Summary
- Final Fantasy UB set introduces Jumbo Cactuar with +9,999 power – breaking MTG’s power limit.
- Jumbo Cactuar combos can one-shot players across different formats; a potential game-changer.
- Existing MTG cards offer one-shot mechanics, but Jumbo Cactuar challenges fundamental rules.
Despite the fact that Magic: The Gathering just released its death race Aetherdrift set and the next one in chronological order will be Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Wizards of the Coast already started some card previews for its June Universes Beyond set based on the characters and worlds of Final Fantasy. Magic: The Gathering‘s Universes Beyond sets are Standard-legal starting this year, which is a big departure from WotC’s original stance, and it will likely have some kind of impact on the format. Still, the Final Fantasy x MTG crossover is highly anticipated by some fans, and the reveals already include an interesting and possibly broken card.
It’s not uncommon for new Magic: The Gathering sets to include some cards that are considered overpowered or at least potentially meta-defining, and the upcoming Final Fantasy UB set is no different. One such card could be Cecil, Dark Knight, which costs 1 Black mana for a 2/3 Legendary Creature with Deathtouch, but it arguably has a downside that is not necessarily its Darkness ability, but the fact that one can’t have multiple copies of this card on the battlefield at once. However, another card defies many rules of the game, at least conceptually, and that is Jumbo Cactuar.
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Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy UB Set Introduces 10,000 Power Creature
There are many great Final Fantasy bosses and enemies that can be adapted to Magic: The Gathering, and Jumbo Cactuar is an interesting choice. This card costs five colorless and two Green mana (seven CMC total), and at base, it is a 1/7 with no keywords. However, it comes with the ability 10,000 Needles, which makes it gain +9,999 power until the end of the turn whenever it attacks. This is an incredible feat for MTG, as even the biggest Green creatures in the game are not remotely near the potential power of Jumbo Cactuar.
The +9,999 power is a fun easter egg because players couldn’t deal more than 9,999 damage with any single hit to monsters in FF8.
With many formats revolving around 20 life, dealing 10,000 damage is way overkill, and it’s most likely there for flavor since Final Fantasy‘s Jumbo Cactuar also has an attack called 10,000 Needles that deals that much damage to one party member. However, it’s worth noting that this card will be Standard-legal in MTG and it can be used in formats like Commander too, where card combos with it can get pretty wild. Some combos include:
- Fling – 2 CMC, Instant, requires the user to sacrifice a creature and then deals damage equal to its power to any target
- Greater Good – 4 CMC, Enchantment, makes the owner draw cards equal to the power of any creature sacrificed to trigger this effect
- Goblin Tunneler – 2 CMC, 1/1 Creature, it can be tapped to make target creature with power 2 or less unblockable for the turn, which would apply before combat
- Escape Tunnel – Land, it can be tapped and sacrificed alongside paying 2 colorless mana to make target creature unblockable for the turn
How Final Fantasy’s Jumbo Cactuar Breaks Magic: The Gathering
There are many possible combos for Jumbo Cactuar to become a broken MTG card. It is also the Creature in Magic: The Gathering with the highest possible power on its own, without infinite combos, which is nothing to scoff at for a game that has been around for over 30 years.
One could argue that Jumbo Cactuar is not broken at all, and that there are already some very powerful cards that can single-handedly win a game even without 10,000 power, and that is true. For example, Master of Cruelties makes a player’s life total equal to 1 whenever it attacks and is not blocked, making cards like MTG‘s Lightning Bolt a finisher. Likewise, Phage the Untouchable has an ability that makes any player who is dealt damage by this card lose the game outright.
As such, this Final Fantasy card in Magic: The Gathering is not necessarily the most broken ever, but it does break some fundamental rules – like the fact that even the infamous B. F. M. (Big Furry Monster) from the satirical Unglued set “only” gets 99 power. With some existing combos, Jumbo Cactuar could easily one-shot players in many formats, which is both hilarious and terrifying – especially now that UB sets are Standard-legal.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
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August 5, 1993
- Designer
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Richard Garfield
- Player Count
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2+
- Age Recommendation
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13+