Granny's Han🉐d-Holding Guide to Cards in Final🃏 Fantasy VIII

From: Sister (sis_cindy@hotmail.com)

November 15, 2000

This is copyrighted material. Feel free to use it for your 𝔉personal 

enjoyment, but please don't try to make money off of my wo💟rk.

Updated February 19, 2001

  --added info on erasing rules in Balamb and theꦉ fifteen game 

requirement of 

    playing the CC group

Updated September 12, 2001

 ♓ --added new information in several areas based primarily on emails and&ꦯnbsp;

    informatไion gleaned from the FF8 board. Thanks to WindCloud, 

Natedawg,

    Iggy9900, Jkrist, Mojoy, Mercuri🎃us, and Vilurum (as alwa💫ys) for their 

    help. Pleas🍌🎃e note that this will be the final update of this FAQ 

unless

    I learn ๊something of truly momentous importance.

RPGGranny, a friend of mine at the FF8 board here at Gamefaqs, con🐬vinced 

me to write this FAQ. 𒆙She said she needed a ꧒guide that took her by the 

hand and led her through the cardꦅ game, so that's what I've attempted to 

do. While I can't give you exact, step-by-step instruc🧸tions on individual 

card games 🍃(since you never know which cards yoဣur opponent will use), 

I'll try to give꧒ y💛ou some general playing strategies. To make the game as 

easy as possi𒆙b♐le, I'll show you how to change the playing rules around 

the world to your advantage.

𓆏Now, if you enjoy the challenge of playing Triple Triad with a꧃ll the 

orಌiginal rules in place (with Random and Plus in Trabia, for example), 

this is not the FAQ for you. My basic premise is that the easiesℱ♏t way to 

win at cards is to🌳 reduce the ꦏplaying rules to just Open and overpower 

your 🍎o♎pponent with better cards.  That's the general purpose of this 

guide. I'll tell you where to go and who to play 🍒t🃏o most efficiently 

change the card rules, as well as w🌃here and how to get all the cards in 

the game.  I'll explain the rules as best ღI can in areas where you must 

use them f🐭or a time, and I will tell you some cards to watch for with an 

eye toward refining magic from those cards. 

Befoꦑre we continue, there are a few people from the FF8 board that I must 

thank:  RPGGranny, for getting me started; Terence, for𓆏 helping me better 

understand how the trading r꧃ules spread; Rage🌠 for his computer advice and 

constant encouꦯragement; and Vilurum. I give Vilurum special thanks, not 

only for his wonderful advice o🀅n speeding up the Queen of Cards quest by 

using places other tꦰhan Dollet for the exchange of cards and his insights ജ;

into card playing on Disc Four, but al🌜so for his vast amount of 

assistance and patience in helဣping me actually✅ get this FAQ constructed 

and submitted properly🃏. As a FAQ writer, he also p𝓰roofread it for me and 

offered several valuable suggestions, many𓄧 of which I've included for 

your information. Thank you all.

Now, if you're ready, let's play some cards.

Disc One

Aftꦐer you pick up Quezacotl and Shiva in the classroom, you'll ಌbump into 

a new s💖tudent from Trabia Garden. Whether or nಞot you take her with you, 

stop and speak to the guy in green on your way to th♍e e☂levator. He will 

give you your starter deck of card🐟s. Don't t☂ry to play yet; you can't 

win.

Update ꦇnote: Iggy9900 emailed me to say that you can indeed win with the 

original deck of cards. 🌊After thirteen attempts, he won Minimog with♓ the 

starter deck. I pr▨efer having some stronger cards before I start pla🎉ying, 

but I mention it for those who like a challenge.

If you want❀ to begin playing cards right away, choose Quezacotl's Card 

ability to learn first. You will also need to l🐟earn Card Mod🐎ify and the 

various GFs' magic refine abilities (🧜Quezacotl's Thunder Magic RF,&n♚bsp;

Shiva's Ice Magic RF, Diablos' 💎Status and Time Magic RFs, etc.) as you go 

if you ෴inte🌄nd to get a lot of your magic from cards. I learn these RF 

abilities early with my GFs so that I can start convꩵerting cards 🦄to magic 

early on, but that's entirely up to you.

