HAHAH— Tidus laughing aside, Emma breaks down everything you need to know about Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY!
This year is shaping up to be the biggest year for Magic: The Gathering yet, such as the racing-focused Aetherdrift and the highly anticipated return to Tarkir, but the biggest focus will be Wizards of the Coast’s collaborations with Square Enix and Marvel. Universes Beyond will be seeing a notable shift this year, as these releases will become Standard legal, meaning you can play with these cards at your Standard FNM (Friday Night Magic) upon release.
And after the widespread success of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, it isn’t much surprise to see change going forward. Releasing in the summer, Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY is looking to be one of the biggest releases of 2025, as it’ll highlight iconic Final Fantasy characters such as Cloud, Squall, Clive, and Aerith in cardboard form.
Everything We Know About Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY
With a ton of information dropping over the next few months, let’s sift through what we know about Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY so far, the first Universes Beyond release of 2025.
Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Key Dates
- Global Release: June 13, 2025
- Gift Bundle Release: June 27, 2025
- Magic Online (MTGO) Release: June 10, 2025
- MTG Arena Release: June 10, 2025
- Prerelease: June 6-8, 2025
- Magic Academy (Learn to Play & Deck Building): June 13 – July 24, 2025
- Chocobo Racing Event Series: June 13 – July 24, 2025
- Commander Party: June 20 – 26 & July 18 – 24, 2025
- Store Championship: June 28 – July 20, 2025
- Standard Showdown: June 13 – July 24, 2025
- Friday Night Magic: June 13 – July 18, 2025
- Previews Begin: May 10, 2025
- Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Set Code: FIN
- Commander: Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Set Code: FIC
- Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Through the Ages Set Code: FCA
Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY’s global release will drop on June 13, 2025, with the release appearing on MTG Arena and Magic Online likely the Tuesday before. As announced by Wizards at MagicCon: Las Vegas, any releases under the Universes Beyond banner will become Standard legal upon release, including Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY.
For those who aren’t familiar, Final Fantasy is a Japanese science anthology media series developed (and owned) by Square Enix. Final Fantasy centers on a series of role-playing games (often shortened to RPGs) that can combine themes from medieval fantasy, urban fantasy, and science fiction. The first Final Fantasy was released in 1987, with sixteen mainline entries released thus far along with several spinoff series such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy X-2. In most cases, the mainline Final Fantasy games don’t follow on from each other but do overlap on elements such as Moogles, Chocobos, and enemy types. Often, you’ll see recurring names in Final Fantasy, with Cid being the most consistent name within the franchise
As for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, the set will highlight each mainline entry released so far (Final Fantasy 1/I to Final Fantasy 16/XVI), and it’s expected we’ll see artwork from classic Final Fantasy artists, as well as more familiar faces who commonly work for Magic: The Gathering. That said, Yoshitaka Amano who created a ton of stunning works for Final Fantasy over the years, did create the Japanese alternate art for Liliana, Dreadhorde General from War of the Spark and is confirmed to have works in the set. Previews for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY begin on May 10, 2025 at PAX East.
Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Lore
Market Price: $31.39
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Even though Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY is a Standard release, the set won’t expand on the current Magic story in any way. These Universes Beyond releases are independent of that, meaning these releases can act as a palette cleanser between the more in-Magic sets releasing in 2025. However, Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY will tap into the lore of the mainline games, such as Kefka poisoning the Doma water supply (Final Fantasy 6/VI) and Sephiroth descending on a praying Aerith (Final Fantasy 7/VII) plus more iconic references as more cards are revealed from the set.
Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Products
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Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY will have Play and Collector Boosters, Bundles, Gift Bundles (releasing June 27, 2025), a Starter Kit, Prerelease Kits, four Commander Precons, and four Collector’s Edition Commander Precons to collect upon the June 13 release date.
The Commander Precons of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY
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The four Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Commander Precons have recently been teased by IGN, where Terra, Cloud, Tidus, and Y’shtola will be the face commanders of their respected Commander Precons:
- Limited Break (red, green, and white) with Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER (Final Fantasy 7/VII) as the face Commander.
- Counter Blitz (green, white, and blue) with Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian (Final Fantasy 10/X) as the face Commander.
- Revival Trance (red, white, and black) with Terra, Herald of Hope (Final Fantasy 6/VI) as the face Commander.
- Scions and Spellcraft (white/blue/black) with Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed (Final Fantasy 14/IVX) as the face Commander.
Furthermore the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Commander Precons will also appear in Collector Editions as seen previously with Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40,000, where each card will appear in the stunning Surge Foil treatment. MSRP for the Commander Precons is $69.99 with Collector Edition Commander Precons being at $149.99.
The Card Treatments of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY
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Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY sees a range of exciting card treatments to collect upon the June 13 release. The treatments mentioned below aren’t exhaustive, as there’s a good chance we’ll learn more upon previews in May, but let’s break down what we know about treatments in Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY so far. It’s also worth noting that serialized cards will appear in the set and can only be found in Collector Boosters, but we don’t know what these are quite yet.
Cecil, Dark Knight
FINAL FANTASY, Rare
Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY also sees stunning Borderless Character cards, where 55 iconic characters will see the treatment from the Final Fantasy series. As you can see in the background of Cecil’s art, Final Fantasy 4’s (IV) Cecil, Dark Knight has the Roman numerals for the Final Fantasy set they appear in (which is 4/IV for Cecil), and this is a common theme throughout all of the Borderless Character cards. Some of these Borderless Character cards are also double-sided, with Cecil, Redeemed Paladin being the flipside to show his progression throughout Final Fantasy 4/IV). Borderless Character cards can be found in Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Play and Collector Boosters upon release.
Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant
FINAL FANTASY, Rare
Borderless Woodblock cards also appear in Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, with Final Fantasy 9’s (IX) Stiltzkin, Moogle Merchant adorned in the classic-looking treatment. Inspired by woodblock techniques, these Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY cards offer a new level of detail never seen before on a Magic card and will likely become a hit with players and collectors. Like the Borderless Character cards, Borderless Woodblock cards will be a frequent treatment in the set and feature in Play and Collector Boosters upon release.
Garland, Knight of Cornelia
FINAL FANTASY, Uncommon
A common treatment for Magic: The Gathering releases is the Extended Art frame, which offers a slightly widescreen feel if you want to experience more of the stunning art in Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. As seen with Final Fantasy 1’s (I) Garland, Knight of Cornelia, you have a more focused image of the villain with the flipside showing the terrifying Chaos, the Endless. These Extended Art cards are common on rares and mythic rares from a given Magic set, but with Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, the treatment is appearing on uncommons for the first time in the highly-anticipated release.
Market Price: $79.98
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Lastly, Through the Ages is the bonus sheet for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, highlighting cards with classic and iconic Final Fantasy artworks. These Through the Ages cards are actually reprints of existing Magic: The Gathering cards, but with art provided by the iconic 天野喜孝/YOSHITAKA AMANO and 野村哲也/TETSUYA NOMURA. As you can see, Final Fantasy 7’s (VII) Yuffie Kisaragi appears as Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow, and Final Fantasy 1’s (1) Dragon of Mount Gulg is Ancient Copper Dragon. These Through the Ages cards appear in Play and Collector Boosters, meaning they will be playable in Limited (or if you open any at your local Prerelease) and won’t become Standard legal upon Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY’s release. However, these cards will adhere to their existing legality, so with Dragon of Mount Gulg (Ancient Copper Dragon), the card will maintain its Legacy, Vintage, and Commander legality as before.