RB here! I think by now you’re used to the routine. We have more guests today and more spoilers. Today we have Adam Duncan and John Schreiner from the RVA Returners, Rob Phillips and Carolin from https://www.fftcg.org/ to talk about some classic characters.
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Rosa 11-126R
3 CP Forward, Category IV, Job White Mage, Power 7000
EX Burst When Rosa enters the field, if you control a Card Name Cecil, draw 1 card.
Discard 1 card: Draw 1 card. You can only use this ability during your turn and only once per turn.
Teleport [S] Dull: Choose any number of Characters you control. Return them their owners’ hands. You can only use this ability once per turn.
Adam: The card draw is a cool bonus. The draw filtering might be the best part of the card. If you can resolve Teleport to play Cagnazzo or Nichol in a mono Water deck, you're living your best life. The fact that Teleport can return more than just your Forwards might be the highest upside to the card.
John: This Rosa is competing with a lot of other Rosa cards for a chance to stand in the spotlight, but she has the chops to merit consideration. Her S ability is very situational but can be an inexpensive way to save your board from the likes of Shantotto [1-107L] or a Fina [8-060L] Valefor [1-198S] combo turn. With the most recent Rosa [9-120L] being a bit more powerful in a mono-element deck, this Rosa may be the better pick in a multi-element Final Fantasy IV deck. I could see myself playing a split between both of these Rosas since they both have cheap and powerful S abilities.
Rob: At first I thought this was not good as it has to have the Cecil on board, and normally as Cecil is a forward it might not even stay on board long enough. Then I remembered there is a Backup Cecil, and I know you’re thinking, “But that Cecil is not that good.” But having a 3cp 7k draw a card might be good enough in either a mono water deck or in earth/water. The Discard and draw a card is very nice as it lets you filter. Now for Rosa’s S Ability Teleport. It looks like an interesting ability as you can bounce any of you cards that you would want to play again like to resolve Zidane (3-056H) to get momentum in a situation or to bounce your board from a board wipe and then replay them again onto the field. Or to bounce a backup to play a different one if you are locked out and you can’t play a backup you might need to win the game.
Caro: Rosa shows up in her Final Fantasy IV: After Years attire. Finally, being married to Cecil, we also get this synergy on her EX BURST: Draw 1 card if you control a card name Cecil (as card name implies, this can either be a forward or the newest, Opus X backup Cecil). As always, this card draw can be seen as a cost reduction to the already not so expensive 3 CP Rosa. We have seen similar abilities on cards like [5-018L] Palom, [3-141C] Mog (IX) or [1-199S] Paine. Since we didn't get a Cecil announced yet, I can't really determine her full value in Draft / Sealed. As amazing as constant filtering through your own deck could be in the 50 card pre-build formats, it could be less helpful in limited. As an R it is possible to get a few more copies of her, to use her special ability to protect maybe the one legend, that may just carry you through the tournament.
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Porom 11-121C
2 CP Backup, Category IV, Job White Mage
When Porom enters the field, discard 1 card from your hand. If the discarded card is not a Category IV Card, draw 1 card. If the discarded card is a Category IV card, draw 2 cards then discard 1 card from your hand.
Dull, put Porom into the Break Zone: Choose 1 Forward. During this turn, the next damage dealt to it is reduced by 2000 instead.
Adam: With Rydia PR-051, there is at least one reason to play cards simply because they are Category IV. This is probably the best enabler yet for Palom 2-015H, which, if you are playing a Comet deck, you are my hero. The name clash on this card is a real issue, though.
John: Another water backup for Category IV is exciting, but it runs into the same problem most of them have - the unique character problem. This card does have merits, its ability is excellent in a Category IV deck. Giving you the ability to turn a Category IV card you can't use in your hand into two cards is very strong, but even if you discard a different card you still get to draw one card to replace it. Her ability to send herself to the break zone to reduce damage dealt to a forward by 2000 will likely save a forward from removal or combat and has the added benefit of removing Porom from your board to potentially replay or replace with Porom [5-135L] or Porom [9-115R]. This Porom is better for helping you set up early than her counterparts but doesn't have as much potential for helping you reach or recycle critical pieces of your strategy. When we get to the Opus X, XI, XII format for L3 this Porom will become an all-star in any Category IV deck but for now I think she has some stiff competition.
Rob: Porom is now a backup and that means it is searchable by Leonora which sees some play in some mono water decks to search the 2cp EX Porom. So, as a backup that is searchable it has some good merits going towards it (water decks don’t really have that much backup search at the moment). The last effect of Porom is interesting. At first glance I thought it was just a copy and paste effect of Cecil [10-115C]'s effect but then I saw its either players forward. effect but then I saw its either players forward. This allows you to stop one of your opponent’s forwards from dying as well like maybe you want to keep the forward on the field for an extra turn so they can’t play a new one. If anything, Porom’s effect is the same as Cecil’s effect but can can choose forwards on either side.
Caro: Even if you see Porom in her more mature After Years artwork as being a bit more independent from her twin brother Palom, her card just opens up a lot of potential for a deck featuring the twins. And that without even mentioning Palom in her abilities. [5-018L] Palom may even see play, by achieving the cost reduction in a more consistent form. But I think the [2-015H] combination is just superior. [3-143C] Leonora also allows you to search for Porom and we like searching backups, especially when they only cost 2 CP!
