Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy previews began in earnest at the weekend, with the PAX East Debut Showcase providing us plenty of cards to gush over. Among the cards previewed were a number of saucy adds for RW Equipment decks. As a Boros Equipment enthusiast in Commander, I have some thoughts.
BOROS EQUIPMENT STRATEGIES IN FINAL FANTASY
We saw Cloud, Planet’s Champion a little while back. He’s one of the mythics in the Intro decks, sat across from Sephiroth. As such, his design isn’t exactly pushing the envelope. That said, double strike and indestructible during your turn? Equipment costing (2) less to equip? That’s actually some pretty interesting text.
It reminds me a lot of Zamriel, Seraph of Steel. Running this kind of creature in the command zone opens you up to playing more cheap symmetrical wraths.
By making them asymmetrical, you can really open the board up. It also, of course, makes attacking a lot easier. We’ve seen how expensive Commanders that reduce equip costs can be deceptively good even in 2025 (hello, Syr Gwyn!), so I’m not counting out Cloud just because he’s in an intro deck.
EQUIPMENT LOVERS ON CLOUD NINE
The real Cloud that lit hearts this weekend was Cloud, Midgar Mercenary. If you play equipment decks, you’re going to have to see this one. It’s a legendary Stoneforge Mystic, finally. While it doesn’t have the tap ability to drop an equipment into play, it has something that is arguably better… any time Cloud is equipped, his triggers and his equipment triggers are doubled.
This is extremely powerful – just think about getting extra triggers from Sword of Feast and Famine, or Umezawa’s Jitte – and it’s a serious push to give Equipment decks new powerful synergy creatures at a low mana cost. Not to mention a good Commander in general, for all you Final Fantasy VII fans.
The hits didn’t stop coming for Boros Equipment, though. Firion, Wild Rose Warrior already reads pretty well as a 3/3 for three that grants haste to your equipped creatures. What makes him compelling, though, is that second ability. Whenever you have a nontoken Equipment enter, you get a token copy, except the equip abilities cost (2) less to activate.
That is really good. It means you’re going to get potential double-dips on Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Hearth and Home – hell, any sword – not to mention, on equipment like Nettlecyst. Double hastey Nettlecyst is a lot of damage.
This one is also great with Sunforger, actually. Firion nets you a temporary second Sunforger, with the chance to tutor a spell for 1RW total. Sunforger fans: stay winning.
But how do you draw into all those sweet equipment? Well, Gilgamesh, Master–at–Arms is here to dig deep. It’s rare that Red decks get draw like this, especially when it’s also mana advantage, and doesn’t use the exile zone like impulsive draw. On entering or attacking, Gilgamesh can sling any number of equipment from your top six cards into play. You even get to auto-equip one of them to a Samurai, if you have one, which can be Gilgamesh or someone else.
This is serious card and mana advantage. You love to see it.
BIG SWINGS WITH BOROS
Outside of equipment decks, we got a sweet Aerith Gainsborough card. She’ll get larger over time, before dying to help your team grow. This is obviously better with a sac outlet, because if she dies in a board wipe, who are you putting the counters on? Tajic? Well, I guess that could work. RW isn’t the home of +1/+1 counters, but it can make it work, and it is good at doing Legendary Creatures and lifegain.
Ben Starr fans will be pleased with Clive from FFXVI. Getting to discard your hand and draw equal to your devotion to red can be a great source of card selection for Boros decks that keep their hands topped up or play Land Tax and Gift of Estates. Where he’s going to excel is in Mono Red, though.
I’m bowled over by some of this art. I’ve never even played a Final Fantasy and it looks sick.
DECISIVE VICTORY WITH LIGHTNING, ARMY OF ONE
Perhaps the most exciting card of the initial reveals for Boros nuts is Lightning, Army of One. Just like I was really high on Kassandra, Eagle Bearer from ACR, I’m similarly hyped by Lightning. Both warrior ladies are powerful three drops, but they do slightly different things.
Lightning is a more difficult nut to crack – do you go wide, do you play equipment? What about evasion? Well, there are many directions when it comes to building her, but I’m hyped to dig out some great Boros cards that synergize incredibly well with her.
If you’re wanting to end games quickly, Taunt from the Rampart is going to be insanely good. It’ll allow you to get by unblocked, and then allow your goaded opponents free reign to “enjoy” your damage doubling effect on whoever you painted a target on. Nasty!
People might well politic around it though, so pick up a copy of Waves of Aggression. It’s an extra combat spell that you can just keep replaying if you have a land to discard. You also want to lean into giving her double strike, so that you can get even more value out of her. Duelist’s Heritage is a great one, as it means that you can really pressure the archenemy by granting double strike to opposing creatures attacking the player you already tagged.
END STEP
Whether you’re a long-time Boros addict or you’re looking to dip into a RW deck, Final Fantasy looks to be offering a hell of a lot for us red-white fans. RW decks are my favourite way to play, and I can’t wait to dig into this set. What are you excited to brew with? Let us know on socials.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.