Last updated on June 23, 2025
Vivi Ornitier – illustration by Toni Infante
Barely a week after being officially released, Vivi Ornitier has made a triumphant entry into the top-tier decks of Magic's Standard format. The Izzet Wizard was the most-played Final Fantasy x MTG card in the Pro Tour Final Fantasy Las Vegas this week as a pillar of the most popular deck in the format, Izzet Prowess.
Izzet Prowess decks were 40% of the field overall, and 50% of the Top 8 – including Ian Robb reaching the finals packing 4x Vivi Ornitier copies in the main deck.
Source: MTGTop8
And that's just one of the things Vivi Ornitier did this weekend – he was also pretty busy becoming one of the top Izzet Commanders!
All the Rage in Standard
Monstrous Rage – Illustration by Borja Pindado
The Top 8 bracket from the Las Vegas Pro Tour is certainly one of the reddest of them all:
Source: PlayMTG post on X
There was very little doubt before this Pro Tour that Monstrous Rage is the format-defining card in Standard right now, and the final bracket makes it burningly clear: Every single Top 8 deck had some copies in the main deck.
(By the way: You may notice that the Top 8 was all mirrors except the Finals. That was not on purpose; the seeds just worked out that way).
In that rage-infused ocean, Izzet Prowess was by far the most popular deck according to WotC's Frank Karsten's Standard Metagame Breakdown for the Pro Tour, which was hardly news by this point…
Source: Frank Karsten's Metagame Report
… but what was news this weekend is how exceptionally well Vivi Ornitier fit into it. The adoption rate for the Final Fantasy Wizard was through the roof, making it the FIN card you were most likely to see:
Source: Frank Karsten's Metagame Report
The Magic card market is well aware of Vivi Ornitier ‘s power: When looking at regular versions, Vivi Ornitier is the most expensive card from Final Fantasy:
Most expensive regular version from all cards (FIC & FIN)
Source: Scryfall
There's no way that Monstrous Rage, and arguably Cori-Steel Cutter survive unscathed through the Banned & Restricted Announcement next Monday 30th, so it remains to be seen what other home Vivi Ornitier will be able to find post-ban. But for the remaining week, there's little doubt the little Wizards is a mainstay in one of Standard's best decks!
Vivi Ornitier: Top #5 Izzet Commander – #1 Soon?
While Vivi Ornitier hasn't overtaken (yet) Y'shtola, Night's Blessed as the most popular commander from Final Fantasy – Y'shtola currently sits at #120 among all commanders, while Vivi is breathing down her neck at #140 according to EDHREC – the Izzet Wizard is by now the Final Fantasy card that sees the most play in Commander, in a tie with Buster Sword and Summon: Bahamut. That's because Vivi Ornitier is good both in the command zone and in the 99. In particular, the hero from Final Fantasy IX seems quite happy under the command of the baddie from Final Fantasy VI: Kefka, Court Mage, another very popular FIN commander, is showing some cEDH punch with Vivi Ornitier in the deck.
As a commander, Vivi Ornitier is already the fifth most-poular Izzet Commander in the last two years…
… and he definitely has what it takes to take the #1 spot. His adoption rate will definitely cool off a bit in the coming weeks, as the Final Fantasy hype dies down a bit. But as a quick guesstimate, when looking at how many new Vivi decks were added this week, and comparing with the rest of the Top #5, it seems a safe bet that he'll be in the Top #3 by early July…
… and may wrestle the #1 spot from Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph before Edge of Eternities is out.
Quite a journey for one of the fan-favorite Final Fantasy characters!
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