Once you have Card selected in Quezacotl's menu, head to the Fir🐽e Cavern.  

When you defeat Ifrit🤪, you'll receivꦆe his card (your first rare card). 

Continue to fight enemies ꦛuntil you've learned Card. It only requires 🅺40 

AP, so it won't take long (note💮: if youܫ're playing a no-level game, let 

Seifer learn Card for you in Dollet). As soon as Card 🃏is learned, 

junction it. To Card an enemy, beat down its HP (just🙈 don't kill it) then 

use Card. An enemy at full H🦩P will not Card. Whenꩵ you Card an enemy, it 

turns into a playing card. You'll receive the normal amount of AP butꦰ no 

Experience. You can Caꦿrd a few fish on the beach (their Fish Fins will&nbsꩲp;

give you Water🎉 magic with Shiva's Ice Magic RF) then𓆉 head to the Fire 

Cave🐟rn and Card at least two Bombs (more if you want to u💝se these cards 

for Irvine's Fire Ammo later).

Now,ﷺ head to the Training Center in Balamb Garden. Card T-Rexau﷽rs and 

Grats until you receive a Sh🍸umi Tribe Card. If you do a l𒈔ot of Carding, 

you'll occasionꦛally pick up a Level 6 (like Shumi) or 7 card instead of 

the normal 🌜enemy card.  It may sound a bit daunting to take on T-Rex𒁏 with 

Squ😼all alone, but it's really not꧂ bad because your level (and thus 

T-Rex's) at this point is so low. Let Shiv💃a hurt him, and he'll usually 

Card after he's lost two or three thousand HP (so𒀰metimes much𝔉 less). Just 

have plenty of Cureꦏs on hand. If you intend to do lots of Carding (for a 

no-level game꧒, for e🍰xample), collect five Shumi cards (here or as you 

play through the game) to teach a second character the Cardಌ ability. This 

will speed up your Carding cꦰonsiderably♛. Now that you have Ifrit, a 

couple of𒉰 Bombs, a T-Rex, and a Shumi card (this should be your first 

hand), you're ready to play.

Upd🤡ate note: JKrist asked that I mention that you can also pick up Jumbo 

Cactuar by carding Glacial Eyes.💛 I didn't card✃ many of these enemies, so 

I haven't received one myself. &🔴nbsp;I do know from experience that you caཧn 

also Card Buels in the Fire Cavern for Krysta cards.&n🐻bsp;

The only rule in Balamb Garden꧟ and in the town of Balamb is Open. All 

this means is that both hands are face up, s🧸o that you can see your 

opponent's cards and s/he can see yours. This is the best rule♌ in the 

game because🍰 ♓it allows you to plan your moves based on your opponent's 

cards. The trading rule (which d🌠etermines how many cards are traded at&nbಌsp;

the end of a game) is One. The winner will choose one o𝔍f the loser's 

cards.

The basic concept of Triple Triad is to turn over more cards than y𝔉our 

opponent does. Where the numbers of ℱtwo cards meet, the higher number 

wins. Your opponent's cards (and any he turns🧸) will have a b🌃ackground 

color of light red/pink. Your cards will be blue.  The nu🎀mbers on the 

left and right of the card༒ grid keep score. The left number tells how 

ജmany cards belong to your opponent, and the right number tells how many 

belong to you.

H🦄ead to the save point near the directory and save your game. Watch for a 

girl with either blonde or ligꦦht brown hair🐟 who enters the screen. Either 

one will do - they both have weak cards. To challengeಞ her🐷 to a card game, 

press the🌟 squa𒉰re button.  My first game looked like this:

