Zack Fair Proves That Magic's Universes Beyond Can Tell Emotional Stories.

A core element of the appeal of the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond collection for *Magic: The Gathering* is the way so many cards depict familiar tales. Consider Tidus, Blitzball Star, which offers a portrait of the hero at the very start of *Final Fantasy 10*: a celebrated professional athlete whose signature move is a fancy shot that takes a defender out of the way. The abilities reflect this in nuanced ways. Such narrative is prevalent throughout the entire Final Fantasy offering, and they aren't all joyful stories. Some serve as poignant echoes of tragedies fans still mull over years after.

"Moving narratives are a vital component of the Final Fantasy series," wrote a lead designer involved with the collaboration. "We built some broad guidelines, but finally, it was largely on a individual basis."

While the Zack Fair card is not a tournament staple, it is one of the collection's most clever pieces of flavor through gameplay. It artfully echoes one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most crucial dramatic moments with great effect, all while utilizing some of the expansion's central systems. And while it doesn't spoil anything, those familiar with the tale will instantly understand the meaning behind it.

The Mechanics: Flavor in Rules

At a cost of one white mana (the alignment of protagonists) in this set, Zack Fair enters with a base power and toughness of 0/1 but comes into play with a +1/+1 counter. By paying one generic mana, you can destroy the card to bestow another unit you control indestructible and transfer all of Zack’s bonuses, plus an Equipment, onto that target creature.

This design paints a scene FF fans are extremely familiar with, a moment that has been reimagined multiple times — in the first *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even new versions in *FF7 Remake*. And yet it hits with equal force here, conveyed completely through card abilities. Zack makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, who then inherits the Buster Sword as his own.

The Story Behind the Card

Some necessary backstory, and here is your *FF7* spoiler alert: Years before the primary events of the game, Zack and Cloud are severely injured after a battle with Sephiroth. After extended imprisonment, the duo manage to escape. The entire time, Cloud is comatose, but Zack ensures to look after his comrade. They finally arrive at the edge outside Midgar before Zack is gunned down by troops. Abandoned, Cloud in that moment claims Zack’s Buster Sword and adopts the persona of a first-class SOLDIER, setting the stage for the start of *FF7*.

Simulating the Legacy on the Battlefield

On the tabletop, the card mechanics effectively let you recreate this entire event. The Buster Sword is featured as a strong piece of armament in the collection that requires three mana and grants the equipped creature +3/+2. So, for a total of six mana, you can turn Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud, Midgar Mercenary also has clear combo potential with the Buster Sword, letting you to find for an weapon card. Together, these three cards unfold as follows: You summon Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword out of your deck. Then you play and equip it to Zack.

Because of the design Zack’s sacrifice ability is designed, you can actually use it when blocking, meaning you can “block” an attack and activate it to negate the attack completely. So you can do this at a key moment, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He subsequently becomes a formidable 6/4 that, every time he deals combat damage a player, lets you pull extra cards and play two cards for free. This is just the kind of interaction alluded to when discussing “flavorful design” — not revealing the scene, but letting the mechanics evoke the memory.

Beyond the Central Synergy

But the flavor here is incredibly rich, and it extends past just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity is part of the set as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which additionally gains the type of a Mutant. This kind of suggests that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, figuratively, the SOLDIER conditioning he received, which included genetic manipulation with Jenova cells. It's a small connection, but one that cleverly ties the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter theme in the expansion.

Zack’s card does not depict his death, or Cloud’s trauma, or the stormy location where it all ends. It does not need to. *Magic* enables you to relive the legacy yourself. You choose the sacrifice. You transfer the sword on. And for a brief second, while playing a strategy game, you recall why *Final Fantasy 7* is still the most beloved game in the franchise ever made.