Rebellion's Call Card of the Week - Maria

June 23, 2022
Rebellion's Call Card of the Week - Maria

"
Hello everyone, Richelle here! Happy to be back with more Card of the Week articles, this time for Rebellion’s Call. This week I’m sharing a new card for Maria, one of the FINAL FANTASY II protagonists, with beautiful art by Gen Kobayashi whose art we’ve been lucky to see in plenty of newer sets. Since this is an original art card, we’ll also be seeing a Full Art version.

Let’s take a look!

Maria 17-128L


Full Art


Maria [17-128L] is a 2cp Light Forward from category II with 5000 power and the Jobs “Warrior” and “Rebel” much like her other category II companions. She has a field ability that states “The Forwards of cost 2 or less other than Maria you control gain +2000 power.” Additionally, she has an auto ability which reads, “When Maria enters the field, choose up to 1 Backup you control. Activate it. It loses all its abilities and also becomes a Forward with 8000 power. (This effect does not end at the end of the turn.)”

Giving your 2CP Forwards (other than Maria) +2000 power means you’ll be running Maria in a deck that prioritizes 2CP Forwards and probably Backups. Aerith [16-067L] feels like a natural fit in a deck with that focus, given that she’s 2CP and also gives your other Forwards +2000 power, together giving +4000 power to other forwards, your opponent will likely need to pick apart Maria and Aerith before other priority units, like Zidane [16-048H], Sophie [16-076R], or Palom [15-011L] and Porom [15-119L]. The two together make Amaterasu [12-002H] unlikely to create a CP advantage on its own, so I hope it opens the door for some more decks filled with 2CP Forwards.

Maria inspires your supporting Backup characters to head into battle with her auto ability! We’ve seen this type of ability in the past on Mira [11-122H], though Mira hadn’t seen much play. Unlike Mira, however, this effect does not end at the end of turn, is an auto rather than action ability, and its only restriction is that it needs to be a Backup. Because of Maria’s first ability, we’d likely want to use this on a 2CP Backup. I would lean towards using Backups with an auto ability when they enter the field, since Maria will cause the Backup to lose any abilities when it becomes a Forward.

I like the idea of using Maria in Wind. While there aren’t many 2CP Wind Backups with Auto abilities, it does give your Wind effects a little more versatility. Cards that activate Forwards or Backups can become extra powerful with the Backup Maria has recruited to the fight, since they’ll count for both. Additionally, being able to target the Backup with a card that returns a Forward you control to your hand, like Chocobo [10-055H], can help you clear space in your Backup line while granting you advantage of some situations. Keep in mind, the Backup is still a Backup, it is just also a Forward as long as it stays in play, so be sure to use that to your advantage!

What do you think? Any combos come to mind off the top of your head? I hope this gets everyone excited to brew some new deck ideas in Rebellion’s Call!

Next week, Kageyama-san will reveal a card featuring a beloved prince who we haven’t seen in quite some time, but will return to take up his blade.

Until next time!

~Richelle
"