At PAX East 2025, Wizards of the Coast and Magic: the Gathering Final Fantasy Universes Beyond revealed new cards and mechanics coming to MTG.
On the weekend of PAX East 2025, Wizards of the Coast and Magic: the Gathering have combined forces to drop a preview panel filled with new information on the highly anticipated upcoming Final Fantasy Universes Beyond. The previous official reveal at MagicCon: Las Vegas gave fans a sneak peek at some of the card artwork featured in the new Universes Beyond set, including artwork from legendary artists from the Final Fantasy series like Yoshitaka Amano. The reveal also showcased iconic characters like Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth‘s antagonist, Sephiroth, in card form.
Producer of the Final Fantasy series, Shoichi Ichikawa, said, “This collaboration is important to us because it allows us to merge the immersive storytelling of Final Fantasy with the fun and strategic play of Magic: The Gathering,” during MagicCon: Las Vegas, in reference to the Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy crossover—and today, they’ve opened the floodgates.
Before the Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy cards and mechanics were revealed, the lead design panel introduced themselves. It was immediately clear that the four-person team behind the set includes fans of both Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy. The group consists of Zakeel Gordon, Daniel Holt, David Deveney, and principal MTG designer at Wizards of the Coast, Gavin Verhey. Together, this team built a set filled with cards they personally can’t wait to play.
Magic: the Gathering Final Fantasy Universes Beyond Mechanics
As with the MagicCon: Las Vegas teaser and Duskmourn previews, Magic: The Gathering kicked things off by revealing a host of cards and mechanics that will launch with the upcoming Final Fantasy set. The design team emphasized that the cards’ designs and functionality are directly inspired by how these elements work in the mainline Final Fantasy games. Both new and returning features will be prominent throughout the set, and the currently revealed mechanics are listed below.
Enchantment Creature — Saga: To represent Summons, Aeons, Eikons and Espers, a new card type—Enchantment Creature — Saga—has been introduced. For example, Bahamut features removal effects built into the first two lore counter phases. On the fourth turn he remains in play, he unleashes his signature Mega Flare attack and, as in Final Fantasy X, the summon then leaves the field.
Job Select – A new keyword mechanic that allows an Equipment card to assign a creature type to the equipped creature. The revealed Summoner’s Grimoire card gives the equipped creature the Shaman type. When that creature enters the battlefield or attacks, you may play another creature card for free. Adding to the Summoner flavour, if the summoned creature is an Enchantment Creature—such as the summons mentioned earlier—it can attack as well.
Hero – The Hero creature type, first introduced in the Marvel Secret Lair, will have an expanded presence in the Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set.
Transform – A mechanic recently reintroduced in Modern Horizons 3 through a set of Planeswalker cards. In the Final Fantasy set, a number of characters—such as Clive, Ifrit’s Dominus and Terra, Magical Adept—can transform into their Esper or Eikon forms once specific conditions are met.
Adventure Lands – For the first time in Magic: The Gathering history, lands will feature an Adventure side. First introduced in Wilds of Eldraine, the Adventure mechanic allows players to cast the Adventure half of a card, then later cast the other half from exile once the Adventure resolves. Zanarkand, Ancient Metropolis is the green land in this cycle. According to the Final Fantasy MTG design panel, there will be five Adventure lands in total—one for each colour—but Zanarkand is the only one revealed so far.
Legendary Artifact Crystals – A new cycle of Legendary Artifact cards, called crystals, was revealed at the PAX East Final Fantasy preview. So far, only The Darkness Crystal has been shown in full. These artifacts have built-in medallion effects, allowing spells of the corresponding colour to cost one less mana to cast. Each crystal also adds a secondary effect that reflects a core trait of its colour identity.
Meld – Another Magic: The Gathering mechanic returning for the Final Fantasy crossover is meld. Only two cards in the set feature this effect. Final Fantasy XIII‘s Vanille and Fang can meld to form Ragnarok, Divine Deliverance. Gavin Verhey noted the design team “was allowed to do anything,” and ultimately chose to include just one meld pairing in the entire expansion.
Tiered – Similar to Spree from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Tiered is a new modality mechanic. However, players can only select one mode. For instance, the Fire Magic card offers three classic options: Fire, Fira or Firaga—spells that have become staples across nearly every mainline Final Fantasy game. The mode a player chooses depends on how much mana they spend, mirroring the magic point (MP) gauge in traditional Final Fantasy gameplay. Stronger spells deplete more mana.
Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy has been five years in the making. According to the team, this is the most extensively test-played set to date. It was designed with care to reflect what plays well while remaining true to both Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy.
The design team placed special emphasis on capturing the feel of Final Fantasy within Magic: The Gathering. A great example is the newly revealed artwork for Final Fantasy‘s recurring character, Cid. All 15 versions of Cid—each from a different Final Fantasy universe—will appear in the set. For fans unsure of which game each version hails from, the specific title can be found printed in the bottom left corner of the card. The inclusion of Cid exemplifies the thoughtful attention to detail that has gone into this crossover.
For collectors, Final Fantasy will also feature a special set of cards inspired by the beloved Chocobo breeding side quest from Final Fantasy VII. These cards are exclusive to Magic: The Gathering Collector Booster packs and are designed to appeal to fans of the iconic bird companions. Among them is a single serialized card—Golden Chocobo—which will be limited to just 77 copies worldwide. The full flock, shown in a variety of colourways, can be seen below.
The PAX East 2025 panel dropped major teasers for the upcoming Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set, which is set to launch next month. The panel showcased powerful new abilities and returning mechanics that merge the worlds of Final Fantasy and Magic: The Gathering in seamless cooperation. Below, you’ll find the rest of the cards and artwork revealed by the design team—offering something for fans of every generation of Final Fantasy.
Magic: the Gathering Final Fantasy Universes Beyond will launch on June 13, 2025. More information regarding the entire set can be found on the Wizards of the Coast website.
