Summary
Despite the fact thatMagic: The Gatheringjust released its death race Aetherdrift set and the next one in chronological order will be Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Wizards of the Coast already started some card previews for its June Universes Beyond set based on the characters and worlds ofFinal Fantasy.Magic: The Gathering’s Universes Beyond sets are Standard-legal starting this year, which is a big departure from WotC’s original stance, and it will likely have some kind of impact on the format. Still, theFinal FantasyxMTGcrossoveris highly anticipated by some fans, and the reveals already include an interesting and possibly broken card.
It’s not uncommon for newMagic: The Gatheringsets to include some cards that are considered overpowered or at least potentially meta-defining, and the upcomingFinal FantasyUB set is no different. One such card could be Cecil, Dark Knight, which costs 1 Black mana for a 2/3 Legendary Creature with Deathtouch, but it arguably has a downside that is not necessarily its Darkness ability, but the fact that one can’t have multiple copies of this card on the battlefield at once. However, another card defies many rules of the game, at least conceptually, and that is Jumbo Cactuar.
Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy UB Set Introduces 10,000 Power Creature
There are manygreatFinal Fantasybossesand enemies that can be adapted toMagic: The Gathering, and Jumbo Cactuar is an interesting choice. This card costs five colorless and two Green mana (seven CMC total), and at base, it is a 1/7 with no keywords. However, it comes with the ability 10,000 Needles, which makes it gain +9,999 power until the end of the turn whenever it attacks. This is an incredible feat forMTG, as even the biggest Green creatures in the game are not remotely near the potential power of Jumbo Cactuar.
The +9,999 power is a fun easter egg because players couldn’t deal more than 9,999 damage with any single hit tomonsters in FF8.
With many formats revolving around 20 life, dealing 10,000 damage is way overkill, and it’s most likely there for flavor sinceFinal Fantasy’s Jumbo Cactuar also has an attack called 10,000 Needles that deals that much damage to one party member. However, it’s worth noting that this card will beStandard-legal inMTGand it can be used in formats like Commander too, where card combos with it can get pretty wild. Some combos include:
How Final Fantasy’s Jumbo Cactuar Breaks Magic: The Gathering
There are many possible combos for Jumbo Cactuar to become a brokenMTGcard. It is also theCreature inMagic: The Gatheringwith the highest possible power on its own, without infinite combos, which is nothing to scoff at for a game that has been around for over 30 years.
One could argue that Jumbo Cactuar is not broken at all, and that there are already some very powerful cards that can single-handedly win a game even without 10,000 power, and that is true. For example, Master of Cruelties makes a player’s life total equal to 1 whenever it attacks and is not blocked, making cards likeMTG’s Lightning Bolta finisher. Likewise, Phage the Untouchable has an ability that makes any player who is dealt damage by this card lose the game outright.
As such, thisFinal Fantasycard inMagic: The Gatheringis not necessarily the most broken ever, but it does break some fundamental rules - like the fact that even the infamous B. F. M. (Big Furry Monster) from the satirical Unglued set “only” gets 99 power. With some existing combos, Jumbo Cactuar could easily one-shot players in many formats, which is both hilarious and terrifying - especially now that UB sets are Standard-legal.
