Opus 12 - Locke

I’m very excited to talk about the card of the week. I spoke about my anticipation for the Ice/Wind Legend in my assessment of Multi-element cards. Locke is hands down my favorite card of the set. I’m sure there are more cards, but I don’t need to see them. All I need is Locke.

The Good

Before I talk about Locke, I have to speak about tempo. When talking about tempo, discarding simplifies a lot. If I discard a card to play Argath, my opponent will also discard a card. Since both players lost a card, the tempo cost of Argath is 0. Because there’s a direct connection between cards and hands and the resources to play those cards, many cards that discard can add cost to account for this disruption. If we look at Opus 7 Sephiroth, we see that for the cost of dumping two cards, a forward will cost 7. He is a tempo 3 CP; I discarded two cards, my opponent discarded two cards, and I ended up with a forward for 3 CP. Yet, the main attraction of Sephiroth is that he has other abilities. This is very important when we analyze Locke.

Locke has two abilities. The first is a field ability. The second is an auto ability. The auto ability has four options.

Discard a card

Dull and freeze two Characters

Break forward of cost six or more

Break a monster

Breaking a prominent forward is impressive. Discarding cards is strong. Dulling and Freezing can win games in the late game and set you up to win the early game. Freezing is an interesting mechanic. Freezing forwards lets you pretend they aren’t there for a turn. So, you can make extensive tempo follow-ups on freezes. Yet, freezing backups is much different. Like we mentioned earlier, when looking at tempo plays, 2CP = 1 card. Freezing two backups robs the opponent of 2CP, which is often the same as discarding a card. In a roundabout way, Locke can discard two cards. This is all before we look at his first ability.

Discounts

Locke’s first effect discounts his cost by 2 for each card played. At the base cost of 8, Locke isn’t bad. I genuinely believe that at cost 8, an Ice-only Locke that discards a card and dulls and freezes two characters would see some play. But that isn’t the case. Being Ice/Wind forces him into those colors. The ability to discount that effect is enormous. In the worst-case scenario, paying 8 for Locke makes him a tempo 4 CP 9K body (assuming you discard a card and dull/freeze two backups). You can discount Locke by 6CP with his effect. You can push his tempo cost to -2 CP with the total discount. It’s pretty rare to have a negative tempo cost. Locke doesn’t generate CP. At -2 tempo cost, he restricts your opponent’s ability to produce CP so that it feels like he developed 2 CP.

At the total discount, he is a massive tempo play. If the effect was on a summon that you could only cast on your turn (2 CP target two backups, dull and freeze them, your opponent discards a card), the tempo of that summon would be ridiculous. The power level is much stronger than anything we have seen before. But it’s not. It’s a forward with 9000 power.

The Bad

None of the options are bad, but the Wind portions are a bit more situational. Wind has numerous summons and abilities that break forwards that cost five or more. The options for breaking forwards that cost six vs. five or more is drastic.

Locke is just a tempo tool rather than a build-around card. He fits very well in a particular archetype, but I would not suggest building a deck around him (although I will).

Lastly, there is a name clash. I think one of the strongest cards in the game is the backup Locke. The Opus 4 Locke is very impactful. It’s hard to use both in the same deck. I have a soft spot for the Backup Locke from Opus 9. Backup Locke is a very high-skill card. It tests the ability to recognize what a player needs and when. With the new Locke, you can’t have the backup Locke in play if you want to use him.

The Synergy

After the first two casts, in turn, Locke becomes easy to play. Ice and Wind both have very cool ways of replaying cards. Ice has cards like Rinoa and Time Mage, while Wind has cards like Miounne and Chocobo. When it comes to Locke, take your pick. Locke requires backups to play efficiently. If backups aren’t used, Locke costs 4 and 3 if you only use one backup. Therefore, reactivation is very useful when playing Locke. Miounne and Chocobo both let you replay a card while drawing a card. Additionally, you need an Ice backup and a Wind backup to make the most use of Locke. Leaving those up is quite tricky when playing so many things in one turn.

The Ice/Wind cards in this set seem to set up massive tempo plays. If you go second, you can play an Ice backup, a Wind backup, and then play White Mage and follow it with Locke. To make this play, you have to go second, but you discard a card, and if your opponent played backups, they are now frozen.

Revitalization of Discard

There is an interesting thing to point out. Since Opus 7, there hasn’t been a strong discard card. Opus 7 Sephiroth was notorious for his ability to make your opponent discard. Since then, most cards that discard have counterplay or are triggered by the opponent. Scale Toad, Black Waltz, and Loz will make your opponent discard, but it’s not immediate. They can even choose when to trigger the ability at times. Scylla might be the only card that fits the bill, but that comes at a high cost and the need to break a dull forward. She’s too clunky to discard cards reliably. Locke is the first good discard ability in 5 sets.

This is why Sephiroth has been the card to which all discard effects are compared. Sephiroth forces your opponent to play with only a few cards in hand. Every turn, he threatens to take over the game by discarding more cards and controlling the board. Locke doesn’t do that much. Locke has arguably a more significant and more flexible impact on the board, but he doesn’t threaten much more unless you build the deck in a specific way. If we compare the Ice effects of Locke to the first effect of Sephiroth, I’m not sure if I would want Locke. On the other hand, Locke is much more flexible because he has more options, including the ability to be discounted. I’m sure that the increased power and the greater flexibility of Locke will surpass Sephiroth.

Blink, and he is gone.

Locke fits in two different decks. The first is a tempo Ice/Wind deck. There are several cards in the new set that reward playing multiple cards in a single turn. The idea is to hold your cards until you play a massive tempo turn. Then, you leverage that tempo to win or build to another big turn.

The other deck he can find a home in is a bit more free form. When Opus 6 was released, there was a new archetype formed, Vice Kings. The idea was to build card advantage with small bodies until you can play Nidhogg safely and then cheat that effect repeatedly with Rinoa or Time Mage. The deck fell out of favor a set or two later. I don’t think Nidhogg is worthwhile anymore, but Locke can have the same impact. While Locke doesn’t remove the targets from the game, he can break a large forward and still discard a card. Often, this is all you needed from Nidhogg. Additionally, Lunafreya was a powerful card but could never be used to her full potential because Nidhogg was a dark character. That restriction doesn’t apply to Locke.

Since then, the archetype has received more support. Unei is a way to blink your forwards with more consistency. This card is a fantastic Unei target, as you can generate both board control and card advantage from constantly re-playing Locke.

Both of these decks don’t see much play at the moment. Unei as a card is too delicate, and it’s a significant investment. It also is too slow to build up before the tempo of other decks takes over. Ice/Wind tempo might not have enough tempo to compete with the speed of BFA and Marche/Ritz.

Cost Interactions

I’m glad to see that Locke can’t be reduced below 2. This is for a couple of reasons. Typically, the reduction of cards stops at 1. Locke stops at two because it has two elements. Even if it cost 1, you would still have to pay for one Ice and one Wind. This is also future-proofing this effect. Being locked at two by the effect is good for the game.

Final Thoughts

Locke Cole

I’m very excited for Locke. I love how the card is designed, with a massive impact on the turn he comes down, and I love how you can create the deck to make him a looming threat. Several cards are still to be released, and there are a few legends that we are still waiting on (Ed. Note. As of the time of this writing). One thing I know for sure is that I will be playing Locke for a long time. If you’re interested in FFTCG, we have a helpful guide here to help you get started.