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'100 Nights of Hero' Teases a Cheeky Medieval Fantasy
Gaming Gear

‘100 Nights of Hero’ Teases a Cheeky Medieval Fantasy

by admin August 25, 2025


Released in 2016, Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel The One Hundred Nights of Hero earned a devoted following for its witty twist on The Arabian Nights, imagining a married woman and her beloved maid turning to the power of storytelling to protect the wife from her husband’s creepy wager. Now the tale is coming to the big screen with an all-star cast—and today’s teaser gives us our first look at its medieval folklore-inspired world.

As the trailer shows, Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Emma Corrin (as the maid, Hero), Longlegs‘ Maika Monroe (as the wife, Cherry), and Masters of the Universe‘s Nicholas Galitzine (as the wife’s determined suitor) lead a cast that also includes Amir Al-Masry, Charlie XCX, Richard E. Grant, and Felicity Jones.

Here’s the official synopsis: “When her neglectful husband departs after placing a secret wager to test her fidelity, Cherry (Monroe) and her sharp-witted maid, Hero (Corrin), must fend off a dangerously seductive visitor: Manfred (Galitzine).”

There are almost Yorgos Lanthimos vibes in the blend of period setting, fantasy, and what looks like an offbeat and modern sense of humor; the costumes are also spectacular. It’s not clear from this first teaser if the movie will hew to the novel’s storytelling device, but you have to imagine some of the characters we just see for an instant (Felicity Jones in a long silver wig; Charlie XCX, strumming a very unusual-looking guitar) may be characters in Hero’s carefully crafted tales.

Written and directed by Julia Jackman, 100 Nights of Hero hits theaters December 5.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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August 25, 2025 0 comments
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Katabasis Deluxe Limited Edition - Save Big On R.F. Kuang's New Fantasy Novel
Game Updates

Katabasis Deluxe Limited Edition – Save Big On R.F. Kuang’s New Fantasy Novel

by admin August 25, 2025



Nebula Award-winning author R.F. Kuang returns this week with a new fantasy novel. Pitched as Dante’s Inferno crossed with Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi, Katabasis is a 560-page novel that takes place at a magical university and the underworld. The highly anticipated standalone novel releases August 26, and publisher Harper Voyager is commemorating the launch with a gorgeous collectible hardcover. Katabasis Deluxe Limited Edition is available for $24.48 (was $35) at Amazon and Walmart.

After the first printing of Katabasis sells out, readers will have to settle for the standard edition, which means you’ll miss out on the eye-catching sprayed page edges, lavish case, and illustrated endpapers. Considering that Amazon now also has a store page for the standard edition–for only two bucks less–the Deluxe Limited Edition is possibly close to selling out.

Take a look at the Deluxe Limited Edition of Katabasis below. Fans of Kuang’s Poppy War Trilogy should also check out Amazon’s discounts on the new Deluxe Collector’s Editions of the first two novels in the series.

R.F. Kuang Collector’s Edition Books:

$24.48 (was $35) | Releases August 26

R.F. Kuang’s latest fantasy novel revolves around a pair of PhD students, Alice Law and Peter Murdoch, who study Magick at a fictional Cambridge University. When their academic advisor Professor Jacob Grimes dies in what sounds like a classroom exercise gone terribly wrong, Alice blames herself. She couldn’t stand the guy, but as the best magician alive, Jacob’s recommendation letter could jumpstart her career in Magick. And he hadn’t written recommendation letters before his untimely death.

Described as academic rivals, Alice and Peter join forces and risk their own lives to try to save their futures–and Jacob, who happens to be in literal Hell. And so the pair of brainy, aspirational magicians take a trip to the depths of Hell. But all of their training didn’t prepare them for what Hell is actually like.

The title comes from Greek myths that refer to a descent to Hell as a katabasis. The publisher calls Katabasis “2025’s most unexpected love story,” in case you were wondering whether this is an enemies-turned-lovers situation. And while it is, in a way, I’ve read it, and it really does subvert your expectations in this regard.

The 560-page Deluxe Limited Edition hardcover has decorative sprayed edges featuring the college and the underworld. The dust jacket artwork shows Alice and Peter descending a winding staircase surrounded by bookshelves. This 3D representation of their journey is also depicted on the embossed front cover when you remove the dust jacket. The Deluxe Limited Edition also has exclusive endpapers designed to resemble pages from Alice’s notebook with equations, tables, and diagrams.

Signed copies of the Deluxe Limited Edition were available at Barnes & Noble for $35, but it’s currently sold out.

Editions of Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Katabasis Deluxe Limited Edition

The Deluxe Limited Edition is for the US market, but Harper Voyager also printed a different collectible hardcover in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Big fans of Kuang’s work can import the international limited edition from UK bookshops like Waterstones–though shipping costs and potential tariffs could be rough–or buy a copy from a US reseller on Amazon for around $50.

Large Print editions of Katabasis are available in paperback, and the UK version is roughly half the price compared to the US Large Print edition.

Katabasis is also available as a $15 Kindle ebook and Audible audiobook narrated by Morag Sims and Will Watt.

R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War, Babel, and The Dragon Republic

  • The Poppy War Trilogy Box Set — $32.49 ($60)
  • The Poppy War: Book 1 (2018)
  • The Dragon Republic: Book 2 (2019)
  • The Burning God: Book 3 (2020)
  • Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence (2022)
  • Yellowface (2023)

Kuang is one of the most prolific and successful young writers working in fiction today. Despite only just turning 29 earlier this year, Katabasis is Kuang’s sixth novel. In 2018, Harper Voyager published Kuang’s debut novel, The Poppy War, when she was 22–but she was only 20 when she signed the contract. The first in a grimdark historical fantasy trilogy set in a fictionalized version of Kuang’s native China, The Poppy War was followed up by The Dragon Republic in 2019 and The Burning God in 2020. The award-winning series is available in multiple physical formats, including a budget-friendly paperback box set, hardcover, and trade paperback.

Last November, Harper published The Poppy War Deluxe Collector’s Edition with sprayed edges, illustrated endpapers, embossed visual effects, and a fully illustrated dust jacket. The Poppy War Collector’s Edition hardcover is discounted to $24.29 (was $45) at Amazon. The Dragon Republic Deluxe Collector’s Edition released in June and is on sale for $26 (was $45). Though not confirmed yet, we imagine The Burning God will get a matching Collector’s Edition of its next year.

