🔗 Share this article

A major element of the allure within the *Final Fantasy* crossover set for *Magic: The Gathering* is the manner so many cards depict familiar tales. Cards like the Tidus, Blitzball Star card, which provides a glimpse of the character at the outset of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose signature move is a specialized shot that takes a defender out of the way. The gameplay rules reflect this with subtlety. These kinds of storytelling is widespread throughout the whole Final Fantasy set, and they aren't all joyful stories. Some serve as heartbreaking reminders of tragedies fans remember vividly decades later.

"Powerful stories are a key part of the Final Fantasy franchise," explained a principal game designer for the collaboration. "The team established some overarching principles, but in the end, it was primarily on a individual level."

While the Zack Fair card may not be a tournament staple, it is one of the set's most refined pieces of storytelling through mechanics. It masterfully reflects one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most crucial cinematic moments with great effect, all while capitalizing on some of the product's key mechanics. And while it avoids revealing anything, those who know the saga will instantly understand the emotional weight within it.

The Card's Design: Story Through Gameplay

At a cost of one white mana (the alignment of good) in this set, Zack Fair enters with a base stat line of 0/1 but enters with a +1/+1 marker. By paying one colorless mana, you can remove from play the card to bestow another unit you control protection from destruction and transfer all of Zack’s counters, as well as an Equipment, onto that other creature.

These mechanics portrays a sequence FF fans are very remember, a moment that has been reimagined throughout the years — in the first *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even alternate-timeline retellings in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it resonates with equal force here, expressed completely through rules text. Zack sacrifices himself to save Cloud, who then picks up the Buster Sword as his own.

The Context of the Scene

Some necessary history, and take this as your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the primary events of the game, Zack and Cloud are left for dead after a confrontation with Sephiroth. After years of imprisonment, the duo break free. Throughout this period, Cloud is delirious, but Zack ensures to look after his companion. They eventually arrive at the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is gunned down by Shinra soldiers. Left behind, Cloud in that moment claims Zack’s Buster Sword and takes on the identity of a elite SOLDIER, leading directly into the start of *FF7*.

Reenacting the Passing of the Torch on the Tabletop

On the tabletop, the rules essentially let you recreate this whole scene. The Buster Sword is featured as a top-tier piece of armament in the set that costs three mana and provides the wielding creature +3/+2. Therefore, using six mana, you can transform Zack into a formidable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud Strife card also has intentional combo potential with the Buster Sword, enabling you to search your deck for an artifact card. Together, these pieces play out like this: You cast Zack, and he gains the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you cast and attach it to Zack.

Because of the design Zack’s signature action is designed, you can actually use it during combat, meaning you can “block” an assault and activate it to negate the damage entirely. Therefore, you can make this play at any time, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He then becomes a powerful 6/4 that, every time he strikes a player, lets you gain card advantage and cast two spells without paying their mana cost. This is just the kind of moment referred to when talking about “flavorful design” — not revealing the scene, but letting the mechanics trigger the recollection.

Beyond the Central Synergy

However, the thematic here is incredibly rich, and it goes beyond just these cards. The Jenova card is part of the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, puts a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which also becomes a Mutant. This kind of implies that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, figuratively, the SOLDIER conditioning he underwent, which included modification with Jenova cells. It's a small connection, but one that implicitly connects the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter ecosystem in the expansion.

Zack’s card doesn't show his death, or Cloud’s trauma, or the stormy cliff where it concludes. It does not need to. *Magic* enables you to relive the passing yourself. You perform the sacrifice. You transfer the weapon on. And for a fleeting moment, while playing a card battle, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most influential game in the series to date.