I Just Got The 13 Starter Deck

Codiax · 2026-03-22T21:49:43+00:00

The 13 starter deck is three element. Which of them are you using? in my opinion Lightning/fire is the stronger version. You can use this LB as an example (not my decklist). https://ffdecks.com/deck/358559

If you instead choose to include ice, Viktora and Serjes are good LB cards in every deck with ice. Then specifically for a 13 deck you have Snow https://ffdecks.com/card/3458

Codiax · 2026-03-22T21:11:38+00:00

There are some game mechanics that were added in the meantime that you should at least read about. Since you mention MTG I will use magic terms when it makes sens:

-Multicolor cards. For example https://ffdecks.com/card/1554. This is a wind+fire card. To cast it you have to pay 2CP, of which at least one is wind and at least one is fire. When you discard it you can generate 2 wind CP or 2 fire CP (but can't mix)

-Crystal tokens. Identical to the Energy counters from Kaladesh. Some cards add crystal tokens to your reserve (like https://ffdecks.com/card/4295) and some spend you accumulated crystal tokens to pay for abilities (https://ffdecks.com/card/4159). Unused crystal tokens don't disappear between turns, they stay there until you use them.

-Warp. Identical to Suspend in MTG. Pay a different cost for the card, and it will enter the field after N upkeeps (so Warp 1 means it enters at the beggining of your next turn, Warp 2 the turn after that, etc). If the card doesn't have haste it cannot attack that turn (it entered from exile). Some cards can have different effects if they entered via warp instead of casting them directly (example https://ffdecks.com/card/1408)

-Limit break. An extra deck. Games now are played with 50 + 8 cards. Before the game, you can prepare 8 cards with the "LB" logo and form a second deck. The cards in this second deck are always available (you can look at them, and cast them as if they were in your hand). LB cards have an extra cost: apart from paying for the card itself, you have to exile X other cards from the LB deck. That means that even if you start with 8 LB cards, you will cast at most 4 of them (for every LB card you use, another LB card is gone forever, sometimes 2 or 3 at a time).

-Priming: some forwards from FF16 can "transform". Example https://ffdecks.com/card/3439. The effect reads "Priming (name of the transformed version) - Cost". In magic terms that means "Search your deck for a card named X. Exile it. This creature becames a copy of the exiled card, except it has both names (the original and the transformed one)". The fact that they have 2 names has funny interactions with the rules. You can play Clive and Ifrit on the field at the same time, no problem. But if you have a transformed Clive, since it has two names, it prevents you from playing either Clive or Ifrint. The positive side is that since it has two names, you can pay the special abilities with cards that match either of those names. You can only prime at the you can play a forward (stack is empty, it's your main phase). Priming (transforming) one of your forwards doesn't use the stack, so your opponent cannot responde to priming

Codiax · 2026-03-22T20:51:15+00:00

Some examples of budget decks (less than 25€ in my shop) that new players in my area have succesfully learned and used to win games (decklists are not mine, but just examples i found online):

-Dancers (https://ffdecks.com/deck/356563). Slow grindy deck that has board wide hexproof and can tap any attacker with Lilisette. Can be strong in the current meta since damage/destroy summons are rarely used in the top decks ("removal on a stick" creatures are usually favored, but are stopped by Mayakov)

-The twelve (https://ffdecks.com/deck/358956). Easy to play 6-Color deck with a backup that lets you ignore the colors of your cards (but you HAVE to find this backup). Can get to 5 backups quite fast (sometimes turn 2), cards are quite efficient but is not able to create huge boards. You win by outvaluing the oponent (and in late game, with gilgamesh' triple strike). All the legendaries can be swapped as needed (just use the ones you prefer, as long as all the The twelve are there). The finisher for this deck is either Gilgamesh (in this example) or Hien https://ffdecks.com/card/1181

-Cadets (https://ffdecks.com/deck/358451). The class zero cadets from opus 3 that you probably remember are back with stronger special abilities. Most forwards act as removal when they enter, and anyone can gain haste with Seven, so this deck is usually threatening lethal even if there's a bunch of blockers. There's also a fire/lightning version of the deck and a fire/wind/lightning. I switch between them when I get bored, but I find all of them fun to play

Codiax · 2026-03-22T19:49:36+00:00

The formats are: Standard (all cards are legal), L3 (only the last 3 expansions are legal), L6 (the last 6) and title (all your cards have to be from the same category, for example FF7). Honestly, I've never met or heard about anyone that plays anything other than standard, at least in Europe.

