Yes, One Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Card Really Wins By Ignoring Two of Its Abilities

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The “Final Fantasy” expansion pack for “Magic: The Gathering” has left an indelible mark on the game since its inception, influencing it in numerous ways. This particular “FF” set for “MTG” generated a staggering $200 million sales revenue on its very first day, setting an unprecedented benchmark that future product launches will find hard to surpass. It took five years to develop this set, with work commencing even before the release of “Final Fantasy 16”. Wizards of the Coast collaborated closely with Square Enix during this timeframe to eventually incorporate the game as well. The fervor surrounding the release and the inclusion of several strong cards from a gameplay perspective have made “MTG’s” latest UB offering particularly noteworthy, featuring one card that can bypass most of its text to secure a win outright.

In the world of Magic: The Gathering, it’s frequently stated that “understanding the card reveals the card’s true potential.” This tends to be accurate most of the time. Yet, there are exceptions as some cards have intricate combos and features that can make them more or less potent than their surface suggests. Additionally, certain aspects of a card’s effects may not significantly impact game outcomes. These nuances become particularly crucial in Commander format, which boasts a high power level due to its vast potential, with The Wandering Minstrel from Final Fantasy serving as a prime example of such complexity.

Magic: The Gathering’s The Wandering Minstrel is an OP Commander

The Vagabond Bard is a Simic MTG/FF fusion card that draws inspiration from the FF14 character. It costs 1 Green and 1 Blue mana to summon, making it a 1/3 creature. This card possesses three unique abilities:

1. Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
2. Tap this creature: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.
3. At the beginning of your end step, if no cards are in your graveyard, shuffle this card into its owner’s library.

  • Lands played by the owner enter untapped
  • At the beginning of the user’s combat phase, they can create a 2/2 elemental creature token if they control five or more towns
  • By spending 3 generic and WUBRG (one mana of every color), other creatures under the user’s control get +1/+1 for each town under the player’s control

Exploring towns in the game is intriguing due to its compatibility with Magic: The Gathering (MTG) land cards that have a town subtype, which were introduced with the Final Fantasy set and count 23 of them. The match here is impressive, but this setup isn’t practical in most game formats because a 5-color deck with 60 cards often underperforms compared to 3-color or 2-color decks, which are usually preferred. Interestingly, despite this, The Wandering Minstrel stands out as an exceptional commander in MTG, especially for competitive play, and can be just as effective in budget or casual settings. Its main strength lies in its first ability.

Why You Can Safely Ignore The Wandering Minstrel’s Second and Third Ability in MTG

In simpler terms, having The Wandering Minstrel in play means that all lands enter untapped, which opens up the opportunity to create powerful and beneficial combinations (or loops) with cards that typically don’t see much action in the Commander format because they tend to slow things down by entering tapped. This allows you to construct a deck primarily consisting of lands, often making up half of the 100-card deck for the Commander format. With this setup, you can employ combos such as Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, and self-sacrificing lands like Barbarian Ring. As an alternative, pair Mystic Sanctuary with self-sacrificing lands and either Splendid Reclamation or Aftermath Analyst to create additional effects.

In this type of deck, Ad Nauseam stands out because it seldom forces players to pay life for it, given that they can pull numerous lands from the top of their library and win through preferred methods instead. A card like MTG’s Icetill Explorer from Edge of Eternities might work well in this setup due to its ability to provide extra lands per turn and land resurrection. Alternatively, Thassa’s Oracle is a good choice for cEDH, even without Demonic Consultation, as the deck focuses on self-milling or drawing an abundance of cards, which can be facilitated with cards such as Scapeshift or Cephalid Coliseum.

In the realm of Magic: The Gathering’s Commander games, I can opt to employ Town cards from The Wandering Minstrel deck. While the unique mechanic can be disregarded, it might potentially weaken the card’s competitive edge. However, Eden, Seat of the Sanctum remains a commendable choice for this deck, and the other bicolor towns can serve as cost-effective alternatives to pricey dual lands.

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2025-09-02 00:15