Ultimate Fantasy X’s Laughing Scene Is Now a Magic: The Gathering Card

This past weekend Wizards of the Coast actually lifted the lid on its upcoming Final Fantasy crossover set for Magic: The Gathering, however the oodles of playing cards revealed there have been apparently not sufficient. As we speak the Magic group revealed even extra playing cards to gamers, and so they’re crammed with unbelievable nods to Ultimate Fantasy historical past… together with an absolute gem from Ultimate Fantasy X.

As we speak Wizards revealed the full card lists for every of the 4 Ultimate Fantasy preconstructed Commander Decks that may launch alongside the enlargement subsequent month. The 4 decks are constructed round 4 iconic entries from the mainline Ultimate Fantasy collection: Revival Trance, based mostly on Ultimate Fantasy VI; Restrict Break, based mostly on Ultimate Fantasy VII; Counter Blitz, based mostly round Ultimate Fantasy X; and Scions and Spellcraft, based mostly round Ultimate Fantasy XIV. Every deck of 100 playing cards is totally themed for the Ultimate Fantasy set, from wholly new playing cards to re-flavored takes on already-existent Magic playing cards with new thematically acceptable artwork.

One such re-flavor within the Counter Blitz deck is Inspiring Name, a inexperienced mana immediate that has been round in varied Magic units because it first appeared in 2015’s Dragons of Tarkir. It’s a easy sufficient card, granting any creatures you management that you just’ve given +1/+1 counters to short-term safety whereas additionally drawing a couple of playing cards. However in Counter Blitz, it turns into, properly, extra of an inspiring giggle:

Sure, proper right down to the flavour textual content, we’re getting Yuna and Tidus’ notorious giggle scene from Ultimate Fantasy X in card type. An early second within the sport, the scene sees Yuna attempt to cheer Tidus up because the duo and the remainder of the occasion put together to hold on their pilgrimage to defeat the monstrous entity referred to as Sin, who Tidus has simply discovered (spoilers for a 24-year-old PS2 sport) is definitely seemingly a reworked corruption of his long-missing father, Jecht. Yuna, figuring out her quest will finally declare her life, tries to get Tidus to learn to cover his feelings and placed on a cheerful face, first actually after which via comically pressured laughter. The remaining is Ultimate Fantasy meme historical past:

Though the aim of the scene is that Tidus and Yuna’s laughter is supposed to be pressured and awkward sounding (as you possibly can see above, they escape into real laughter instantly after), the clip of their barked laughs has spent the previous two and a half a long time taking over a lifetime of its personal as a viral meme, from goofy music edits to dunks on cringy online game voice performing (X was the primary Ultimate Fantasy to function intensive voice performing). And now, its legacy is reclaimed in Magic.

It’s simply one among many nice little nods and references all through what we’ve seen of the Ultimate Fantasy set up to now. The Commander Decks have revealed a ton of recent playing cards in an identical vein which have nice mechanical nods to their respective video games—a few of my favorites embrace Zack Fair in FFVII‘s, which helps you to primarily replicate Cloud swiping Zack’s identification after his loss of life, or Champions from Beyond in FFXIV‘s, a really nifty nod to the MMORPG’s occasion finder mechanic (and one of the coolest moments in its enlargement Shadowbringers). Many of the nods are reverentially critical, befitting the eagerness that’s on show for this assembly of fantastical titans. However it’s good that in playing cards like Inspiring Name’s remixing, the Ultimate Fantasy set is aware of when to have a little bit of pressured laughter at itself too.

Magic: The Gathering – Ultimate Fantasy hits cabinets subsequent month on June 13. Head on over to Wizards’ card image gallery for the set to see much more playing cards from the crossover!

Need extra io9 information? Try when to count on the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the pieces it is advisable to find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.