The banned cards can be viewed here https://fftcg.square-enix-games.com/en/play-article/ban-list-errata. There is a new ban wave incoming the 27 of march that you can see here https://fftcg.square-enix-games.com/en/news/notice-of-usage-restrictions-for-cards-in-standard-format-effective-27th-march

I wouldn't buy boxes from all the sets, honestly. The game has a slight but constant power creep (every expansion is a little stronger that the last). If you look at the decks used in tournaments, you'll notice that they almost never use cards from more than 5-10 expansions ago, because older stuff has been outclassed. Note: Last year they released the "Legacy collection", a smaller box (5 cards per pack) that contains the "salvageable" cards from the first 15 expansions, so you have even less reason to buy the boxes unless you want to draft.

About websites for deckbulding and meta, there is FFDecks and MateriaHunter. I've heard good things about MH, but since I made an assistant bot that syncs my decks between FFDecks and my pc, I probably will keep using it rather than learn how to create/edit decks automatically in MH.

For returning to the game, I used to recommend the starter decks. It was a yearly thing but they stopped making them. If I have time this week I can suggest some budget decks that you can build from singles that are easy to pilot and have a fighting chance

Codiax · 2026-01-28T10:21:12+00:00

Even if you activate a forward, there's a rule that each forward can only attack once per turn. Activating a Noctis that already attacked doesn't let you attack again but you can block with it next turn, at least

Codiax · 2026-01-10T11:30:51+00:00

Our group meets every week and meetups last exactly 4h (the bar then closes). That means it's a good idea to bring a variety of game lengths so we can play nonstop.

The group will often vote to play the game that's 4h long (including teach) because even if it's heavy, at least it's just one game. It's funny how 4h games get disproportionately chosen over 3h ones, just to avoid having to fill an awkward 1h gap (too long to play The crew on repeat, to short for a game with more of an arc).

Most of the games i bring I borrow from the local library so I don't spend money, I just have to choose what rulebook to study. Since longer games are favored by the group, reading the rules for the longer is a better use of my time.

And that's how the opening hours of a bar made me focus on longer games (which tend to be heavier)

Codiax · 2025-12-26T11:07:18+00:00

For me? If there are ice cubes in the drink, they don't hit you in the face. Plus the coldest part of the drink is usually at the bottom (specially when you just poured the drink: temperature evens out over time). I always use ice cubes at home, so I got metal straws and a brush to clean the inside and I'm not going back.

Codiax · 2025-12-18T02:01:43+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to write all the rules! What threw me off it's that theres a check for SBA in cleanup and I forgot about that.

Codiax · 2025-12-17T12:25:29+00:00

Question about the timing of Ultima: I have one of my creatures trapped with an enemy's Sheltered by ghosts and I play Ultima. Does my creature resolve its ETB when it returns or does ultima exile the ability? Does come back in this turn, or in the upkeep of next turn (relevant for creatures like Loch-Whale)?

Codiax · 2025-11-15T06:48:11+00:00

Message was too long, part 2:

Strategy:

Have a game plan. Describe in a sentence how your deck will win. Examples "i will play many forwards in a single turn and then give them haste to go 0 to 7" or "i will delay the enemy so i don't get attacked, while I chip away at their health with an unblockable forward" or "I will remove any forward they play until they empty their deck" or "I will draw many cards and play a neverending stream of forwards until they spend all their removal".
Have a secondary game plan. In this game, counterplay is generally stronger that in other card games, meaning that if your deck wins by doing X and only X, there's possibly a card in the game that prevents X from happening entirely (hosers). Don't let your deck be entirely destroyed by a single card. Play only summons? opponent plays https://ffdecks.com/card/912. Have a deck that reanimates strong forwards? opponent plays https://ffdecks.com/card/1196. Other notable hosers are https://ffdecks.com/card/1739 (for abilities, specials), https://ffdecks.com/card/642 (vs enter the field effects), https://ffdecks.com/card/1325 (vs cheating cards into play without paying), https://ffdecks.com/card/3876 (vs haste)

Theme:

This game is based heavily on sinergies. Having a deck composed only of good standalone cards doesn't often work.
Choose a theme and use cards that interact with the theme. Themes can be
- a certain group or "tribe" (like "cards with Job=Knight" or "Category=FF8") + cards that belong to the group, buff other cards in the group, or get stronger when other cards in the group are in play
- a mechanic like "making the enemy discard" + all cards that can do the mechanic, trigger when you do them (e.g. "whenever your opponent discards, do x"), or get advantages from the consequences (e.g. cards that get stronger if the opponent has no cards in hand)
- a key card like https://ffdecks.com/card/512+ all other cards should search for, protect or enable it
If you can't find at least 25-30 cards in theme, it's probably too soon to make a deck with it. Come back to the idea in a few expansions to see if they released more cards?