After completing the trilogy, Kuang shifted gears to speculative fiction in Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution. Yes, that’s a very long title. Babel is a fascinating alternate history that, like Katabasis, revolves around academia. It won the 2022 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Kuang changed genres once again with her riveting 2023 novel Yellowface. The satirical novel takes aim at racial diversity in publishing. If you like audiobooks, Helen Laser’s narration of Yellowface is wildly entertaining.

August has brought a number of other notable new fantasy and sci-fi novels, including Charlie Jane Anders’ Lessons in Magic and Disaster, Gareth Brown’s The Society of Unknowable Objects, Louis Sachar’s The Magician of Tiger Castle, and Yasuhiko Nishizawa’s The Man Who Died Seven Times.



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August 25, 2025 0 comments
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Adam Schefter's fantasy football cheat sheet - Value picks and sleepers to target
Esports

Adam Schefter’s fantasy football cheat sheet – Value picks and sleepers to target

by admin August 24, 2025


Each year, we at ESPN Fantasy endeavor to help with your fantasy football draft prep, including sleepers lists and cheat sheets. In this column, you will get the best of both worlds, as ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter offers his personal list of early-, mid- and late-round targets in 2025 fantasy leagues.

Below are some players who could be fantasy standouts this season and outperform their current average draft position (ADP). If given a choice at certain junctures in the draft, or in tiebreaker situations, these are players who will receive strong consideration.

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For context, I am in a 12-team league, in which some of these players will not need to be drafted, and a 16-team league, in which some of them might be more valuable. As always, consider the size of your league and your scoring system in any player evaluation, but I believe the players below hold strong value relative to their ADPs and are poised to have productive seasons.

I hope this list is helpful. Good luck this season!

Quarterback

Just as the NFL has elite quarterbacks, so does fantasy. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow have racked up huge numbers for their teams and fantasy managers, but there is plenty of depth this year, and quality quarterbacks can be found in later rounds, if you choose to wait at the position.

Early rounds

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: Coach John Harbaugh believes Jackson is one of the best passers — yes, passers — in NFL history. But Jackson’s running makes him one of the best fantasy quarterbacks in history.

Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills: In the past year, Allen has won an MVP, gotten married and restructured his contract as he looks to duplicate — and even improve upon — his incredible 2024 season.

Middle rounds

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: From the time he turned up in Tampa, Mayfield has exceeded expectations while the Buccaneers have assembled potent offensive options.

Bo Nix, Denver Broncos: Nix is a better dual threat than people realize, and can rack up fantasy points with his legs as much as his arm.

Late rounds

Drake Maye, New England Patriots: A bigger version of Bo Nix, in the junior mold of Josh Allen, Maye can score points in the air or on the ground.

Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons: In his brief stint at the end of last season, Penix proved he belongs. He is the Falcons’ quarterback of the future and will be a fantasy fixture.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars: Under new coach Liam Coen, Lawrence has been put in a position to achieve his potential.

Running back

A case can be made to draft either Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs with the No. 1 pick this season. Coming off a deep running back draft in April, this crop of running backs has been elevated by a number of rookies who have a chance to make meaningful fantasy contributions this season.

Early rounds

Bijan Robinson, Falcons: He would be my No. 1 pick this year.

Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions: Gibbs might just be the most dynamic offensive player in the NFL, not to mention a touchdown machine.

Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals: On a team that could be involved in high-scoring affairs, Brown can catch as effectively as he runs.

Bucky Irving, Buccaneers: Irving emerged in his rookie year and seized control of the Buccaneers’ No. 1 running back spot.

Middle rounds

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0:59

Field Yates: Fantasy managers are likely overlooking Isiah Pacheco

Field Yates explains why Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco is likely being undervalued in drafts.

Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers: Few coaches love to run the football as much as Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman, and Hampton is expected to be the lead back.

TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots: Demonstrated speed, elusiveness and big-play ability this preseason and will be used in conjunction with Rhamondre Stevenson.

RJ Harvey, Broncos: Rookie running backs sometimes are brought along slowly in Sean Payton’s offense, but as the season progresses, so should Harvey.

Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs: An injury derailed a strong start to his 2024 season. Pacheco is healthy this year.

Late rounds

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders: There has been an inordinate amount of hype surrounding this seventh-round pick.

Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns: Cleveland needs, and is expected to have, one of its rookie running backs to be a factor.

Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals: It’s time for last year’s third-round draft pick to show he has a place in Arizona’s offense.

Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys: Blue has elite elusiveness and is expected to be a third-down factor.

Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars: The rookie will likely contribute early and be consistent this season. He has too much speed not to.

Will Shipley, Philadelphia Eagles: Shipley is solid insurance for managers who roster running back Saquon Barkley.

Wide receiver

With the NFL’s reliance on the passing game, so many receivers have been developed that this could be the deepest group of wideouts in fantasy history. Catching contributors are available at all levels of the draft, but especially up high.

Early rounds

Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals: There is no contract drama this year, and the connection he has with Burrow is next level.

Editor’s Picks

2 Related

Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions: Target machine who is as tough and dependable as they come.

Nico Collins, Houston Texans: When healthy, he has the ability to be one of the top fantasy receivers.

Malik Nabers, New York Giants: Has a lingering toe issue and, were it not for that, his talent is on par with any receiver in the league.

Middle rounds

Marvin Harrison Jr., Cardinals: He will not be drafted as high as last year, but he likely will produce more this year.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks: Showed how productive he could be during his rookie season and should continue to shine.

DeVonta Smith, Eagles: A.J. Brown gets a lot of attention in Philadelphia, but Smith still gets a lot of targets.

Jameson Williams, Lions: Headed into a contract year, Williams has the motivation to go along with the talent.

Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears: He has already built a rapport with QB Caleb Williams that will connect them for years.

Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers: There have been so many injuries to 49ers wideouts that someone has to produce for them. Pearsall can.

Later rounds

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0:38

Why Jordan Addison still has fantasy appeal despite suspension

Mike Clay explains why WR Jordan Addison still has plenty of appeal despite his 3-game suspension and being ranked as a WR40 option.

Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings: A three-game suspension dings his value, but once he returns, he is expected to be a force.

Matthew Golden, Green Bay Packers: Like Pearsall, injuries have impacted the Packers’ wide receivers. Someone has to produce, and their first-round pick is as good a bet as any.

Emeka Egbuka, Buccaneers: The team has been pleased and impressed with how its first-round pick has looked in camp.

Keon Coleman, Bills: Coleman has looked good during training camp, like he’s ready to make a second-year jump.

