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The Alienware President’s Day Sale Starts Now at Dell: The Best Deals on Gaming PCs, Laptops, and Monitors

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, IGN

The Dell President’s Day Sale is officially under way. This is usually one of Dell’s biggest sale events of the entire year, rivalling the discounts we see during Back to School and Black Friday, both of which are months away. Normally, this would be one of the best times to buy a Dell gaming PC or laptop during the first half of the year. This year, Dell has definitely put more of an emphasis on moving its gaming laptops. While the prebuilt gaming PC deals aren’t as prevalent, there are plenty of excellent deals on Alienware m-series and x-series laptops to be found.

Dell and Alienware Coupons

Dell and Alienware Gaming PC Deals

Dell and Alienware Gaming Laptop Deals

Dell and Alienware Gaming Monitor Deals

You can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. See below for our favorite picks.

Presidents’ Day Gaming PC Deals

Alienware Area-51 RTX 5080 Up for Preorder

Dell just launched its new Alienware Area-51 lineup of gaming PCs today. Currently, it’s available in only two configurations – both paired with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and GeForce RTX 5080 GPU – starting at $4,449.99. Don’t expect to get it right away either; Dell estimates this system to arrive at door by the end of March.

New for 2025: The Alienware Area-51 Chassis

Dell unveiled the new Alienware Area-51 gaming PC at CES 2025. The chassis looks similar to the 2024 R16 system with some minor aesthetic and cooling redesigns and updated components. The I/O panel is positioned at the top of the case instead of the front, and the tempered glass window now spans the entire side panel instead of just a smaller cutout. As a result, the side panel vents are gone, and instead air intakes are located at the bottom as well as the front of the case. Alienware is now pushing a positive airflow design (more intake than exhaust airflow), which usually means a less dusty interior. The internal components have also all been refreshed, with a new motherboard, faster RAM, and more powerful power supply to accommodate the new generation of CPUs and the RTX 50 series GPUs.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4090 Gaming PC

The Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4090 gaming PC is currently $3,699.99 (no discounts available). The RTX 4090 is the most powerful RTX 40 series GPU. In his RTX 4090 review, Chris Coke writes, “The RTX 4090 may be huge and expensive, but holy smokes if it doesn’t blow the competition out of the water… Until the rest of the pack can catch up, between its impressive hardware specs and its DLSS 3 AI wizardry, even the $1,599 price doesn’t seem unreasonable for the unrivaled frame rates that this card can crank out.” The 4090 is also great for AI thanks to its 24GB of VRAM.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC

This Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC boasts a multi-tasking friendly Intel Core i7-14700F CPU and RTX 4070 Ti Super GPU for $1,899.99 after a $200 instant discount. The RTX 4070 Ti Super is a second gen RTX 40 series GPU; it’s about 10% more powerful than the RTX 4070 Ti and 15-25% faster than the RTX 4070 Super. This is a great card for both 1440p and 4K gaming. The VRAM count is upped to 16GB compared the the RTX 4070.

Presidents’ Day Gaming Laptop Deals

Alienware m16 Gaming Laptops

Dell is offering an Alienware m16 R2 RTX 4060 gaming laptop for just $1,299.99 shipped after a $400 instant discount. This is already a great price for an Alienware laptop equipped with the RTX 4060 GPU, but this configuration also upgrades the processor to an Intel Core Ultra 9, which is uncommon at this price point.

For an extra $200 you can upgrade to an RTX 4070 GPU. On the processor side, you are limited to an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, but at QHD+ resolution, most games will be GPU – not CPU – bound. That means that this laptop will be able to push higher framerates and/or higher settings than the RTX 4060 gaming laptop. For anyone who prioritizes gaming performance over all else, the $200 extra cost is justified.

Alienware x16 R2 Gaming Laptops

The Alienware x16 gaming laptop is a slimmer and lighter redesign of the traditional m-series laptop. It’s the thinnest 16″ Alienware laptop ever and compares in build quality and performance to other high-end ultra-thin laptops like the Razer Blade. This Alienware x16 R2 laptop is built with premium materials, like a magnesium alloy chassis and palm rest, anodized aluminum lid, stainless steel keyboard tray, and Micro LED RGB accent lighting. It’s only 0.73″ thin and weighs in at 6 pounds. That’s impressive considering the fact that this laptop can be equipped with the most power NVIDIA GPU.

