Cloud’s Midgar Mercenary version brings a lot of excitement in the commander or EDH format, but does it fare well in the standard format? Making a standard deck around Cloud, Midgar Mercenary is hard because casting and equipping are too slow in most formats.
This is why Cloud, Midgar Mercenary won’t be as viable in standard, but there are still ways you can use him in other midrange decks – and if you are like me, who wants to force out some Final Fantasy-themed decks, you can always make something work. Here’s the best Cloud, Midgar Mercenary deck you can build for standard in Magic: The Gathering Arena.
Cloud Midgar Mercenary Standard Decklist for Magic: The Gathering Arena
There are a lot of cards you can swap in and out of the deck since it is a midrange deck that will revolve aroundequipment and summons. The Final Fantasy set brought a lot of interesting weapons, as almost every FFXIV class has its themed weapon included in the set, among other iconic ones like Masamune and Ultima Weapon.
The deck sticks with Buster Sword, fittingly perfect for both Cloud, Midgar Mercenary (trigger it twice) and Cloud, Planet’s Champion (indestructible and double-strike). You’llonly want one of the weaponsin the deck because you don’t really want to draw into them. You would rather draw Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, topick them up for free, including the Aetherspark.
The rest of the creatures help synergize Cloud’s early game, but the endgame is always lacking, so Terra, Magical Adept, comes in to improve the late game.
The deck uses massive game-changing high-cost cards likeOverlord of the Mistmoors, Summon: Knights of Round, and Summon: Bahamut. You can even add a bit more powerful summons because of theSummoner’s Grimoire tech.The Summoner’s Grimoire adds a lot of versatility to the deck, and you can swap around cards easily since it can cast high-cost enchantments and creatures for free.
Cloud Midgar Mercenary Standard Deck Playstyle and Keypoints
Your playstyle in the early game is to play timidly. Even with a perfect curve and draw, your early game isn’t as strong, and it takes a while for things to activate.
Ideally, you want toplay Cloud, Midgar Mercenary immediately, andget crucial weapons like Buster Sword and Aetherspark.
Equipping costs mana, so you’ll most likely be slower than your enemies. If you are fighting decks with a lot of clear, you’ll want toget the Celestial Armor first before those crucial weapons. If you spend mana equipping a creature like Cloud, you want them to beat least hexproof, or you’ll lose tempo if they get rid of it after spending to equip an equipment.
Raubahn is in the deck to equip attacking creatures for free and has ward (2). Firion synergizes the equipment, making copies of it so you’ll get more power. When you cancopy strong weapons using Firion, you are already getting massive value out of the ability, giving you a big lead or allowing you to catch up quickly with the power level on the board.
When you have all that equipment on the field, Steiner gets more powerful if left on the board.You aim to hit the enemy with an equipped Buster Sword, preferably on Cloud, Midgar Mercenary, so the effect triggers twice.Buster Sword allows you to draw and cast for freewhen you hit an enemy for any damage with this equipped on the creature. This is also why we have those big summons, which usually complement Terra but indirectly synergize with the Buster Sword.
Hitting a player with a Buster Sword and drawing into a free Summon: Bahamut or Summon: Knights of the Round almost always wins the game on the spot. But those odds are quite low.
Once you round up the early and midgame, trying to hit players with the Buster Sword or get heavily equipped creatures to control the board, you’ll transition to using Terra and hope to use her Trance and bring some massive summons into play.
The Aetherspark is useful here as it allows you to get +10 mana out of nowhere. The only problem with Aetherspark is that it isn’t as impactful when you play it, which is usually in a crucial moment in the game (turn 4 or 5). Hopefully, you will get to use the ten mana to play the summons, or it will be a way to draw cards, which is also great.
Joshua, Phoenix’s Dominant, helps you cycle through your most needed cards during a specific situation.
Other Synergies and Combos
Overall, the deck is average at best, especially against mono-red aggros, Azorius Omniscience, Boros, and Rakdos. It’ll struggle, but at least you’ll have much fun with unique Cloud combos.
In all honesty, Cloud, Midgar Mercenary should see more play in Commander or EDH formats unless there are future cards that can help curve equipment better.
If you want more standard decks, check out ourSephiroth, Fabled Soldier standard deck.
Enzo Zalamea
Enzo is a staff writer at Prima Games. He began writing news, guides, and listicles related to games back in 2019. In 2024, he started writing at Prima Games covering the best new games and updates regardless of the genre. you’re able to find him playing the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Path of Exile, Teamfight Tactics, and popular competitive shooters like Valorant, Apex Legends, and CS2. Enzo received his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management in De La Salle University and multiple SEO certifications from the University of California, Davis.