Marvin Mims Jr., Broncos: He began to emerge last season and it should continue this season.

DeMario Douglas, Patriots: New England needs its receivers to step up, and Douglas did at camp.

Dyami Brown, Jaguars: Follow the money. The Jaguars paid him about $10 million per year as a free agent.

Jaylin Noel, Texans: With Tank Dell out indefinitely, Houston needs the type of big plays that Noel can provide.

Troy Franklin, Broncos: The Broncos have a lot of wide receivers, but Franklin — who played with Nix in college — is capable of making plays.

Tight end

This is a top-heavy position, with Brock Bowers, Trey McBride and George Kittle being the headliners. Once it gets past them, there is uncertainty and some risk.

Early rounds

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders: Last year’s first-round pick looked like a star in his rookie season in Vegas.

Trey McBride, Cardinals: There were times last season when he played like a baby Gronk.

Middle rounds

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Sam LaPorta, Lions: Flashed superstar potential as a rookie in 2023, when the Lions featured him.

Evan Engram, Broncos: Sean Payton has been waiting for an effective pass-catching tight end, and now he has one.

Jake Ferguson, Cowboys: Coming off an injury, Ferguson is poised to resume his production in Dallas’ offense.

Later rounds

Isaiah Likely, Ravens: He could be the No. 1 tight end on many teams. Things are tougher in Baltimore with Mark Andrews around, but the Ravens know how talented Likely is.

Theo Johnson, Giants: Johnson was a factor as his rookie season progressed and should be even better this season.

Ja’Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers: He flashed during his rookie season as well, and has a chance to take a meaningful jump in Year 2.

AJ Barner, Seahawks: Seattle needs a tight end to step up, and Barner might be up to the task.



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August 24, 2025 0 comments
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Lost Hellden is an action JRPG from veteran Final Fantasy and Gravity Rush developers, here's a new gameplay trailer
Game Reviews

Lost Hellden is an action JRPG from veteran Final Fantasy and Gravity Rush developers, here’s a new gameplay trailer

by admin August 23, 2025


JRPG Lost Hellden has received a fresh gameplay trailer to show off its “Deep 2D” painted art style and action battle system.

The game, from Artisan Studios, was previously revealed as a 2025 Switch game, but has now been pushed back to 2026 and is set for release across Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam, Epic GoG).

Lost Hellden is a JRPG in a classic style, which is testament to its veteran developers. Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy 12, Tactics Ogre, Valkyria Chronicles) is behind the music and audio, while its illustrations are from Takeshi Oga (Gravity Rush, Siren).

Lost Hellden – Gameplay Trailer Watch on YouTube

It features hand-painted static backdrops, a Job system with skill tree, and action-style combat.

If you’re a fan of old school JRPGs, keep an eye on this.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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August 23, 2025 0 comments
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2025 fantasy football draft guide - Rankings, mock drafts and analysis
Esports

2025 fantasy football draft guide – Rankings, mock drafts and analysis

by admin August 23, 2025



Aug 22, 2025, 07:04 AM ET

This page will be updated throughout the summer, so continue to check back for the latest content.

As the weather heats up, so does our excitement about the 2025 fantasy football draft season.

Whether you play in a casual redraft league, an intense deep dynasty format or anything in between, we at ESPN Fantasy are here to help.

This draft guide will serve as a one-stop shop for all of our best material as you prepare to make the best fantasy football picks possible in every draft you’re in: Rankings and cheat sheets; player projections; mock drafts for different league types; sleepers, busts and breakouts; and plenty of helpful information and tips from our expert team of fantasy football analysts.

It doesn’t matter whether you have been doing this for years or are a fantasy first-timer. We have everything needed to help you draft a great team and start the season with a shot at a championship.

Fantasy football cheat sheets, projections and depth charts

Your League, Your Rules

Create a league and customize league size, scoring and rules to play in the league you want to play in.

Create a league today!

Cheat Sheet Central
A one-stop shop for printable cheat sheets that fit your specific needs.

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet
All the names we’ve been talking about in a printable cheat sheet for your draft.

2025 projections
Mike Clay’s projected output for players at every fantasy position, sortable by category.

Depth charts: Offense | Defense

Rankings

2025 rankings hub
A range of rankings types to suit you, including our staff consensus by position, superflex, IDP, dynasty and individual overall lists.

Fantasy football rankings: Eric Moody’s QB tiers
How to approach drafting quarterbacks, especially if you don’t land one of the “Big 4.”

Fantasy football rankings: Eric Karabell’s RB tiers
Outside of Ashton Jeanty, in which tiers do the top rookies appear?

Fantasy football rankings: Eric Karabell’s WR tiers
There is great depth at WR, but it’s important to know when the value drops off.

Fantasy football rankings: Eric Moody’s TE tiers
Tight end tiers are top-heavy, with lots of uncertainty thereafter.

Mike Clay’s “The 192”
The 192 players who should be drafted in 12-team leagues, broken down into tiers.

Insurance RB rankings
A list of backup running backs best positioned to succeed if given a full workload.

RB ranks: Most reliable TD scorers
Which backs can you bank on near the goal line? Here are the most dependable backs.

From Chase to London, ranking the most reliable TD scorers among WRs
A deep dive into trustworthy TD scorers among wideouts based on target data, efficiency and more.

Mock drafts

The Mock Draft Project 2025: Results for over 30 expert 10-team PPR mock drafts

More mocks:
12-team, PPR (8/18) | Fantasy Marathon: 10-team, PPR (8/12)
12-team superflex, PPR (8/5) | 10-team superflex, 1/2 PPR (7/24)
8-team, PPR (7/9) | 12-team, non-PPR (6/24)
12-team, 1/2 PPR (6/12) | 10-team, PPR (5/6)

Advice and analysis

Tough draft-day decisions: Can you pick a top-5 QB and top-3 TE and still like your team?
Daniel Dopp shares takeaways from more than 100 drafts to help you make tough decisions in your upcoming drafts.

Tristan H. Cockcroft’s best picks for each draft slot in Rounds 1 and 2:
8-team leagues | 10-team leagues | 12-team leagues

Joe Burrow, Ladd McConkey among Matt Bowen’s top 10 draft targets
The players he’s been drafting all summer, along with a handful of late-rounders to put on the radar.

Field’s favorites: Jaylen Waddle, TreVeyon Henderson among popular draft targets
Field Yates offers up the players has been happy to snag most often in drafts this summer.

Mike Clay’s Ultimate Draft Board
Perfect picks for every round in a 12-team league.