Alienware m18 R2 Gaming Laptops

The Alienware m18 is the biggest Alienware laptop you can buy with an imposing 18″ 2560×1600 display and top-of-the-line components. There are three models that are on sale today. The highest end model includes an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU RTX 4090 GPU, 64GB of RAM, and a 4TB SSD for $3,399.99. The RTX 4090 is still the most powerful mobile GPU on the market, and by a very substantial margin. It’s roughly equivalent to a desktop RTX 3090 GPU. If that’s beyond your budget, there’s also a model equipped with an Intel Core i7-14700HX CPU and RTX 4070 GPU for $1,799.99.

Dell G-Series Gaming Laptops

Dell has dropped the prices on the G16 16″ gaming laptops. Dells G-series laptops are great options for budget gamers. They offer excellent gaming performance equal to a comparably equipped Alienware laptop but at a much lower price point. They also have better build quality than Dell’s Inspiron lineup, with nicer materials that include anodized aluminum, and an aggressive cooling design borrowed from Alienware laptops.

Presidents’ Day Monitor Deals

32″ Alienware AW3225QF 4K OLED Monitor

The best Alienware high-end gaming monitor deal is on sale for Presidents’ Day. The 32″ Alienware AW3225QF 4K QD OLED gaming monitor just dropped to $899.99 after a $300 instant discount. If you’re looking for the best 4K gaming monitor, this should definitely be on your short list. This is the monitor I currently use and highly recommend it.

27″ Alienware AW2725QF 360Hz OLED Monitor

Better deal on Amazon

The Alienware AW2725QF 27″ gaming monitor normally retails for $899.99, but right now Amazon has it for only $649.99 after a $250 instant discount. The AW2725QF is Dell’s first (and only) monitor with both an OLED panel and blazing fast 360Hz refresh rate. This is easily one of the best 27″ QHD gaming monitors you can get right now, especially if you’re aiming for the highest frame rates possible in your FPS games.

34″ Dell S3422DWG Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor

The best gaming monitor from Dell in terms of value is the 34″ Dell S3422DWG ultra-wide gaming monitor, and right now it’s down to $329.99 shipped. This is a 34″ monitor with a 16:10 ultra-wide aspect ratio, 3440×1440 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 1800R curve, and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro certification. 1440p resolution is a solid sweet spot when you have to compromise between image quality and performance. A 34″ 1440p display boasts a sharp 108ppi pixel density but it won’t tax your system as heavily as a 4K display. You can pair it with a GeForce RTX 4070 and get high framerates in most games.

32″ Dell S3222DGM Gaming Monitor

If you’re looking for a budget gaming monitor that’s still good, then look no further than Dell’s 32″ S3222DGM gaming monitor, which drops to $229.99 after a $100 off instant discount. The S3222DGM is a 32″ monitor with a more traditional 2560×1440 resolution, 165Hz refresh rate, and 1800R curve. The VA panel boasts a fast 1ms (2ms gray-to-gray) response time, 100% sRGB color space, and AMD FreeSync Premium certification.

22″ Dell SE2225H Productivity Monitor

The Dell SE225H is solid productivity monitor at a bargain price. It’s normally priced at an already reasonable $89.99, but there’s a $30 off instant discount that drops it to $59.99. This is a no-frills 22″ monitor with a 1080p resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, and HDMI and VGA inputs.

Looking for more deals? Check out the best Alienware gaming laptop and PC deals today.

Why Should You Trust IGN’s Deals Team?

IGN’s deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don’t try to trick our readers into buying things they don’t need at prices that aren’t worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest Presidents’ Day deals we find on IGN’s Deals account on Twitter.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

‘My Dear Mother,’ ‘The Last Divorce of Communism,’ ‘Von Fock’ Tease New Chapter for Baltic TV Shows: ‘Culturally Specific and Universally Relevant’

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

With Baltic shows growing bigger and bolder and producers looking for more international collaborators, local creators reach for original stories and established IPs, delivering period dramas and timely satires. However, crime shows, whether contemporary – like this year’s Berlinale Series Market Selects “My Dear Mother” – or set in the 19th century, still take the […]

New German Series at Berlin Explore Nazi Drug Cartel Connection, Parallel Lives, Teen Angst, Alter Egos

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

Upcoming German series previewed at the EFM’s Berlinale Series Market on Tuesday offered a range of genres and challenging subject matter, from Nazi drug runners and quirky fantasy to teen angst and alter egos. The Berlinale Series Market’s Up Next: Germany showcase presented four new series projects that look certain to entice international audiences. “The […]

Elden Ring Nightreign Testers Discover the Fell Omen Is Back via Morgott Jump-Scare Invasions

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, IGN

The Fell Omen bosses of Elden Ring are infamous at this point, so it’s nice to see that with Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware has let them loose upon the Lands Between.

