Cloud, Midgar Mercenary – Final Fantasy
Date Reviewed: May 20, 2025
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.13
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 4.00
Commander [EDH]: 4.38
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Cloud is really in the spotlight right now thanks to the ongoing multi-part remake of Final Fantasy VII, but I’d argue that he never really left. The original version was one of the most popular entries in the entire series, and it left a real mark on everyone who played it and some people who didn’t. (There’s one particular plot point that a lot of people know, well beyond the game’s player base.) In that light, it’s not surprising that the upcoming Magic set has more than one version of Cloud. This one seems to be the “designated” one for constructed, due to its low cost, efficient stats, and alarm-bell-ringing interactions with equipment. That last characteristic nearly mirrors a famous card once banned in Standard, Extended, and Modern, and while Cloud only cheats on one side of normal gameplay, he makes up for it by being one of the best Sword of This and That wielders in Magic. Even one hit can be game-changing, and doubling up is so much better it doesn’t need to be explained. I was going to comment that they’ve been a little more cautious about combat damage triggers recently, but then remembered that Outlaws of Thunder Junction indicated that the This and That cycle is continuing, so past and future will both play very nicely indeed with Cloud.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 5
Limited: 3.5 (harder to make work “automatically”, but there is some good equipment in the set)
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
And since the longest cycle is continuing and it would fit well conceptually in Cloud’s gauntleted hands, can we finally get a card named Sword of Heart and Soul?
Cloud Strife may be one of the most iconic characters to come out of Final Fantasy, owing to the prominence of Final Fantasy VII, and it’s fitting that he shows up here as the head of the gameplan for the equipment-focused Boros strategies running around the set. He’s hardly the most complicated creature, but simple is often good, and Cloud, Midgar Mercenary manages to be both.
On the surface, he bears similarity to the infamous Stoneforge Mystic, a two-mana equipment tutor. But while the older creature let you trick them in easier, Cloud makes them more destructive by doubling triggers whenever they’d go off. The most obvious thing here is pairing it with combat damage triggers, such as from the Sword giga-ultra-mega cycle or from things like Jittes of varying kinds. It needn’t just be combat damage, but with a world of possibilities available, the only limit will be how many swords Cloud can load up on.
That said, his baseline is a two-mana equipment tutor, and that’s quite nice in many formats, and being legendary opens up a world of possibility in Commander that Stoneforge Mystic never was quite able to copy. Think of him as an offensive version of that card, and you’ll have good ideas of how to abuse him. His only issue might be that 1 toughness, but he’ll almost always get value on entry, so even if he dies immediately, it’s still two mana well spent.
Constructed: 4.25 (probably going to be as strong as the best Equipment decks running around, but I do think he’s a good Stoneforge 5-8 in such decks)
Casual: 5
Limited: 3.5 (a decent build-around, but probably not the best option)
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4.75
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