Tory Horton, Jaxson Dart, Adonai Mitchell among deep sleepers
Tristan H. Cockcroft names names for those in deeper leagues seeking off-the-radar types who may emerge in 2025.

Answering one key preseason question for 20 NFL teams
NFL Nation reporters answer the most important fantasy questions, providing insight from training camps.

‘Do Draft’ list: Henry, Purdy, Kelce among players being undervalued
In the perennial counterpart to the Do Not Draft list, Eric Karabell discusses players who are being underappreciated in drafts.

‘Do Not Draft’ list: McCaffrey, Andrews among players being overvalued
Eric Karabell serves up his annual list of players going earlier than they should in 2025 drafts.

Fantasy football ‘drumbeat’ players: Nix, Hampton among those generating buzz
Liz Loza serves up six potential league-winning players who are generating serious excitement in fantasy circles.

Benson, Higgins lead the “Have Skills, Need Opportunity” team
Ten players who have the skills to be fantasy factors but are waiting for a chance to prove it.

Six late-round “fliers” that can help you win your league
Liz Loza offers up six players you need to be considering late in fantasy drafts.

Fantasy Focus breakouts: Williams, McCarthy and more
Field Yates, Mike Clay and Daniel Dopp identify players you can count on to break out.

Numbers you should know before your draft
Tristan H. Cockcroft uncovers some interesting stats that could impact draft day decisions.

Ward, McMillan and others primed to follow path of 2024 breakouts
These players are in position to follow a similar path to last year’s breakouts and produce big numbers.

Year 2 player spotlight: Maye, Harrison, Odunze among popular breakouts
The ESPN Fantasy staff lists NFL sophomores being undervalued in drafts and a few under scrutiny.

Murray, McCaffrey among “red flag” players worth drafting
You have to take risks to win in fantasy football. Liz Loza highlights players who are worth taking the chance on.

Opportunity knocks: Players poised to take advantage in 2025
Eric Moody lists those who will benefit most from teams’ vacated touches or targets from last season.

11 players who will score fewer TDs in 2025
Mike Clay gives his annual list of players he expects to reach the end zone less often this season.

Nine players who will score more TDs in 2025
Mike Clay lists the players most likely to increase their touchdown output in 2025.

Expect a return to form from these bounce-back candidates
Eric Karabell lists some of his favorite candidates to rebound from a disappointing 2024.

10 undervalued pass catchers with intriguing upside or safer floors
Matt Bowen lists his favorites with week-winning potential and others who are dependable, despite lower ADPs.

Top storylines for 2025: What to expect from CMC, Tyreek and more
Mike Clay, Daniel Dopp and Field Yates enjoy a robust conversation about topics that fascinate them heading into this season.

Don’t be surprised if … these 19 things happen in 2025
Eric Karabell offers his thoughts on players who could delight or disappoint in 2025.

The 20 rookies that should be drafted
Fans get excited about rookies, but which ones are truly worth taking in fantasy drafts this summer? Matt Bowen has a list.

16 players to trade for or trade away in dynasty leagues
Knowing when to hold and when to walk away from players is critical to dynasty league success. Eric Moody is here to help.

Players to upgrade, downgrade due to 2025 schedule
Mike Clay details the teams and players with the easiest and hardest schedules in fantasy terms.

Strategy/ways to play

The Playbook: Planning a winning fantasy football draft-day strategy
Mike Clay goes position by position and lays out a successful approach for 2025 fantasy football drafts.

The Playbook, Part 2: Fantasy football draft tips for nontraditional formats
Mike Clay discusses his draft approach in various intensive league structures that get less attention.

A fantasy football beginner’s guide to salary cap drafts
Eric Karabell’s provides an introduction to the ins and outs of salary cap drafts for fantasy football.

Why this is the season to try an IDP league
Tristan H. Cockcroft explains why drafting defensive players increases the fun you can have playing fantasy.

What is a superflex league, and why should you try one?
Tristan H. Cockcroft explains why starting two QBs instead of one maximizes the fun and also changes the way you draft.

10 ways to make your league more fun
Daniel Dopp provides custom options to increase the enjoyment of playing fantasy football for you and your leaguemates.

Individual player analysis

Drake Maye a top-10 QB in 2025?
Eric Moody explains why Maye is in position to take the next step in Year 2.

Should you take Ashton Jeanty over Saquon Barkley in fantasy drafts?
Liz Loza and Tyler Fulghum debate whether the hot rookie or the 2,000-yard back is the better choice.

The Travis Hunter Experience: How to maximize his fantasy potential
Want to play in a league in which you get points for all of Travis Hunter’s contributions? Here’s how you do it.

Miscellaneous

New features in ESPN Fantasy app: Easier navigation, improved personalization
A list of the newest elements added to the fantasy app, all of which you can enjoy this season.

Fantasy football team names: How to pick a winner
If you’re seeking inspiration for naming your fantasy team, Liz Loza provides a blueprint.

The Fantasy Team Name Generator
Answer a short quiz and be rewarded with a suggestion for a team name that fits your style and personality.



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August 23, 2025 0 comments
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Eagles' Saquon Barkley is entering his prime
Esports

Fantasy football – Best picks for each draft slot in Round 1 and 2 in 10-team leagues

by admin August 21, 2025



Aug 21, 2025, 07:03 AM ET

No one needs more stress in their lives.

Strange as it may sound, among the more anxiety-inducing parts of the fantasy football experience centers around one’s draft position. Whether it’s fretting that your most desired player won’t be there by the time you get to pick, the bother of not knowing your slot until an hour beforehand (as is the case in ESPN default leagues), or the fear that you’ll pick the inevitable “first-rounder who is a bust” and be openly ridiculed by your counterparts, we collectively exhaust far too much energy sweating this particular topic.

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Thankfully, you’ve come to the right place. It’s here where I annually walk you through the twists and turns of your draft’s first two rounds, helping ease your mind and maximize your chances at starting your team off strong. After all, we all know that age-old fantasy mantra: “You can’t win your league in the first round, but you can certainly lose it.”

Below is an outline of the specific candidates for selection from each draft spot, the potential combinations for your first two picks, and I offer my ideal selections from each slot in your league.

This edition covers 10-team ESPN standard leagues with PPR scoring. Under each draft slot, you’ll find a “players unlocked” section, which highlights the earliest pick at which you should consider selecting that player (this does not mean that you should select him, but rather that you could if you wish to).

