At this point, it’s safe to say that Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy set was an overwhelming success. Fans of the series loved how their favorite characters were represented, and Magic players loved all the powerful new designs it brought to the table. The set’s blistering sales numbers reflected this love and then some. That said, it wasn’t without its detractors. One criticism that a lot of players had of MTG Final Fantasy was that it didn’t bring back the Party mechanic from previous sets.
In terms of flavor, this seemed like a total slam-dunk, but Wizards chose not to include it. With the Final Fantasy Holiday release, however, this oversight is being corrected. Four new Party support cards, all of them legendary creatures, are being added to the game here. This opens up a ton of new options for existing Commander decks built around the mechanic, and will likely create a few new decks, too.
The MTG Party Mechanic Finally Comes To Final Fantasy!
In case you missed it in the flood of announcements a couple of weeks back, the Final Fantasy Holiday release will consist of four new Scene Bundles and the Chocobo Bundle. One of these Scene Bundles, Garland at the Chaos Shrine, is based on the original Final Fantasy, and is where all the new MTG cards with the Party mechanic can be found.
The big headliner here is The Destined Warrior. This is a new Esper legend that pushes the Party mechanic hard, but also works just fine in other contexts. For starters, getting a one-mana discount on each of the Party creature types is fantastic. This means you can build around getting a full Party, as intended, or specialize in one of the four. Esper probably isn’t the best color combination for Wizards or Warriors, due to a lack of red. For Clerics and Rogues, however, this seems like a very nice option indeed.
The power buff ability is similarly flexible. While getting to the +3/+0 is obviously ideal, you shouldn’t underestimate a simple +1/+0. This triggers at the start of combat, so it lets Destined Warrior have an immediate impact. It also plays nicely with Warrior itself due to its trio of handy keywords. Most board buff creatures like this don’t affect themselves, so this is a nice bit of upside.
The most important part of The Destined Warrior, however, is actually its color identity. Until now, Party decks in Commander have lacked a great option to lead them. Tazri, Beacon of Unity is solid, but with only a handful of Party cards in red and green, five-color really isn’t necessary. The Destined Warrior, with its Esper coloring, will likely make a much better pick.
Supporting Characters
The Destined Warrior is joined in the Final Fantasy Holiday release by three other legends sporting the MTG Party mechanic. While this trio is less potent in the command zone, each member is exciting in its own way.
The Destined White Mage is probably the best of the bunch. Its passive ability, which puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature each time you gain life, is an easy way to combo off with cards like Walking Ballista. White Mage can even grant it Lifelink to complete the combo itself. This alone will likely ensure the card’s place in a range of Commander lists. In Party decks specifically, it’s still pretty solid. Getting three counters each time you gain life is huge, and can easily spiral out of control with a lot of Lifelinkers.
The Destined White Mage plays perfectly with The Destined Black Mage for this reason. At a base level, you’re getting a decent Guttersnipe-type creature here, with some incidental Deathtouch value. Give Black Mage Lifelink with White Mage’s ability, however, and it becomes truly monstrous. Every noncreature spell you cast gets you three instances of damage, and therefore three instances of lifegain. With a full party, this means nine +1/+1 counters for every noncreature spell cast.
The Destined Thief completes this little trifecta nicely. While its card draw ability is sadly limited, the fact that it’s an unblockable creature plays perfectly with the synergy above. Dump all of your White Mage counters on this card, and you’ll be one-shotting opponents in no time. Without the support of its peers, Thief is easily the weakest of the bunch for general Party decks. That said, Party decks aren’t exactly swimming in options right now, so it’s likely still worth a shot.
Pump Up The Party
Four cards is a pretty small package in the grand scheme of things. That said, I still expect these cards to have a significant impact on Party decks in Commander. Right now, Tazri aside, all the decent Party Commanders are in two colors. Burakos, Party Leader and Nalia de’Arnise, specifically. With the introduction of The Destined Warrior, however, players can now run much more flexible Esper Party decks.
These colors encompass pretty much all of the good Party synergy cards. You get Coveted Prize as a spicy tutor, Spoils of Adventure as great card draw, and Practiced Tactics for cheap removal. You also get to run Nalia and Burakos, who are both even better in the 99 than they are in the command zone.
In terms of specific synergies with the new cards, there are a number of notables. The Destined Thief may look underwhelming in a vacuum, but the ability to sneak creatures through for damage is actually hugely relevant for Party decks. Whether it’s building up Treasures with Grim Hireling or drawing a bunch of cards with Nimble Trapfinder, this ability has a ton of applications.
The other Destined legends have less direct synergy with the archetype, but they do contribute a lot in terms of aggressive potential. As a board-based deck, Party naturally wants a lot of creatures in play, and to do a lot of attacking. Destined Warrior’s board buff makes this a much more effective strategy, as does the Deathtouch from Black Mage. Black Mage also provides an alternative way to apply pressure by casting cheap interaction, which is something most Commander decks want to be doing these days anyway.
Overall, while they’re not exactly revolutionary, this new package of Party cards does give the archetype a lot more to work with. Don’t be surprised to see players trying it out come the Holiday season.
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