It is pretty common to hear that a Final Fantasy TCG player’s favourite Final Fantasy is VI. It had many intriguing characters and a very interesting story, as well as, cool battles and an esper system to learn magic. In Opus I-III we had a few characters from FFVI printed as cards; two versions of Terra and two versions of Kefka. When people found out in Opus IV that the entire cast of main characters and Kefka would be printed as cards, there was a lot of excitement. We also found out that all of these cards would be Hero and Legendary rarity, making them significantly harder to collect, especially as a playset. Ice, Fire, and Water all received five Final Fantasy VI cards, and Earth received two. There was also a Light Terra and a Dark Kefka printed. During Opus IV, I would argue that the Water and Fire Category VI cards saw more competitive play than Ice, but now that we are in Opus V, we are seeing Category VI Ice cards making up a package that is played in practically every Ice or Ice Variant deck. This is in part due to how economically sound the package is, and also, its effect once on the field. The package has become stronger than it was in Opus IV because of the printing of Orphan, and to a lesser extent, Mateus the Corrupt. What is the Category VI Ice Package? The package consists of the 3 CP Gestahlian Empire Cid backup and the forwards Setzer and Locke. Ice also has two Terras, a Celes, and a Umaro (not commonly seen) forward that can be part of the package. When running the package, a player will try to draw/mulligan for Gestahlian Empire Cid or Setzer, both of which search for Category VI. The key is that Setzer can search for a character, meaning he can search for the backup Gestahlian Empire Cid. Meanwhile Cid just searches for forwards, which you use to search out Setzer. Whoever you search into first, then searches for Locke. With the first two on the field, Locke will cause your opponent to discard upon entering the field himself. Sample Plays: Setzer ---> Gestahlian Empire Cid ---> Locke Gestahlian Empire Cid ---> Setzer ---> Locke How Does the Package Affect Your Hand? This package is so powerful because you are able to build backups and a board, while maintaining your hand size and possibly even causing your opponent to discard. Let’s say your opponent was matching your CP expenditure per turn. If you went first, by turn three you would be ahead of your opponent by one card since Cid and Setzer bring a card from your deck into your hand. When you play Locke in Turn 4 you would have a net +2 card advantage over your opponent since they discard. Now let’s look at if you went second and pretend again your opponent is matching your CP spending. You would have to overpay to play Gestahlian Empire Cid or Setzer on turn one or play both in turn two to keep your hand size at five or lower. By turn three you would have a +1 card advantage after playing Locke, and you would have one extra forward out on the field. This example was to show the math of how the search cards help with card advantage. Your opponent may play a 4 CP forward, multiple 3 or 2 CP forwards, or maybe even develops more backups. But without drawing/searching for cards, they will be spending more of their hand resources than you. The Optimal Way to Play the Package Now the above example is great for looking at card advantage, but when actually playing the package, you will want to play more optimally. For example, if you can play a 2 CP backup with Gestahlian Empire Cid on turn 2, you will be set up to only discard one card to play Setzer the following turn (assuming you played a backup turn one). You might also consider searching for Celes if you think her special ability for canceling a summon may be crucial in your matchup. If you have played three backups into Setzer, you will be able to dull two and discard for Celes, and keep one backup active for her special. If you have both Celes and Locke, you can use two backups and a discard for Celes, and one backup and a discard for Locke, making it more likely his discard effect will off. Once the Package is in Play When you finally have Locke, Setzer, and Gestahlian Empire Cid in play they continue to pose a threat to your opponent. For example, every time Locke hits your opponent for damage they will be forced to discard a card. To help with this ability, or to close out a match, Locke has a Special Ability (Mirage Dive) that only costs one card named “Locke” to make Locke unblockable that turn. Furthermore, Setzer also has a second ability. When he is placed in the Break Zone Setzer dulls and freezes one forward. Using Setzer to trade with an opponent can cause Locke to swing in for some damage and a discard. Follow Up Plays Once this package has hit the field, you will often see Genesis come in to dull and freeze a forward. With Locke and Genesis, who has the same discard ability as Locke, attacking each turn, it is likely your opponent will have to discard at some point. Since your opponent will want to block Locke or Genesis, you can follow up with a 1 CP Mateus the Corrupt summon to break your opponents forwards without losing your own, putting you at further card advantage. Finally, one of the most significant parts of the Category VI Ice package, is the card Orphan. When Orphan enters the field, he dulls and freezes two forwards. The freeze part of his ability only activates when you have five or more Ice characters on the field (Orphan can be the fifth). By playing the Category VI package, you are only one Ice character away from being able to play Orphan for his full effect, and chances are you played a 2 CP backup during the early turns. Your hand will still be relatively full from playing the package, so it is easy to have the CP to drop Orphan on the board You should also keep in mind that Setzer and Gestahlian Empire Cid can also be used to search out Terra or Celes (and Umaro if you run him). If you play multi-colour decks then they can be used to grab any of Cyan, Sabin, Edgar, Shadow, General Leo, Gau, Relm, Strago, Mog (VI), Gogo, Kefka, Dadaluma. Setzer can also grab the Deathgaze monster from Opus V since it is a character. Counters to the VI Package Of course, this package has weaknesses, but they may not be as weak as you would imagine. Your opponent will know exactly what is coming once you start to chain the search cards, so do become more predictable. They may try and break your Setzer as you play Locke, voiding the conditions for his discard ability. They may also try and play out their hand to avoid having to discard at all. Unfortunately for them, this can sometimes lead to sub-optimal plays and give you a big card advantage depending on what cards they played. It also puts them into top deck mode where they are hanging on by whatever they can draw. If you don’t draw a Duke Larg to power up your Ice forwards, Locke and Setzer will be sitting at 7000 power each. This means that you will have trouble contesting a strong board, especially against Earth if they have Brave. Mateus can come in handy here, since they will be pressured to block Locke if they have cards in hand. Earth’s Guy and Opus V Yang cannot be dulled by Setzer’s ability and take the value out of him blocking. Conclusion There you have it, the magic behind the Category VI Ice package. Although these plays or draws might not always happen exactly as I have described, this package does replenish your hand once you draw into it and has powerful effects on the field. Always remember, search out Cid first if you have Setzer and search Setzer if you have a Cid. The final card to play is Locke who can really devastate your opponent's hand if they aren’t prepared for it. About the Author: Alex Kelsch is one of many contributors to Cloud City. He mainly plays the Ice, Earth, and Lightning elements, and has a soft spot for the discard mechanic. His favourite Final Fantasy is probably 4, but he doesn’t like having to choose. Alex works as a high school teacher, specifically teaches PE and Science. He also loves playing Tennis and Soccer, and coaches several youth teams.
1 Comment
Alex
5/10/2018 01:09:30 pm
Wonderful insights on the ice & discard mechanics!
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