Are you in a league of a different size?
Check out the best picks for 8-team leagues | 12-team leagues

Draft Slot 1

Round 1 (Pick 1 overall): Ja’Marr Chase is coming off one of the most prolific seasons by a wide receiver, he’s a prime-age 25, and his Cincinnati Bengals return a near-identical offense for 2025. Chase’s 403.0 fantasy points were fourth best in history by a wide receiver, his 23.7 points per game was 12th since the merger, and he joined Charley Hennigan (1961), Isaac Bruce (1995) and Davante Adams (2020) as the only wide receivers to score 40-plus points in a game three times in a season. Chase at No. 1 is a no-brainer.

Players unlocked: Chase, Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley.

Round 2 (Pick 20): In a 10-team league, there’s a path to one-slot teams enjoying a dream start to the draft, should any of the running backs from the Derrick Henry/Bucky Irving/Josh Jacobs tier, or the wide receivers from the Nico Collins/A.J. Brown/Drake London tier, or even better, multiples, make it this far. If Jacobs is the only one there, he is a great selection this late. Additionally, a WR-RB start to the draft gives this team the luxury of considering Brock Bowers in Round 3. Bowers scored 12.9 more fantasy points than the second-best TE and 114.2 more than the 11th best last season, while projecting for 100-plus more points than the No. 11 tight end for 2025.

Players unlocked: Tee Higgins, Tyreek Hill, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jayden Daniels.

Tristan’s picks: Chase and Jacobs.

Draft Slot 2

Round 1 (Pick 2): You’ll notice both Bijan Robinson and Saquon Barkley alongside Chase among “unlocked” players at No. 1 overall, in large part due to the perennial debate about the impact and scarcity of three-down, 360-touch running backs (they’re the only ones with at least that many in 2024 and in our 2025 projections). Barkley averaged the position’s most fantasy points per game (22.2), while Robinson’s 341.7 total points were 11th best by any second-year running back in history, making either a viable choice for managers who prefer to prioritize the position. I’m not going running back at No. 1 overall, but I would from this spot, with Robinson preferred between the two.

Editor’s Picks

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Players unlocked: Justin Jefferson, Jahmyr Gibbs, CeeDee Lamb.

Round 2 (Pick 19): Getting the No. 1 running back, and a prime-age one at that, provides this team lots of second-round flexibility, to the point that the two-slot manager might be thinking about breaking the seal on either the quarterback or tight end position. I wouldn’t, as there are enough of the former in the top tier, the latter has historically unearthed enough low-cost breakthroughs to warrant draft patience, and the third round should still provide a wealth of options at either spot. Lamar Jackson, for example, by all rights should be there at 22nd overall.

Running back remains the way to go from this slot, with Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor or Bucky Irving often the names available. Taylor, for all his injury risk, is one of the most reliable three-down backs, his 15 games exceeding 20 touches in a game the past two seasons trailing only Saquon Barkley and Kyren Williams (17 apiece).

Players unlocked: None.

Tristan’s picks: Robinson and Taylor.

Draft Slot 3

Round 1 (Pick 3): If you’re a Saquon Barkley believer — and I’m not, concerned that players of his age (28) coming off his 2024 workload (482 total touches, including the postseason) have a poor track record of repeating (detailed in my video above) — you shouldn’t let him sneak past this draft slot. Ja’Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson and Barkley are projected for 100-plus more points than the No. 21 player at their positions, the only running backs and wide receivers who can claim that.

This is a year, however, where personal opinion can come into play between picks 3 and 6, meaning Justin Jefferson, Jahmyr Gibbs and CeeDee Lamb, all “unlocked” at the previous slot, are fair game. I’m among the most pro-Jefferson fantasy managers around, pointing out his wide receiver-record 1,492.4 fantasy points through his first five NFL seasons.

Players unlocked: None.

Round 2 (Pick 18): Bucky Irving is the most intriguing second-round running back, at least relative to what are generally modest projections. I can formulate a case that he almost scratches the top-10 overall picks, though many people rank him outside the top 20. This seems like the sweet spot for him, but don’t be afraid to reach with one of the lower draft slots, if you share similar optimism.

Players unlocked: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Trey McBride.

Tristan’s picks: Jefferson and Irving.

Draft Slot 4

Round 1 (Pick 4): Jahmyr Gibbs ultimately outscored Saquon Barkley last season (362.9 to 355.2), and while Barkley sitting out the Week 18 finale contributed, Gibbs’ performances in Weeks 15-18 and the divisional round gave him the look of a player ready to take his game to another level. If Ja’Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson and Justin Jefferson are already off the board, this slot should come down to your Gibbs/Barkley personal preference.

Players unlocked: None.

Round 2 (Pick 17): I’m fading Derrick Henry more than most — more on why under Draft Slot 10 — but this is about as far as I’d allow him to slip in any draft, 10 teams or otherwise. Running backs will be plentiful from this spot in drafts where the Brian Thomas Jr./Nico Collins/A.J. Brown/Drake London wide receiver tier goes early in the second round, and Henry is a cut above Bucky Irving, Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs.

Players unlocked: None.

Tristan’s picks: Gibbs and Henry.

Draft Slot 5

Round 1 (Pick 5): Don’t get me wrong, my fading of Saquon Barkley is no hater’s angle. The 5-slot is the furthest I’d let him slide in any 2025 draft of 10 teams or greater. Any more than that and you run the danger of gifting your competition a massive value pick … kind of like Barkley wound up being in 2024.

Players unlocked: None.

Round 2 (Pick 16): The danger for this team is being cornered into a Philadelphia Eagles strategy, should Brian Thomas Jr., Nico Collins and Drake London all already be off the board. If that’s the case, taking a second running back in De’Von Achane, Derrick Henry or Bucky Irving, then drafting wide receivers aggressively in the next three to five rounds, is reasonable. It’s also not outrageous to take No. 1 tight end Brock Bowers this early.

Players unlocked: Chase Brown, Kyren Williams.

Tristan’s picks: Barkley and London.

Draft Slot 6

Round 1 (Pick 6): If it’s not either of the top two draft slots, this is my preferred position for 2025, as the first point at which there’s a noticeable drop-off in terms of talent. Ja’Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson, Justin Jefferson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkey and CeeDee Lamb make up the top tier of six, meaning you should select the one remaining from this slot. For those feeling super-bold, this is the earliest possible slot from which you should even consider drafting the top-ranked rookie, Ashton Jeanty.

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Players unlocked: Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Christian McCaffrey, Malik Nabers, Jeanty.

