An Introduction to the Final Fantasy TCG
What is the Final Fantasy TCG?
Almost anyone that doesn’t live under a rock has heard of or played Final Fantasy, right? Well imagine my excitement as a card-games player when I heard they were making a TCG out of one of my most beloved games series. I was overjoyed. Following the success achieved by Square Enix’ flagship games series Final Fantasy, they decided to try their hand at developing a trading card game. After being first released in 2011 in Japan, the TCG game exploded onto the Japanese gaming scene, becoming a haven for competitive players and collectors alike. This popularity led to Square Enix releasing a global ‘English’ version of the game in 2016, for everyone around the world to enjoy.
Final Fantasy TCG (FFTCG for short) uses 24 sets (as of today) to draw lore from all 16 mainline Final Fantasy games, with spinoff games too, which ensures if you’ve played pretty much any FF game, FFTCG will have something for you! I'm Liam the community lead for FFTCG @ The Gamers Lodge so let's get in to this together!
Final Fantasy TCG - How do I play it?
FFTCG is a interactive turn-based trading card game. It is usually conducted by two players who play against each other in a best-of-one or best-of-three format. Each player builds a deck of exactly 50 cards, with an allowance of 8 cards for the limit break deck (We’ll get to that later on). Each player can play with up to 3 of any card (unless it is limited or banned), and can use self-made decks from booster packs or pre-constructed decks. Players battle it out using their decks until one player stands victorious.
How do you win?
But how do you actually win a game of Final Fantasy TCG? It’s actually pretty simple! All you need to do is deal 7 damage to your opponent before they do to you. However, you will need to battle through your opponents cards, while navigating through your own deck and plays to do so! You do this through the CP or ‘’Crystal Point’’ system.
Every card in the game has a value which needs to be paid in order to play it. You do this by discarding cards from your hand to the break zone to generate 2 CP of the element of that card, for example, if I wanted to play Trey from my hand, you would need to generate 4 CP, discarding two cards, with at least one of them being a Wind element card to generate Wind CP. Light and Dark cards are the exception here, and can be played by generating any colour of CP, but as a downside, can’t be discarded to create CP of their own. You can also generate CP using backups, which are quite similar to Lands in Magic the Gathering, and tap or ‘dull’ to generate 1 cp of their colour.
Trey is a 'wind' forward, and requires at least 1 wind CP to be paid towards his cost to play him onto your field from your hand.
Types of cards in FFTCG
Final fantasy has a simple roster of card types which make learning the game an easier process than some other TCG's.
Forwards
Forwards are arguably your most important units in FFTCG, as they are going to be the ones that are dealing damage to your opponent, and protecting you from incoming damage. Forwards are clearly shown with their power rating in the bottom right corner. This power rating determines how much of a punch your forward packs, while also showing how much damage they can take before heading to the break zone. Forwards come with a number of keywords and abilities which offer constant advantages, and can also swing the tide of battle at a moments notice.
Our pick - Lightning
This forward version of lightning has an effect to be able to revive itself from the break zone during your turn. Due to Lightnings ‘Haste’ ability, which allows it to attack the turn it is played onto the field, twinned with its ability to stop an opponents forward from blocking makes it a powerhouse in the late game. You also get to draw a card, and we all love drawing cards, right?
Backups
Backups are one of the ways that you generate mana. Backups will sit in your backup zone, with you able to use them the turn after you play them. Backups don’t just generate CP though, some backups have powerful utility effects that can help you find important cards in your deck, or have game-changing effects which can swing the tide of battle in your favour.
Our pick - Shantotto
Shantotto is a powerful backup, which can remove ALL forwards in play from the game. This version of Shantotto was a mainstay in competitive play for the longest time, as it allowed players to punish aggressive decks that overextended.
Summons
Summons work similar to how ‘Instants’ in Magic the Gathering work. Summons can be played at any time that a player has a chance to make an action, and they often have powerful effects that can remove cards from the game, protect your own cards, and cancel out your opponents plays. Summons add an extra layer of depth to gameplay in Final Fantasy TCG, and can lead to some truly epic moments in games. If you’ve played any of the main Final Fantasy games, you’ll recognise some of the iconic summons used by the characters in the game!
Our Pick - Valefor
Valefor is Yuna’s Iconic Summon from the Final Fantasy X game. In FFTCG, Valefor’s power is shown in full effect, with an ability to instantly return all forwards back to their owners’ hands. This summon can reset the field, allowing you to rebuild your board, or even prevent your opponent from getting that last piece of damage to achieve victory.
Monsters
Monsters function as an in-between of forwards and backups. Some monsters have effects that allow them to turn into forwards for the turn, while other monsters have effects that happen when you play them, as well as powerful lingering effects which can help you towards victory. Monsters add an extra layer of strategy to the game, as you have to not only play around what is on the field, and in your opponents hand, but also any monsters which could potentially activate and disrupt your plays.
Our Pick - Tonberry
Tonberry is quite an unassuming monster, but with its draw effect on entering the field, it allows you to discard the card you drew with it at any time, allowing it to become a forward and take down something much bigger that itself while defending you.
