Ever since Wizards announced that Universes Beyond sets were coming to Standard three times this year, I’ve been asked the same question, several times a week: “Is Judge Foundry going to do update quizzes for the UB sets?!” And every time, I give the same answer, “I don’t know yet, Zwanger!”
But today, I can reveal that we’ve determined that we need judges to be experts on the most important aspect of a Universes Beyond intellectual property: the flavor!
Sure, players used to expect judges to know how dependencies worked and how to interrupt a proposed shortcut. But now, they’ll depend on us to help them understand the flavor behind the game they’re playing! We expect this to be critical for judges of all levels. Whether a player is sitting down for his first FNM and is unsure which Spider-villains are officially part of the Sinister Six or a player is sideboarding during a feature match at the Pro Tour and needs to understand what unobtanium is, and why the Resources Development Corporation is fighting the Na’vi to get it, players will depend on us to explain the who, what and why of their cards.
That’s why we’re launching our first flavor exam today! We’re still figuring out how these exams will slot into advancement and maintenance requirements, but tentatively, we’re expecting that they’ll probably replace the rules and policy exams that have become obsolete now that players can just ask ChatGPT for a wild hallucination about how the game is played.
Our first exam, launching today (and available only for a limited time), centers on Final Fantasy, the first UB entry into Standard. If you haven’t played the entire series, that’s fine – you should do fine as long as you’ve played the good installments (I, IV, V, VI, VII (and the remakes), IX, X, X-2, XII, and Tactics. Source: the stack of cartridges and discs in a box at my parents’ house). If you haven’t, boot up your SNES and get started!
If you’re more a Spider-fan or love Avatar, don’t worry – we’ll have quizzes later for people who can do whatever a Spider can or who know everything there is to know about the world of Pandora (but not the Borderlands one)(at least not yet – wait for 2027 for that UB). As a matter of fact, I’ve got questions that we’re currently workshopping for the Spider-Man and Avatar sets right here that I can preview for you:
Uncle Ben taught Peter this seminal lesson: “With great power comes great ______”
- Toughness
- Reach
- Responsibility
- Value
Ready for the answer?
The answer is C, but it should be A. Of the 84 Spiders in Magic, only 6 have more power than toughness. If you got this right, action is your reward!
In 1985’s Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, which of these is not a virtue?
- Valor
- Pride
- Honor
- Spirituality
Ready for the answer?
The answer is B. While the people of Magincia once believed Pride a virtue, death exulted in their folly, so Humility took its slot before going on to make Commander games take an extra hour.
But enough about superheroes and Swedish metal bands – this article is about the Final Fantasy quiz! The quiz consists of X questions, and a passing score is LX%. You can make III (VI in Japan) attempts at the quiz. Like our update quizzes, Flavor Exams are open-book, and open-childhood nostalgia. But as I mentioned earlier, it’s only available for a limited time, so don’t dawdle around cleaning up side quests just because you got the airship!
Lastly, judges who pass this quiz will get a special reward on their JudgeApps profile and forum posts for the next week or so… I won’t ruin the surprise by telling you what it is, except that you might describe it as spectacular. Or even amazing.
Thank you to Abe Corson, Joe Klopchic, and Travis Lauro for their help writing this quiz, and to Paul Baranay and Dan Collins for their work on JudgeApps to facilitate this quiz.
Enjoy the exam, and happy April 1st!
p.s. If you missed your chance to get Un-Certified last year, that exam will be available too for a limited time!
