Over the past several weeks, Final Fantasy has come to Magic: The Gathering. As of June, a dedicated Magic player can build decks around Sephiroth or Tidus, attack their friends with a Cactuar, and use the Water Crystal to combo off on Magic Arena. The entry of this prized intellectual property into Magic is the latest realization of Wizards of the Coast’s Universes Beyond creation, which slots external IP into the mechanics of the Magic game as a clear way of drawing existing fandoms into the framework of Magic. Since 2020’s The Walking Dead tie-in, WOTC has introduced Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters, Warhammer 40,000, and myriad other properties into an interface with the tapping, attacking, and countering game that is Magic. Now, we’re living in the world of Final Fantasy, and it feels like we’re in for a qualitative transformation in how Magic operates as a game.
The release of Magic x Final Fantasy has, for the lack of a better phrase, done some real shit to the game of Magic. While I am not a person who wants to track all changes in the world down to the movement of money, it is undeniable that in order to play with the cards of Magic that one must first have access to those cards, and most people are going to get them by going to their local game store or big-box store and trying to buy them over the counter. This is generally a pretty easy process. Final Fantasy has made it quite a bit more complicated.
The last Magic set before Final Fantasy, Tarkir: Dragonstorm, can be had for about $115 a box. The box has 30 packs, and buying one of those would give a player a good starter collection with a set in order to tinker, build, and play with. If they wanted to buy a Commander deck to play with some friends, they’re looking at spending about $50 on average. This is well within historical expectation of playing Magic. By contrast, the Final Fantasy boxes are sitting at about $220 currently, and the average cost of one of the set’s Commander decks is sitting closer to an average of $75.
These prices are high, and they’re a demonstration of the set as a hot commodity. They also index that the Universes Beyond idea is working about as well as it could be. The presales for Final Fantasy made it the best-selling Magic set of all time before any player ever touched the cards, and Magic Arena surpassed its previous peak player count number when the set was released online. People were into this thing before they had a chance to see how it plays, how it works, how the cards feel, or how the set mechanics function in relation to one another. It is the notion of Final Fantasy being in the card game, either as an entry point for fans of that franchise or as a novel set of things to play with for existing card game fans, that drives the bus here.
Let me take a moment here to pause and assure you that the quality of the game does matter. Magic x Final Fantasy is a fun set to play. Even if that cards didn’t have the fun names that I love, from Quina, Qu Gourmet to Gran Pulse Ochu, the fact is that they all work well together in a setting where you’re busting some packs to build a deck, playing a serious draft, or adding cards to your existing decks. The reality is that they may be working a little too well—my beloved Vivi Ornitier is looking to be a little too competitive, and the power level of the whole set feels pretty strong, despite WOTC’s pushback on the truth of that statement.
So ok: the cards are fun; the fans are happy; the company is making money. What’s the big deal? My hesitation is that I think Final Fantasy signals a complete transformation of Magic that began with Universes Beyond in 2020 and accelerated when 2023’s The Lord of the Rings set broke sales records. When WOTC announced that there would be two Universes Beyond sets each year, it read as an unvarnished move toward extreme profitability, and the sales data for Final Fantasy has cashed that bet. I have no doubt that the upcoming release of a Spider-Man set will leverage a huge number of Marvel fans toward a similar monetizable end.
What I wonder, though, is how well my beloved game of Magic will fare outside of these massive number spikes. In a world where Hasbro watches the infinite money glitch of Final Fantasy go brrrr while sets like Tarkir: Dragonstorm accomplish much more modest goals, how long is it before the money printer takes over even more space within the game of Magic: The Gathering itself? And how many of these sets can be printed before Magic loses an identity of its own and instead simply becomes a place for fandom novelty to land? There is much to be said about the Fortniteification of culture, but one thing I can say is that it is primarily a game that exists for other things to happen in. I don’t pay attention to Fortnite because it is a wonderful game. I pay attention to it because it is a roost for IP to get weird in.
The cards are wonderful, and it is clear that the designers and developers at Wizards of the Coast are at the top of their game when they are creating these cards. I truly have enjoyed the dozen drafts or so that I’ve played of the set, and I have looked through the card gallery more than once just enjoying the vibes of two things I like being near one another. That is a massive success to me as a player. However, I worry that the success looks like something else to Hasbro, and Hasbro’s investors: an opportunity to chase, rather than a success to steward and support with more resources.
Whatever the shape of the future, it seems clear that Magic x Final Fantasy signals the future of Magic in the sense that we’ll be seeing high-intensity, IP-oriented sets at least twice a year going forward. If it follows from this set, that means higher prices and a splashy product. I hope it also means that the IP-oriented players will feel invited into the game of Magic: The Gathering and its rich history and deep card base. Or maybe they’ll just be on the hunt for $2,200 chocobos.
Cameron Kunzelman is a critic who writes about video games and science fiction. He does podcasts about culture for Ranged Touch.
