MTG: Commander - The Most Fun Final Fantasy Commanders + Decklists!

Whenever a new set comes out, we go through all the new commanders and try to find the best of them. This is probably a bit too direct. Actually, I'd love to spend a long time talking about [Final Fantasy](/en-us/sets/fin-final-fantasy) with you, as this franchise holds a special place in my heart and was a big influence on my childhood. However, we need to go through these commanders.

This set brought us a great variety of legendary creatures. The best way to review some of them, considering both the lore around them and how much they matter to the fans, is by scrutinizing every detail.

Please note that, in articles like this, we focus exclusively on the commanders from the main set, so we won't go through anything from the Commander precons. The reason behind this is that these precon Commanders were designed specifically for this format, and, without a question, will be your main priority in any list you build!

Furthermore, please keep in mind that this isn't a list of the objectively best commanders in this set. Instead, we gathered the most interesting commanders, that is, the ones that most stand out!

Let's start with Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, who is probably the most highly anticipated commander from this set. This monoblack legend will give you a significant amount of card advantage and put a lot of pressure on your opponents quite fast. His first ability states that, whenever he enters play or attacks, his controller may sacrifice another creature to draw a card. This will be great in decks centered around disposable creatures, tokens, or value engines that, in turn, center around creatures going into graveyards.

His second ability, however, is what really makes him shine. Whenever another creature dies, it drains one life from a target opponent. This may seem quite conservative, but there is a reason the dev team designed it this way: it will scale pretty well when multiple creatures die at once. The most relevant thing about this ability is the condition you need to meet to transform him: when his ability resolves for the fourth time on the same turn, he'll transform.

After Sephiroth transforms, he'll give his controller an emblem that will continuously drain life from the opponents and is impossible to interact with directly. It also works whether Sephiroth is in play or not. Of course, this is a very cool effect. It is also the second card in MTG that creates an emblem and isn't a planeswalker or related to this type of permanent.

Finally, whenever transformed Sephiroth attacks, his controller may sacrifice as many creatures as they want to draw the same number of cards. This will create even more card advantage and works really well with his front side.

The best strategy for Sephiroth is an aggressive Aristocrat game plan, that is, one that focuses on creating and sacrificing multiple creatures to transform him faster and get his emblem. After he transforms, Sephiroth will draw a lot of cards quite fast, and constantly drain opponents. This way, you'll be able to keep putting pressure on them and get ahead in terms of resources until you can exhaust them into a win. He is a very fun commander, and, without a question, will make you feel like an evil mastermind - you'll sacrifice countless creatures in your way to evolve into a superior form, just like this beloved one-winged angel did.

I've always preferred funnier characters, that is, comic relief characters, to serious characters. That being said, Squall made a giant impression on me when I was 9 years old. His jacket, his sort of "emo" attitude, and mostly his Gunblade all seemed really cool to me as a kid.

Squall, SeeD Mercenary is an Orzhov commander. He is perfect for Voltron strategies because his ability states, "whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gets double strike until the end of the turn". His other ability, the most important one, states, "whenever Squall deals combat damage to an opponent (which you could do twice if he attacks alone) you'll get to return a permanent that costs 3 or less to the board from your graveyard.

These effects go really well with support cards that have interesting ETBs, such as Plaguecrafter and other sacrifice engines that let you reuse the same permanent twice on the same turn. Furthermore, effects that activate when he attacks alone, like Idolized, will also have space in builds with this grumpy protagonist.

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER was the most highly anticipated commander in this set, but Vivi Ornitier is, arguably, the strongest. A card so perfect for spellslinger decks hasn't been seen since Niv-Mizzet Parun, the Izzet champion for this type of strategy.

Let's start with its second ability, which naturally makes it grow: whenever its controller casts a non-creature spell, Vivi gets a +1/+1 counter and deals 1 damage to all opponents. These +1/+1 counters are relevant because they make its first ability even better, considering it creates red and/or blue mana according to how big this little Wizard is. You can then use this mana to play even more non-creature spells.

Everything in Vivi Ornitier is very cohesive and well-done, particularly because it interacts really well with cantrips, instants, and sorceries - with them, you'll be able to play spell after spell. The best deck for this commander will take advantage of these low-cost interactions and scale Vivi's power really well, all while it deals a lot of damage to the opponents. Cards that draw cards through damage, like Curiosity, will be great with Vivi, as will cards that trigger its ability another time, like Harmonic Prodigy.

