Final Fantasy is many things to many people. A classic JRPG? Definitely. A nostalgia trip across decades and consoles to times and places that we are far removed from? For sure. But is it… Timeless?

Welcome back, everyone. We’re back for another report on an MTG Eternal community event, this time the June 2025 Timeless Open! Final Fantasy definitely brought a lot of interesting cards to eternal formats on Magic: Arena. Still, it appears that most of that impact may be hiding in the Special Guests – or is that what they’re still calling them? I don’t know, and it’s also time to go through our top 8 out of 20 participants.

Last aside: check out the event Matcherino page and the decklist, and the competitor info sheet to see the full details!

The Top 8

Sneaking into first place, we have frequent competitor, content creator, and control player extraordinaire Chestheir running a sweet Esper Ninjas list that, really, is Esper control running Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, and Yuffie Kisaraki or Yuriko. With Yuffie the only new card from Final Fantasy* on Arena, this seems like a more or less ‘stock’ controlling type of list that has a unique wincon. If you’re reading this article, you are likely familiar with the Timeless format and the typical cards a list like this runs, so I won’t go on about them much, except to say that control still has game versus the likes of our second place list…

Taking second, we have TommyG21, aka TheSteelCurtain21, piloting the known format menace Mardu Energy. The power level of the cards in this kind of list means that nothing from Final Fantasy made it into the 75 here; perhaps the most notable thing is the lack of a Lurrus companion in place of Jegantha, with two copies of Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury and four copies of The One Ring in the sideboard to out grind opponents and recoup card advantage. Mostly straightforward, with mainboard hate pieces meant to target the many combo decks running around, supported by the powerful energy package.

At this point, I must remark that the final match between Tommy and Chestheir was one for the ages!! All the excitement and back and forth was captured from Chestheir’s end on his YouTube channel here. Rather than spoil exactly how it goes, I want to encourage you to check out the play-by-play for some awesome Timeless gameplay!

Third, we have SirHamilton1 piloting an Orzhov Belcher list. Affectionately known as ‘Oops, all spells,’ this kind of list is resilient to all kinds of hate, with multiple paths to victory either in the namesake Goblin Charbelcher or via Saint Elenda dropped as early as turn 1 off of a Dark Ritual’d Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord. Again, no new Final Fantasy cards, just an old Timeless pillar that competitive players always need to be on the lookout for.

Completing our top 4, we have Korae, host of perhaps the most active Timeless discord server in the English-speaking world, piloting another Orzhov Belcher variant – but with some very unique differences from the previous list! Note the single cheeky copy of Mountain in the sideboard, to help offset the effects of mono white control et al’s land destruction effects, which also is a relevant land for that other text on Goblin Charbelcher. There’s also a recent card in the sideboard in a single Unstoppable Slasher! Alas, this time around our Belcher variants couldn’t make it to the finals, but make no mistake that these decks will menace Timeless players for a long time.

At 5th place, we have Docmore piloting a unique Rakdos Arcanist list that takes advantage of the recently released Cori-Steel Cutter and digital-only Tarkir Dragonstorm Alchemy card, Swiftspear’s Teachings for a powerful punch. This nimble and wiry midrange list gets in fast and hard with a supporting companion in Lurrus, and is one of the really unique lists to come out of this tournament!

For 6th, we have Snarker piloting a sweet Jund Breach list, that also takes advantage of Cori-Steel Cutter!! Perhaps this card is making a bigger impact in Timeless than my initial impressions gave me, because this is our second CSC deck in the top 8! While a single Tendrils of Agony marks this deck’s primary wincon, some unique sideboard cards include the Final Fantasy Fal’Cie Paradise, aka Carpet of Flowers, and also Ground Seal to target other graveyard combo decks. Check out this unique list and give it a spin!

At 7th place, Beatsville brings our third Orzhov Belcher list forth, cementing that this deck always has to be on players’ radar. I am far from an expert on the intricacies of this deck and the choices that can be made for the 75, especially in the sideboard, but this list appears pretty stock to me. As you can see, this was the most popular archetype to make it this far by a longshot, as it is the only non-unique archetype in our top 8. It turns out lands aren’t that important after all, and maybe that is what Richard Garfield intended.

Last but not least, at 8th place, we have TCWaterboy piloting a sick Esper Reanimator list that doesn’t look too far off from Historic Esper lists that take advantage of the Sorin-Elenda package while running Psychic Frog. While this list sadly doesn’t take much in the form of new cards from Final Fantasy, what is exciting is its threats in Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Grief, Psychic Frog, and Saint Elenda, all at four copies. You also have four copies of Show and Tell alongside Reanimate as a way to cheat your creatures in, generate advantage, and put that pressure on.

And that’s it! There are a few cards from the Final Fantasy release that have snuck into our top 8 this time, but for the most part, Timeless doesn’t seem to have taken on too many changes. Thanks to all of our competitors for making these events great, and we hope to see you all next time! Stay tuned, as the MTG Eternal community is also planning to implement leagues for Historic and Timeless! Make sure you check out all the other competitors’ lists above, and have a wonderful Summer!

-alfalfa1/Jamonde signing off