At Summer Game Fest Play Days, I had the chance to sit down with Daniel Holt (FINAL FANTASY Senior Game Designer) and Steve Sunu (Senior Product Designer, Secret Lair) for a quick chat about the much-anticipated Magic: the Gathering x Final Fantasy collaboration and to check out the current and upcoming Secret Lair drops. Legit, as soon as I saw that Wizards of the Coast was announced as a Summer Game Fest partner, I was excited. The hype around the FINAL FANTASY set reminded me of the old days when I’d be anxious to grab the latest copy of Wizard or InQuest in hopes of news or even previews of cards for upcoming sets. Nowadays, it was an opportunity to check out any websites, outlets, or streamers announcing they had exclusive FINAL FANTASY cards to unveil.
Going 1-1 Against Daniel Holt
I’ve been playing Magic: The Gathering since either Weatherlight or Visions. I devoured the (now) old-school books like the Artifacts Cycle and the Ice Age Cycle. I’ve been hoping that one day Galloping Ghost in Chicago, IL will unearth Magic: The Gathering – Armageddon since they’ve managed to track down legitimately some of the rarest arcade cabinets in the world. Needless to say, I’ve been in the Magic: The Gathering trenches for a good minute. I provided a more condensed version of this when Daniel asked about my skill level and experience. His station was set up with the starter kit in a way that newcomers could quickly jump in, but we opted to shuffle up and play a couple of rounds.
It wasn’t so much an in-depth interview as it was a moment to gush about this set (and draw two). We chatted about which FINAL FANTASY was our favorite – FFX is Daniel’s, and mine is FF6 – and about making sure that iconic moments (suplexing the train, Chairith, the laughing scene, etc) were represented in the cards. Almost as a punctuation, he cast Sephiroth’s Intervention to take out one of my creatures. I mentioned that while, of course, there would be a focus on the heavy hitters, the set has so many deep cuts – I wasn’t expecting Siegfried, Queen Brahne, or Bartz to receive cards. I asked Daniel about what was the deciding factor to include a card in either the main set or the FINAL FANTASY: Through the Ages bonus sheet, and it came down to whether they could leverage an existing card that made sense. Yuffie Kisaragi, with the Commander ninjutsu mechanic, was a perfect example. I got land flooded for my first game, and won the second game. Unfortunately, we were out of time, so we’ll have to save the rubber match for next time.
Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair Has So Many Bangers
I also got a chance to talk with Steve Sunu about the Secret Lair x FINAL FANTASY drops and an overview of Secret Lair. He pointed me towards the screen that showcased the Game Over, Grimoire, and Weapons drops, and he started to go through a binder that was a history of Secret Lair. As a sidenote, it was beyond cool to be able to pick up and hold some of these cards. This segued into an explanation of how Secret Lair is an opportunity for Magic: The Gathering to branch out and experiment with collaborations that might not necessarily fit into a main set but would resonate with players. It’s a goal with Secret Lair to help players find their next favorite Magic: The Gathering card or different ways to express themselves.
I was aware of some of the Secret Lair drops, such as their collaborations with Junji Ito, Spongebob Squarepants, and The Walking Dead, but I was shocked that they collaborated with Yoji Shinkawa and John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats. Steve explained that since John isn’t an artist, he instead composed a poem featured across 10 Mountains and selected artists to illustrate it. With each flip of the binder, Steve would call attention to something different, like the technology involved in the raised foil treatments of Everything Is On Fire, or the Diabolical Dioramas collaboration, where artist Laura Plansker built each card as an actual diorama first. When we reached the Monty Python set, Steve explained that Secret Lair is also an opportunity to showcase some of the more humorous or whimsical sides of Magic. He said it was the most full-circle moment to have the Prodigal Sorcerer as “Tim the Enchanter.”
Magic: The Goodies
We were provided with a swag bag that contained FINAL FANTASY boosters, a playmat, posters, commander sleeves, and so much more. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any of the chase pulls like Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant, or Lightning, Army of One, but I did laugh pretty hard at pulling a foil Gongaga. Let me know in the comments if you’ve got any epic pulls or how you’re liking the set!
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