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A significant part of the appeal found in the Final Fantasy crossover collection for *Magic: The Gathering* is the fashion so many cards narrate iconic stories. Consider Tidus, Blitzball Star, which provides a portrait of the character at the beginning of *Final Fantasy 10*: a renowned professional athlete whose secret weapon is a fancy shot that takes a defender out of the way. The gameplay rules represent this perfectly. Such storytelling is prevalent throughout the complete Final Fantasy offering, and some are not fun and games. Some serve as heartbreaking callbacks of sad moments fans remember vividly to this day.

"Moving narratives are a key component of the Final Fantasy series," wrote a lead game designer for the set. "The team established some overarching principles, but ultimately, it was mostly on a individual basis."

Though the Zack Fair is not a competitive powerhouse, it represents one of the collection's most clever instances of narrative design by way of mechanics. It skillfully echoes one of *Final Fantasy 7*'s most pivotal story moments brilliantly, all while capitalizing on some of the expansion's core systems. And although it steers clear of spoiling anything, those who know the tale will instantly understand the emotional weight behind it.

How It Works: Story Through Gameplay

At a cost of one mana of white (the alignment of protagonists) in this set, Zack Fair enters with a starting stat line of 0/1 but enters with a +1/+1 counter. By spending one colorless mana, you can sacrifice the card to bestow another creature you control indestructible and put all of Zack’s markers, as well as an gear, onto that chosen creature.

This card paints a scene FF fans are all too remember, a moment that has been revisited again and again — in the first *FF7*, *Crisis Core*, and even new iterations in *FF7 Remake*. But somehow it lands with equal force here, expressed completely through gameplay mechanics. Zack makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Cloud, who then inherits the Buster Sword as his own.

The Context of the Moment

For context, and here is your *FF7* spoiler alert: Prior to the main events of the game, Zack and Cloud are left for dead after a battle with Sephiroth. After extended testing, the friends get away. During their ordeal, Cloud is comatose, but Zack ensures to protect his comrade. They finally arrive at the outskirts outside Midgar before Zack is fatally wounded by troops. Left behind, Cloud in that moment claims Zack’s Buster Sword and assumes the role of a elite SOLDIER, which leads right into the start of *FF7*.

Playing Out the Passing of the Torch on the Battlefield

On the tabletop, the abilities effectively let you reenact this iconic event. The Buster Sword is a a strong piece of equipment in the collection that requires three mana and provides the wielding creature +3/+2. So, for a total of six mana, you can transform Zack into a respectable 4/6 while the Buster Sword attached.

The Cloud, Midgar Mercenary also has intentional combo potential with the Buster Sword, allowing you to find for an equipment card. When used in tandem, these pieces play out in this way: You summon Zack, and he gains the +1/+1 counter. Then you summon Cloud to fetch the Buster Sword from your deck. Then you cast and attach it to Zack.

Because of the way Zack’s key mechanic is worded, you can actually use it in the middle of battle, meaning you can “block” an attack and activate it to negate the attack altogether. So you can do this at any time, transferring the +1/+1 counter *and* the Buster Sword to Cloud. He then becomes a powerful 6/4 that, each time he does damage a player, lets you draw two cards and cast two spells at no cost. This is precisely the kind of moment meant when discussing “narrative impact” — not explaining the scene, but letting the card design trigger the recollection.

More Than the Central Interaction

And the thematic here is deeply satisfying, and it goes further than just Zack and Cloud. The Jenova card is part of the collection as a creature that, at the start of combat, places a number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature, which also becomes a Mutant. This in a way implies that Zack’s initial +1/+1 token is, in a way, the SOLDIER treatment he underwent, which included experimentation with Jenova cells. This is a tiny nod, but one that subtly ties the whole SOLDIER program to the +1/+1 counter mechanic in the set.

The card avoids showing his end, or Cloud’s breakdown, or the rain-soaked cliff where it concludes. It does not need to. *Magic* lets you relive the passing yourself. You choose the ultimate play. You transfer the legacy on. And for a short instant, while playing a trading card game, you remember why *Final Fantasy 7* continues to be the most influential game in the saga for many fans.