Coming into the closing stretch of Final Fantasy preview season, things seem to be loosening up a little. We already saw two cards leaked yesterday, Golbez and The Masamune. Today we’ve received a third, as Diamond Weapon made its MTG Final Fantasy debut earlier than planned. This is a powerful boss from the world of Final Fantasy VII. That power comes across very nicely indeed in its transition to Magic: The Gathering.
Not only is this a powerful creature that’s hard to deal with in combat, but it’s also one you can play for next to nothing in the right deck. It’s been floundering on the metagame outskirts for a while, but this card could be exactly what Golgari Self-Mill needs to get back into Standard. With a couple of other recent spoilers also supporting the deck, we could see a resurgence for the archetype once Final Fantasy hits shelves.
The MTG Final Fantasy Diamond Weapon Leak
- Mana Value: 7GG
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Type: Legendary Artifact Creature – Elemental
- Stats: 8/8
- Card Text: This spell costs 1 less to cast for each permanent card in your graveyard.
Reach.
Immune – Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to Diamond Weapon.
At first glance, Diamond Weapon from MTG Final Fantasy looks like your run of the (self) mill big graveyard deck creature. In terms of cost, abilities etc. it’s reminiscent of Hollow Marauder and Huskburster Swarm, both classics of the Golgari Self-Mill deck. That said, there are a few things that really set it apart as a powerhouse.
First of all, it’s exceptionally good at playing defense. With 8/8 stats, Reach, and an immunity to combat damage, Diamond Weapon can hold off even the most spirited Aggro assaults. In current Standard, the fact that this can block Slickshot Show-Off and live to tell the tale is a huge deal. Eight toughness also means it’ll be tricky for ground creatures with Trample to get damage in too.
Additionally, the cost reduction on Diamond Weapon is much better than usual. Normally cards like this discount themselves based on just the number of creatures in your graveyard. Diamond Weapon counts all permanents, however, which opens things up a lot. If your early Overlord of the Balemurk mills hit mostly lands, you’ll still be able to drop Diamond Weapon for two green a lot of the time. This also allows you to branch out more in deck construction, making Dredger’s Insight less of a risk.
On top of all of this, Diamond Weapon also hits like a truck. Huskburster Swarm is a powerful attacker to be sure, but Weapon hits even harder, and can’t be beaten through combat trickery, either. It helps shore up those awful Aggro matchups, and it can quickly end games later on once you’ve stabilized, too.
The Final Days
- Mana Value: 2BB
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Type: Sorcery
- Card Text: Create two tapped 2/2 black Horror creature tokens. If this spell was cast from a graveyard, instead create X of those tokens, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Flashback 4BB (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its Flashback cost. Then exile it.)
Diamond Weapon could well put Golgari Self-Mill back on the radar, and there are other new MTG Final Fantasy cards ready to support it. The Final Days, for example, is a fantastic payoff for loading your graveyard with creatures.
Four mana for two tapped 2/2s is very rough, especially in a Standard as fast as the current one. We’re not actually too interested in the ‘front’ side of The Final Days, mind you. What’s really interesting here is the Flashback mode, which generates tapped 2/2s equal to the number of creatures in your graveyard.
For six mana, you can easily get 10 or more 2/2s with this card. By the time it has access to six mana Golgari has probably milled multiple times, so that’s not an outlandish projection at all. On top of that, the fact that you can cast it from your graveyard is huge. This means you don’t have to worry about accidentally milling the card. In fact, it’s much better if you do mill it, because then you can skip the mediocre front half and get right to the good stuff.
The ceiling on The Final Days is high, but it’s still not a slam-dunk for Golgari Self-Mill. The fact that the tokens come in tapped make it a liability in Aggro matchups, which are everywhere right now. You really need to be casting it from a place of strength to reap the benefits. If you can find the right opening the card can easily be a finisher, but I expect it to be a one or two-of in Golgari lists unless things slow down a lot.
Cactuar
- Mana Value: G
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Type: Creature – Plant
- Stats: 3/3
- Card Text: Trample.
At the beginning of your end step, if this creature didn’t enter the battlefield this turn, return it to its owner’s hand.
Both Diamond Weapon and The Final Days are great additions to Golgari Self-Mill from MTG Final Fantasy. Both are cards that rely on you surviving the early game, however, which is easier said than done. When it comes to tools that can help achieve that goal, we can turn to Cactuar, another Final Fantasy spoiler from today.
Much like its jumbo-sized cousin, this cheaper take on Cactuar is a pretty wild card. A one mana 3/3 with Trample is a truly absurd rate, even in 2025. There’s a downside, of course, but notably it doesn’t come in the form of an additional casting cost. Previous creatures like this, Rogue Elephant, Old-Growth Dryads, etc., put you at a big disadvantage when they came down. Cactuar just bounces itself back to your hand, after you’ve had a full turn cycle to attack and block with it.
This card is probably most exciting for decks like Gruul Prowess, where it’s an evasive threat that doesn’t care too much about being bounced. That said, it’s worth noting its potential as a defensive option too. In Golgari Self-Mill, for instance, it can deter early aggression by just sitting around and threatening blocks. Recasting it for a single green isn’t much of a hassle, but by the time you can it may have done its job and bought you the extra time you need.
I can easily see green decks on both ends of the aggression spectrum employing Cactuar to great effect. Considering how beloved it is as a Final Fantasy monster, it’s good to see it get a card that will actually see a lot of play.
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