A Realm Reborn in Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™

The Mana Forge Digest

Cameron Williams discusses the design of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY XIV cards, focusing on challenges and inspirations from the game's lore.

Key points

• Designing a set with multiple FINAL FANTASY games was challenging
• Character insights guided card designs for iconic characters like Cloud
• Emet-Selch transforms into Hades to become a threat

What you get

• Primal Garuda, aiding in progression and later becoming a threat
• White Auracite, an artifact that grants resistance to all damage types
• Paladin's Arms and Astrologian's Planisphere, cards for characters with unique abilities
• Emet-Selch, the Unsundered, who cares about restoring the past

Why it matters

The challenges of adapting FINAL FANTASY XIV’s lore into Magic: The Gathering cards while maintaining core gameplay elements.

Details

Williams explains how understanding character fighting styles informed their card designs

Primal Garuda is depicted as helpful initially, then transforms to pose a threat

White Auracite represents the game's powerful artifacts and grants resistance to all damage types

Good to know

• The set includes cards from multiple FINAL FANTASY games
• Designing for Magic: The Gathering required balancing combat elements with story-driven content

Read the original on Wizards (https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/feature/a-realm-reborn-in-final-fantasy) • Source: Wizards of the Coast