Her cards: Anacondaur, Armadodo, 🗹SAMO8𓃲G, Abyss Worm, Creeps

My cards:  Two Bombs༺, Shumi Tribe, T-Rexaur, If🧜rit

  💟;🌳                  _________________________________________

                   | ꦉ     5      |      6      |  &nbꦰsp;   5      |

                   |      ꧃       |             |             |

          &n༒bsp;        | &nb🌸sp;Her - 1st  |  Her - 3rd  |  Her - 5th  |

             🧜      |             |             |             |

                   | 5         1 | 6  &nb💜sp;      3 |4        &🧔nbsp;  6|

&nbs💙p;                  |  Anacondaur |  Arma🌊dodo   |  SAMO8G     |

                   |          &n🐻bsp;  |  &ꦯnbsp;          |             |

                   |      3     &ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnbsp;|      1      |      2     &nbs🍸p;|

             &nb♚sp;     |_____________|_____________|_____________|

                   |     &nb𒁏sp;6      |      5      |      4      |

        ✨           |   Me - 4th  |  Her - 9th  |   Me - 8th  |

  &nꦬbsp;                |  (game over)|             |       &🔯nbsp;     |

                 &nbs🐻p; |     (I win) |             |          🐻   |

                   | 4     🌞;    5 |2           2|7           6|

   &nbs💫p;          &nbs♐p;    |     Shumi   |  Creeps     |   T-Rex     |

                   |             |             |      &nb🧸sp;      |

    &nb꧅sp;              |      8      |      5      |      2      |

🌃              𒁏     |_____________|_____________|_____________|

                   |      2      |      7      |🍷      9   🍎;   |

                   |             |             |         &nbsඣp;   |

          &nbs🌳p;    &nb🔯sp;   |    Me - 6th |   Her - 7th |   Me - 2nd  |

                   | 3          7|5     &n🎐bsp;     2|8           6|

                   | ﷺ   Bomb   &nbs💜p; |   Abyss Worm|     Ifrit   |

                   |    &nb💞sp;        |             |             |

                   |    ꦜ;         |             |             |

                  &💃nbsp;|      6      |      3      |      2      |

&nbs༒p;      ༺;            |_____________|_____________|_____________|

In the above chart, you'll ꧟see the cards w🔯e played and the order in which 

we played them. Here's my first t🗹ip on strategy - zero in on the top-left 

corner.

Notice the pattern of this game. You'll see it over and oveﷺr and over 

again as you play♐ Triple Triad. Weaker players (which are most of them) 

will always start in the top-left corner. You stay🐓 away from that corner 

(playing cards that can't be turned in other corners) until s/he boxes💛 

that top-left corner in꧑ (s/he can't turn it back after you turn it, in 

other wo🌠rds). After she boxed in the Anacondaur car🍃d with Armadodo, I 

tu𒊎rned Anacondaur with a card that she could not turn, so it's basically 

game over as lo🔯ng as I continue to play defensively. Always remember that 

you must only turn one card to w🐭in. Don't trade cards back and𒉰 forth. 

Play defensively (Ifrit in the botto🎃m right, which she can't turn, is a&♋nbsp;

defensive play) and wait for one card. Pay attention t🥂o this pattern and 

you'll find your games going much more easily. If yᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚou happen to go first, 🦋;

just play the other three corners until that top-leꦜft card is box💮ed in - 

it works the same way.

A slight derivation of 🐻this pattern would be to play beside the top-left 

card. If she plays ꧅a card th🦋at can't be turned (by her or by you) from 

the bottom in that top-left corner, turn it 🏅🌃from the side, but ONLY if 

she can't turn your card. Otherwise, p💮lay defensively and wait for your💙 

chanceꩲ. Also, if your oﷺpponent plays a card that can only be turned from 

the bottom, go in for the kill i🥀mmediately with a🗹 card that can't be 

turned. 

After you wi𒁏n, you will choose a card from your opponent's hand. If the 

card name is printed in blue, thꩵis is a card you've never had before - a 🌸;

new addition to your deck. Yellow is a card that you have had but 💫don't 

have now. W🎶hite means you c🍌urrently have this card in inventory. In the 

above game, I chose the Abyss Worm card (re💝fines to Tornado magic). 

Choose Card on your menu to check your card inv💟entory whenever y𒊎ou wish.

More than anything else in Triple Triad, practice, practice, prꦬactice. 

