Tidus and Yuna have a great story, lasting over a couple of games and endless amount of time. There was more than one twist in FInal Fantasy X, and I don’t want to spoil things for you. But these two are Bant counters creatures, and while they work really well together, I want to talk about their decks and what people are going to play.
Some of these cards I’ll have mentioned in the ProTrader Discord, or on the MTG Fast Finance cast, so there might have been movement already by those speculators or other unknown agents. Let’s get into it!
There’s a chance some of these see reprints in the decks, no way to know till we’ve got the lists released. Some of these, though, are tough to reprint due to IP.
Cards for the couple (meaning either deck):
Damning Verdict – $19 – This has a foil at $40-$50 from the promo pack and if there’s no foil included in the Commander decks here that could be a $100 card, as it’s unfairly perfect. There’s a lot of great SNC synergies with counters, but lopsided wrath effects are the most fun by far.
Brokers Ascendancy – Gilded Foil $5 – A lot of times you just want to get the counters on everyone and everything, so this will be a welcome card. Great version, unique styling, should do well.
Kami of Whispered Hopes – Promo Pack Foil $6 – This is the only special version so far, and this does two important things. Adds counters, and when you add counters to it, lets you scale up fast. Get yours cheap.
Hardened Scales – WOT foil $5, Borderless 2XM foil $4 – Either version will be under a lot of pressure very soon, so get the one you like best. I expect either/both to be more than $10 by July 4.
Lae’zel, Vlaakith’s Champion – Foil Etched $2 – I’m one of the folks who thinks that this showcase is so unappealing, I’d much rather have the etched. Again, adds to your counters and gives you something to do with them.
Zimone, Paradox Sculptor – Mana foil $28 – Looking at the stock, there’s just too many of the reg borderless and the FEA available, so go for the most special version. We love doubling counters, and here you do.
Branching Evolution – FEA Surge foil $10 – You would think there was a special version along the way, but nope, go for the PIP surge foils while they are still cheap.
Yuna-specific cards
Freed from the Real – nonfoil $3 – We’ve already seen the SLD rainbow foils jump to nearly $30 in less than a day, as it makes a combo with Yuna. Tap her for a blue, her +2 counters is ready to go. Untap her, do it again, cast a Triskelion of infinite size. GG. There’s only two foil versions, both too expensive already, so get yourself some cheaper ones.
Warden of the Grove – clan foil $4 – Warden loves coming in with counters, and helps everyone else come in with counters too. Wins all around! It might get a little cheaper as time passes but not by much.
Marwyn, the Nurturer – DOM promo foil $5 – This is very tricky, because the upcoming Festival in a Box for Vegas will have a special foil of this staple Elf, and that’s a card I can’t wait to stock up on.
Simic Manipulator – pack foil $1 – One of my favorite ways to turn counters into profits, the Manipulator reloads well. Even if it dies, you keep the creature you stole!
Threefold Thunderhulk – Pack foil $1 – Instant value with Yuna, as it comes in with the bonus and you instantly get the bonus tokens. Sadly, a strong candidate for being reprinted in the commander deck, so watch out.
Kurbis, Harvest Celebrant – nonfoils $1 – As a Midnight Hunt Commander card, there’s a lot of them out there, but so so good with the theme! Extra counters means extra protection.
Sage of hours – pack foil $18 – She’s about to pop this card off, and somehow it’s never been reprinted. Sage is a staple in the counters decks, but at least it’s too good/too expensive to likely be included in the deck.
Scholar of New Horizons – bulk – A great way to use counters and get lands for them. Also great with your assorted Sagas.
Triskelion – Borderless foil 50¢ – The classic, able to turn counters into damage instantly.
Tidus- specific cards
Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus – Oil-Slick foil $15 – We get to double proliferates AND a way to get indestructible counters? Heck yes. Make an indestructible counter, proliferate it, and move it? Or make two counters? The fun never stops. The other Dominus creatures should likely be included too, but the blue one is the big target here.
Arwen, Mortal Queen – scrolls foil $17 – I agree that the poster is sweeter, and that could go up a lot. This is the range I like for my specs, to go from $20ish to $40ish is much more likely than the poster foil going $120 to $250. The card is perfect for what you want, because if you proliferate her indestructible counter, you can still remove one to give out the other counters.
Eagle of Deliverance – bulk – There are blessed few ways to put an indestructible counter onto a creature in these three colors, and the Eagle is an expensive but useful way to do it. All you need is the first one, and you can go from there.
Agent’s Toolkit – promo foil $8 – Tidus loves this card, and I’ve mentioned it before. You can get the only foil version surprisingly cheap, but it won’t be cheap for long.
Falco Spara, Pactweaver – Gilded foil $12 – You might run out of things to do, but with just a couple of counters around, you can do it all! This tends to get killed quite quickly, so make hay while the sun shines.
Contractual Safeguard – promo foil $4 – If you cast this in your main phase, you get 2W: put a shield counter on each creature you control. That’s already pretty good for a deck like this, but the potential with the other counters you’ll have access to really makes this fantastic. Again, promo foils are the only shiny ones out there.
Diamond City – surge foil $5 – Being in the Fallout set, you’re pretty safe from reprints. It’s also really great as a proliferator because it helps you move around the things you proliferated.
Brotherhood Outcast – Surge foil $8 – Just three mana to start the fun with a shield counter, already a pricey foil due to its inclusion in other proliferate decks, this should bump the price hard.
Cliff (@WordOfCommander at Twitter and BlueSky) has been writing for MTGPrice since 2013, and is an eager Commander player, Draft enthusiast, and Cube fanatic. A high school science teacher by day, he’s also the co-host of the MTG Fast Finance podcast. If you’re ever at a GP and you see a giant flashing ‘CUBE DRAFT’ sign, go over, say hi, and be ready to draft.