Sin, Spira's Punishment is a Sultai commander that costs seven mana. However, it immediately impacts the board when it enters play, and keeps creating that same value whenever it attacks. Its main ability uses the graveyard as a resource, like a more well-behaved Muldrotha, the Gravetide. Whenever its effect triggers, its controller will randomly exile a permanent from their own graveyard and create a tapped token that is a copy of that card. If that card is a land, this process starts up again, so you can play multiple copies of a same card even if this card only triggers once, depending on your graveyard.

Self-mill effects, dredge, or cards that let you discard specific cards are great ways to feed your graveyard with precision, so, if you use these resources, you'll be able to copy exactly the permanents you want. The repetitive nature of this effect if you hit a land will also create so much value at once that it will heavily tip the scales in your favor.

Finally, it is a 7/7 with flying, so you'll be able to attack more frequently with it and trigger its effect more easily.

This commander is quite accessible, as it only costs 1 white mana. You can even put it in play on turn 1. Its lifelink ability creates a small advantage in terms of life points early on, but the best thing about it is its second ability. With it, its controller may pick another permanent they control and let an opponent take over it - in exchange for drawing a card. All you have to do is pay and tap it.

This ability will be great for one of my favorite Commander strategies, "Group Hug". It is uncommon in monowhite decks, and usually only sees play with more colors. The main strategy involves manipulating the table by doing favors and exchanging goods, all while gaining card advantage, which is something monowhite doesn't often have. Its ability also lets you interact with low power-level permanents, permanents with negative effects, or problematic artifacts, and get card advantage in return.

We mentioned Vivi Ornitier before, a classic blue and red spellslinger, but how about we go for a black and red spellslinger? Kuja, Genome Sorcerer is exactly that. His ability creates a Wizard token at the end of every turn, but it's more like a damage pinger that triggers whenever you cast a noncreature spell. It is a bit more aggressive in that sense. The best part is that it also deals 1 damage to all opponents.

However, when you have four Wizards in play (including Kuja), he'll turn into Trance Kuja, Fate Defied. This new form makes your Wizards deal twice as much damage, which is your second way to build him - in a Wizard kindred list. Kuja's Trance form often ends the game nearly immediately.

I, personally, would use one of my favorite cards in the entire game, Helm of the Host, to copy his front side and create an exponential number of Black Wizard tokens. It has everything to do with FFIX lore, and also creates an interesting game state - you'll deal damage constantly and probably win before you know it.

Seifer Almasy is everything Squall, SeeD Mercenary is. Whenever a creature attacks alone, it gets double strike, and, whenever Seifer deals damage to opponents, you can play a card that costs 3 or less from the graveyard. This ability gets a lot better when Seifer gives himself double strike, by the way. The difference between these two cards is that, while Squall reuses permanents, Seifer lets you reuse instants and low-cost sorceries.

A red card that interacts with cheap spells in your graveyard isn't exactly original, but it does its job. It will be great with cards like Haste Magic, Suplex, and Laughing Mad - if you want to stick to the Final Fantasy theme.

What most stands out to me about this card is how Seifer Almasy is such a clear and efficient mirror to Squall, SeeD Mercenary, which is exactly what happens in the games, too. Leonhart is clearly the strongest side of this coin, but, in a Duel Commander setting, Seifer will be an incredible option.

Finally, let's explore a place I'm not that familiar with called "FFXIV", and go through Emet-Selch, Unsundered. I can't really say if the lore surrounding this character was well-represented in this card, but I have heard from other players that it does. I can review it mechanically, though.

His effect when he enters and attacks is a classic looting ability, as it filters cards in your deck really well, and feeds your graveyard while it improves your hand. It also helps you transform him, as you'll be able to use it to put fourteen cards in your discard pile.

After you do this, Emet-Selch transforms into Hades, Sorcerer of Eld, which, in turn, will let you play these cards directly from the discard pile. The only downside is that, to make this card balanced, the dev team added a mandatory exile effect: any card or token that goes to the graveyard will be exiled instead, so Hades won't be able to feed his own graveyard while he is in play.

Emet-Selch, Unsundered should perform really well with self-mill, looting, and spot interactions that get a lot from the cards in the graveyard. This will all be a setup for the future when he transforms. His colors, blue and black, will also be great for this plan, as they offer us recursion spells, control, and ways to filter cards. It is also a great color combination, perfect to keep playing and stay relevant on the board even if you can't access your commander.

Going back to Squall a bit. My only issue with this set is with the way they treated Lion Heart. It became an extremely generic equipment card, and it doesn't really do this sword justice.

At least The Masamune, my other favorite sword from this franchise, was well-represented and will certainly be in many of my decks.

What do you think of this set? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!