A significant part of the allure found in the *Final Fantasy* Universes Beyond set for *Magic: The Gathering* comes from the way countless cards depict well-known tales. Take for instance Tidus, Blitzball Star, which provides a glimpse of the hero at the outset of *Final Fantasy 10*: a celebrated sports star whose signature move is a unique shot that pushes a defender aside. The gameplay rules mirror this in nuanced ways. Such narrative is prevalent throughout the complete Final Fantasy set, and some are not fun and games. A number are somber callbacks of emotional events fans still mull over years after.
"Emotional tales are a key part of the Final Fantasy legacy," wrote a lead designer for the collaboration. "They created some overarching principles, but finally, it was largely on a individual level."
Even though the Zack Fair card is not a competitive powerhouse, it represents one of the release's most clever instances of narrative design through rules. It artfully echoes one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most crucial cinematic moments brilliantly, all while leveraging some of the expansion's core gameplay elements. And even if it avoids revealing anything, those who know the story will immediately grasp the emotional weight behind it.
At a cost of one white mana (the alignment of good) in this collection, Zack Fair has a starting power and toughness of 0/1 but comes into play with a +1/+1 token. For the cost of one colorless mana, you can remove from play the card to grant another ally you control indestructible and transfer all of Zack’s counters, plus an gear, onto that chosen creature.
This design depicts a scene FF fans are very remember, a moment that has been reimagined multiple times — in the original *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even alternate-timeline retellings in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it lands powerfully here, communicated solely through rules text. Zack sacrifices himself to save Cloud, who then picks up the Buster Sword as his own.
For history, and consider this your *FF7* spoiler alert: Before the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are severely injured after a clash with Sephiroth. After extended experimentation, the friends break free. The entire time, Cloud is delirious, but Zack makes sure to protect his comrade. They eventually make it the edge outside Midgar before Zack is gunned down by troops. Presumed dead, Cloud subsequently grabs Zack’s Buster Sword and takes on the identity of a first-class SOLDIER, which leads right into the start of *FF7*.
Through gameplay, the card mechanics essentially let you recreate this whole scene. The Buster Sword is featured as a strong piece of equipment in the set that costs three mana and gives the equipped creature +3/+2. Therefore, using six mana, you can transform Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword wielded.
The Cloud Strife card also has clear interaction with the Buster Sword, allowing you to find for an artifact card. In combination, these three cards play out in this way: You cast Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you summon and give it to Zack.
Owing to the manner Zack’s signature action is worded, you can potentially use it in the middle of battle, meaning you can “block” an attack and trigger it to cancel out the attack completely. So you can do this at any time, transferring the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He is transformed into a formidable 6/4 that, every time he deals combat damage a player, lets you pull extra cards and play two spells without paying their mana cost. This is just the kind of experience meant when talking about “flavorful design” — not spoiling the scene, but letting the mechanics trigger the recollection.
And the narrative here is incredibly rich, and it goes past just this combo. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity is part of the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a chosen creature, which then becomes a Mutant. This sort of suggests that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, figuratively, the SOLDIER conditioning he underwent, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. This is a small connection, but one that implicitly ties the entire SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter theme in the set.
Zack’s card doesn't show his end, or Cloud’s breakdown, or the stormy bluff where it concludes. It doesn't have to. *Magic* enables you to reenact the moment yourself. You perform the ultimate play. You transfer the legacy on. And for a short instant, while engaged in a trading card game, you recall why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most influential game in the franchise to date.
