Strongest Cards in the Game (In My Mind)

Hey guys, Eureka here with a little article detailing some of my thoughts about the strongest cards in the game. I don’t really think that this kind of content is as helpful as it is fun, but I hope you enjoy it. As always, everything I write here is my own opinion. Nothing here is listed in any particular order (other than Al-Cid) and I may have skipped over some great cards because I just don’t feel they are as strong as the ones on here, or because I might have missed them when glancing over the card pool to write this.

Just Strong

Al-Cid

If there is a 10/10 card in the game it is Al-Cid. Some of his popular Link targets are Onion Knight (Sage), Rygdea, OP4 Black Waltz 3, and Zalbaag, all of which except the last combo with his 6000 burn to finish off an opposing Forward. Sometimes overlooked, Al-Cid’s real strength is not simply removing an opposing Forward, but allowing you to develop not just 1, but 2 of your own Forwards while doing so. He is a staple in all Lightning decks, and is probably the biggest reason to play Lightning in general.

Genesis

While he pales in comparison to Chapters’ Aldo, Genesis has made a very big splash in the Opus series, with good reason. His first auto ability offers on-demand Dull and Freeze, he’s a great target for Devout, and he applies pretty significant pressure to your opponent by threatening Discard every turn. A little less obvious is that he is Category 7, meaning he can be tutored by Jessie (though this is off-Color) and activates Cloud-H’s 7000 burn. A very strong card in general that we can expect to see play until his effect is power creeped.

Cagnazzo

The turtle from hell, Cagnazzo really has no business existing. It was pretty abundantly clear that the existence of Cagnazzo really gave Mono Water an edge that many of us (myself included) didn’t expect it to have from the start of Opus 3. Cag could easily slide down into the category of cards I talk about later in this article “Meta Warpers” as his mere existence makes you play differently against Mono Water, but he is not as situational as the others (in my opinion) and belongs up here with the others. As time goes on the amount of ways you can Cag combo the board will increase, though I expect that eventually he will be powercreeped by first and foremost other forms of removal, but also by the amount of cards on the field decreasing as cards become more CP efficient over time and the speed of games increasing as a result.

Vivi

Vivi is very similar to Al-Cid, like they are opposing sides of the same coin. Vivi main drawback is that his burn is variable but operates without comboing another card, while Al-Cid offers fixed burn but must combo with another card. Either way, they are both incredibly powerful. Vivi’s burn soft caps at 9000 (5 cards in opponent’s hand) which is more than plenty. The main counterplay around Vivi is your opponent playing cards on your turn to reduce the potency of his burn, but this is usually a win since you force your opponent to use cards, and the opposing Forward can often be finished off with a small burn anyways. I think if Vivi has a way to be cheated in outside of Zargabaath or Ghis in the future, we’ll see some pretty exciting developments with him, and he may be played more and more as formats become faster because medium sized CP efficient Forwards will thrive.  

Zidane

The most guaranteed CP efficient card in the game by far, Zidane weighs in at a net 2 CP for 7000, which is absolutely incredible. Previous to his release Serah was the benchmark for what CP efficient Forward should like look and Zidane boasts an extra 1000 Power, 1 less CP and can be tutored by multiple cards. His Light Element is generally the only thing that could be considered bad about him, as he doesn’t receive Power boosts from Elemental boosters, but it also unlocked the possibility for Water/Light to exist in Opus 3.

Lightning

The most offensive power printed on a card, ever. Unfortunately Lightning Element Category 13 cards (Noel, Maqui, Gilgamesh, Rygdea) aren’t exactly well-suited to the type of play Lightning offers, so at the moment she is mostly relegated to being used exclusively for finishing power in Mono Lightning or forced you to shoehorn Category 13 cards from other Elements into your deck as well. Ice does this pretty well with Mog XII-2, Serah, Jihl Nabaat, and potentially Snow, but is (and always has been) really stressed for space in the Forward lineup due to the abundance of strong 4 CP Forwards, leaving less room for multiple Lightnings. I believe that next set with Cat13 support we’ll get the boost we need to really see her for the monster that she is, though she is already plenty strong right now.

Shiva

I don’t think this card should cost 2. Shiva’s existence means that to successfully defend against Ice decks you need to have a minimum of 3 blockers (or activation, anti-dull effects, etc), which is absolutely nuts especially when backed with the likes of Genesis, Locke, Laguna L, and Celes with their on-damage abilities. Not necessarily a 3-of in Ice, but absolutely a fantastic card.

Meta Warpers

The Emperor

Perhaps the biggest offender on this list, The Emperor completely stifles certain playstyles. I have been in many an argument with others on the competitive viability and prioritization The Emperor should hold at any point in time, but I think that with the drop of Opus 4 (which introduced or re-introduced into the meta Act ability reliant cards, especially Monsters) we have finally reached a stage of the game in which The Emperor can be reliably put in most or all decks without fear of him having little to no impact on your opponent’s game plan. Every deck needs to account for and have checks against The Emperor; most Elements have pretty versatile tech that can cover this, and his slot priority since the launch of the set has steadily declined as a result.

Shantotto

The OG meta warper, Shantotto is a big fat reset button on the Forward side of the boardstate. However, Shantotto’s potency as a card has declined pretty substantially since her release; she doesn’t cover Monsters, Backup prioritization is crucial against everything but Shelke and Ice variants, and she doesn’t combat CP efficient Forwards as well as one would like. At any rate, her existence means that when you play against any slower deck you should be aware that they may splash Earth specifically to enable Shantotto; we can see this especially in the ‘Mono’ Water variants (札幌スペシャル) that have been so successful in Japan.

