Mono-Red Final Fantasy Commander Punches Into New Territory

Last updated on March 17, 2025

Zell Dincht | Illustration by Kevin Sidharta

Anyone who’s played Final Fantasy VIII recently can tell you Zell just ain’t that interesting of a character. But if you’re going to slap his face on an MTG card and give it a cool ability that’s actually opening up somewhat new territory, he might be worth tolerating.

The Zell Dincht Card

Zell Dincht was previewed by the official Final Fantasy X account on March 17th, which is apparently the character’s birthday. Funnily enough, they pulled off the same stunt with the reveal of Celes, Rune Knight last Monday.

The card in question: a 3-mana 0/3 human monk that scales with the number of lands you control, gives you extra land drops, and then rewinds some of the ramp you get from this effect.

None of the abilities on this card are new, but you also don’t see this sort of effect on mono-red cards. The extra land drop clause is usually reserved for green cards and occasional colorless cards, but the only red analog is Nahiri's Lithoforming, which asks for a steep cost up front.

The “red ramp” aspect of the card feels appropriate, since red’s slice of the color pie usually affords it temporary mana instead of permanent ramp. It’s reminiscent of Alpine Guide in that sense: You’ll get some extra mana, but only for a little bit.

As for Zell itself, this card will frequently punch as a 4/3 or greater during your turn. Consider the situations where this lands on turn 3 and you follow up with 2-3 lands over the remainder of that turn and the next. Accounting for the bounced land on the first turn, you can get up to a 5/3 the following turn if you max out on land drops. Of course, it’s a huge liability if you run it out and have no extra land drops to make, but… don’t do that.

Who Is Zell Dintch?

Zell Dintch from Final Fantasy VIII

Zell is one of the supporting party members in Final Fantasy VIII, where he serves by the side of protagonist Leon/Squall. Truth be told, Zell’s not all that interesting, and outside of a few story moments, he’s fairly inconsequential to the plot. His whole personality is that he’s a martial artist and he punches things. The monk creature type is appropriate here, since his fists are his answers to just about anything.

As far as the flavor of the card goes… it’s not exactly clear what the abilities have to do with this character. This justification from @TheZachkAttack on X makes decent sense: “… his punches continue to gain power as long as he carries the momentum, but once he runs out of momentum (land drops) he starts to stumble and ends up weaker because of the overfocus on power.”

In other words, land drops are indicating adrenaline and momentum, and bouncing lands back is a sort of cooldown or downside to leaning into aggression. Sure, makes as much sense as anything else. At least being mono-red fits well, since Zell’s a naturally belligerent character with basically no other notable qualities.

And in case you’re wondering, that metal thing in the corner of the card art is a basic enemy in FF8 called a GIM47N, which is something the character will be beating up on in the “prison sequence” from that game.

Where Will Zell See Play?

Azusa, Lost but Seeking | Illustration by Winona Nelson

Extra land drop cards always have a home in Commander. From landfall decks to big mana decks just looking to accelerate ahead, these cards are staples of the format, with notable examples being Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Exploration, and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. Zell can certainly slot into any existing deck that’s already running these sorts of effects. Bouncing a land back to hand on end step can become an advantage here too, ensuring you always have a land drop on your next turn and resetting value lands like Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance or MDFC lands.

Constructed is a different story. This is a 3-drop that has the ability to attack as a 6/3 or 7/3 in the mid-to-late-game, but decks utilizing extra land drops aren’t necessarily interested in a large beater. Primeval Titan decks can win without the help of another chunky attacker, and no evasion on Zell means it’s not all that appealing in low-curve red decks either. Seems like a long-shot for Constructed. But hey, maybe it’ll shine in Tiny Leaders?