The ꦡmore♓ you play, the better you'll get. I was completely lost with the 

card game the first couple of times I played FF8, but now I'🥀m fairly 

competent only be🌼cause of the sheer number of games I've played. If 

🐼y𒊎ou're new to the game or don't feel comfortable with it, play a weak 

player like this girl🌳 until you see the patte🌃rn and start feeling more 

confidence in your game. Save often so that if something goes terribly&nb♏sp;

wrong, you won't lose all ౠthe cards you've worked so haꦚrd for.

After you've flexed your muscles a bit and had some pℱractice, save. Now, 

hang around behind the directory and wait for the jogger to run in f🤡rꦰom 

the left. It's easiest if you can manage♚ to block his path (so he can'🦩t 

run until you're ಌdone with him), but if you miss him, you can catch him 

again. He always runs the🦋 circle of Balamb🐠 Garden counter-clockwise, so 

you can find him e🤪asily.  Chall🌳enge the jogger to a game. He has the rare 

card Minimog - the first card required for the Queꦡen of 🌺Cards side quest. 

At this point, you sho♒uldn't have any trouble beating him. You may have 

to play a few hands before Minimog sho🅰ws up, but he's generally easy to 

win.  The𝓡 jogger will probably play Minimog in the top-left. Double-check 

the numbers on his cards to make sure he has no card with a 7 on th🍎e left 

side. If no 7, play Shumi right beside Minimog, and it's gamওe over.꧒ Just 

keep defending.

Now that you've gotten the ♋hang of it, I'll mention a few cards to watch ♌;

for as you go that will refine into magic. It's great hav🌃ing some of the 

stronger ones for your junctions early on.

T-Rex/Armadodo = Dino Bone = Quake

Blood Soul = Zombie Powder = Zombie

Gesper = Black Hole = Demi

Wendigo = Steel Orb = Demi

Blitz = Dynamo Stone = Thundaga

Snow Lion = North Wind = Blizzaga

Mesmerize = Mesmerize Blade = Regen

Belhelmel = Sawblade = Death

Tonberry/Tonberry King = Death

Abyss Worm = Windmill = Tornado

Tri-Face = Curse Spike = Pain

Gayla = Mystery Fluid = Meltdown

Forbidden = Betrayal Sword = Confuse

Elastoid = Steel Pipe = Berserk

Funguar/Bite Bug = Magic Piece = Esuna/Cure/F🃏ire, etc.

Buel/Jelleye = Ma🏅gic Stone = Haste, Slow, Cura, Fira, etc.

Vysage/Imp = Wizard Stone = Curaga, Firaga, etc.

Many items 🧸are great for other things like Steel Pipes for making Aura 

Stones or calling Doomtrain. You can pick up s🍃everal i𒁏tems needed for 

upgrading your weapo🦩ns, as well, such as Sﷺcrews from a Geezard card. A 

few others to look for:

Elnoyle - 10 = 1 Energy Crystal = 10 Pulse Ammo

Iron Giant -🌱 3 = 1 Star Fragment (also refines to 5 M🐬eteors)

Blue Dragon - 4 = 1 Fury Fr♒agment (also refines to 5 Auras)

Death Claw/Grand Mantis = Sharp Spike = AP Ammo

Bomb = Bomb Fragment = Fire Ammo

Cactuar = Cactus Thorn = Demolition Ammo

Adamantoise - 2 = 1 Turtle Shell

If 🙈you're looking for items to teach Quistis her Blue Magics, these are 

the ones you can get from♎ cards (thanks to Vilurum for this list):

10 Behemoth cards = 1 Barrier = Mighty Guard

 1 Caterchipillar = Spider Web = Ultra Waves

 1 Creeps = Coral Fragment = Electrocute

 1 Fas🐽titocalon = Water Crystal = Aqua Breath

 5 Fastitocalon-F = 1 Water𝔍 Crystal = Aqua Breath

 1 Gayla = Mystery Fluid = Acid

 1 Gesper = Black Hole = Degenerator

 4 Malboro = 1 Malboro Tentacle = Bad Breath

10 Ruby Dragon = 1 Inferno Fang = Fire Breath

 1 SAM08G = Running Fire = Gatling Gun

 1 Tri-Face = Curse Spike = LV? Death

This is nowhere near an exhaustive li🍒st - just a lot of the cards I watc✤h 

for as I play. 

