Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Community Contests and Themed Decks: A New Era of Cross-Set Creativity
MTG communities love a good creative challenge, and nothing fires up the imagination like a crossover card that feels bigger than the sum of its parts. When a legendary creature—tied to a Final Fantasy collaboration—lands in a color blend of black and green, the stage is set for bold, theme-first deckbuilding. Players are not just building to win; they’re crafting a story, a mood, and a verdict delivered with a flourish on the battlefield 🧙♂️🔥. The focal point for many contest prompts is a three-card meld that ends with a towering behemoth at the center, its power amplified by the very deck it inhabits. This is where the conversation about community-driven creativity takes flight, and where deck design becomes performance art 🎨🎲.
Spotlight on the Meld-Behemoth: What It Brings to the Table
In the Final Fantasy crossover expansion, a two-color legendary creature—beast-avatar in form—presents a rare kind of design challenge and opportunity. Its mana cost on the card face is unconventional, yet its converted mana cost clocks in at seven, signaling a heavy-hitting, late-game presence. This card carries an impressive suite of keywords that matter in nearly every board state: Vigilance, Menace, Trample, Reach, and Haste. That combination alone invites you to think about how you’ll deploy it in a multi-threaded board—can you push through a lethal attack while still defending against a compliant opponent, or pivot to a value-centric plan that grinds out value over turns? ⚔️
But the real magic happens when it dies. The death trigger isn't a one-trick win-con; it offers removal and retrieval in the same breath: “When this dies, destroy target permanent and return target nonlegendary permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield.” In a BG shell, that’s a doorway to all sorts of recurring value—from exiling problematic permanents to rebooting a nonlegendary threat right when you need it most. The color identity anchors the deck in disruption, graveyard interaction, and resilient threats—perfect for community challenges that reward ingenuity over brute force 🧙♂️.
The card’s lore-friendly flavor and the meld mechanic pull in two additional pieces—the l’Cie companions whose legends are fused into a trio of cards. Fang, Fearless l’Cie and Vanille, Cheerful l’Cie provide thematic anchors that invite players to weave a story-driven deck built around companionship, fate’s tests, and the audacity to gamble on the graveyard’s promises. This triple-parts concept—Fang, Vanille, and the beast-avatar—offers a fertile sandbox for themed deck prompts that are as cinematic as they are competitive 🔥💎.
“When prayers turn to promises, not even fate can stand in their way.” The flavor text here isn’t just garnish; it’s a call to build around conviction—a perfect motto for community-led deck creation.
Practical Roadmap: How to Run a Themed Deck Contest
- Set a clear theme: Build around a Black-Green meld synergy, emphasize graveyard strategies, and include at least one nonlegendary creature or permanent card that can recur from the graveyard via the death trigger. Encourage players to tell a story through their card choices and sideboard adaptations.
- Encourage meld alignment: Since the central card is part of a meld with two other halves, invite participants to pair their builds with the l’Cie companions. They’re not just flavor; they’re structural prompts that push players to think in multi-card synergies rather than single-card power plays.
- Format flexibility: The card is legal in a broad swath of formats—but that doesn’t mean “bring your best modern tier deck.” Encourage casual Commander-worthy builds and standard- or historic-leaning decks that still honor the color identity and the graveyard-to-battlefield recursion line.
- Judging criteria: Reward thematic storytelling, originality of the graveyard plan, and how cleanly the deck uses the meld concept. Bonus points for creative use of the companion pieces and for showcasing a dramatic final board state that feels earned, not gimmicky 🧙♂️🎲.
- Showcase and feedback: Host a live showcase or a video teardown where participants explain their card choices, the deck’s arc, and the practical interactions of the death-trigger recursion. Community learning thrives on shared reasoning as much as on flashy plays.
Playstyle Tips: Building for Depth and Dynamism
Two core threads weave through any BG deck built around this meld concept: resilience and disruption. Build around the idea that the behemoth can threaten multiple angles—blocker removal, graveyard fetches, and big-combat pressure. Use removal and bounce to control opposing threats, then rely on the graveyard to fetch a crucial nonlegendary piece when you topple the centerpiece. With reach and vigilance layered into the same body, you can present a multi-front assault that’s hard to navigate for slower boards 🧙♂️⚔️.
In practice, you’ll want to curate a mix of interaction, value (via the graveyard), and threats that scale through the mid-to-late game. Cards that protect your graveyard, like recursion enablers or graveyard hate-for-you tools, can tilt the matchup in your favor. Remember the flavor: you’re shepherds of a legend whose death-bearing promise reshapes the battlefield—so plan your rounds with tempo and inevitability in mind 🔥💎.
Art, Flavor, and Cultural Footprint
The Final Fantasy crossover itself is a celebration of cross-pollination between two beloved universes. The artwork, color palette, and flavor text all lean into a grand narrative about faith tested by fate and the resolve of heroes who choose to act, even when the odds are stacked. For players, this means a deck that not only plays well but feels cinematic in a way that resonates with both long-time MTG fans and FF enthusiasts. The mood is epic, the stakes are personal, and the potential for memorable moments is off the charts 🎨🎲.
Formats, Collectibility, and What to Expect Next
As an uncommon rarity in a cross-set with Universes Beyond flavor, this card occupies a sweet spot: it’s not an all-purpose staple for every deck, but it’s a standout centerpiece for themed builds that celebrate narrative depth and mechanical synergy. In foil or non-foil, it can be a striking showcase at your table, especially when paired with the right companions and a story-driven plan. The legalities cover a broad spectrum—from Standard and Historic to Commander and beyond—giving communities plenty of room to experiment and share their breakthroughs 🧙♂️💎.
For fans who love turning narrative prompts into practical play, these prompts also translate nicely to online decks, drafts, and community event coordinations. And while you’re plotting your next game night, you can keep your real-world adventures safe with gear that’s as reliable as your top-tier sideboard—the rugged phone case that’s built to withstand a night of tournaments and table talk alike. It’s the sort of companion that makes the real world feel a little more like the Multiverse—where every match, every story beat, and every card-woven moment matters 🔥🎨.
Whether you’re a veteran of the formats or a fresh face to the community, the melding of Final Fantasy lore with MTG’s evergreen mechanics invites a wave of creativity. Share your builds, swap ideas for companions, and imagine the sorts of decks that could haunt the meta—and the dreams—long after the last card is drawn 🧙♂️🎲.