Cactuar Correspondence - Weekly FFTCG Chat 5/9/19

let's talk fftcg!

Every week, there is something new to discuss and analyze in this game. In this feature, we answer your questions and respond to recent developments, new meta decks, specific cards we like or don't like -- you call it, we'll answer.

If you want to join the conversation, send us your thoughts! We would also love to hear the questions you have next week, so please shoot us a message at Facebook or on Twitter. Thanks for reading!

If you were going to the Water Crystal Cup this weekend, what deck do you bring?

AMANDA: If I were going to the Water Crystal cup I would definitely bring my mono fire aggro deck that I’ve been tweaking, it’s too fun not to play it.

ADAM L: Most likely Mono Water Veritas. It's just a deck I am comfortable on and is very well positioned in the meta even with a lot of people trying to counter it. It just setups up for this impeding one sided board wipe and a push for game. Also I haven't really had many games where the deck just bricks

STEPHEN: Wind earth mill. Recursion is very good in earth right now with Luminous Puma and Apururu. Dadaluma ping is still good for wrecking your opponents board while you Mug, mill, and get your Rikkus back.

ADAM D: Mono Wind with legendary Phoenix. It’s Mono Wind but with some two-for-one built in, and way more toolbox opportunities.

What matchups would you most be concerned about?

AMANDA: Ping damage worries me, but I think I’ve tweaked it enough to make my deck at least sustainable against it.

ADAM L: Probably a deck that has White Mage and Yuna H in it. Typically those cards can disrupt Mono Water's game plan enough to squeak out the win. White Mage can be troublesome for Lenna and Leila and Yuna negating Veritas' exit trigger as well as just removing vikings and such from the game can be a pain. That being said the Water deck can still win through that its just a bit tougher.

STEPHEN: Wind Earth mirror match because that's grindy and Mono Water if I don't see White Mage.

ADAM D: Basically, any aggro decks. I need a few turns to set up. Also, Wind / Water.

What two decks do you think are going to be the most popular this weekend?

AMANDA: I think we’re going to see a lot of mono water/water variant decks this weekend. Earth is too strong right now to not make a showing so I expect that as well. Lots of good cards to pull from and lots of potential from players. Oh also, decks with Veritas of course!

ADAM L: Probably Mono Water and Earth/Ice would be my guess with Earth/Wind probably right behind. These are the safer picks in my opinion so I expect to see a fair amount of people on them

STEPHEN: Wind Earth and Mono Water I assume.

ADAM D: Mono Water and Wind / Earth will be at least one third of the Top 16.

How have your experiences been with drafting Opus VIII?

AMANDA: The only drafting I’ve done with Opus 8 has been the pre-release. I feel like I didn’t draft cards well, but overall the deck I made ended up working decently. I definitely want to get more practice in with it though.

ADAM L: Pretty great. It's a lot of fun and every color is pretty viable. Fire seems very strong but when drafting a good amount of people tend to go into it so you can benefit from grabbing other colors if you can. There are some Ls that can skew things like Rain, Veritas, Ardyn and Zidane but they do have some answers inside the set.

STEPHEN: It's been a lot of fun. I had done very few drafts in this game. But this set really made me have a hankering for it, especially now that it's included as part of the competitive format. Playing with different kinds of interactions and abilities has been a nice break from our competitive card pool.

ADAM D: I haven’t had any experiences, yet. But, I’m gunna grab the EX Bursts when I do draft.

Which soundtrack from which game is your favorite?

AMANDA: Favorite soundtrack is To Zanarkand from FFX, I’ve always loved the song and seeing it played by the FF New World orchestra in Cali made it even better.

ADAM L: Anyone that knows me, knows that I listen to game osts all the time. Anywhere from fighting games such as Street Fighter to platformers like Celeste. That being said FF7 has always had a close place in my heart so I'd definitely go with that. However almost every Final Fantasy has good music and I could listen to most of the OSTs any day.

STEPHEN: Probably the Spider-Man 2 OST because it has the Pizza Delivery Theme.

ADAM D: Final Fantasy VI, Grand Finale is a fantastic arrangement of what I think are the best songs Nobuo Uematsu has given us.