Now 🔯that you have Minimog, we're ready to move ✱on. Your next opponent 

will have✱ better cards than you've met thus far so remember to play 

defensively. It is much better to play to a draw than to lose. If you&nb෴sp;

lose, your opponent will automatically💖 take your best card (Ifrit at this 

point). You can always start again 👍from your l⛎ast save, but if you've 

played several games and picked up several good cards, it's a pai☂n. Don't 

be greedy. Play smart.

After you save, head ☂to the front entrance and play the old man at the 

window. He 🍃has level oneꦜ, three, and five cards, so you can bulk up your 

dec🤪k if you wish. I'm looking for two 🌸cards in particular here - Malboro 

and Elastoid. These are both great cards for your playing hand. On🔯ce you 

have them, go sa🌼ve then head for the cafeteria. Go to the dining room to 

find two guys🧔 sitting 🐷at a table on the right (the one in back's behind a 

plant). Challenge the one in back to a card game. He h🎃as the Q♉uistis 

card.

Be aware that Quistis can tꦛurn anꦜy card in your hand, so be on your toes. 

Here's how my game went:

His hand:🌱 GIM47N, Ruby Dragon, Iron Giant, Quistis, Malboro

My hand:  Shumi, Elastoid, Ifrit, Malboro, B𝔍omb

&n🥂bsp;                   _________________________________________

  &꧟nbsp;                |      5      |    &𓆉nbsp; 7      |      6      |

                &nbsꦯp;  |             |             |             |

                &nb🔜sp;  | &nb🐎sp;Him - 7th  |  Him - 9th  |   Me - 8th  |

        &🦩nbsp;          |             |             |         &nbsඣp;   |

        &nbs𝓡p;          |4           5|4           2|4           5|

&nbs🍨p;                  |             |             |             |

           &n🌺bsp;       |    GIM47N   |    Ruby     |    Shumi    |

                   |          &nbs🌟p;  |           &nbs✱p; |             |

                 𒅌;  |______7______|______7______|______8______|

                   |      9 &n😼bsp;    |  &nbs🧜p;   6      |      6      |

                   |             |         🃏    |           &nb♋sp; |

     ꩲ              |  Him - 3rd  |   Me - 4th &nbs🔴p;|   Him - 5th |

               &nbs𝔍p;   |             🍷;|             |             |

    &🦋nbsp;              |2           6|7           2|5           5|

                   | &nꦇbsp;           |             |             |

             ✃      |   Quistis   |   Elastoid  |  Iron Giant |

                   |             |             ꦫ|             |

        🦂;           |______A______|______6______|______6______|

     🦹              |      7      |      8      |   &🍰nbsp;  7      |

                🎀;   |             |             |             |

&n♏bsp;                  |  Him - 1st  |   Me - 2nd  |   Me - 6th  |

          &n🀅bsp;        |             |             |             |

                   |2       ⭕    7|9           6|2           7|

▨            🏅       |             |             |             |

                   |   Malboro  |    Ifrit   &nbs🎐p; |   Malboro   |

                   |            &nဣbsp;|             |             |

  𒐪;               &nbs𒀰p; |______4______|______2______|______4______|

Quistis is mine. Go to the dorm and save. At thi🌟sಞ point in the game, you 

have✅ all the rare cards you can get, so you have a choice. You can 💫;

continue to play and build up🍸 your deck or move on with the game and 

bu🎉ild yo🍃ur deck later. If you want to play cards, be sure not to change 

into your uniform at theꦛ dorm (you'll automatica🔯lly begin the Dollet 

🃏mission). If you decide you want to play for a while, you might wan🌸t to 

run to Balamb to try and change the trading rule.

