I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Magic: The Gathering was a HUGE part of my high school experience. If I wasn’t in a class and you were looking for me, I can almost guarantee that you’d find me tucked away in the school library, cards in hand and desperately fighting for survival. After school, however, I was at a friend’s place playing Final Fantasy VII, so you can imagine my excitement when Wizards of the Coast and Square Enix joined forces and released a Magic: The Gathering/Final Fantasy crossover.

With my excitement barely contained, I tore the box open to check out the contents. We were sent a ready-to-go Commander deck, a Bundle, a starter kit with two pre-built decks, and a handful of booster packs, including 14-card Play Boosters and 15-card Collector Boosters, all bearing characters, equipment, and locations from the incredibly popular video game series, Final Fantasy.

Magic: The Gathering can officially be played in several different ways, with the current favourite being Commander. The 100-card pre-built Commander Deck box provides players with a balanced deck, offering new players a well-rounded starting point, while also providing the basis of something a little more brutal. We received the Revival Trance box. Built around Terra, Herald of Hope, the deck uses elements from the Mountain, Plains, and Swamp mana pools, with the cards all representing something from the Final Fantasy VI game.

Alongside the deck, there’s a deck box featuring artwork matching the deck’s theme, a handful of double-sided token cards, a strategy insert, and a reference card, but a little more exciting is the sample Collector booster you receive, which gives you a taste of what the Collector Boosters offer.

The way I learned to play is currently known as Standard. It’s a little less popular these days, players will use decks of 60 cards to face off against one another. Much like the Commander Deck box, the Two-Deck starter kit comes with two balanced and ready-to-go 60-card decks. These are a fantastic way for you and a friend to get into the game, assuming you can agree on who receives which deck, but it’s also great if you want to give yourself options.

This one had me very excited, and I’m not sharing. Drawing inspiration from Final Fantasy VII, the first deck uses elements from the Island and Swamp mana pools, with Cloud, Planet’s Champion as the front runner, but the best deck in the box uses Mountains and Plains mana pools, with Sephiroth, Planet’s Heir leading the charge. You can also take these decks into the MTG Arena App, with redemption codes provided that match the contents of each deck, a Magic Play Guide to help you brush up on the rules, and themed deck boxes, keeping your favourite characters safe.

The last way to play, at least that I know about, is Booster Draft, and the Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Bundle Box would be a great way to check it out. It comes with nine Play Booster packs, each containing a random assortment of 14 cards, and to play Booster Draft, the idea is that once the booster packs are open, players will take turns picking cards until each player has a 40-card deck.

A little bit of quick maths, and 9 x 14 will result in a pool of 126 cards to choose from. It also comes with a sturdy card box, capable of holding substantially more cards than it comes with, offering a great way to keep any cards you’re not using safely stored away, a D20 dice, also known as a Spindown Damage Counter and a handful of push-out counters.

The Play Boosters received in this box are the same type that can be purchased separately, and the contents are, for the most part, randomised. They will contain one land card and you are guaranteed a foil card, though it may not be a rare card, and the rest are randomised between Common, Uncommon, and Rare or higher. There is a chance that you’ll pull something really rare, but those chances are very low.

That’s where the Collector Boosters excel, and as the name suggests, they are more likely to contain cards that collectors are looking for. Containing fifteen cards, at least five will be considered Rare or higher, with a chance at receiving a sixth. Between three and six will be Uncommon, while the rest will be Common and a land card. Most of the cards included in the Collector Booster packs will be foil cards, with up to three of the cards being Surge Foils, but the biggest appeal for collectors is the higher chance of pulling a Neon Link or the incredibly evasive Golden Chocobo.

I never imagined that two of the hobbies that carried me through high school would come together like this, but I am so glad that they did. Square Enix, Wizards of the Coast, and Magic: The Gathering have come together and dragged me down memory lane with something incredible, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Written by: Mathew Lindner