One FF7 Magic: The Gathering card proves Universes Beyond can tell meaningful stories

A major part of the charm that comes with Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set is the way so many of the cards tell familiar stories. Tidus, Blitzball Star gives us a snapshot of the character at the very start of Final Fantasy 10: he’s a wildly famous pro athlete whose secret weapon is a fancy Blitzball shot that knocks a defender out of the way. The card’s mechanics reflect that in nuanced ways. These kinds of stories are all over the Final Fantasy set, and not all of them are fun and games. Some of them remind us of tragedies we still mull over decades later.