The trading🅠 rule can be changed in two ways, both of whic♒h involve the 

Queen of Cards. Since you can❀'t play in other places at the momen꧙t, we'll 

discuss the onl♛y available met♈hod for now. Leave Garden and run to the 

town of Balamb. Save your game in the hotel (you don't have t♋o pay for a 

room - just run upᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ൲⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚstairs). Now go to the train station and find the woman 

in white on the steps (she'll be near the gift ♒shop). This is the Queen 

of Cards. Challenge her to a game and𝄹 see what trading rule she's p⛄laying 

with. There are four different ones in the game:

One - Winner takes one card from loser

Diff - Winner takes number of cards from loser equal to the difference in&n🐻bsp;

their scores (for example, if you win a game with a score 🎀of 3-7, you 

would choose four of your opponent's cards)

All - Winner takes all of loser's cards

Direct -𓆉 Each player wins the cardꦍs that s/he turns in the game

Challengౠe the queen to a game. If she's using the Diff rule, wonderful. 

She's very weak here, so just play and take her car🌠ds. Now run past her 

and chal🌃lenge the train conductor. If he's using the trading rule Diff, 

perfect - you're done. Go save. If he's using One, challenge theꦬ queen 

again. If she uses𒁃 Direct, quit and try again. I'm not positive, but 

based on games I've played, wheth𝕴er the Diff rule "takes" or not is 

random. I've had the 🧸queen use Diff then have others in the regio🍌n use 

One (it didn't "take"), and I've played♎ her one time with D༺iff and it 

spread. 

A note of caution about the All rule - it's great🔥 playing with All 

because you🍸 get all of your o🌳pponent's cards when you win. When you've 

played wit🤪h a rule for a certain amount of ti♓me, however, the rule 

degenerates, so to speak, to t🦩he next rule in line. Thus, All will 

degenerate 🅘to Direct - the worst of the trading rules (thanks to Vilurum&𒅌nbsp;

and Tꦍerence for explaining this to me). If🏅 you can get Diff, I would 

recommend that💛 you stick with that. Y🦩ou will build your deck much faster 

with Diff than with One, so if you get 𝓡it in place, go ahead and💙 play 

🎃some cards (either now or after the Dollet mission - it doesn't matter). 

We can't get any more r⛄are cards until you're done with Dollet. When 

you're ready to start the Dollet mission, go c🧸hange into your uniform.

Update note: I ha🎐ve seen several messages from people distressed with 

having ꧃the Direct rule all over the world. From the ones I've 🌺seen, 

they've alm🅺ost invariably started out𒉰 with the All rule, so, again, I 

would urge people to stick with Diff. 

Once you've finished your mission in Dollet and are back in Balamb, y♛ou 

can play cards in earnest. Firs🦂t, save at the hotel. Establish Diff with 

the queen if you can, then get all of your other ca🦂r𒅌d playing out of the 

way bef💝ore you play her again. You'll be sending he💝r to another town, and 

there's the possibility that you could change the trading rule agai✤n 

beforeও you want to if you play her before you're done ꦯplaying cards here. 

We'll discuss other card-playing opportunities b✱efore we start the Queen 

of Cards quest.

Go to Zell's🔯 house and talk to Ma Dincht. N✱ow leave and return, and 

sh🧸e'll play cards with you. Again, zero in on the upper-left corner. She 

won't give you any trouble, and you can pick up some good cཧards from her.&nbs🐭p;

Just bᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe very caꦦreful about how you play when Zell's card finally shows up 

in her hand. You don't🍌 want to lose Quistis. I'll show you how our g𒁃ame 

went when she finally used Zell.

