Picking Cloud or Tifa as a commander for yourMagic: The GatheringxFinal FantasyLimit Break precon deck can be a tough choice, especially considering how good both cards are, though each of them brings a different flow to the deck. Limit Break is one of the four precon commander decks that are part of therelease of theMTG: Final Fantasycollaboration set, and it is centered around the world ofFinal Fantasy 7and its characters.Limit Break is a Naya deck, composed of Red, Green, and White mana, dictated by its commander cards, Cloud and Tifa.
Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER and Tifa, Martial Artist are the only two Legendary Creature cards in the game with this combination of colors, making them the only two possible commanders in the Limit Break precon deck. The deck also has the Sephiroth, Fallen Hero Legendary Creature card, for example, but it’s a Boros card (Red and White mana), which means all colors with Green mana in the deck would have to be removed if Sephiroth were to be used as a commander. There are severalcoolMTG: Final Fantasycardsin Limit Break, and choosing the proper commander can help guide them.
What Cloud & Tifa Do In MTG: Final Fantasy’s Limit Break Deck
Both Cards Focus On Combat
Cloud and Tifa are two very distinct Creature cards that significantly alter the flow of gameplay for the Limit Break deck, depending on whether or not they are the commander. Each of these cards has its own set of pros and cons, andknowing which one has the best synergy with the rest of the cards in the deck is crucial to make it run properly.
The table below highlights all the details about the Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER and Tifa, Martial Artist cards for the Limit BreakFinal Fantasy Magic: The Gatheringcommander deck, including their mana values, power and toughness, abilities, and more:
4/4
Haste
When Cloud enters, attach up to one target Equipment you control to it.
Whenever Cloud attacks, draw a card for each equipped attacking creature you control. Then, if Cloud has power 7 or greater, create two Treasure tokens.
Melee (Whenever this creature attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each opponent you attacked this combat.)
Whenever one or more creatures you control with power 7 or greater deal combat damage to a player, untap all creatures you control. If it’s the first combat phase of your turn, there is an additional combat phase after this phase.
As would be expected from a Naya deck,the main focus for both Cloud and Tifa is dealing large amounts of damage to opponents, but they operate quite differently. Both of these will require some board setup before the deck starts running, but one of them stands out and synergizes better than the other with the rest of the cards in the Limit Break precon deck.
Pros & Cons Of Cloud In MTG: Final Fantasy’s Limit Break Deck
Cloud Incentivizes Attacks For Card Draw
Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER is a powerful commander card for the Limit Break deck, as it allows him to enter and automatically attach one target Equipment card you control to it. Furthermore, Cloud can enter and attack thanks to his Haste.One of Cloud’s main gimmicks is that, whenever he attacks, you draw one card for each equipped attack creature you control. If you attack with only Cloud, you get one card draw, but if you attack with 5 equipped creatures, for example, you draw five cards, which could help you obtain your win-cons or, perhaps, morelands inMagic: The Gathering.
Additionally, if Cloud has power 7 or greater, you create two Treasure tokens. This will likely happen, seeing that the Limit BreakFinal Fantasyprecon deck is centered around Equipment cards, and many of those increase the equipping creature’s power and toughness. As such,Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER will be able to trigger card draw and creature Treasure tokens, which can be used as mana to cast more spells, some of which can be Equipment cards that will later be attached to Cloud or his allies.
Out of the 19 Artifact cards in the Limit BreakMagic: The Gatheringcommander deck, 16 of them are Equipment cards.
Because of the increased number of Equipment cards in the precon deck, Cloud Ex-SOLDIER synergizes quite well with the rest of the cards, as the whole gameplay will revolve around casting creatures and equipment, and then using them to attack opponents for augmented damage. The downside to Cloud is that he has an expensive mana value to play. As such, your first few turns in the match will likely revolve around ramping and setting up the board.If your board is poorly set, you may have to wait before bringing Cloud from the command zone.
If you’re lucky enough, you can play Colossus Hammer in one of your early turns for 1 mana and then attach it to Cloud as soon as he enters, giving him a +10/+10 without having to pay the 8 mana to equip it to him.
A lot of the cards in the deck are there for the flavor and don’t really work well with Cloud, but the majority of the card selection was made thinking of Cloud as the commander for the deck. The high number of Equipment cards allows him to operate smoothly.With Cloud as the commander, this is a fairly slow deck to get running in early turns, but once the board is set and he enters, you can start working your way to defeating your opponentsinMagic: The Gathering’s commander mode.
Pros & Cons Of Tifa In MTG: Final Fantasy’s Limit Break Deck
Tifa Can String Several Combat Phases Together
Compared to Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER, Tifa is a very different creature card, even if her main focus is also combat. With her, your main goal will be declaring attacks against all your opponents per combat phase to ensure she gets a +1/+1 counter until the end of your turn for each targeted opponent.If you’re playing in a group of four, Tifa could get +3/+3 during each combat phase. In turn, this synergizes with her other ability, which triggers an untap on all your creatures when a creature with power 7 or greater deals combat damage.
This skill does not require all 7 damage (or more) to actually hit a target. If the creature with power 7 or greater has Trample and is blocked, and at least 1 damage is dealt to the player, the untap effect will be triggered.
Additionally,Tifa can trigger an additional combat phase after the first combat phase for every opponent that you damaged with a creature with power 7 or greater during the first combat phase. If you’re in a group of four, playing against three opponents, and manage to use three creatures with power 7 or greater to deal at least one damage to each opponent in the first combat phase, you’ll get three additional combat phases. If the attacking creatures with power 7 or greater have Double Strike, the effects are doubled, taking it to six additional combat phases.
The damage dealt by creatures with power 7 or greater during any of the additional combat phases will trigger the untap effect. However, the damage dealt in additional combat phases does not trigger any additional combat phases outside of the ones that you stacked during your first combat phase. Even so, Tifa’s Melee ability will trigger every combat, too, allowing her to gain +3/+3 during each combat phase if you’re declaring attacks against all three opponents.Tifa, Martial Artist is an extremely powerful creature, and she has the advantage of being less mana expensive than Cloud inMTG.
The downside of Tifa in the Limit Break deck is that she doesn’t synergize too well with the rest of the cards. The creature can get to the 7 power requirement each turn, and the abundance of Equipment cards can make other creatures on your board reach that power, too, butTifa doesn’t really benefit from Equipments directly, which is a core aspect of thisFinal Fantasyprecon.
Is Cloud Or Tifa Better As A Commander In MTG: Final Fantasy’s Limit Break Deck
Limit Break Is An Equipment Deck
Between Cloud and Tifa, the Ex-SOLDIER is a better commander for the Limit Break deck. The rest of the cards synergize with him a lot more than they do with Tifa. This is an Equipment deck, and Cloud’s abilities work around that since it pushes you to equip him and other creatures, and then attack with them. It’s worth noting that Tifa does work well in this deck, as she can benefit from Cloud’s 7 power requirement, too, but as a secondary creature.
I’m sure that Tifa, Martial Artist will prove to be a betterFinal Fantasycommander card inMTGthan Cloud in the long run, but she needs a suitable deck to operate with, and Limit Break does not provide that for her, specifically. As such, with the precon, I highly recommend running Cloud as your commander, as this will ensure better synergy and a good gameplay flow, even if it starts off slower than most decks inMagic: The Gathering– an issue that can be fixed with a few upgrades.