Morgott, whom Elden Ring players had to fight later on in the game’s campaign, is one such infamous boss. His phantom versions can pop out and surprise you throughout the campaign, and it seems like that particular facet of Morgott made it into Nightreign, where an unnamed Fell Omen (essentially an upgraded Morgott) can jump-scare invade players.

While Morgott isn’t the only boss that can invade your squad as you run through Nightreign, he is a very fitting invader. Not only does it line up with his surprise appearances in Elden Ring, but he even gets some extra voice lines and a few new moves to throw at you. If you get to bring two pals to the fight, it’s only fair Morgott gets some new moves!

While he can invade you, the Fell Omen can also appear as an end-of-night boss, one of the conclusive fights you can face as the sun sets in the Elden Ring Nightreign test.

How did morgott even manage to sneak into nightreign to fight us. generational hater this is like the 5th time pic.twitter.com/t7euCmkBRy

— Nightreign Countdown (@SoulsCountdowns) February 16, 2025

Plenty of early testers, including the player behind Let Me Solo Her, took on the Fell Omen during the Elden Ring Nightreign sessions that took place over the weekend. The consensus? Morgott/Margit/Fell Omen is a great hater.

One player on the Elden Ring Nightreign subreddit described Morgott’s invasion mechanic as one of their favorite features, and in more threads, others shared where they were invaded. Whether as a night boss, on an elevator, or in a tower, Morgott seems ready to appear wherever, with some potentially hilarious consequences.

The Fell Omen’s sudden invasions have hopes high for other enemies to suddenly appear and attack the players. The Pursuer from Dark Souls 2, for example, would make a great candidate. Me, personally? I’d love to see some Hunters invade and attempt to take out players, but anything Bloodborne-related feels like a distant hope at best.

They buffed Margit in Elden Ring Nightreign bro was training with Vergil

Thankful for the one match I was able to play LOL pic.twitter.com/4RRQGSKmNa

— skum (@skumnut) February 14, 2025

There might even be deeper mechanics to Fell Omen invasions. GamesRadar detailed an invasion from the Omen that took out one of their co-op partners, and seemed to leave a curse mark branded on the slain player. It’ll be exciting to see how this game develops, especially as more players get hands-on time with it.

While the first network test was plagued by server issues, there were still a good number of players dropping into the Lands Between over the weekend. We’ll have to wait until May 30 to see how Nightreign fully shakes out, but until then, be sure to check out our own hands-on impressions with Elden Ring Nightreign here.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.

The Best Presidents’ Day Sales We’ve Found in Every Category

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, IGN

Presidents’ Day has arrived, and for many Americans that means the final day of a three-day weekend. It also means that pretty much every major retailer is having some sort of Presidents’ Day sale right now. Although it isn’t necessarily one of the biggest shopping events of the year, we’re seeing some surprisingly good deals on stuff across the board. Amazon, Best Buy, and many more are offering their best discounts of 2025 so far right now, but they end tonight.

We’ve been covering all of the best sales as they’ve gone live this week, but there are constantly new discounts popping up. Here is a quick rundown of what sales are worth shopping right now. To see our recommendations for each one, just click the ‘jump to details’ button on each card or scroll below.

The Best Presidents’ Day Sales Today

We will be updating this page with the latest deals as we find them. Each discount we feature on this page will be handpicked by our team to ensure the price is actually worth your time and money. You can check out our deals standards for more information on why you should trust us.

Update for February 17: Removed deals that have ended, added new discounts, and included the best clothing sale.

Amazon Presidents’ Day Sale

If you’re just looking for general savings this weekend, the Amazon Presidents’ Day sale is your best bet. Some of the better deals from the sale have already passed, like the Kindle Paperwhite and the Apple Watch SE discount. However, there are still some really low prices on things like the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the LEGO Hogwarts Castle set, there are also quite a few discounts on general items. Things like toothpaste and batteries are currently at their all-time lowest prices. It’s definitely not as big of a sale as Prime Day or Black Friday, but it’s worth a peek at what’s on offer. We’ve curated a quick list of some of our top picks from the sale below, most of which will be gone by tonight.

Best Buy Presidents’ Day Sale

The Best Buy Presidents’ Day sale has a little bit of everything, but mostly it has the best discounts on tech and video games. The retailer is also offering similar discounts to Home Depot or Lowe’s on major appliances, but our favorite deals are on Apple products, PS5 games, and TVs. We’ve gathered a few of the best price cuts happening right now below., but there are a lot more if you browse the main sale link we’ve provided above. This sale ends on Monday, February 17.