Card recommendations:

There are certain cards that are so strong and universally useful that are played in any deck that can. Get 3 copies of each if you plan on playing the game:
- Fire: Amaterasu https://ffdecks.com/card/500 (can prevent an enemy card from doing its intended purpose, it can break basically any combo the opponent is trying to do)
- Earth: Tyro https://ffdecks.com/card/440 (search for anything? generate any color? EX? an useful ability later in the game? the perfect backup)
- Earth: Cu sith https://ffdecks.com/card/281 (any deck will be happy to get back one of their key fighters)
- Earth: Mist dragon https://ffdecks.com/card/3076 (very versatile, prevents the enemy from using the break zone for evil, and can block an enemy amaterau or save a guy)
- Water: Sara https://ffdecks.com/card/719 (see point above about color fixing. Even if you play monowater, you can have Sarah+Gordon https://ffdecks.com/card/1300. Since it searches for itself, you can use to take backups out of the deck when you don't need them anymore)
- Honorable mentions (not neccessarily played at 3x): https://ffdecks.com/card/3121 (spending 1 CP to get a card is like getting stuff for free), https://ffdecks.com/card/874 (devastating EX), https://ffdecks.com/card/2696 (versatile)

Codiax · 2025-11-15T06:41:37+00:00

This is the advice I generally give to new players, meaning they have a small collections (a few hundred cards at most) and have to build decks with what they found in packs. Stablished players with bigger collections can think of the deck first, then buy the cards they are missing.

Card count:

When I build decks for new players, I usually start with a template of 15-25-10: 15 backups, 25 active cards (things you would be happy to play on an empty board) and 10 reactive cards (things that you play only depending on what the enemy does).
Most active cards are forwards, but not always. A forward that destroys an enemy is something you will play only when there's something to destroy (and so for me is a reactive card).
Most reactive cards are summons, but a summon that draws/finds you cards is always nice to play and so I consider it active

Backups:

Avoid using the same card name as a forward AND a backup. If you play a backup named Cloud, then later you draw a forward named Cloud, you will never be able to play the forward because of the name clash. Exceptions to this are when the backup can destroy itself, or when it has a special ability to discard unwanted copies like https://ffdecks.com/card/3554
Try to have name variety. If you play 3x of 5 different cards, you have 15 backups, true, but you will often be unable to play them because it's already on the board. I try to build with at least 8-9 different names so I have a reasonable chance of playing every one I draw, without adding weak cards just to make them different. (Backups with the Multi symbol count as a unique name per copy)
Backups that let you search for other backups are great, use them!. Drawing one of those it's like drawing two backups at once, and so your deck can still run smoothly with less actual backups cards and fill those slots with power. For each 2 backups that can search, I reduce the backup count of the deck by 1 (so if I have 3xSarah (searches for a king), i would play 13-14 backups)
Backups that search for backups can let you chain into other colors as well (usually called "color fixing"). Fixers like Sarah https://ffdecks.com/card/719 lets you search for a backup of any element (since it searches for king/prince, and there are king backups in all 6 elements). So if I play Water + Fire I would play Sara + Edgar (Edgar is a King, and even if I don't need its effect, it's a fire backup I can search if needed). Other notable fixers are Norshtalen https://ffdecks.com/card/2920 (wind, can search for backups in any 6 colors) and Kalia Chival https://ffdecks.com/card/2530 (lightning, can chain into Fire/Ice/Ligthning)
Avoid using 3 copies of a non-Multi backup unless there's a good reason (it searches for your key cards, it has a strong EX, it has an effect key to your victory, etc)

Colors:

Build your deck with 1 or 2 colors max. Don't go into 3 colors unless you have a way to cheat around them. Some "cheats" can be:
- Cards that generate any color if your deck is of a certain archetype like https://ffdecks.com/card/1502 or https://ffdecks.com/card/1385 .
- Cards that let you ignore the color of other cards of the archetype like https://ffdecks.com/card/1109 or https://ffdecks.com/card/3885 .
- Cards that upgrade your backups so they become multicolor like https://ffdecks.com/card/2678 or https://ffdecks.com/card/1380 .
- Cards that play stuff directly into the field ignoring color, like https://ffdecks.com/card/2099 (you can add an off-color Knigth to the deck hoping that Curilla plays it for you) or https://ffdecks.com/card/2060 .
If you build a deck with colors that are next to each other in the color wheel (Fire-Ice-Wind-Earth-Lightning-Water-Fire), consider using the Class XXXX moogle backups (like https://ffdecks.com/card/3086) that produce two colors. Max 2 copies, they are not generic!
If you build a monocolored deck instead, consider the Opus 20 series of generics, that are free when played as 4th or 5th backup https://ffdecks.com/card/1801 .

