Zack Fair Illustrates How Magic's Crossover Sets Are Capable of Telling Meaningful Stories.

A core part of the allure within the *Final Fantasy* Universes Beyond collection for *Magic: The Gathering* lies in the manner countless cards tell familiar stories. Cards like Tidus, Blitzball Star, which offers a snapshot of the character at the outset of *Final Fantasy 10*: a celebrated professional athlete whose signature move is a specialized shot that takes a defender aside. The gameplay rules mirror this in nuanced ways. These kinds of narrative is prevalent across the complete Final Fantasy set, and they aren't all lighthearted tales. Several serve as somber reminders of sad moments fans remember vividly to this day.

"Moving tales are a central component of the Final Fantasy legacy," wrote a lead designer for the project. "They created some overarching principles, but ultimately, it was largely on a individual basis."

Though the Zack Fair card is not a tournament staple, it represents one of the set's most refined examples of storytelling via mechanics. It skillfully captures one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most important cinematic moments with great effect, all while utilizing some of the set's central gameplay elements. And although it avoids revealing anything, those who know the tale will quickly recognize the meaning behind it.

The Mechanics: A Narrative in Play

For one white mana (the color of good) in this set, Zack Fair enters with a base power and toughness of 0/1 but arrives with a +1/+1 token. By paying one colorless mana, you can destroy the card to give another creature you control protection from destruction and move all of Zack’s markers, along with an gear, onto that other creature.

This design portrays a moment FF fans are very remember, a moment that has been reimagined multiple times — in the original *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even reimagined iterations in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it lands powerfully here, expressed solely through gameplay mechanics. Zack gives his life to save Cloud, who then picks up the Buster Sword as his own.

The Context of the Card

A bit of context, and consider this your *FF7* spoiler alert: Before the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are left for dead after a battle with Sephiroth. Following years of testing, the duo break free. During their ordeal, Cloud is barely conscious, but Zack vows to look after his friend. They eventually make it the plains outside Midgar before Zack is gunned down by troops. Presumed dead, Cloud then takes up Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the role of a elite SOLDIER, setting the stage for the start of *FF7*.

Reenacting the Passing of the Torch on the Battlefield

On the tabletop, the rules essentially let you relive this whole sequence. The Buster Sword is featured as a top-tier piece of gear in the set that costs three mana and gives the wielding creature +3/+2. So, for a total of six mana, you can turn Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword wielded.

The Cloud Strife card also has deliberate interaction with the Buster Sword, enabling you to look through your library for an equipment card. When used in tandem, these three cards unfold as follows: You cast Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you cast Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword out of your deck. Then you summon and give it to Zack.

Because of the way Zack’s key mechanic is designed, you can potentially use it in the middle of battle, meaning you can “intercept” an attack and trigger it to negate the attack entirely. So you can perform this action at any time, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He subsequently becomes a powerful 6/4 that, whenever he does damage a player, lets you gain card advantage and cast two spells without paying their mana cost. This is precisely the kind of interaction referred to when talking about “flavorful design” — not explaining the scene, but letting the card design trigger the recollection.

More Than the Main Combo

And the narrative here is oh-so-delicious, and it goes further than just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity is part of the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a chosen creature, which then becomes a Mutant. This kind of hints that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER enhancement he received, which included modification with Jenova cells. This is a tiny nod, but one that cleverly connects the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter mechanic in the expansion.

This design avoids showing his demise, or Cloud’s breakdown, or the rain-soaked cliff where it concludes. It isn't necessary. *Magic* lets you relive the passing yourself. You make the ultimate play. You hand over the weapon on. And for a brief second, while playing a strategy game, you recall why *Final Fantasy 7* remains the most influential game in the series to date.