Over PAX East weekend, Wizards of the Coast revealed new looks at a range of MTG – Final Fantasy Universes Beyond cards. One of these – Sephiroth, Fabled Soldier // Sephiroth One-Winged Angel – has sparked significant debate, for a number of reasons.
Most notably, this card features dual-sided illustrations by Tetsuya Nomura, who served as an artist on the original Final Fantasy 7, and currently serves as director of the game’s remake trilogy. On the Fabled Soldier side, there’s nothing superbly of note – Sephiroth appears in his standard form, looking out with disdain. But on the One-Winged Angel side, players will find a new version of Sephiroth in his ‘final boss’ Safer Sephiroth form.
This illustration largely resembles the modern appearance of Safer Sephiroth, although there are minor tweaks to the design. Based on comparison with the version seen in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, for example, his wing is slightly differently coloured, and his carapace armour doesn’t extend down his torso. He also better resembles Sephiroth on the whole.
While it would be easy to chalk these differences up to artistic reinterpretation – the designs are really not that different – it does appear there’s a reason for the changes, and it could be related to the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3, in development at Square Enix.
MTG: Final Fantasy Card – Sephiroth, Fabled Soldier // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel
Read: MTG’s Final Fantasy set includes iconic heroes, and 15 Cids
In a post on social media, Tetsuya Nomura has actually confirmed the MTG design tweaks for Safer Sephiroth were intentional, but he’s not able to reveal more about why just yet.
“This time around, I drew Sephiroth on both the front and back sides of the card,” Nomura said. “I actually drew them so that they would join up if placed one on top of the other, so if you manage to get two of the same card and line them up, you’ll see how the original illustration looked.”
“There’s also a reason that the design for Safer Sephiroth is different from the original game, but I unfortunately can’t share more about that.”
If we’re being honest, Nomura could’ve said nothing at all, and the discourse would have remained quiet speculation. Now, it focuses solely around what the new MTG design could mean, and whether we’ve just seen our first glimpse at the upcoming FF7 Remake Part 3, directly from Nomura himself.
Should this be the actual design of Safer Sephiroth, there’s certain to be plenty of happy folks when Part 3 comes around. Yes, he is a little bit different from his original counterpart, but the design tweaks look great, and better align this version of Sephiroth with his human form. I wasn’t going to mention it, but I will – Nomura’s new design also really emphasises that rippling, bare chest, and simmering glow.
We’re not likely to see whether this really is the modern design for Safer Sephiroth for at least another year, based on Part 3 development progress, but we can certainly spend that time speculating. Should this be the new design, it appears that final FF7 boss fight will be incredibly flashy, for more reasons than one.
For those keen to nab this MTG: Final Fantasy Universes Beyond card, you can look forward to the set launch on 13 June 2025.