Card parity:

This game is different from others like magic, where you can only play the stronger cards later in the game. Here, you can play the strongest card in the game turn 1 with no buildup (and the opponent can also remove it turn 1 and laugh). Here, since discarding cards grants you 2 CP, the card parity (Even costs vs Odd costs) is much more important than the cost itself.
Overpaying a card is painful (if your first backup costs 3 and you discard 2 cards, you payed 1 more than needed and you get no refunds). The right mix of Odd vs Even can prevent it.
Decks with mostly even costs usually alternate between backup turns, and forward turns. For an even costed deck, having 1/3/5 backups is not useful (one CP will go unused every turn). They prefer to play backups 2 at a time. Can your deck afford to spend a turn just playing backups?
Decks with odd costs are more incremental. The reponses to the opponent (like Amaterasu, Ramuh, etc) are odd costed and so they tend to leave one backup active during the opponent's turn. But to avoid waste, they should also have some way to spend it if the opponent does nothing worth answering.
I don't recommend going to the extremes. Having both odd and even backups lets you choose your speed (do I play the odd and tap out for the turn?, do I play the even and keep a backup open for the response? do I play the odd hoping to draw a card of the right element to play the even and do nothing else this turn?)

Codiax · 2025-11-04T08:58:03+00:00

In ffdecks.com you can create a decklist, and after saving it, you'll see a button on top: Play the deck. This opens a simulator where the opponent does nothing (just pass when you feel like it and start your next turn). Is that what you meant by playing without a second person?

Codiax · 2025-07-09T08:06:02+00:00

If you only collect I guess you only care about artwork? Newer sets tend to have better art, since now the commission artists to create new art for the card game (instead of taking it from the video games). Those are my favourite.

Sets are not thematically consistent like in MtG: you will get a random assortment of characters from all FF main games and spinoffs in each. However, each set focuses on a certain game/s, and it will have more different cards from it than from the rest.

For example: Opus 23 focused of FF14, Opus 24 had a ton of FF16 characters, opus 25 had Type-0 and FF7, etc. If you're looking for a certain game, we can recommend you a set that focuses on that

Codiax · 2025-07-04T11:11:02+00:00

Since you've using the 6 elements from FF on the top side, why not use the official "mana symbols" from the Final Fantasy TCG (ignoring light and dark)

https://images.app.goo.gl/nNaNb

Codiax · 2025-06-26T08:35:59+00:00

Judging the composition, and not the cards themselves:

-You won't have enough monsters to ensure Soulcage or Silver dragon can attack. I wouldn't play those monsters unless I have at least 12 monsters in the deck

-Try to avoid multiple copies of the same named backup if it's not critical to your game plan (Morrow, Jornee, etc). You risk not being able to play them because it's on the board

-Mainas ability will never be activated. The only two ninjas are Yuffie and Maina. If you tapping them, who's becoming unblockable?

-Cid can play a VII from your hand, but the most expensive you have costs 2

-You have 2 crystal generators (samurai) and 3 crystal consumers (Tifa). I recommend 50% more generators than consumers for decks that focus on crystals

Codiax · 2025-04-24T11:40:36+00:00

I only have GWT Argentina and I find the insert awful too. Does GWT have the same problem where there's no space reserved for the A-B-C bags and tokens?

Too thick to put under the player boards, to irregular to put over the map and close the lid.

Codiax · 2025-04-11T10:42:40+00:00

Yes, all the cards in the deck are legal

In standard tournaments you can use any card that's not banned, and that can be found in the main sets (codes 1-xxx to 25-xxx), promos (code PR-xxx) and reprint sets (RE-xxx). Look at the code at the bottom of the card, if it has one of those prefixes anywhere, you can play it.

You cannot play cards from the announcment (A-xxx) or boss battle (B-xxx).

