Magic: The Gathering is about one month into the release of its space-themed Edge of Eternities set, and while Spider-Man is coming in just around four weeks, the impact of the Final Fantasy set is still felt heavily. One of the most successful releases for the game in its long history, Magic: The Gathering's Final Fantasy set sold $200 million in one day, cementing it as something Wizards of the Coast had never really seen and wasn't even fully prepared to handle. The Final Fantasy set was incredibly hyped due to how many fans Square Enix's franchise has, and it even added some banger cards that reshaped MTG's meta. And now, ahead of Spider-Man, is the right time to get the second-best card from the set.
The single best card in the set is arguably MTG's Vivi Ornitier, which is not only extremely powerful in multiple formats, but it has also completely changed the landscape of Standard, for better or worse. With a pricetag of $40 to $60, not counting special editions of each new card in the Final Fantasy set, it's the single best and most expensive. However, another card deserves more recognition, and that's Spehiroth, Fabled SOLDIER.
One of Magic: The Gathering's Best Final Fantasy Decks Costs $800
Magic: The Gathering has a borderline-broken deck dominating one of its formats thanks to the Final Fantasy set, but it costs around $800.
Magic: The Gathering's Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER Explained
Magic: The Gathering's Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER is a 3-CMC (2 generic, 1 Black) Legendary creature with 3 power and toughness. Whenever it attacks, the user can sacrifice a creature and draw a card. Then, whenever a creature that is not Sephiroth dies, an opponent loses 1 life and the player gains 1 life, which will flip Sephiroth if it happens four times in a turn. The card's transformation is Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel, which is a 5/5 with flying and the Super Nova effect, giving players an emblem that makes an opponent lose 1 life and the user gain 1 life whenever a creature dies. On top of that, when it attacks, its controller can sacrifice any number of creatures and draw that many cards.
The Best MTG Sephiroth Decks So Far
This is an incredible package for a relatively cheap 3-mana card, and it hasn't gone unnoticed in Magic: The Gathering's Standard format, or others, too. In Standard, Sephiroth is played in the current Orzhov Sacrifice deck, which can make a powerful combo with Voice of Victory from Tarkir: Dragonstorm by creating creature tokens that are sacrificed at the end of the turn, activating Sephiroth's abilities. Sephiroth is also played in Commander, in Golgari Food decks in Pioneer, and also in several Modern decks, like:
- Mardu Energy
- Samwise Combo
- Golgari Yawgmoth
Why You Should Get Magic: The Gathering's Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER Now
Considering how strong this card is, and considering that it's currently selling for around $35, which is close to its lowest price ever at $34, now is a great time to snag a few copies of Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, ahead of MTG's Spider-Man set. Much like with other great FF cards, Sephiroth is likely to remain relevant going into Spider-Man and even Avatar, and the worst-case scenario is that it sees a little less play overall, whereas the best-case scenario is that new cards come out that make even stronger combos with it. In all cases but the worst, Sephiroth's price is bound to go up rather than down.
Given that Orzhov Sacrifice plays four copies of it, and the same goes for Mardu Energy and Samwise Combo, it can be tough to make these decks later if one is missing multiple copies of Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER. As such, it may be a wise move to get this card now that it's close to its lowest price. If new cards that combo well with Sephiroth are revealed, it will likely surge in value massively, like some old MTG cards spiked with Avatar Aang before its abilities were even fully revealed. And if not for that, most decks Sephiroth is featured in are arguably quite fun and strong to play.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- August 5, 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- Richard Garfield
- Player Count
- 2+
- Age Recommendation
- 13+