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A core aspect of the allure within the *Final Fantasy* crossover collection for *Magic: The Gathering* lies in the fashion so many cards depict familiar tales. Take for instance the Tidus, Blitzball Star card, which gives a portrait of the hero at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a celebrated professional athlete whose secret weapon is a fancy shot that knocks a defender out of the way. The abilities reflect this with subtlety. This type of narrative is found across the complete Final Fantasy offering, and they aren't all fun and games. Several are somber callbacks of sad moments fans still mull over years after.

"Moving stories are a vital component of the Final Fantasy series," wrote a principal designer for the set. "The team established some broad guidelines, but in the end, it was mostly on a individual basis."

Even though the Zack Fair card may not be a top-tier card, it represents one of the set's most refined pieces of flavor through mechanics. It artfully captures one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most pivotal cinematic moments with great effect, all while leveraging some of the set's central systems. And while it doesn't spoil anything, those acquainted with the saga will immediately grasp the emotional weight within it.

The Mechanics: A Narrative in Play

At a cost of one white mana (the hue of good) in this set, Zack Fair enters with a base stat line of 0/1 but enters with a +1/+1 counter. For the cost of one colorless mana, you can destroy the card to give another unit you control protection from destruction and put all of Zack’s counters, as well as an Equipment, onto that other creature.

These mechanics portrays a sequence FF fans are all too know well, a moment that has been revisited throughout the years — in the original *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even reimagined iterations in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it resonates powerfully here, communicated solely through card abilities. Zack gives his life to save Cloud, who then picks up the Buster Sword as his own.

The Story Behind the Moment

For context, and consider this your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are gravely wounded after a battle with Sephiroth. Following extended testing, the duo get away. The entire time, Cloud is comatose, but Zack vows to take care of his friend. They eventually make it 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 elite SOLDIER, leading directly into the start of *FF7*.

Playing Out the Moment on the Battlefield

In a game, the card mechanics effectively let you relive this iconic event. The Buster Sword is a a strong piece of gear in the set that costs three mana and grants the wielding creature +3/+2. Therefore, using six mana, you can turn Zack into a solid 4/6 with the Buster Sword wielded.

The Cloud Strife card also has clear interaction with the Buster Sword, letting you to find for an weapon card. In combination, these three cards function like this: You play Zack, and he receives the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you play and equip it to Zack.

Due to the manner Zack’s signature action is designed, you can potentially use it when blocking, meaning you can “intercept” an attack and activate it to negate the damage altogether. This allows you to make this play at a key moment, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He then becomes a powerful 6/4 that, whenever he deals combat damage a player, lets you gain card advantage and cast two cards at no cost. This is exactly the kind of interaction referred to when talking about “emotional resonance” — not spoiling the scene, but letting the mechanics evoke the memory.

Extending Past the Main Synergy

However, the thematic here is oh-so-delicious, and it goes further than just this combo. 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 additionally gains the type of a Mutant. This sort of hints that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, symbolically, the SOLDIER enhancement he received, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. This is a tiny reference, but one that implicitly ties the entire SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter mechanic in the expansion.

Zack’s card doesn't show his demise, or Cloud’s trauma, or the rain-soaked bluff where it all ends. It does not need to. *Magic* allows you to reenact the legacy for yourself. You perform the sacrifice. You transfer the weapon on. And for a brief second, while engaged in a trading card game, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* is still the most beloved game in the franchise to date.