Journey of Discovery - Card of the Week - Locke [27-036L]

Hello everyone. Welcome to “Card of the Week,” where we introduce cards from the upcoming booster pack “Journey of Discovery,” scheduled for release on November 14th. How did you like last week's Xande 27-010L? Both the illustration and abilities were incredibly flashy, weren't they?

The card being introduced this week may not be flashy, but it boasts a handy ability that maximizes the Ice element's signature trait: forcing opponents to discard a card. Let's dive right in. This week's card is Locke [27-036L]!

Locke is one of the playable characters from FINAL FANTASY VI who frequently appears in FFTCG and has performed well in tournaments, and it looks like this Locke [27-036L] will be a strong contender again, thanks to his useful abilities.
Locke [27-036L] is an Ice element Forward that costs 2CP and has 5000 Power. Although small in size, he possesses three Auto Abilities.

The first ability is: “When Locke enters the field, your opponent draws 1 card, then randomly discards 1 card.” One could argue that since the opponent's hand size remains unchanged, they aren't losing an advantage. However, whilst choosing which card to discard allows them to get rid of an unnecessary one, a random discard could mean losing their most crucial card in the worst-case scenario. Furthermore, this ability is closely related to the remaining two abilities.

The second auto ability is: “When your opponent discards 1 or more Characters due to your Summons or abilities, choose 1 Character. Dull it and Freeze it.” When Locke [27-036L] enters the field, if the card discarded by the first ability was a Character card, there’s a sort of extra bonus that allows you to Dull and Freeze another Character. Being able to choose a backup as part of that is powerful.

What about when you force your opponent to discard a Summon, and not a Character card? In this case, the third ability takes effect: “When your opponent discards 1 or more Summons due to your Summons or abilities, draw 1 card.” By reducing your opponent's hand and increasing your own, you widen the advantage gap. Simply having Locke [27-036L] enter the field makes it possible to impose various restrictions on your opponent.

In addition, as mentioned earlier, “forcing card discards” is a specialty of Ice element types. Lasswell [16-042R], Genesis [24-025L], Cid (WOFF) [26-030], and many other Ice element playable cards can activate Locke [27-036L]’s abilities. Be sure to explore the potential of Locke [27-036L].

Next time, I'd like to introduce the “good side” of a character who split into good and evil when they were resurrected. See you then.