Carta de la semana: 22 / Refia [5-141H]

Hey everyone! As promised, Opus V previews start this week, and we’re starting with one of my favorite cards of the entire set, Refia [5-141H]!

Refia is one of the four main characters from the FINAL FANTASY III remake in which the generic Onion Knight children are given distinct names and personalities. She is considered one of the Warriors of Light, the “Light of Affection.” She’s protective of the group, acting almost as a motherly figure to the other three Warriors of Light. Each of the four grow alongside each other through their journey, and bring out the best in each other as you’d expect when on a fantastical adventure to save the world!

Let’s take a look at the card!

Refia [5-141H] is a 3 CP Water Forward from Category III with 7000 power, the Job “Warrior of Light”, and two abilities. The first ability is a Field Ability that reads, “The Job Warrior of Light Forwards and Water Forwards other than Refia you control gain +1000 power.” Its second ability is an Action Ability that reads, “Dull a total of 5 active Water Forwards or Water Backups: Choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Return it to its owner’s hand.”

It’s clear that you’ll want to play Refia in a Mono-Water deck, or at least one that heavily utilizes Water Forwards and Backups. While her own power at 7000 is fairly standard, +1000 power to your other Forwards is incredibly strong. On top of that, if you can rush to 5 Backups along with some low CP cost Forwards for her action ability, you can make it very difficult for your opponent to have any sort of board presence, as you can continuously utilize your own field to remove theirs. Since the ability doesn’t require your own characters to have Haste, you’re getting additional value out of your Forwards from the moment they come into play.

While you’ll clearly want to rush out low CP cost Forwards to get her action ability usable as quickly as possible, you’ll need some higher cost Forwards as well to synergize with Refia. Lenna [3-144L] is an obvious choice. For 5 CP, Lenna is a 7000 power Water Forward with an Auto Ability that reads, “When Lenna enters the field, choose 1 Water Forward of cost 2 or less in your Break Zone. Play it onto the field.” Her Special ability, Arise, allows you to choose 1 Forward other than Light or Dark in your Break Zone and play it onto the field. Lenna helps you get your broken Forwards into play, expanding your board presence and bringing you closer to being able to utilize Refia’s ability.

Quistis [2-127R] follows the same reasoning as Lenna. Also a 5 CP, 7000 power Water Forward, Quistis has an Auto Ability which reads, “When Quistis enters the field, you may play 1 Water Forward of cost 3 or less from your hand onto the field.” She also has a field ability which reads, “The Forwards of cost 2 or less you control gain +1000 power.” You can use Quistis to play Refia and possibly even utilize Refia’s auto ability. Giving all of your 2 CP or less Forwards +2000 power while both are in play can really catch your opponent off guard.

Lastly, while not a Water Forward, Warrior of Light [2-145L] has some amazing synergy with Refia. He is a 4 CP Light Forward with 8000 power and the Job Warrior of Light. As he is a Job Warrior of Light Forward, he’ll get +1000 power from Refia’s field ability, but his own field ability affects both of them as well. Damage dealt to your own Job Warrior of Light characters is reduced by 2000, offering good protection to both of them. His special ability, Bitter End, allows you to choose 1 Forward and deal damage to it equal to Warrior of Light’s power. Thanks to Refia, the ability will deal 9000 damage!

As far as Backups go, since we’re playing Mono Water, Wakka [1-180R] is a must. For 3 CP, Wakka boosts your Water Forwards by +1000 power. Between Wakka, Refia and Quistis, it’ll take a lot to disassemble your field, since you have so many characters powering up other characters.

Evoker [1-159C] is simple but effective, since we’ll want to rush to 5 Backups as soon as possible. Evoker is the best way to do this, since at 1 CP cost, you just need another Backup in play to play her. She doesn’t have an ability, but we’ll either be using her for CP or to power Refia’s ability, so her blank text box really doesn’t make a difference. The art on the Water Evoker is actually Refia herself, so it makes sense that you’ll want to use her to utilize her own ability.

Lastly, to make sure we get Refia, we can use Merlwyb [4-138R]. For 4 CP, Merlwyb reads, “When Merlwyb enters the field, you may search for 1 Water Forward and add it to your hand.” Not only can you search for Refia, but you can also search out nearly any other Forward in your deck, aside from Warrior of Light.

So, what do you think? Do you plan on using Refia when Opus V launches this March? What type of deck would you build around her? Let us know in the comments at facebook.com/FinalFantasyTCG!

See you next week for another Opus V Preview, a Forward from FINAL FANTASY XI!

~RB