Hey everyone, welcome to the relaxing “Card for Thought” corner of Cloud City where discussion on certain cards that have hidden potential come to bare. Each week we will post a different card that may have sometimes been overlooked but still has some good usage depending on the build or combos it features in. Let's start shall we! We shall keep this short starting with the man, who I honestly believe does not want to have a plan, Squall 2-038H from Opus 2. So just by looking at the card you can say “Its a 5 cost at 6k power, hmmm does not seem quite useful but he does have First Strike”. However, Opus 1 Squall could gain First Strike and deal additional 6k damage when blocking and attacking, all at 3 CP. That certainly seems like a better card, however, Opus 2 Squall’s ability can be just as competitive as Opus 1 Squall’s. First off I am a huge fan of cards already having an ability like First Strike printed because this makes them immediate threats without any further investment. Second: dude gets 1k for each dull character your opponent controls so immediately this guy is getting stronger on his own. Third, when Squall attacks he dulls all the backups your opponent controls so that is a 1k boost but can climb as high as 5k. That’s like a kaioken boost as far as I’m concerned. Now yes maybe early in the series Opus 1 Legendary & Opus 1 Rare Squall were the best choice for your deck but I’ll be honest, this card can catch a lot of people off guard. I have personally played this card a lot and the dull all back ups ability has made my opponents focus fire on Squall pretty quick, which has helped me setup my other combos. That being said, you can also be defensive with this card. Squall can be a pretty good wall depending on what elements you run or how you set up. For example if you are running wind where after attacking with him you can reactivate him and defend on your opponent's turn. Or with earth using 2 cost hecatoncheir or 4 cost atmos to deal damage. And if you are playing earth, a nice golem to boost his power (especially if he is blocking) is very potent with the first strike ability. If possible I always play Squall with Rinoa due to the power boost that could be provided when her effect dulls all your opponent’s forwards. Thanks to monsters coming out in Opus IV, that's additional power being provided to synergize with Squall. Such as Swampmonk who can dull forwards or bombs that can help with the First Strike damage or Goblin (Earth) to boost Squall’s power further. Since monsters are also characters, when your opponent's monsters are dull, they also power up Squall. All in all with how the game has been growing since Opus 2, Squall has gained a ton of utilization. Earth/Ice in particular has added benefits for Squall such as providing and maintaining Brave so he does not dull after he swings. First Strike also adds that extra danger and if you keep pressure on your opponent they will fall victim to it quite often. You should also keep in mind how many times your opponent dulls their own board through creating CP and attacking with forwards. Anyways before I drag on I just wanted to say I adore this card. It helped me when I was starting out and made me enjoy playing Ice. I definitely recommend trying this card out, you will not be disappointed. Plus it boosts Rinoa and Laguna if needed. Have a great day everyone and hope to see you all on the board. See ya! *Update* In regards to turbo ice the new Opus 6 Squall has been seeing a lot of play, however all these cards are quite useful in their own builds and constructions making them still quite aggressive cards depending on how the setup is just know at the end of the day meta is normal no judgement there but if you want explore do it sometimes the risk is worth it. That being said enjoy the game and have fun! Brandon Dosanjh is a founding member of Cloud City. He mostly plays Ice decks, but has also dabbled in Wind, Water, and Lightning. Brandon loves reading comics and playing video games. His favourite Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy V, maybe that’s why he plays Bartz 3-L. Brandon works in sales, and has the best poker face you’ll ever play against. Even though Brandon loves the Dragon Ball franchise, he will never leave us for their TCG, because Goku never turns his back on his friends.
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AuthorCloud CIty FFTCG Writing Team: Archives
November 2018
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