Tetsuya Nomura Discusses Creating Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Cards
- ⚡Xe⚡
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Wizards of the Coast has published a behind-the-scenes development interview about the Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY collaboration, featuring Tetsuya Nomura. The discussion originally took place in May 2025 and gives a detailed look at how the set came together.
The interview, conducted by Wizards staff including executive producer Zakeel Gordon and principal narrative designer Dillon Deveney, focuses on Nomura’s role in reviewing artwork and translating decades of Final Fantasy characters into the Magic card format.
Nomura worked with Wizards of the Coast for about three to four years, reviewing hundreds of pieces of artwork for cards based on Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, X, XIII, and XV. The artwork had to respect what fans already expected from the characters while still letting artists put their own spin on them.
"The key is to balance both—to preserve the artist's uniqueness without straying from the fans' image. That balance was what I paid the most attention to."
He also talked about the differences between creating artwork for video games versus card games.
"Artwork for video games is designed and built with movement and animation in mind, whereas with a card game you can convey everything through a single piece of artwork, that's a big difference I noticed. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos as I work on this project, but I was impressed by how much information players take from a single piece of art and expand on it with their imaginations."
Some of the cards reinterpret characters from earlier games in the series. The interview highlights a Locke Cole card that reimagines his original pixel look from Final Fantasy VI as a modern fantasy illustration. Nomura also praised the detailed environments created by international artists, which often focus on worldbuilding in the background art.
Nomura also illustrated Sephiroth himself for the set while working on the Final Fantasy VII Remake project.
"We're still in the middle of developing the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE series, so there is a brand-new FINAL FANTASY VII actively in progress. But if I wasn't working on that, it would've been a 'long time no see, Sephiroth' type of feeling. There are new fans who have just recently experienced FINAL FANTASY VII for the first time, but I think it's a game that will be loved by both long-time and brand-new fans alike. I work on so many projects and games, and everyone comes to me asking 'Hey, can you make me a character like Sephiroth?'"
"It makes me think that everyone must really love him! In that sense, he's a character that is approachable to both old and new fans, and the fact that so many people keep coming to me asking for 'Sephiroth! Sephiroth!' must mean people love him."
The set also includes older Final Fantasy concept art alongside brand-new illustrations made specifically for the collaboration.
"Seeing them lined up alongside all these beautiful, modern artworks by all the other artists felt a bit awkward. Back then, those concept arts were meant to be blueprints for the dev teams, not finished pieces. So being placed next to brand-new artwork created specifically for Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY made me feel a bit inadequate and embarrassed, so I just kept thinking, 'At least make my cards powerful!'"
As a fun surprise at the end of the interview, Nomura became the first person at SQUARE ENIX to open a Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Play Booster and Collector Booster, pulling a mythic rare Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, and a foil Vivi Ornitier.
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-⚡Xe⚡
About FINAL FANTASY
For over 35 years, the FINAL FANTASY series has delighted generations of gamers and millions of players worldwide through beloved role-playing adventures that are built upon the benchmarks of spectacular visuals, highly imaginative worlds, rich stories, memorable characters, and technical and gameplay innovation leading the industry and earning the highest accolades from around the world. Each mainline game in the series is a completely new experience, and an ideal entry-point to the series. Titles of the series have sold over 207 million units worldwide.