There’s no “I” in “team”, but there is in Blitzball! Since Magic: The Gathering’s Commander structure is focused on you fighting off against multiple opponents at once, you will most likely be playing Tidus and the Final Fantasy X Commander Deck solo. However, you will still need to be cognizant of the fact that this deck, more so than most others, is all about teamwork! Here’s how to make sure your squad is in tip-top shape before the big game!
Tidus and Yuna are the Team Captains
The commander for this deck is nothing to laugh at, though he might be prone to fits of laughter himself. The star of FFX comes to MtG in the form of “Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian”. He is a green, yellow, and blue with a power and life of 3 each. He has two abilities with the first allowing you to move a counter from any creature you control to any other creature you control at the beginning of combat. His second ability, “Cheer,” triggers whenever one or more creatures you control with a counter on them deal combat damage to a player. It lets you draw a card and proliferate which means you are able to add an additional counter to any creatures you control that already have a counter on them.
Of course, a guardian needs something to, well, guard. So “Yuna, Grand Summoner” is here as well. She has a power of 1 and life of 5 with two abilities as well. “Grand Summon” lets you add one mana of any color by tapping “Yuna” and in turn, the next creature you cast, has two +1/+1 counters on it when summoned. Her secondary ability allows you to move any counters from a creature that is sent from the battlefield to the graveyard to any other creature. Confused, yet?
Almost every card in this deck has some sort of effect that allows you to either add counters to it, or other creatures you control. These counters usually increase power and life by 1 for each instance but others could add special abilities like “Flying” which makes your creatures harder to block. Your goal is to try to get direct hits with your creatures, and then use Tidus’ ability to increase the number of counters and then freely move those around on your next turn. Yuna is there to help make sure your counters don’t go to waste when creatures are destroyed. These two aren’t alone as there are plenty of useful cards to create a tidal wave that will crush your enemies (or friends).
Game-winning combos
The enchantment “Sphere Grid” is a card you will want to get out early. Not only does it add a +1/+1 counter to your creatures that deal combat damage to a player, synergizing nicely with Tidus, but it also gives all creatures you control with counters “trample” and “reach”, which are powerful abilities. “Trample” allows all excess damage a creature deals to be dealt to a player, making it even easier to use abilities that trigger when this happens, while “reach” allows them to block creatures with “flying”, which can be nasty if left alone. This card also pairs nicely with the enchantment “Hardened Scales” which only costs one green mana, and gives you an additional counter onto a creature whenever any counter is added to it. This would apply to all counters added until “Hardened Scales” is removed making it very useful, even if it not played with “Sphere Grid”
“Resourceful Defense” is another card you will want to get out quickly as it allows you to move counters from a card that leaves the battlefield onto another creature. It is very similar to Yuna’s ability, but it’s arguably more powerful as this is an enchantment so it can’t be destroyed in combat, and it’s in play anytime a card goes anywhere, not just the graveyard.
The tidal wave mentioned earlier is present in this deck too in the form of “Inexorable Tide.” This is another card that will increase your counters exponentially as it lets you “Proliferate” every time you cast a spell. This, combined with “Hardened Scales, means if a creature gets +1/+1 for being summoned, it would actually get +3/+3! And there is just the creature to do that.
“Shelinda, Yevon Acolyte” is a good way to give all your units a good head-start when it comes to counters. She has two “Power” and two “Life”, and adds a counter to a creature when it is summoned, if its power is less than hers. If her power is lower, she gets the counter. This makes it very easy to ramp her up to an incredibly high power which is dangerous for your opponents given she also has “Lifelink” which heals you for all damage she deals.
Since almost every creature you play will have at least one counter on it, “Damning Verdict” is particularly lethal. This card destroys all creatures with no counters on them. Save this in case things start turning against you to restart the board.
The FFX Commander Deck is probably one of the easier ones to use, but that simplicity makes it no less deadly. Everything in this deck is designed to increase the counters on all your creatures making them hit harder and tougher to kill simultaneously. Keep racking up those counters like goals in Blitzball and when the buzzer rings, you will be the one laughing.