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A significant aspect of the charm within the Final Fantasy crossover collection for *Magic: The Gathering* is the fashion numerous cards tell well-known stories. Cards like Tidus, Blitzball Star, which offers a glimpse of the protagonist at the outset of *Final Fantasy 10*: a celebrated sports star whose key technique is a unique shot that pushes a defender aside. The gameplay rules reflect this with subtlety. Such storytelling is prevalent across the whole Final Fantasy offering, and they aren't all lighthearted tales. Some serve as heartbreaking callbacks of emotional events fans still mull over to this day.

"Emotional narratives are a central element of the Final Fantasy legacy," wrote a senior game designer on the project. "We built some broad guidelines, but ultimately, it was largely on a case-by-case level."

Though the Zack Fair isn't a top-tier card, it represents one of the release's most clever instances of storytelling by way of mechanics. It artfully reflects one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most pivotal story moments with great effect, all while leveraging some of the product's core gameplay elements. And while it doesn't spoil anything, those acquainted with the tale will instantly understand the emotional weight within it.

How It Works: Flavor in Rules

For one mana of white (the alignment of heroes) in this set, Zack Fair has a starting power and toughness of 0/1 but comes into play with a +1/+1 counter. For the cost of one generic mana, you can destroy the card to bestow another creature you control protection from destruction and move all of Zack’s markers, as well as an Equipment, onto that other creature.

This card portrays a sequence FF fans are extremely familiar with, a moment that has been reimagined throughout the years — in the first *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even alternate-timeline retellings in *FF7 Remake*. But somehow it resonates with equal force here, expressed entirely through card abilities. Zack makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, who then inherits the Buster Sword as his own.

A Spoiler for the Card

Some necessary backstory, and consider this your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are gravely wounded after a clash with Sephiroth. After extended experimentation, the friends manage to escape. During their ordeal, Cloud is delirious, but Zack vows to take care of his companion. They finally make it the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is fatally wounded by troops. Presumed dead, Cloud subsequently grabs Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the identity of a first-class SOLDIER, setting the stage for the start of *FF7*.

Simulating the Moment on the Game Board

In a game, the card mechanics essentially let you relive this iconic scene. The Buster Sword is a a strong piece of equipment in the collection that requires three mana and gives the wielding creature +3/+2. Thus, with an investment of six mana, you can turn Zack into a formidable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud Strife card also has deliberate synergy with the Buster Sword, letting you to look through your library for an equipment card. Together, these pieces play out as follows: You summon Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you cast and attach it to Zack.

Due to the way Zack’s sacrifice ability is designed, you can technically use it when blocking, meaning you can “intercept” an attack and trigger it to cancel out the attack altogether. So you can do this at any time, moving the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He is transformed into a formidable 6/4 that, whenever he deals combat damage a player, lets you pull extra cards and play two cards without paying their mana cost. This is exactly the kind of moment referred to when discussing “flavorful design” — not revealing the scene, but letting the card design make you remember.

More Than the Central Synergy

And the narrative here is oh-so-delicious, and it reaches beyond just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity is part of 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 kind of suggests that Zack’s starting +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER conditioning he underwent, which included genetic manipulation with Jenova cells. It's a subtle nod, but one that cleverly links the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter theme in the expansion.

Zack’s card doesn't show his end, or Cloud’s trauma, or the memorable location where it all ends. It doesn't have to. *Magic* enables you to reenact the moment yourself. You make the ultimate play. You pass the legacy on. And for a fleeting moment, while engaged in a strategy game, you recall why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most influential game in the saga to date.