes a formidable 6/4 that, whenever he does damage a player, lets you pull extra cards and cast two cards for free. This is precisely the kind of interaction meant when talking about “flavorful design” — not revealing the scene, but letting the gameplay evoke the memory.

More Than the Obvious Interaction

And the narrative here is oh-so-delicious, and it reaches past just this combo. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity appears in the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, puts a number of +1/+1 counters on a chosen creature, which then becomes a Mutant. This kind of hints that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, symbolically, the SOLDIER treatment he underwent, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. It's a small reference, but one that cleverly ties the entire SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter ecosystem in the set.

The card doesn't show his end, or Cloud’s confusion, or the stormy location where it happens. It does not need to. *Magic* allows you to recreate the legacy for yourself. You make the sacrifice. You transfer the legacy on. And for a brief second, while engaged in a trading card game, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* remains the most beloved game in the franchise to date.