Her hand:  ♏Zell, Turtapod, Grendel, Gayla, Jelleye

My hand:  &♒nbsp;Elastoid, Malboro, Shumi, Ifrit, Quistis

            &ꩲnbsp;       _________________________________________

                  &nb🌺sp;|      8      |      2  &ꦬnbsp;   |      6      |

                 &💫nbsp; |             |      &nꦯbsp;      |             |

            ♑;       |  Her - 1st  |  Her - 3rd  |   Me - 4th  |

                   |             |             |   𝓰;          |

                   |6           5|7           3|7 &🏅nbsp;         2|

                   |     🦄;        |             |             |

        ꧑          &nb🌠sp;|     Zell    |  Turtapod   |   Elastoid  |

             &♏nbsp;     |             |           &🐎nbsp; |             |

                  &𓂃nbsp;|______A______|______6______|______6______|

                   |      4💞     &nbs🉐p;|      2      |      6      |

 &nb💦sp;                 |             |             |             |

       🤡;            |  Her - 5th  |  Her - 7th  |   Me - 8th  |

                   |             |             ๊;|             |

                 &nbs🗹p; |2           4|4           1🅺|4           5|

                   |             |   &nb𝐆sp;         |             |

             &⛄nbsp;     |   Grendel   |    Gayla  &nbsꦍp; |    Shumi    |

                   |       𝐆;      |             |             |

              💦;     |_🅘_____5______|______4______|______8______|

                   |      7      |      3      |  🗹    9      |

                   |             |      &n꧃bsp;      |             |

                   |   Me - 2nd  |  Her - 9th &nb🥂sp;|   Me - 6th  |

                   |             |             |     &nb𝄹sp;       |

  &nbs🌠p;                |2           7|7       𝐆;    2|8           6|

 &🌃nbsp;                 |             |             |             |

   𝓀     &ജnbsp;          |   Malboro   |   Jelleye   |    Ifrit    |

                 &nbꦜsp; |             |             |             |

      ℱ             |______4______|______1______|______2______|

If you ha🌊ve to go ꦍfirst, play Malboro in the lower-left corner. She'll 

probably turn it with Zell, then you canᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ turn it🤡 back with Ifrit or turn 

Zell's card and continue from there. Once y📖ou have Zell, go save. 🥀;

Remember for future reference that Zell must be in your 🤪ꦫparty whenever 

you want to play𒀰 cards with Ma Dincht. Now you can play more in Balamb or 

return and play in Balam🅠b Garden🍷. If you're trying to get Lion Heart on 

Dis♋c One, you'll need twent🐭y Elnoyle cards. Players who carry Elnoyle 

(level 5) include Ma Dincht, the old man at the windo𝔉w in Balamb Garden, 

Dr. Kadowaki, Cid, the cafeteria lady on the left, the T✅repie🎀 in the 

cafeteria who had 𓃲Quistis' card, and the guy standing at the first bunch 

of shelv🌄es iꦏn the library. Cid probably plays with Elnoyle the most at 

this stage of the game, bಌut he'ღs a better player than are all the others. 

Should you go for the Elnoyle cards now,🌞 just be aware of what you're in 

for. The one time I acquired♛ Lion Heart on D🍷isc One, I had exactly 1,021 

cards in inventory when I rꦚeceived that tw🅘entieth Elnoyle card. You might 

as well settle in 🍷for the evening. If you're going to play a lot, you 

might as▨ well get the Seifer and Diablos cards fir𝔍st.

After receiving your Timber assi൩gnment, speak to Cid to get the Old Lamp.&nb꧑sp;

Leave the screen and return; Cid will be gone. Go to the ওsave point by 

the directory. Save and use the Old Lamp to fight Diablo🤪s. When you&nbs𓆏p;

defeat him🌊, you'll receive his card. With Diablos to add to your hand, 

you're ready to try Headmaster Cid.

Cid🅠 is one of the better players in the game, so be very attentive when 

you playꦬ him. Take the elev🍷ator to the third floor (after you save, as 

always) to find Cid in his office and challenge him to a game.🐲 Thꦡe hand I 

use for Cid: Quistis, Diabl🐓os, Malboro, Elastoid, and I൩frit. Play until 

you win Seifer. Sꦐeifer is a very strong card. Once it's yours, your hand 

is pretty much🦄 unbeatable for most of the rest of the game. Seifer🧔 is a 

wonderf🍌ul addition to your hand becaus🃏e he covers that top-left corner 

we've been discussing (as does Diablos in🅘 a pinch). Seifer can't be 

turned from the bottom or the right except byꩵ very, very few cards (none 

of which you'll see in normal game play), so 🐭once he's turned that 

boxed-in top-left corner, it's game over. If you'𝓰re going𝓰 to stay here 

and play Cid for a while (for Elnoyles, for example), replace♉ the Quistis 

card with Seifer and continue.