Round 2 (Pick 15): This team also runs the risk of the dual-Eagles start, albeit with more control over it in the second round. A non-A.J. Brown member of the Brian Thomas Jr./Nico Collins/Brown/Drake London wide receiver tier, or a RB1 like De’Von Achane, should still be there. Incidentally, I wouldn’t pass up one of the wide receivers even if I took Lamb in the first round. Chase Brown, Kyren Williams and James Cook have been known to make it back to this pick in Round 3.

Players unlocked: Ladd McConkey.

Tristan’s picks: Lamb and Brown.

Draft Slot 7

Round 1 (Pick 7): Picks 7 through 11 overall come down largely to personal preference, from the trio of wide receivers (Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Malik Nabers) and the two high-ceiling running backs (Christian McCaffrey and Ashton Jeanty) unlocked in the 6-slot. I’ve vacillated between the three receivers in my own early drafts, though St. Brown, the only wide receiver to score 300-plus fantasy points in each of the past two seasons, has most often risen to the top of my board.

Players unlocked: None.

Round 2 (Pick 14): If you’re more pro-Henry than I am, selecting him here makes a bit of sense, even if you took a running back in the first round. I prefer one of the Brian Thomas Jr./Nico Collins/Brown/London wide receiver quartet, but as long as you’re not selecting a running back ranked beneath De’Von Achane or Henry, you’re starting off fine. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Tyreek Hill, Tee Higgins and Garrett Wilson are typically among wide receivers available from this slot in the third round.

Players unlocked: None.

Tristan’s picks: St. Brown and Collins.

Draft Slot 8

Round 1 (Pick 8): Puka Nacua is the next wide receiver on my draft board. He has a more reliable quarterback throwing him the football than Malik Nabers, and he has scored 15-plus fantasy points in 17 of the first 28 games of his career. Nacua also finished last season on a high note, scoring 159.4 fantasy points over the final eight weeks (third best among wide receivers, despite sitting out the finale).

Players unlocked: De’Von Achane and Brian Thomas Jr.

Round 2 (Pick 13): I’m an Achane fan, so I must point out the following: Since his breakthrough game in Week 3 of 2023 (but not including that one), he has averaged 16.8 PPG, eighth best among running backs. That’s production I can’t pass up in the hopes of piecing a Zero-RB strategy together in the later rounds.

Players unlocked: Josh Jacobs, Brock Bowers.

Tristan’s picks: Nacua and Achane.

Draft Slot 9

Round 1 (Pick 9): Here is where fantasy managers face their toughest draft decision, as Christian McCaffrey, despite the glut of top-6 wide receivers, becomes too difficult to pass up. Over the past seven NFL seasons, covering the time he has been a full-time starter, he has averaged a league-leading (among all players) 23.7 fantasy points per game. Yes, McCaffrey is now 29 years old, with 1,871 career touches on his résumé, and he averaged barely half that per-game rate in his four games played last season, but the upside of a healthy McCaffrey is unquestionably first-round talent. I wouldn’t fault anyone for picking any of the earlier wide receivers (if still available) or Ashton Jeanty over McCaffrey, but this is the furthest I would allow him to slip in any draft.

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Players unlocked: Nico Collins, Derrick Henry.

Round 2 (Pick 12): My valuations have there being a gap between the top 11 picks and the next tier that includes Brian Thomas Jr., Nico Collins and De’Von Achane, meaning that if any player targeted for earlier slots makes it this far, snatch him up quick. Failing that, those who select McCaffrey might be tempted to take Achane, or perhaps Derrick Henry, though that’s absorbing a good amount of risk at the position. I’d go wide receiver, and Thomas, from here.

Players unlocked: None.

Tristan’s picks: McCaffrey and Thomas.

Draft Slot 10

Round 1 (Pick 10): The reason to shy away from the 10-slot in a 10-team league, if you at all have the opportunity to choose, is what will likely be available come the Rounds 3-4 turn, not these two picks. If everything plays out as outlined above, Malik Nabers and Ashton Jeanty provide an excellent starting point. That said, once Christian McCaffrey is gone, it’s time to bring up the other highly debatable running back, Derrick Henry. Henry was fourth in scoring among RBs in 2024, and he’s a three-down back for one of the most run-friendly offenses in football. That said, among the previous 20 players with at least the same as Henry’s 2,529 career touches through his age-30 season, only Walter Payton (three), Ricky Watters and Curtis Martin enjoyed a season of 220-plus fantasy points at an older age. Henry is a risk/reward pick, and I’m not yet ready to take the chance.

Players unlocked: Bucky Irving, Jonathan Taylor, A.J. Brown, Drake London.

Round 2 (Pick 11): If you’re thinking about going WR-WR rather than selecting Jeanty, or if Jeanty goes earlier and you’d rather pass on De’Von Achane, bear in mind that every one of the top 12 running backs will likely be gone by the Rounds 3-4 turn. Be prepared to go heavily Zero-RB if selecting Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr., for example.

Players unlocked: None.

Tristan’s picks: Nabers and Jeanty.



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August 21, 2025 0 comments
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A Viera with a furrowed brow looks sad or frustrated.
Gaming Gear

Final Fantasy 14 director Yoshi-P admits ‘our quality of service has declined recently’ and ‘we got used to things a bit too much and got comfortable’

by admin June 23, 2025



As I wrote earlier this year, Final Fantasy 14 is in a bit of a weird spot. The highs of the Endwalker’s narrative conclusion and the WoW exodus have officially tapered off, leaving players with a fairly middling introduction to its new story and frustrations around patch cadence.

There are smaller snags between the more glaring issues, too—DDoS attacks continue to plague servers, last year’s graphical overhaul and Xbox launch have caused a snafu or two, and there was even one particularly odd bug last year that caused one of the game’s easiest raids to go turbo hard mode.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXXXVII – YouTube

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Director and producer Naoki Yoshida is pretty aware of the disruption it’s all been causing, as he briefly discussed at the beginning of a livestream last week. “I’ve been feeling that our quality of service has declined recently, I am very for that,” Yoshida told viewers (thanks to the Final Fantasy 14 community Discord for the translations), adding that there have been “too many bugs that we need to have an emergency maintenance or a hotfix for.”


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Yoshida claims he’s had chats across both the community and development team, before saying: “It feels like we got used to things a bit too much and got comfortable.”

