Week two of MTG Final Fantasy previews is drawing to a close, and hardcore fans are starting to get anxious. With available slots in the set dwindling by the day, there’s a real chance some beloved characters simply haven’t made the cut. As of right now, some games have a lot more representation than others, such as XIV and VII. On the other hand, there are some surprising deep cuts that pretty much no one expected. Along these lines, MTG Final Fantasy’s last mythic rare was revealed today as Gogo, Master of Mimicry.
While Gogo certainly has a cult following among Final Fantasy VI fans, they’re an entirely optional character. This makes them an odd choice for the set in the first place, never mind in a mythic slot. While some fans are understandably flabbergasted by this decision, others are focused more on Gogo’s huge combo potential right now. It may not be mythic lore-wise, but gameplay-wise, this Mime more than earns their spot.
Gogo, Master Of Mimicry MTG
- Mana Value: 2U
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Wizard
- Stats: 2/4
- Card Text: XX, Tap: Copy target activated or triggered ability you control X times. You may choose new targets for the copy. This ability can’t be copied, and X can’t be 0. (Mana abilities can’t be targeted.)
In Final Fantasy VI, Gogo is a Mime you can recruit from the belly of a Zone Eater, and an extremely powerful addition to the party thanks to their Mime ability. In MTG, Gogo, Master of Mimicry nails this flavor exactly. Gogo is a well-statted Wizard that can copy most abilities you use, and multiple times over.
Being able to copy both activated and triggered abilities gives Gogo huge scope for shenanigans. You might expect a ‘creatures-only’ restriction here, given the lore, but abilities from artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers are fair game too. There is one big restriction, in that you can’t target mana abilities, but that’s par for the course for copy effects like this.
Gogo’s biggest strengths as a copy effect are twofold. Firstly, it scales up really well. Paying two to copy an ability might seem a bit steep, but when you can funnel all of your mana into it late game to copy an ability two or three times, it starts feeling a lot better. A lot of modern creatures have powerful enters, dies, or attacks triggers. With Gogo, you can turn many of them into huge, game-ending threats.
Second, there’s no pesky ‘once per turn’ limit on Gogo’s copy ability. While Gogo does tap to use their effect, if you can untap them later, you can go on to copy more abilities later on in the turn. This is where the card’s big combo potential comes in. There are a ton of cards that allow infinite loops with Gogo this way, which is particularly exciting in formats like Commander. Throw in a solid body and a relevant creature type, and you have a banger design on every axis.
Unbridled Combo Potential
Gogo, Master of Mimicry already has the cogs in many MTG players’ minds whirring. There’s a lot this card can do, both for fair and unfair decks, in multiple formats.
For starters, one notable interaction is how well it plays with Fetchlands. While you can’t get extra mana from Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, etc., you can search for extra lands with these. Paying four mana to bring in two extra untapped lands from the deck is actually a fantastic rate. Fetchlands are so universally popular that Gogo has a good chance of being run in many blue decks for that interaction alone, those without green in particular.
Of course, the real juice lies in Gogo’s ability to end the game on the spot with the right pieces. If you have a mana source, an untap effect, and a tap effect that eventually ends the game, Gogo can get you the win. That may sound like a lot of prerequisites, but you can actually pull off such a combo in Standard right now.
With Gogo, The Enigma Jewel, Unstoppable Plan, and Kindlespark Duo in play, you have the makings of an instant kill. At the end of your turn, Unstoppable Plan’s untap effect goes on the stack. When this happens, you can tap Duo for damage, then tap Jewel to pay for Gogo’s ability, copying the Plan trigger once. This will untap everything before the first Plan trigger resolves, letting you repeat the whole process as many times as you want. Even if your opponent has infinite life, they’re not coming back from this one.
This is just one example, too, in Magic’s safest format, no less. In older formats, Gogo’s options will be far richer and varied. They’ll shine in Commander in particular, since they’re a combo piece you can run in the command zone.
A Bizarre Mythic Rare Pick
- Mana Value: 3R
- Rarity: Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Wizard
- Stats: 2/2
- Card Text: At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may have Gogo become a copy of another target creature you control until end of turn, except its name is Gogo, Mysterious Mime. If you do, Gogo and that creature each get +2/+0 and gain Haste until end of turn and attack this turn if able.
“Gogo was the last one I was expecting to get a main set card after being in the Commander deck, but it’s at least a neat effect.”
ShadowDcord, via r/MagicTCG
Few are denying the fact that Gogo, Master of Mimicry is an excellent MTG card. What does have fans confused is the fact that they were chosen to be in the set at all. Over the course of spoiler season, there have been countless threads of players worrying about their favorite characters being excluded. Slots in this set are at an absolute premium. This was clear going in, given how huge Final Fantasy is as a series, but player reactions are really hammering the point home.
Gogo may be an interesting character, but they’re one of 14 playable party members in Final Fantasy VI. They’re also completely optional, meaning even those who’ve played the game may not have run into them. Being so niche, it was fortunate that they even showed up in the Final Fantasy VI Commander deck. Seeing them in the main set, in a mythic slot no less, is slightly baffling.
“I like it, honestly. Sure it sucks that fucking optional Gogo of all people got a Mythic Rare. But having Mime as an ability be Mythic makes perfect sense, and Gogo is like the only character whose identity is Mime, and it isn’t just a skill.”
ResurgentRefrain, via r/MagicTCG
Some are annoyed that Gogo took a slot that could’ve gone to a character with a wider fanbase. Others, however, are loving the decision. As ResurgentRefrain points out above, Mime is a very powerful ability in the Final Fantasy series. Having it appear on a low-rarity card probably wouldn’t have done it justice.
Some players are happy with Gogo’s inclusion here precisely because of their lack of lore and importance in the series. As PowrOfFriendship put it on Reddit: “Gogo is a fucking wild choice, but they absolutely deserve it for the pure aura of this guy.” Final Fantasy is a huge, weird series, and part of what makes it so great are the lesser-seen elements like Gogo.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage!