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A major element of the charm found in the *Final Fantasy* crossover set for *Magic: The Gathering* lies in the way numerous cards tell well-known stories. Consider the Tidus, Blitzball Star card, which gives a snapshot of the character at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a celebrated sports star whose signature move is a fancy shot that knocks a defender aside. The gameplay rules reflect this with subtlety. These kinds of narrative is prevalent throughout the whole Final Fantasy offering, and some are not fun and games. Several serve as poignant callbacks of emotional events fans still mull over to this day.

"Emotional tales are a vital component of the Final Fantasy franchise," explained a principal game designer involved with the project. "They created some general rules, but finally, it was mostly on a card-by-card basis."

While the Zack Fair may not be a competitive powerhouse, it is one of the release's most clever instances of storytelling by way of rules. It masterfully captures one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most important cinematic moments with great effect, all while leveraging some of the product's central gameplay elements. And although it avoids revealing anything, those who know the tale will quickly recognize the meaning within it.

The Mechanics: A Narrative in Play

For one white mana (the alignment of heroes) in this collection, Zack Fair enters with a base power and toughness of 0/1 but arrives with a +1/+1 marker. By paying one generic mana, you can remove from play the card to grant another unit you control protection from destruction and transfer all of Zack’s counters, as well as an artifact weapon, onto that target creature.

This design paints a scene FF fans are very remember, a moment that has been revisited throughout the years — in the classic *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even alternate-timeline iterations in *FF7 Remake*. And yet it hits just as hard here, communicated completely through gameplay mechanics. Zack gives his life to save Cloud, who then takes up the Buster Sword as his own.

The Context of the Moment

For backstory, and take this as your *FF7* warning: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are gravely wounded after a clash with Sephiroth. Following extended experimentation, the pair break free. The entire time, Cloud is delirious, but Zack makes sure to look after his friend. They eventually arrive at the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is fatally wounded by forces. Left behind, Cloud then takes up Zack’s Buster Sword and takes on the role of a first-class SOLDIER, which leads right into the start of *FF7*.

Playing Out the Passing of the Torch on the Game Board

On the tabletop, the card mechanics effectively let you reenact this whole sequence. The Buster Sword is a a top-tier piece of equipment in the set that costs three mana and grants the wielding creature +3/+2. Therefore, using six mana, you can transform Zack into a formidable 4/6 with the Buster Sword wielded.

The Cloud Strife card also has deliberate synergy with the Buster Sword, allowing you to look through your library for an artifact card. In combination, these three cards unfold like this: You cast Zack, and he gains the +1/+1 counter. Then you play Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you cast and attach it to Zack.

Due to the way Zack’s key mechanic is worded, you can technically use it during combat, meaning you can “intercept” an assault and activate it to cancel out the attack altogether. This allows you to do this at a key moment, moving the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He subsequently becomes a formidable 6/4 that, each time he does damage a player, lets you pull extra cards and cast two cards at no cost. This is exactly the kind of moment meant when discussing “narrative impact” — not spoiling the scene, but letting the mechanics evoke the memory.

More Than the Main Interaction

However, the narrative here is deeply satisfying, and it extends further than just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova card appears in the set as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which then becomes a Mutant. This in a way hints that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, figuratively, the SOLDIER treatment he underwent, which included genetic manipulation with Jenova cells. This is a tiny connection, but one that cleverly connects the entire SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter ecosystem in the set.

The card avoids showing his death, or Cloud’s confusion, or the rain-soaked bluff where it happens. It doesn't have to. *Magic* lets you recreate the moment for yourself. You choose the ultimate play. You hand over the legacy on. And for a short instant, while enjoying a card battle, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most beloved game in the series ever made.