Now he’s probably talking more about the multitude of tech-related hiccups here, but it’s a sentence that rings true across the entire game. It feels like there’s been a real ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality that’s been keeping the MMO ticking along in recent years. And I mean, it ain’t quite broke. But it’s certainly incredibly rusted.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

I do think he’s at least somewhat cognizant of that, though, as he follows up by saying: “We grew bigger and processes didn’t fully work the way we had intended them to, we want to improve this again. Especially with new and big content we have recently released, this was difficult. We want to keep providing fun and engaging content and we will strive to do better.”

Stagnant game design and a lack of any meaningful, repeatable midcore content for an entire half of an expansion’s life is certainly harming Final Fantasy 14, and this all does make me wonder if Square Enix has at least sort of started to recognise that the formula isn’t working as well as it used to. Especially as the gap continues to widen between itself and WoW, with Blizzard practically running circles around Square at this point.

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

It does spark some kind of hope in me that we’ll start to see some larger overhauls, though they likely won’t manifest until the next expansion at the very earliest. We have already seen the developer dabbling with different fights like tougher 24-player boss fights, and returning to older concepts like Diadem and Bozja in the form of Cosmic Exploration and the Occult Crescent. Sentiment on all three has been rather mixed—which is to be expected, I guess—but I do hope Square Enix takes the feedback to evolve and catch back up to its competition, rather than going for its usual method of canning the content all together.



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June 23, 2025 0 comments
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The Blood of Dawnwalker developers share a look at gameplay from the upcoming vampire fantasy RPG
Gaming Gear

The Blood of Dawnwalker developers share a look at gameplay from the upcoming vampire fantasy RPG

by admin June 22, 2025


One of the games that really caught my eye during the Xbox Games Showcase at the beginning of June was The Blood of Dawnwalker, a dark fantasy action-RPG from Rebel Wolves, the studio co-founded by Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz. First teased earlier this year, The Blood of Dawnwalker is a single-player open-world game set in a version of 14th-century Europe that’s crawling with vampires.

The first two trailers gave us a bit of a glimpse at what the gameplay will be like, but the developer has now shared an in-depth look in a 21-minute video, which you can watch below. It looks pretty sick — but keep in mind that this footage is from the “pre-beta” game, so there’s still a lot of polishing to be done.

In The Blood of Dawnwalker, “You play as Coen, a young man turned into a Dawnwalker, forever treading the line between the world of day and the realm of night. Fight for your humanity or embrace the cursed powers to save your family.” It’s slated to hit PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.



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June 22, 2025 0 comments
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Here's our first look at gameplay from former The Witcher developers' fantasy RPG, The Blood of the Dawnwalker
Game Reviews

Here’s our first look at gameplay from former The Witcher developers’ fantasy RPG, The Blood of the Dawnwalker

by admin June 22, 2025


Rebel Wolves, the studio from former CD Projekt director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, has dropped a new trailer giving us our first meaningful look at The Blood of the Dawnwalker’s gameplay.

Recorded on PC – and clearly labelled as a pre-beta “work-in-progress” – the trailer presents a bumper-length introduction to some of the game’s features and gameplay mechanics. You can check it out below:

The Blood of Dawnwalker — Gameplay Overview.Watch on YouTube

As well as watching protagonist Coen in action, and some of the gorgeous environments he’ll visit, we also get a good long look at his perks menu, too, and learn a little more about how to balance his human qualities with his superhuman ones.

“Using hexes consumes his health,” explains design director, Daniel Sadowski. “The way our magic system works, there’s always a price to pay for manipulating reality.”

Rebel Wolves confirmed its first project would be dark fantasy RPG Dawnwalker at the beginning of last year. Described as a “brand-new role-playing saga”, it’s single-player and open-world, with a “strong focus on story and narrative”, casting players as Coen – a “young man turned into a Dawnwalker, forever treading the line between the world of day and the realm of night”. You must “fight for your humanity or embrace the cursed powers to save your family”.

Alongside Tomaszkiewicz, Rebel Wolves counts former CD Projekt scribe Jakub Szamałek as its narrative director and main writer, with other team members including design director Daniel Sadowski, animation director Tamara Zawada, art director Bartłomiej Gaweł, CFO Michał Boryka, and studio head Robert Murzynowski – who have collectively worked on games such as Cyberpunk, Thronebreaker, Shadow Warrior 2, and The Witcher series.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series in 2026.



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June 22, 2025 0 comments
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Magic: The Gathering Team Reveals Which Final Fantasy Character They Regret Not Including
Game Updates

Magic: The Gathering Team Reveals Which Final Fantasy Character They Regret Not Including

by admin June 22, 2025



After half a decade in development, two years spent building up anticipation, and months of teases and reveals, Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy collaboration has finally hit shelves. Even before its official release, the set made history as Magic: The Gathering’s best-selling set of all time, and the weeks that have followed have only further cemented the launch as one of the most significant in MTG’s history.

At this year’s Summer Game Fest, GameSpot had the chance to speak with one of the collaboration’s lead designers, senior game designer Daniel Holt, about the collaboration and how it feels to see folks finally playing with the new cards. We also chatted about preventing Final Fantasy spoilers, how the team manages its regrets, and if he thinks “power creep” is a prevailing issue in the new collection.

GameSpot: You have been working on this set for basically half a decade at this point. What is it like seeing all of this out in the wild–seeing folks playing with these cards?

Holt: It’s wild. It was so secretive for so long. I hear people across the street and they’ll say, “Sephiroth.” And I’m like, “Wait, have we shown that card? Oh, that’s right, it’s all out.”

It’s just crazy that it’s all out there right now and it’s exciting to see the passion that the fans are bringing to it. Something we’ve been taken aback by is the fact that every character or story moment is someone’s favorite. With every single one of these side story characters that aren’t the main party members, we see someone say like, “I can’t believe they included this. This is my favorite character.” It’s that kind of excitement that we’re so excited to see.

Sephiroth as seen on one of his Magic: The Gathering cards.

It really is impressive how the team managed to fit so many characters and moments into the set. What was the biggest struggle with taking over 30 years of content across 16 games and condensing it into one Magic set?

We had to take the approach of [knowing] we’re not going to get everything in. Then, we used a tier system coined by [principal designers] Dillon [Deveney] and Gavin [Verhey]. Tier 1 are those main characters and moments that, if you think of that game, you’re going to be like, “Okay, that character, that moment, has to be here.” Tier 1 is where the main set stayed because they [covered] Final Fantasy I through XVI, so needed to stay in the top level stuff. But for me, on the Commander decks, where each deck is a full game of a hundred cards [dedicated to a single game], I got to go deep into Tier 2 and even Tier 3 moments. I got to include side characters and story moments that maybe you only saw after you put 200 hours into the game.