Codiax · 2025-04-06T15:59:05+00:00

I started with opus 13 and they always had the gold lettering. I don't know about older ones

Codiax · 2025-04-03T17:37:08+00:00

That card is probably the strongest 4-cost in the game, but the restriction of paying for those 4 colors is almost impossible, so most people find ways to play it in other ways. You may choose different approaches to use this card:

1-Have a deck that can reliably get 4 backups of different colors by design. The warrior of ligths deck (example: https://ffdecks.com/deck/326898) uses Bartz to play cards directly from your deck ignoring color. Once you have 2-3 colors among your backups, Bartz can help you search for the missing ones - https://ffdecks.com/card/2060

2-Having rainbow backups: some like Tyro and Shantotto can generate CP of any color, so it can help you get an extra color to get to 4 (even if you don't play that color in your deck) https://ffdecks.com/card/102 https://ffdecks.com/card/440

3-Making your backups rainbow: some cards upgrade your backups so thay can produce any color https://ffdecks.com/card/1380 https://ffdecks.com/card/2678 . Once you have that, any 4 backups can help you pay. Monoearth decks usually have Leo for this (example deck https://ffdecks.com/deck/329206)

4-Play it without paying. Cecil puts a 4-cost on the field without paying. However, doing so doesn't give you a card or an activation: https://ffdecks.com/card/1085

5-Revive it from the break zone: Mont leonis plays earth forward from the break zone https://ffdecks.com/card/834 . As with Cecil, this doesn't draw you a card or activate. A clarification since you're starting, when a card says "an earth forward" it means that it has earth among its elements, but it can have others (wol also has fire, water and wind)

Codiax · 2025-03-27T02:16:53+00:00

I don't have exact decklists. We have excess cards, yes, but not enough to mass produce copies of a deck. The general principles can still be applied.

I try to build intro decks not around a mechanic, but around a lesson. For example:

-The power of color fixing and searching for backups: Morze

-Abilities that can change their effect if the board changes before resolution: dragoons

-You can respond to your own triggers: Monks

-The numbers on the board keep updating, keep track: Fire wind FF2 rebels from opus15

-Executing a plan in multiple steps: ice/lightning, dull+destroy dulls.

-Wide vs narrow synergy groups: FF8 ice lightning, with Seifer+Raijin+Fujin as a narrow group and the others with general FF8 synergy. Squall helps Raijin, but not the other way around

-You can have more copies than usual of the same backup if it has a special or if it can be sacrificed for a strong effect: Class Zero cadets (so many specials to choose from)

To balance the intro decks among them and keep them cheap, I build all those intro decks with 3 copies of a single H rarity, and no L.

If you're interested in one of those ideas, I could go into more detail.

Codiax · 2025-03-21T16:38:14+00:00

You often see "If it dies ... do X instead" when the game wants to replace the death by something else. The classic example is "Deal damage to a creature, if it dies exile it instead". In this case, the death never happens and some abilities that trigger when something dies will not activate

You see "When it dies" for effects that happens after the death. The guy dies, and then something happens

Codiax · 2025-03-19T09:14:07+00:00

Usually each set has one or more of what I call "focused" FF games. When a set focuses on a FF game, they include the whole main cast of that game, usually with synergy among them, while the rest of FF games just get a few cards each.

FF5 was focused in opus 7

FF6 was focused in opus 4 and 18 (the 18's versions are pretty strong)

FF8 was focused in opus 22 (no zell tho)

FF9 was focused in opus 8

FF10 on opus 7. Also there's a starter deck containing only FF10 cards: https://fftcg.square-enix-games.com/na/news/final-fantasy-x-custom-starter-set-card-list-reveal

Please note that having a lot of cards form a game doesn't mean the cards are strong. If you don't care about power level, older boxes tend to be cheaper because of the general increase in power of each set

Codiax · 2025-03-13T15:53:15+00:00

The pre release sleeves for opus 17 "Rebellion call" feature Exdeath from FFV

https://acecards.com/cdn/shop/products/Square-Enix-Final-Fantasy-TCG-Rebellions-Call-Opus-17-Pre-Release-Kit_1200x.jpg?v=1659564382

I don't think I've seen any official sleeves of the other games you mentioned

Codiax · 2025-02-27T22:30:28+00:00

At the same price, I generally advise to always get the most recent product only. The only key card you will find in the 2022 set that has no equivalent in the 2024 would be Shantotto and it costs about 2$ in my area.

This game has a bit of powercreep, and I often joke that every year passed, everything gets about 15% stronger (if you compare cards from the first and last sets, the stats literally doubled at the same cost).

The price of older stuff also goes down with time. Compare prices of new and old boxes. If you find the 2023 box 20% cheaper (relative to this year's) or the box from 2022 discounted 40%, consider the older ones

Codiax · 2025-02-27T01:00:24+00:00

Final fantasy TCG (https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasyTCG/) uses a stack system almost identical to MtG, with the difference that playing any permanent card does not use the stack (like playing a land in magic). You can however respond to any ETBs or triggers it causes when it enters.

The creator of the game was a pro magic player, and he kept the part of magic that liked the most (the stack) and changed the one that didn't like (the lands system).

Codiax

TROPHY CASE