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A core element of the charm within the *Final Fantasy* Universes Beyond set for *Magic: The Gathering* lies in the way countless cards tell well-known narratives. Consider the Tidus, Blitzball Star card, which provides a snapshot of the hero at the outset of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose secret weapon is a fancy shot that takes a defender aside. The card's mechanics reflect this perfectly. These kinds of storytelling is prevalent across the entire Final Fantasy set, and not all lighthearted tales. Several act as somber reminders of emotional events fans remember vividly years after.

"Emotional narratives are a vital element of the Final Fantasy legacy," noted a senior game designer on the set. "The team established some general rules, but ultimately, it was primarily on a case-by-case basis."

Even though the Zack Fair card is not a top-tier card, it stands as one of the release's most elegant pieces of storytelling via rules. It skillfully echoes one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most important dramatic moments with great effect, all while capitalizing on some of the expansion's core systems. And while it steers clear of spoiling anything, those familiar with the saga will immediately grasp the meaning behind it.

The Card's Design: Flavor in Rules

At a cost of one mana of white (the alignment of good) in this collection, Zack Fair is a starting stat line of 0/1 but arrives with a +1/+1 counter. For the cost of one generic mana, you can remove from play the card to bestow another creature you control indestructible and move all of Zack’s markers, along with an Equipment, onto that chosen creature.

This design paints a scene FF fans are all too familiar with, a moment that has been revisited throughout the years — in the first *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even alternate-timeline iterations in *FF7 Remake*. And yet it lands powerfully here, communicated 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 Scene

For history, and here is your *FF7* warning: Years before the primary events of the game, Zack and Cloud are left for dead after a confrontation with Sephiroth. Following years of imprisonment, the duo get away. During their ordeal, Cloud is comatose, but Zack vows to look after his companion. They eventually reach the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is fatally wounded by troops. Left behind, Cloud subsequently grabs Zack’s Buster Sword and takes on the identity of a first-class SOLDIER, leading directly into the start of *FF7*.

Playing Out the Passing of the Torch on the Tabletop

Through gameplay, the abilities in essence let you recreate this iconic sequence. The Buster Sword is featured as a top-tier piece of armament in the collection that requires three mana and provides the equipped creature +3/+2. So, for a total of six mana, you can make Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud, Midgar Mercenary also has deliberate combo potential with the Buster Sword, allowing you to find for an weapon card. Together, these pieces play out like this: You summon Zack, and he receives the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you cast and attach it to Zack.

Owing to the way Zack’s signature action is structured, you can technically use it during combat, meaning you can “intercept” an attack and trigger it to negate the damage entirely. This allows you to do this at a key moment, transferring the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He then becomes a formidable 6/4 that, each time he deals combat damage a player, lets you gain card advantage and play two cards without paying their mana cost. This is exactly the kind of moment meant when talking about “emotional resonance” — not revealing the scene, but letting the card design evoke the memory.

More Than the Obvious Combo

However, the flavor here is oh-so-delicious, and it extends past just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova card appears in 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 sort of implies that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER conditioning he underwent, which included modification with Jenova cells. This is a tiny connection, but one that cleverly ties the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter ecosystem in the expansion.

This design does not depict his end, or Cloud’s breakdown, or the stormy cliff where it happens. It isn't necessary. *Magic* enables you to reenact the legacy for yourself. You perform the ultimate play. You hand over the weapon on. And for a fleeting moment, while playing a card battle, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* is still the most beloved game in the saga ever made.