Emissaries of Light Card of the Week - Byblos

Hey again everyone, Tim here, with another spoiler - this time, an Ice Hero card from Emissaries of Light.

Byblos, the big bad wolf (well...minotaur!), is the latest monster to make their debut in the cast of FFTCG!

Byblos is an 2CP Ice Monster with the ability "When your opponent discards 1 or more cards from their hand due to your Summons or Abilities, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Dull it and Freeze it."  Additionally, Byblos has a Damage 3 ability that behaves similar like Gigas [6-070C] - for 0CP, once per turn, Byblos can become a 7000 power Forward until the end of the turn, with "When Byblos attacks, your opponent discards 1 card from their hand".

Aside from being a fitting homage to Byblos casting Drain when its health started to decrease, way back in FF5, Byblos has a lot of positive implications for deckbuilding in "Opus 16" – Emissaries of Light.

His pure presence, in any kind of Discard deck, will effectively add an additional effect to any discard effect, similar to Baralai [12-114R].

Naturally, that means Byblos is most at home in the Ice or Wind elements, where the majority of Discard effects belong, but I could also see Byblos in a Ice/Lightning-Decks.

So speaking about Decks, the first place I would try Byblos is naturally in a Discard deck. Byblos is a strong addition for small, incremental discard effects. Imagine how quickly you'll pull ahead on the field when your Flans [4-043C] and Argath [1-033C] Dull and Freeze something in addition to forcing Discards!

Discard decks already got a noticeable improvement recently from the printing of Gogo [15-028H], but Gogo can even copy Byblos's ability to turn into a Forward, meaning an extra copy of the discard-upon-attack Auto Ability!

Additionally, the fan-favourite Ice/Wind "Storm" decks, centred around Locke [12-116L] frequently involve a number of cheap Monsters and Summons, in order to include Titania [13-132S]. Byblos looks perfect in these decks, as a way to add extra punishment to Locke and Zidane's discards, while being supported by Asura [2-049H] and any other Monster support these decks choose to play.

A great plus, as Byblos is a 2CP Monster, you can utilize it with Cid (WOFF)’s ability [4-034R].
Backups that can somewhat transition into Forwards or recur Forwards are traditionally highly valued in FFTCG, and Byblos is an incredible threat that Cid WOFF can recur when the time is right, especially since Cid (WOFF) cannot be broken!

What are your ideas for this card? Let us know your impressions at facebook.com/FinalFantasyTCG or facebook.com/FFTCGEurope!

And stay tuned for next week when Richelle will reveal an incredible fun to play card, with a gorgeous artwork!