Minwu

There is a lot less to say about Minwu than the other meta warpers. He blocks anything but lethal damage, which really hurts the viability of certain Mono Lightning and Fire variants. As long as Al-Cid is around I can’t imagine him not being viable at least, but he is not as potent as he is given credit for nowadays. Lightning has a lot of workarounds between Black Waltz 2, Cyclops, and Opus 2 Black Mage, and Fire can easily play bigger burns or just swing with big Forwards instead.

Yuna

Yuna’s effect to remove Forwards completely nullifies a whole host of powerful cards, including but not limited to Golbez L, Rinoa, Clione, Black Waltz 2, Moogle H, etc while soft countering cards like Devout and Golbez H. The main reason Yuna H does not see as much universal play is that her name competes with Yuna R, which is generally seen as the more useful Yuna. Still, Yuna H can be very potent in a variety of matchups, especially when paired with Garnet’s summon artillery (ie Chaos Walker). Her EX Burst and bounce effect can completely swing some games as well.

Zalera, the Death Seraph

The Mono Water Killer, Zalera gave Ice/Lightning its first footing in Opus 3 with Novel’s victory at Masters Yokohama. The card singlehandedly countered Mono Water and prevented the archetype from completely sweeping tournaments for a long while, forcing them into a lot of less-optimal tech choices like Astrologian, Fairy, and Ashe. I think the card will continue to see play in most Ice decks as at least a 1-of for a long time to come, but it may depend on the speed of the deck and the relative strength of it compared to other tech choices for the Element in coming sets.

Honorable Mentions

Bartz

Bartz almost has all the firepower one could ever want, but he’s just not quite there. 5 Jobs (4 extra) is not insanely difficult, but can sometimes force your deckbuilding into some suboptimal choices. Still, with 3 Jobs he is doing fine as a 3 CP 6k Haste First Strike (we would probably play this normally if it was printed text), but at 5 Jobs he is just a monster, swinging twice at 9000. Taking on extra Jobs means he can benefit from a tribal boosts, namely Arc (Standard Unit Job), Chocobo (from Black Chocobo + Fat Chocobo synergy), Knight (Ovelia boost), and Warrior of Light (Warrior of Light reduced damage synergy).

Llednar

Actually the most annoying card in the game. Can you believe than in Chapters you had to pay 3 instead of 2 to negate his effect? He’s always great to place on the board, whether you already have presence or are losing on it. He essentially comes out for free most of the time, since they will have to pay 2 CP to kill him. Analytically speaking he is a net 4 CP 5000 Forward that buys you 2 CP from your opponent every time *anything* would happen to him. As such, his CP efficiency grows the more you can force your opponent to interact with him, which is, if nothing else, an interesting dynamic. As ways to interact in Fire grow I expect his potency to grow accordingly. Power reduction is his main drawback and the current meta is teeming with it, with (Black Waltz 3, Black Mage, Cagnazzo, and Cuchulainn; as it goes I expect he will see more play.   

Locke

If only we had more Cat VI backups, Locke would be a total monster. As it stands he is still my favorite card and a very potent threat. The fact that you (almost) always have to play another Cat VI Forward before Locke, or concurrently with him means he can’t really shine the way you want him to (being the first Forward you toss out efficiently) at the current time. If we ever reach a time when Mono Ice or another variant can toss efficiently toss down Locke on turn 2 (2 Backup t1 -> Gest Cid and Locke t2) and have his auto ability fire off, we are in for a world of trouble. He is a strong card now but has the potential to become a staple if things go well for VI in future sets. 

Onion Knight

CP Efficient, versatile, defensive options, offensive options, great art, what more could you desire from this card? The answer is if it didn’t hurt your deckbuilding as much as it does. Onion Knight is an efficient, incredibly potent threat which can be likened to Al-Cid in some ways (remember removing a Forward and developing one at the same time?) but just has too many conditions attached to him to really sit at the top of these charts. If all of his conditions are fulfilled (target for ETB auto in Break, Sage Onion Knight in deck, no Minwu, no Emperor) successfully he is a total beast though, and as the number of good targets for his ETB grow I expect it will be easier to slot him into decks. 

Edea

Edea promotes Backup prioritization, can deal with threats that Mono Lightning can otherwise struggle with (Cecil L, Emperor Xande, Warrior of Light L, etc), and has EX Burst all at the same time. She’s just a great card. Her main drawbacks are that she is relatively small and sometimes her EX can flop.

Maria

I used to refer to Maria as the only reason to play Wind. While this is an obvious overstatement nowadays (since Opus 2 really), Maria is still one of the most potent Backups and an obvious choice for decks dipping into Wind. Power boosting is very important in this game (not an obvious fact for beginners) and Maria is one of the most consistent, safest ways to get it done.  

Rinoa

Before Opus 4 I would have listed Rinoa up with the other cards, and while she is still an incredibly explosive, game-turning card, she’s a bit easier to deal with than she used to be and her slot as a 3 CP Ice Forward has heavy competition with the likes of other potent 3 CPs (Serah, Locke, Zidane, Cloud H, Shelke, etc) and Zalera doesn’t cover as much of the meta as it did in Opus 3. Still, she can singlehandedly flip a gamestate on its head and cause otherwise impossible games to be won, and deserves a mention accordingly.