Magic 101

So it goes without saying that magic is the most powerful force in this game. However, magic does more than just rain death upon your opponent. Some weaken, some mess with strategies, being a mage is more than just being a cannon. (Though there's nothing wrong with being a cannon.)

Each spell has a base effect, and this effect can sometimes be amplified by discarding extra cards along with your spell. So Fire, +1 discarded card becomes Fira, +1 more discarded card becomes Firaga. You get the idea. It will tell you what the extra effects are on the cards, so don't worry too much about it.

The one thing you need to remember though, is that the effects stack, so discarding 2 cards with your Fire spell gets you the base ability, lv2 ability, and lv3 ability.

I'll introduce a few of the spells and their applications.

Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder. Probably the most basic spells in final fantasy, have 3 very different applications in the card game.

-Fire is a pretty versatile card, the base effect of fire (where you just cast it and discard it with no extra cards) has you attach the card to an opponent and drops their defense by 400 points. It's a quick and easy way to weaken a fighter with really high defense, or get a regular fighter a low enough defense to get picked off by the ranged characters.
-Fira ( discard 1 card) also weakens the character further by discarding all equipment and relics from the attached character. Definitely more situational than the base ability, but definitely has its use, if not just for the chance to snipe some relics off your opponent. (Afraid of a little fire Cloud!?)
-Firaga (discard 2 cards) just says "screw it" and discards the character completely. This is by no means an efficient discard, but it has it's place. It is definitely the most powerful since there is no criteria to do it other than "be a character"

-Blizzard is primarily a defensive card, good for slowing down aggressive characters by tapping them prematurely. Or just speeding up the next round by decreasing your opponents options.
-Blizzara is probably the most tactical spell. It has all the power of Blizzard, but when used on a character that is already tapped, it discards it. This is great if you can hang on to it and a caster by the time your opponent has exhausted his options, because it gives you free reign of who to discard.
-Blizzaga is the spell that is going to make people scream "CHEAP" and cry like Edward. With all the effects of blizzard, and blizzara, blizzaga extends this by attacking an entire row instead of a single character. This has the potential to cause some serious damage as a round ender by wiping out the fighter row when they're already tapped, or even a good opener, tapping the row early.

-Thunder is your surgical removal card. As long as a character is a legal target and has 1600 DEF or less, it discards it from play. Simple application, and a definite staple to the mage's spellbook.
-Thundara is your guaranteed surgical removal card. By adding the 'no recovery' criteria, you can be sure your opponent isn't going to just cure or potion the pain away. Dispel should be your only worry, but there are only so many white mages...
-Thundaga is the ultimate I never want to see you again card. It just dooms the character, no chance of recovery or revival. Keep in mind though, that all of the thunder series spells can only target characters with 1600 or less, so it's not the only answer you'd want to have.

So there's a taste! Of course there will be more magic to stock your decks with, but you should be able to get by on just these.