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A significant part of the charm of the *Final Fantasy* Universes Beyond release for *Magic: The Gathering* comes from the manner countless cards depict familiar tales. Consider the Tidus, Blitzball Star card, which gives a glimpse of the hero at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose signature move is a unique shot that pushes a defender aside. The gameplay rules represent this with subtlety. These kinds of storytelling is prevalent throughout the whole Final Fantasy set, and some are not lighthearted tales. Several serve as heartbreaking echoes of tragedies fans remember vividly decades later.

"Emotional stories are a key element of the Final Fantasy legacy," explained a senior designer on the set. "The team established some overarching principles, but in the end, it was mostly on a case-by-case level."

While the Zack Fair is not a competitive powerhouse, it represents one of the collection's most clever instances of flavor via mechanics. It masterfully captures one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most crucial cinematic moments with great effect, all while leveraging some of the expansion's central systems. And although it avoids revealing anything, those familiar with the tale will instantly understand the significance within it.

How It Works: Story Through Gameplay

For one white mana (the hue of protagonists) in this collection, Zack Fair enters with a starting stat line of 0/1 but arrives 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 move all of Zack’s counters, as well as an gear, onto that target creature.

These mechanics portrays a moment FF fans are extremely familiar with, a moment that has been retold throughout the years — in the classic *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even new versions in *FF7 Remake*. And yet it lands powerfully here, expressed completely through rules text. Zack sacrifices himself to save Cloud, who then picks up the Buster Sword as his own.

The Context of the Card

Some necessary context, and consider this your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are severely injured after a confrontation with Sephiroth. Following extended testing, the pair break free. During their ordeal, Cloud is delirious, but Zack makes sure to look after his friend. They eventually make it the plains outside Midgar before Zack is killed by Shinra soldiers. Abandoned, Cloud in that moment claims Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the persona of a first-class SOLDIER, leading directly into the start of *FF7*.

Reenacting the Passing of the Torch on the Tabletop

On the tabletop, the rules in essence let you recreate this whole sequence. The Buster Sword is a a powerful piece of gear in the collection that costs three mana and grants the wielding creature +3/+2. Thus, with an investment of six mana, you can transform Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud Strife card also has clear synergy with the Buster Sword, letting you to look through your library for an weapon card. When used in tandem, these pieces unfold in this way: You cast Zack, and he gains the +1/+1 counter. Then you cast Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you summon and give it to Zack.

Due to the design Zack’s sacrifice ability is worded, you can potentially use it when blocking, meaning you can “block” an assault and trigger it to negate the damage completely. This allows you to do this at any time, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He subsequently becomes a powerful 6/4 that, whenever he deals combat damage a player, lets you pull extra cards and play two cards without paying their mana cost. This is exactly the kind of interaction alluded to when talking about “narrative impact” — not revealing the scene, but letting the card design trigger the recollection.

More Than the Central Synergy

However, the narrative here is deeply satisfying, and it goes further than just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova card appears in the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which then becomes a Mutant. This kind of implies that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, symbolically, the SOLDIER treatment he received, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. This is a small reference, but one that subtly links the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter mechanic in the set.

This design does not depict his demise, or Cloud’s trauma, or the rain-soaked location where it all ends. It does not need to. *Magic* lets you recreate the moment personally. You make the ultimate play. You pass the weapon on. And for a fleeting moment, while enjoying a card battle, you are reminded of why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most influential game in the saga for many fans.