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Chelinka 11-049R
3 CP Backup, Category FFCC, Job Lay Crystal User
When Chelinka enters the field, choose 1 Forward. Until the end of the turn, it gains Brave and “This Forward can attack twice in the same turn.”
WW+Dull: Return Chelinka to your hand.
Adam: When you start looking at all the different Forwards you would love to attack twice with, it's hard not to be excited. The fact that you can play this off Latov, as well as find it with Norschtalen, makes me expect big things. Maybe the best card to partner with Chelinka is actually Unsaganashi 10-045C because you'll definitely want to protect whichever Forward gains her buff.
John: So many cards with powerful on-attack effects exist in almost every element that they are hard to list, and Chelinka provides access to turns that can swing the game heavily in your favor by doubling those effects. She is a FFCC backup in the same element as Norschtalen [8-058R], making her a consistent part of a deck's strategy and improving the flexibility and power of the FFCC backup package. Her ability to return herself to your hand at the cost of 2CP is also a fantastic way to either reuse her ability or make room for another critical backup. I think that this card is going to find its way into a lot of decks and I think that players will be excited to try this card in many different strategies. While Chelinka [7-054L] is very strong, this Chelinka does something that is so unique that I don't think the name clash will be as big of a problem for her as it could have been. This card is just plain fun.
Rob: I’m Really happy I got Chelinka as a card to review as I enjoyed playing the opus 7 Chenlinka for a long time alongside her brother Yuri. Now with Chelinka the first thing is once again she is a searchable backup and can be searched by wither her mother Aleria or Norshtalen which is really good as searchable backups mean consistency. This effect seems really fun and abusive at the same time as you can combo this with a lot of different forwards. Don’t want a long game with your opponent? Turn 1 Ark Angel HM and a Red Mage (8-002C) turn 2 you play Chelinka and if your opponent has nothing to deal with it that’s 6 damage on turn 2, now that’s powerful. It also just has a lot of good synergy with cards that have on attack effects like Cloud of Darkness (5-126L), Luso (9-058L), Rain (8-134L), Zidane (6-044L) and may others.
Caro: Mono Wind needs a fast and strong Build backup line and this Chelinka gives you the chance to get 3 of them in a search chain. In such a setup, [7-044H] Alhanalem can now also constantly deal 2000 damage to one forward without worrying that Opus VII Chelinka might get broken. I really like the utility of the card. Searchable backup with a nice ETB effect and an usefull action ability. I am curious to see, if people will play her over the legend, combine her or find some other interesting deck ideas to fit her in. Even in Draft or Sealed she can definately be of some use. Being able to attack twice per turn is even more dangerous, when you are only allowed 6 points of damage. [PR-055] Yuri also benefits greatly from every FFCC card. Since he will be released in this set too, together with Tonbetty, Cu Chaspel and maybe a few more, Chelinka can strengthen the support he needs to become untargetable by abilities.
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Jornee 11-043C
3 CP Backup, Category FFL, Job Princess
When Jornee enter the field, you may search for 1 Category FFL Forward and add it to your hand.
Adam: I can think of worse plays than tutoring Vata in a mono Wind deck. At best, this could be a way to start up a Warrior of Darkness engine, but right now I think that's a stretch.
John: Jornee is another in a familiar series of cards, 3CP backups that search your deck for a forward from a specific category. These cards have proven to be staples in many archetypes because of the consistency and flexibility that they can bring to the table. Being able to search for a forward of any element helps this backup ensure that a multi-element deck can still have strong synergy. Although Vata [7-046R] is currently the only target in-element for Jornee, she pairs nicely packages from other elements like Alba [8-091H] and Diana [8-101H] for a potential Wind/Lightning deck. One more interesting thing about Jornee is that she is functionally the same as The Mask [8-026R], although his placement in Ice means that currently the pairing of their elements (Ice/Wind) will not help either card reach its maximum potential without adding a third element.
Rob: Well in Wind Earth she can search for Nacht which is nice and gives people a reason to play Nacht as its now searchable in that colour combination. In Fire/Wind she can search Aigis or Sol which did see some play for some time and there was a 3 colour deck that was playing both Sol and Aigis so that’s also a deck that we might see in the future come back. With this we might get access to more FFL forwards in other colours they are not that prevalent in like wind or fire or even water but we have to wait and see.
Caro: Jornee does exactly the same as [8-028R] The Mask - just in wind! Making it easier to play the amazing [8-101H] Diana and [8-091H] Alba combo in Wind / Lightning (an element combination that in my opinion is seeing more and more support throughout the last sets). Having another searcher in a second element allows more consistent color combinations, using FFL characters, which are spread through all the elements. Players making use of [7-022H] Emperor (FFL) know the struggle of too many Ice backups. [8-031R] Cocytus, [8-038C] Sophia and [8-028R] The Mask are all great triggers and useful backups - thanks to Jornee you could replace The Mask and get the second color in your backup line, if you are interested in Wind / Ice. On top of that, we had another FFL forward from Opus XI already shown to us: Morrow. So Jornee so far has at least one target, making her usuable even in Draft and Sealed!
That’s all we have for today! Check back for the sixth group in a couple days!