Limit Break
Limit Break(or LB) cards are cards that exist outside of the usual 50 card deck in your Limit Break deck (only up to 8 may be used). LB cards are like hidden aces, which can help swing the match over to you when you need them. LB cards can be cast when you have the right amount of mana, and by turning face-up LB cards in your LB deck equal to the LB cost of that card. This sounds really complicated, but its just as if you had another card in your hand to play. For example, Ace is an LB card that could be in your LB deck. You pay the 8 CP to cast him, while turning face-up 3 of your LB deck cards that haven't been cast to play him. LB cards have game-warping effects which can lead you to victory.
Our Pick - Ace
Ace is a forward in your LB deck that can deal massive damage to your opponents forwards, when used at the right time.
Card Rarities: What do they mean?
FFTCG, like most card games, has a card rarity system. This system determines how likely it is that you will get this card if you were to purchase a booster pack or booster box. You can find a cards rarity on the front of the card, shown with a letter after the card code in the bottom-center of the card. The Card Rarities are as follows:
Common (C)
Common cards are cards that you’ll see the most of in an FFTCG pack, and usually contain cards with decent effects that can get your started in your FFTCG journey. Don’t be deceived into thinking commons are bad though... as some have extremely powerful abilities that synergise with the other cards in your deck.
Rare (R)
Rare cards step up in power and price with more powerful effects that aid you in your push for victory.
Hero (H)
Hero’s yet again step up in power, and are usually only found once in a booster pack, unless you’re lucky enough to get a foil hero in your pack as well!
Legend (L)
Legends are for most part, the premium cards in a set of final fantasy. These cards have extremely powerful effects which can be used as a base to build around. Legend cards are a lot harder to acquire, as there are only a small pool of legends in each set.
Alternate Art
Some cards in FFTCG are lucky enough to get special treatment, with full or altered arts which capture the true essence of the card. Alternate art cards can come in all rarities, with the rarest being Alternate Art legends. These cards let you show off how much you love your favourite characters, and often command the highest value.
Final Fantasy Card Prices
FFTCG has its fair share of heavy-hitter cards due to the collectability of the cards for long time fans of the game series, collectors of FFTCG and players wanting to bling out their deck. Most recently, FFTCG has began to release cards in its ‘signature’ series. These cards are premium full-art versions of cards in main sets, which are embellished with a signature of the artist who designed them. These cards are incredibly rare, with estimates suggesting they’re found in 1 of 50 booster boxes. As a result, these very special cards fetch an extremely high price.
The Full Art Signature Cloud, which can be found in Opus 19 packs, has a price listing upwards of £1,400. Due to the high rarity, it’s hard to actually put a price on these cards. Worry not though, while these premium cards are something really special, you can purchase the normal version of the cards for a very small fraction of the price.
Full art signature edition Cloud
This card has a distinctive signature from the artist and is one of the most expensive FFTCG cards.
As far as trading card games go, FFTCG is very friendly on the wallet for a beginner to get into the game. There are a healthy amount of starter decks, which when upgraded on a budget, can hold their own against some of the stronger meta decks. Structure/Starter decks start from around £15-25, and contain a solid base for anyone who wants to learn the mechanics of the game.
Once players are well-versed with their deck they can venture into the world of deckbuilding and brewing. FFTCG has a very active community available online which posts regular content for decklists and tournaments, which can be found on FF Decks. This site is very comprehensive and shows what’s the flavour of the month in terms of competitive and casual deckbuilding.
Competitive decks are relatively affordable with a price range of £60-100, with decks that were represented at the top 4 of the recent 2024 FFTCG world championships being a very affordable £50 of value. However, more budget options are available for if you want to save a bit of change. “Tribal” or “Type-based decks” can be as cheap as £10-20.
Where can I play FFTCG?
FFTCG is played everywhere across the world! However, The Gamers Lodge are one of the only stores in the North-West of the England that deliver regular weekly tournaments! You can find us at 61a Kempton Street, Liverpool, L3 8HE.
For players living in regions outside of the North-West of England, look to the Square Enix Store-finder page.
Is FFTCG dead?
In a short answer, no! FFTCG has survived the “incubation” period that most new card games have at around 3-5 years. FFTCG still has a good community based all over the world which are eager to share in the love of Final Fantasy and its game. For example, the Tokyo world championships last year had 52 participants from different regions all over the world, battling it out to become the ultimate FFTCG player in 2024. FFTCG worlds is invite-only and as a result had one of the highest attendances of TCG players for a worlds event in the TCG scene! Congrats to Hara by the way!
Conclusion
Basically, if you’re looking at getting into a card game that is fairly easy to learn, but hard to master, or are a long-time fan of the video games’ series, FFTCG will be for you! With the simple mechanics, low investment price and very supportive community, this could be your card game forever-home.
If you’re interested in playing, look at the r/FinalFantasyTCG Reddit, FFTCG Youtubers or come in store and ask one of our FFTCG experts at The Gamers Lodge!
Liam - FFTCG Community lead @ The Gamers Lodge
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