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A significant part of the allure within the Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set for *Magic: The Gathering* comes from the fashion so many cards tell familiar stories. Cards like Tidus, Blitzball Star, which offers a portrait of the protagonist at the outset of *Final Fantasy 10*: a wildly famous professional athlete whose signature move is a unique shot that knocks a defender out of the way. The card's mechanics represent this perfectly. This type of narrative is found across the complete Final Fantasy offering, and not all fun and games. A number act as poignant reminders of tragedies fans continue to reflect on to this day.

"Emotional stories are a key element of the Final Fantasy series," wrote a lead designer on the project. "The team established some general rules, but finally, it was primarily on a individual basis."

Though the Zack Fair isn't a competitive powerhouse, it represents one of the set's most elegant pieces of narrative design via gameplay. It artfully reflects one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most important dramatic moments with great effect, all while capitalizing on some of the expansion's central systems. And even if it avoids revealing anything, those who know the saga will quickly recognize the meaning embedded in it.

How It Works: A Narrative in Play

At a cost of one white mana (the color of good) in this set, Zack Fair has a base power and toughness of 0/1 but enters with a +1/+1 marker. For the cost of one colorless mana, you can sacrifice the card to grant another unit you control indestructible and transfer all of Zack’s markers, as well as an artifact weapon, onto that chosen creature.

This card paints a sequence FF fans are very remember, a moment that has been revisited multiple times — in the classic *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even new versions in *FF7 Remake*. Yet it lands with equal force here, communicated entirely through gameplay mechanics. Zack gives his life to save Cloud, who then takes up the Buster Sword as his own.

A Spoiler for the Scene

A bit of history, and consider this your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the primary events of the game, Zack and Cloud are gravely wounded after a battle with Sephiroth. Following years of imprisonment, the pair break free. The entire time, Cloud is barely conscious, but Zack vows to protect his companion. They eventually make it the plains outside Midgar before Zack is killed by Shinra soldiers. Left behind, Cloud then takes up Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the identity of a elite SOLDIER, which leads right into the start of *FF7*.

Playing Out the Moment on the Battlefield

Through gameplay, the card mechanics essentially let you reenact this whole event. The Buster Sword appears as a strong piece of equipment in the collection that costs three mana and provides the wielding creature +3/+2. Thus, with an investment of six mana, you can turn Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword equipped.

The Cloud Strife card also has clear interaction with the Buster Sword, allowing you to find for an equipment card. When used in tandem, these three cards function as follows: You summon Zack, and he gets the +1/+1 counter. Then you cast Cloud to pull the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you summon and give it to Zack.

Due to the way Zack’s key mechanic is worded, you can technically use it during combat, meaning you can “block” an attack and activate it to cancel out the damage completely. This allows you to perform this action at a key moment, passing the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He is transformed into a powerful 6/4 that, every time he does damage a player, lets you draw two cards and play two cards for free. This is exactly the kind of moment referred to when talking about “flavorful design” — not revealing the scene, but letting the mechanics trigger the recollection.

Beyond the Obvious Combo

But the narrative here is deeply satisfying, and it goes beyond just this combo. The Jenova, Ancient Calamity appears in the set as a creature that, at the start of combat, puts a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which additionally gains the type of a Mutant. This kind of implies that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, figuratively, the SOLDIER enhancement he received, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. It's a small reference, but one that implicitly connects the entire SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter theme in the set.

This design does not depict his death, or Cloud’s trauma, or the memorable cliff where it happens. It doesn't have to. *Magic* lets you recreate the passing yourself. You make the ultimate play. You pass the legacy on. And for a short instant, while engaged in a card battle, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* remains the most influential game in the saga for many fans.