Over the weekend, Square Enix and Wizards of the Coast shared some looks at the upcoming cards that will be included in the Final Fantasy crossover collaboration. Alongside shots of Tifa, Aerith, Cloud, Lightning, Yuna, Clive, and some Chocobo was a card of FF7 antagonist Sephiroth, and um… he certainly looks a bit different than normal.
Unveiling a brand-new illustration reflecting Sephiroth’s journey in Final Fantasy VII, with comments from illustrator Tetsuya Nomura.
Magic: The Gathering — Final Fantasy launches June 13.#MTGxFinalFantasy pic.twitter.com/VCQWMQQu5e
— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii) May 12, 2025
Now, fans of the original Final Fantasy VII will know that Sephiroth transforms into a form called “Safer-Sephiroth” for the final battle. His body mutates into a twisted version of an angelic being, and his moniker of the “One-Winged Angel” starts to make more sense. The thing is, he had a very specific design in the original Final Fantasy VII, and the artwork featured on this card is different. Most of the other cards featuring characters from FF7 have used artwork from the Remake trilogy, so fans have begun to speculate that this will be Sephiroth’s new design for whatever the third game ends up being titled.
Adding fuel to that fire is an official statement from Tetsuya Nomura, creative director on FF7 Rebirth and director of Remake. While he notes that he drew the two designs (one for the front and back of the card) to line up with each other, he also states, “There is also a reason that the design for Safer Sephiroth is different from the original game, but I unfortunately can’t share more about that.” Uh oh, haha. It probably goes without saying that this is a tease for things to come.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
