Tears of the Planet - Card of The Week - Iron Eater [25-002C] and Volker [25-014L]

Hello everyone, this is Tarou Kageyama, producer of FFTCG and welcome to Card of the Week where I introduce cards from the new Booster Pack “Tears of the Planet” releasing on March 28th. In this third installment, I will be introducing two cards based on characters from FINAL FANTASY XI. Please take a look at Iron Eater [25-002C] and Volker [25-014L] of the Mythril Musketeers, elite guards who are the pride of “The Republic of Bastok”, one of the three main countries that serves as the starting points in the world of “Vana'diel” where FINAL FANTASY XI takes place!

Both cards are illustrated by Fumio Minagawa. By looking at the full art version, you will be able to tell that these two cards are connected. In the past, a similar illustration was done with cards like Young Excenmille [23-100L] and Young Rahal [23-112H] as well as Teodor [18-026L] and August [18-071R], making them fun cards for collection purposes. For those who have any of these cards, please try to line them up and see for yourself.

Now, let’s look at the card’s abilities. First, let’s start with Iron Eater [25-002C]. This marks this character’s debut in FFTCG. There are still many more appealing NPCs from FINAL FANTASY XI that have yet to be brought into the world of FFTCG, and we hope to continue adding more… But I digress. Iron Eater [25-002C] is a 3CP and 8000 power Fire Forward with two Jobs: Warrior and Mythril Musketeer. He has one ability that triggers when he enters the field. It reads, “When Iron Eater enters the field, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. If you have 5 or more Job Warrior and/or Card Name Warrior in your Break Zone, deal it 8000 damage.”

In essence, this card will not function effectively unless it is in a “Warrior deck” or a similar deck type. On the flip side, his effect is powerful when conditions are met, so he may be an option when building a deck with a Job/Card Name Warrior concept. Another reason we can recommend him is that he works well with Akstar [18-107L], because he is a 3CP Forward.

Next is Volker [25-014L]. His last iteration was with Opus V as Volker [5-020R], so this marks his first appearance in nearly seven years! What kind of card did he turn into this time? Volker [25-014L] is a 7CP and 8000 power Forward, with the same two Jobs as Iron Eater [25-002C]—Warrior and Mythril Musketeer. Since his cost is a little hefty at 7CP, we thought his abilities should be quite strong.

Volker [25-014L] has two Auto Abilities. The first is an Auto Ability that happens when he enters the field: “When Volker enters the field due to your cast, you may search for up to 2 Job Warrior and/or card name Warrior and add them to your hand.” This alone would be a somewhat common ability, but it is followed by: “During this turn, the cost required to cast your next Job Warrior or Card Name Warrior is reduced by 3.”

This means that, as an example, the cost of Iron Eater [25-002C] or the aforementioned Akstar [18-107L] will be reduced to 0, so they can be played without expending any CP. This is a fantastic combination of abilities as by adding two cards to your hand which can be discarded for 4CP and giving you a 3CP discount on casting a Warrior, it allows you to effectively regain the 7CP you paid to cast it whilst also remaining an 8k forward. You should be able to dominate the field in no time by combining this with a Forward like Taivas [21-010H] that can enable you to play a greater number of cards.

This ability alone is quite strong, but he also has another Auto Ability that triggers at a different time. It reads, “When a Job Warrior or a Card Name Warrior you control is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 4000 damage.”

Since there are no conditions on how the Forward gets placed in the Break Zone, there are multiple ways this Auto Ability will trigger: as a result of attacking or blocking, a Break caused by Summons or Abilities, or even effects caused by Abilities or Summons by the player who controls Volker [25-014L]. With these two abilities, he looks to be an excellent card that can provide dual purpose to a Job Warrior or a Card Name Warrior after they are played.

What do you think? Did these two cards from this week resonate with you? I will be taking a break next week, but in my place, a member of the FFTCG team at Hobby Japan will be introducing a certain ancient weapon. Please look forward to it, I know I am!!