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A significant element of the appeal of the Final Fantasy crossover collection for *Magic: The Gathering* is the way so many cards narrate familiar stories. Consider Tidus, Blitzball Star, which gives a glimpse of the hero at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose key technique is a fancy shot that knocks a defender aside. The card's mechanics mirror this with subtlety. These kinds of storytelling is widespread across the entire Final Fantasy offering, and not all fun and games. Some serve as poignant echoes of tragedies fans still mull over years after.

"Emotional tales are a central part of the Final Fantasy franchise," noted a principal designer for the set. "They created some overarching principles, but ultimately, it was primarily on a individual basis."

Though the Zack Fair card isn't a tournament staple, it represents one of the set's most clever pieces of storytelling through gameplay. It skillfully captures one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most pivotal dramatic moments brilliantly, all while leveraging some of the expansion's core gameplay elements. And while it avoids revealing anything, those familiar with the story will quickly recognize the meaning within it.

The Mechanics: A Narrative in Play

At a cost of one mana of white (the alignment of protagonists) in this set, Zack Fair enters with a starting stat line of 0/1 but comes into play with a +1/+1 token. By paying one colorless mana, you can sacrifice the card to bestow another unit you control indestructible and move all of Zack’s counters, along with an gear, onto that chosen creature.

These mechanics depicts a moment FF fans are very remember, a moment that has been revisited multiple times — in the classic *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even new iterations in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it lands powerfully here, communicated completely through rules text. Zack sacrifices himself to save Cloud, who then picks up the Buster Sword as his own.

A Spoiler for the Moment

For context, and here is your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are severely injured after a battle with Sephiroth. After extended experimentation, the duo get away. Throughout this period, Cloud is delirious, but Zack makes sure to take care of his friend. They eventually arrive at the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is fatally wounded by forces. Presumed dead, Cloud then takes up Zack’s Buster Sword and adopts the role of a first-class SOLDIER, which leads right into the start of *FF7*.

Reenacting the Passing of the Torch on the Tabletop

Through gameplay, the rules essentially let you relive this whole sequence. The Buster Sword is featured as a strong piece of gear in the set that requires three mana and grants the equipped creature +3/+2. Therefore, using six mana, you can make Zack into a formidable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud Strife card also has clear interaction with the Buster Sword, letting you to search your deck for an artifact card. In combination, these three cards play out in this way: You cast Zack, and he gains the +1/+1 counter. Then you play Cloud to retrieve the Buster Sword out of your deck. Then you summon and give it to Zack.

Due to the way Zack’s signature action is worded, you can potentially use it when blocking, meaning you can “block” an assault and activate it to prevent the damage completely. This allows you to make this play at a key moment, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He is transformed into a strong 6/4 that, whenever he deals combat damage a player, lets you gain card advantage and cast two spells for free. This is just the kind of experience alluded to when discussing “flavorful design” — not spoiling the scene, but letting the card design evoke the memory.

More Than the Central Synergy

However, the narrative here is deeply satisfying, and it reaches past just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova card 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 sort of hints that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER conditioning he received, which included genetic manipulation with Jenova cells. It's a tiny reference, but one that cleverly ties the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter ecosystem in the set.

Zack’s card does not depict his demise, or Cloud’s trauma, or the rain-soaked bluff where it all ends. It isn't necessary. *Magic* allows you to reenact the moment personally. You perform the ultimate play. You hand over the legacy on. And for a brief second, while engaged in a strategy game, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* remains the most influential game in the saga ever made.