By the time you leave Bal꧟amb for Timber, you can have all the 1-5 level 

💝ca🔯rds (except Pupu) plus the rare cards Seifer, Diablos, Ifrit, Quistis, 

Zell, and Minimo♏g. Pupu requires a side quest lat༒er in the game; we'll 

discuss it then. Now let's st✤art the Queen of Cards quest.

The Queen 🥂of Cards has five ✱rare cards that you can acquire through the 

course of the game🦂. You must give her the card she wants. She will give 

this card to her art♌ist father who will make a new card based on it. You 

will then acquire the new card. Here are the cards you'l𒊎l need to give 

her, the cards created fr🔜om each, and what 😼the new cards mod into:

Minimog = Kiros = Th꧑ree Accelerators (teaches GF Auto-Haste)

Sacred = Irvine = 🥀Three Rocket Engines (teac🃏hes GF Speed+40%)

Chicobo = Chubby Chocobo = 100 LuvLuvGs (raises compatib🎐ility w♒ith all 

GFs)

Alexander = ꦗDoomtrain = Three Status Guards (teaches GF Status Defense X 

4)

Doomtrain =𒉰 Phoenix = Three Phoenix ꦡSpirits (teaches GF Revive)

For♔ a new card to be made, the queen must first give a specific card𒀰 to 

her fathe💦r in Dollet. She has eight regular locations around the 🅺world 

where s🔯he can be found (if you prefer to chase her everywhere).🌊 The 

easiest way to handle the queen, however, is 🏅to shuttle her back and 

forth between Balamb 🦋and Dollet. We'll start the quest by giving her 

Minimog.

Save at the hotel. Challenge the queen and purposely🧸 lose Minimog to her. 

Her cards are very weak, so 💮have Minimog and four level 1 cards in your 

ha📖nd. You must let her have Minimog to continue, so play to lose. After 

she's won Minimog, speak to her (X button). She'll𒐪 tell you ꦺthat the 

region is getting boriꦦng, so she's going somewherไe else. If she says 

she's going to Dollet, go 🔯save. If sheꦬ says she's going to Galbadia, 

reset and do it again. You don't want her in Galbadi🌠a because from there, 

she tends to tra♋vel to FH then to 💦Esthar then to Lunar Gate. From Lunar 

Gate🍬, you must search for her (she won't t🐈ell you where she's going from 

there).𓂃 So, stick to Balamb and Dollet. You'll be resetting a lot as you 

change card rules, so I'll mention🉐 the⭕ soft reset feature. Pause your 

game (Select🐓 butt🐎on). Press L1, L2, R1, R2, and Start all at the same 

time. 🧜Whiꦜle holding these five buttons down, hit Select again. The game 

will start over. This way you🔜 won't have to jump up and hit reset every 

few minutes. Play and reset until the queen tells you ♛that she's going to 

Dollet. Now that she's on her way with Mini🏅mog in h🅺and, you can head for 

Timber.

🌄One other note while we're in the town of Balamb: if at any time you 

accidentally spread rules in Balamb, you🎃 can erase them. Go to the docks 

and look for a man crouched down near the water with his back to🧸 you. He 

won't be here if Open is t🍸he only rul🦹e in Balamb. If there are other 

rules present, and he's not th🔯ere, leave town and return and you should&nbsꦫp;

find him. If you play cards with him, he will erase ALL the r💛ules in 

Balamb, including Open. Should you somehow reallಞy mess up the ru🍌les here, 

use this g⛦uy to wipe them out then return and spread Open. I forgot t༺o 

mention this guy when 🌄I first wrote the faq because I'd never use💃d him. 

I spread rules in Balamb a cou𒀰ple of times to see for myself how it 

worked (I'd read that🧔 he charged you 10,000 gil to erase the rules,✤ but 

this isn't the case - just play). When I spoke to him, he was stuck in 🧔;

Balamb because he'd ditched class and Balamb Garden was gone when he got&♛nbsp;

back. Whether this means you can't find him on Disc One, I'm nဣot sure. He 

is definitely there on Disc Two after Balamb Garden is mobile. Hop♛efully, 

you'll neveꩲr need him, but I thought I'd 𝓡better mention him, just in 

case.