How did you balance fully capturing some of Final Fantasy’s most iconic moments without spoiling anything?

We had to be a little cheeky about that. We didn’t want to spoil things, and Square [Enix] didn’t want us to spoil things. So you have cards like Sephiroth’s Intervention in here where, you see Sephiroth coming down with a sword. It’s just a cool moment if you’ve never played Final Fantasy VII, but for us that know… we know exactly what story moment is about to happen. In the same vein, Aerith has a death trigger on her ability, so we tied that together. One of my favorite cards in the Commander decks is Farewell in the Final Fantasy X deck. It’s Yuna and Tidus embracing and you don’t know literally what’s going to happen 10 seconds after that moment unless you play the game.

How did you end up deciding which four games to use for the commander decks? It’s got to be hotly debated for sure.

Oh, yeah. Right at kickoff, Final Fantasy VII was, I think, the first one we put in there. Remake and Rebirth are new, it’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s a classic. You know Cloud, you know Sephiroth. Then XIV was the next one we thought of. It has such an active player base and such a large community behind it, we’re like, “This just makes sense.” Fun fact on that one, I’d never played XIV until this product. I put in 200 hours in the first month. I had to go hard on it, just to get that authenticity in there.

As for the other two, Final Fantasy X is my personal favorite and it’s our lead product architect Zakeel [Gordon]’s favorite, too. I might’ve pushed a little hard for that one to be one of the decks. Then wrapping it up was Final Fantasy VI, which is [principle game designer] Yoni Skolnik’s favorite. He pitched the World of Ruin and us focusing on the second half of the game for the deck. I was so charmed by that. Also, VI marks the end of the pixel era, so we actually got one of the pixel games into the four. I think that was important to do.

Now that we’ve seen all of the cards, we know there are certain characters, like Eiko from IX for example, who don’t have a card. How did you deal with knowing that certain characters are not going to have a card and that’s just going to be what it is?

I think you touched on it right there. And I think Eiko is one that… we’re like, “Okay, if we were to do it again, we’d probably try to get her in.” We got her in on the Sleep [Magic] of the set, and we tried to show characters on cards like that.

But me and Gavin, we worked really close together to make sure a lot of characters were represented. For the Final Fantasy X deck, for example, he didn’t have a Lulu or a Wakka in the main set so I made sure to get those in the Commander deck, and vice versa on certain characters. If he had them there, I was less pressured to get them in my decks, but I knew there was a responsibility of that if they weren’t there. Matoya I think is one of my favorite characters from Final Fantasy XIV. I would’ve 100% put her in the Commander deck if Gavin didn’t already have her in the main set.

Crystal Fragments and Sleep Magic cards, both featuring Final Fantasy 9’s Eiko.

When it comes to designing Commander decks alongside the main set itself, how does that process work?

Mostly it comes down to examining what characters might overlap, and using the mechanics. For example, Job Select and Saga Creatures both come from the main set and [the] Final Fantasy X [Commander deck] is a “counters” deck and all about Yuna’s journey collecting the summons leading up to her fight against Sin, so the Saga Creatures work in that deck because you can remove the counters with Tidus and now they stay longer. So it’s about finding synergy there.

Then Job Select cards [work] with Final Fantasy XIV because they’re non-creature spells and will trigger all of your Scion members, but they also build you a board by creating heroes so you’re not wide open to attacks. So it really is synergistic between those.

My real work when selecting the characters and the themes is really working with the creative team. Dillon Deveney was the lead creative for this, and every morning I’d message him, “Hey, I want to put this reprint in the deck. Can it work for this concept?” And he’d be like, “Yes,” or, “No, [but] maybe try this.”

Were there any cards that were particularly difficult either to implement or to come up with an idea for, or that maybe just were imbalanced initially and you really had to work to figure out?

Yeah, Y’shtola in the Final Fantasy XIV deck was actually probably the hardest Commander to do because, originally, that deck’s Commander was going to XIV’s Warrior of Light. That’s what you would think would be the face of Commander. But when we tried that, we’re like, “There are like, 20-something jobs, and everybody customizes their character.” [We decided] the player character wasn’t going to work as a face Commander. We couldn’t make a satisfying, single card for that. So we’ve moved to Y’shtola, G’raha Tia, and the other Scions.

But a lot of the cards in the deck make hero tokens, so you can still feel [the Warrior of Light’s presence]. That’s why we have so many hero tokens. My character was a dancer in the game, so I made sure to get a dancer weapon in there… and I might’ve pushed for the character to be a blue-haired Miqo’te in the art.

Oh, that’s great.

Yeah. But, I think Y’shtola was a little tricky to do. When we got to her and the theme of the deck, I went with non-creature because in Final Fantasy XIV, you’re casting spells, managing cooldowns, et cetera… So I wanted to capture that gameplay with it. I think Transpose really captures the Black Mage abilities. That card having Rebound was the meta of, “That’s your cooldown. You have to wait till your next turn and then it’s ready again.” I designed that because I played a little Black Mage in the game, too.

Two versions of Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy hero tokens.

There’ve been some people who have said that the power creep is very real with this set, but what do you think?

I don’t think that’s true, certainly not for Commander. You have all of Magic’s history to work with here. And I really think it just came down to being true to the characters, doing what the abilities there do, and I think it really plays into the larger environment of Magic.

Have your feelings on Final Fantasy as a game series changed during this process? Are there games you used to maybe not appreciate or like as much and then come round on?

It’s been a lot of rediscovering my love for them. I dug up this old picture of me dressed as Tidus when I was 17, one of my first cosplays. VII was one of my first ones, and then I played older ones like IV and II, et cetera, while going to college.

We all grew up with the series. We’ve all played these for so long. It is really just rediscovering them and the passion. And, like XVI? XVI came out during development, so we all jammed that over the weekend. [I remember being] like, “Oh my God, it’d be so cool if we got Dion in here,” It was so important to me as a person to get that in here. And Gavin was like, “Yep, happy to put him in.”

Has there been any interest in coming back to this series and going into stuff like Final Fantasy Tactics or Final Fantasy X-2–titles outside of the mainline 16?

We certainly have a lot of fans in the office that love those games. I love X-2, I love the dresspheres system. And I need to play Tactics, I know that’s bad that I haven’t. But [as for revisiting Final Fantasy in Magic: The Gathering,] that would be too far in the future right now.

This interview has been edited for both brevity and readability.



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June 22, 2025 0 comments
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