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FINAL FANTASY x MAGIC w/ Jacob Bertrand | Game Knights 78 | MTG Commander Gameplay EDH Gathering

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Commanders featured in this video Reviewed & Verified

Personality featured in this video

Decklists

Deck Strategies

  • Terra, Herald of Hope

    Terra, Herald of Hope

    Focuses on milling cards into the graveyard to enable reanimation and graveyard synergies, bringing back powerful creatures for a sustained board presence.

  • Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER

    Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER

    Utilizes equipment and creature pump effects to increase power, triggering Limit Break for card advantage and mana, aiming for a large creature assault to reduce opponents’ life totals.

  • Tidus, Yuna's Guardian

    Tidus, Yuna's Guardian

    Spreads +1/+1 counters across creatures and uses proliferate to grow his team, generating incremental advantages and creating a formidable board to overwhelm opponents.

  • Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed

    Casts multiple non-creature spells to create tokens and trigger token payoffs, draining opponents’ life while building a wide board presence to dominate the battlefield.

Gameplay Insights

  • 1

    Terra’s milling ability early in combat allowed strategic selection of graveyard targets for reanimation, accelerating her board development.

  • 2

    Cloud’s missed land drop significantly hindered his ramp and delayed his ability to equip and pump creatures effectively, giving opponents a tempo advantage.

  • 3

    Tidus leveraged his commander’s proliferate ability to distribute counters efficiently, enabling rapid growth of his creatures and increasing combat threat.

  • 4

    Y’shtola’s strategy to combine spellcasting with token creation created multiple layers of board presence and incremental life drain, pressuring opponents consistently.

  • 5

    The interaction between board ramp and immediate board presence created a dynamic tension between players focusing on growth versus those playing aggressively early.

Notable Cards

  • Terra, Herald of Hope

    Terra, Herald of Hope

  • Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER

    Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER

  • Tidus, Yuna's Guardian

    Tidus, Yuna's Guardian

  • Vincent, Vengeful Atoner

    Vincent, Vengeful Atoner

Summary

The game featured a dynamic four-player Commander match using the new Final Fantasy-themed preconstructed decks. Early turns saw players establishing their board presence and ramping mana, with Terra, Herald of Hope milling cards into the graveyard to support her reanimation strategy. Cloud, Ex-SOLDIER focused on equipment and creature power boosts to capitalize on his Limit Break mechanic, while Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian spread +1/+1 counters to grow his team through proliferate effects. Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed aimed to cast numerous non-creature spells to generate tokens and drain life, setting up a wide board. Key moments included Terra successfully milling and reanimating threats, putting pressure on opponents, and Cloud’s ramp enabling aggressive swings with growing creatures. Tidus’s board development with counters started threatening a significant growth in damage output, while Y’shtola’s token generation began to overwhelm the table. A pivotal point was Jimmy’s missed land drop, which impeded Cloud’s ramp and slowed his tempo, giving others a chance to advance their plans. The game intensified as players leveraged their unique synergies, with combat phases and targeted attacks influencing life totals and board states, culminating in a tense battle for dominance.

Description

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Show Notes:

You can stop fantasizing, because it’s finally here! The long-awaited FINAL FANTASY episode of Game Knights, featuring fantastic fan-favorite guest Jacob Bertrand (Cobra Kai), is hitting your screen for the ultimate turn-based battle.

Watch him face-off against Jimmy, JLK, and Rachel in a boss fight of AAA-game proportions using commanders from Magic’s latest Universes Beyond set, FINAL FANTASY. So put your airship in park and summon your favorite snack – this is one cutscene you do NOT want to skip.

It’s Tidus vs. Cloud vs. Y’shtola vs. Terra

Hope they all saved their games, because ONLY ONE MAY STAND!


FINAL FANTASY: Find out more info about the set, the story, and see all of the card images at: mtg.social/FinalFantasyGK


MAGICCON LAS VEGAS: Game Knights Live returns to MagicCon Vegas on June 20th! Don’t miss a second of the epic Commander action. Badges are on sale NOW, so get yours today at: mtg.social/MCVegasTixGKL


ZOCDOC: Stop putting off those doctors appointments! Find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today by going to www.zocdoc.com/command

WHATNOT: Don’t miss out on watching us LIVE on Whatnot, June 13th at 2pm Pacific! To get $15 FREE to use anywhere on the platform, sign up at: www.whatnot.com/invite/command

RAYCON: Raycon’s latest model of Everyday Earbuds are better than ever! To save 15% go to: www.buyraycon.com/command


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ARCHIDEKT: Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Get started today at: www.archidekt.com/commandzone

ULTRA PRO: Huge thanks to Ultra PRO for sponsoring this episode and providing awesome prizes for our giveaways! Go check out the MANA 8 accessory line where you can rep your favorite colors with PREMIUM APEX sleeves, the sturdy ALCOVE EDGE deck box, plus more stunning accessories. Keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: ultrapro.com/command


Where to find our guest online:

Jacob Bertrand Instagram: @thejacobbertrand Twitter: @jb_mixmatch TikTok: @jacob.bertrand


Deck Lists:

Jacob’s Tidus: archidekt.com/decks/13551115/jacobs_tidus_games_knights_78

Jimmy’s Cloud: archidekt.com/decks/13551080/jimmys_cloud_game_knights_78

JLK’s Y’shtola: archidekt.com/decks/13551104/jlks_yshtola_game_knights_78

Rachel’s Terra: archidekt.com/decks/13551005/rachels_terra_game_knights_78


Credits:

Directed By: Jake Boss & Josh Murphy Executive Producer: Josh Lee Kwai Co-Producer: Jimmy Wong Lead Editor: Josh Murphy Editor: Josh Lee Kwai & Manson Leung Assistant Editor: Eric Lem Lead VFX: Sam Waldow VFX Artist: Evan Limberger Post Production Supervisor: Jake Boss Art Department: Beky Bell Director of Photography: Jake Boss Sound Mix: Jake Boss & Josh Murphy Rules Expert: Jamie Block Production Assistant: Sebastian Salazar Writers: Jamie Block and Jordan Pridgen Theme Music: Post Malone


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Commander Rules and Ban List: magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list


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