Target 4-Day Sale

Although Target hasn’t labeled its sale as a Presidents’ Day sale, the retailer has weekend deals ending on February 17 just the same. Target has many of the same deals we’ve seen across Amazon and Best Buy on electronics, but some of the best discounts are on home goods and toys. This includes things like popular LEGO sets, baby toys, furniture items, bedding, and household essentials. We’ve rounded up some of the best discounts in these areas below, but these are just a good entryway into the larger sale.

Lenovo Presidents’ Day Sale

The Lenovo Presidents’ Day sale isn’t the only place where you can find PC and laptop deals, but it is the best place to find those discounts on high-end gaming machines right now. The overall best deals we’ve found so far are on various configurations of the Lenovo Legion Tower 7. We’ve featured the best overall deal below, but you can shop the full sale above for more if you’re looking for something else.

Wayfair Presidents’ Day Sale

The Wayfair Presidents’ Day sale is our overall top pick for discounts on furniture. You can find deals from Target, Home Depot, and even Amazon that can compare, but the selection at Wayfair is just overall better. You can save up to 70% off furniture, bedding, and other home furnishings for every room. It even has some great discounts on TV stands worth checking out. Because design is so subjective, we only provided links to the best overall parts of the sale below, rather than specific product picks.

REI Presidents’ Day Sale

REI is arguably the best place to buy outdoor gear, and the REI Presidents’ Day sale is a great time to find savings. Some of the overall best discounts are on winter clothing from some of the bigger brands like Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and The North Face. Outside of clothing, you’ll also find discounts on other gear like sleeping bags and tents. We’ve gathered some of the best deals below after spending some time sorting through the list.

Home Depot Presidents’ Day Sale

Home Depot always has one of the biggest sales during every major three-day weekend. The Home Depot Presidents’ Day sale is pretty much identical to what we’ve come to expect during this time. You can save up to 35% on select major appliances as well as 40% on select tools. The savings are both online and in stores, so we recommend looking here first if you are already planning any major renovations to your home or kitchen.

DreamCloud Presidents’ Day sale

Presidents’ Day weekend is one of the best times of the year to find a discount on a new mattress. This is especially true for bed-in-the-box brands like DreamCloud, which we’re featuring here. We picked DreamCloud as one of the overall best Presidents’ Day mattress sales thanks to a 50% discount on luxury mattresses, but there are plenty of other sales out there as well. Mattresses start at $299 and go up from there depending on your needs. Check out the main website link above to build out the kind of mattress you’re looking for and get more specific pricing details. You can also find more top mattress sales below from brands like Casper, Tempur-Pedic, Nectar, and Leesa.

Macy’s Presidents’ Day Sale

The Macy’s Presidents’ Day sale is one of the biggest online clothing sales happening right now. There are others, including the Nordstrom Winter Sale happening today, but if you’re looking for the most options, its’ here. The sale includes up to 75% off winter jackets, up to 40% off menswear, and up to 50% off kids clothes. There is also a sale on jewelry, accessories, and bedding, but it’s the clothing sales we recommend checking out before they end today.

What Should You Buy During Presidents’ Day Sales?

Unlike major shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, long holiday weekends don’t usually have discounts on everything. Specific products will usually get the biggest discounts during these times. That’s not to say that major retailers won’t still drop prices on things outside of these product categories, just that usually we can expect the best savings on these.

Appliances

Similar to other federal holidays like Labor Day or Memorial Day, Presidents’ Day weekend is one of the best times of the year to find discounts on appliances. Retailers like Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Samsung, and LG all have sales on major appliances. If you’re in the market for a new washer, dryer, or refrigerator, now is the time. You can also usually find some great discounts on smaller Kitchen appliances during this time as well.

Mattresses and Bedding

Another holiday weekend staple where you can always expect to find big discounts is mattresses, pillows, and other bedding. Every single mattress company is having a Presidents’ Day sale right now. Some of the best overall deals are on bed-in-a-box brands like DreamCloud, Nectar, or Tuft and Needle, but you should also be able to find sales at your local mattress chain as well.

Clothing

Although February is statistically the coldest month of the year, it is still close enough to spring to be good for clothing sales. Most major clothing retailers will be having some sort of Presidents’ Day sale over the weekend, so check your favorite brand’s website and see what it has going on. You can also find some incredible winter outdoor clothing sales at places like REI.

Laptops and PCs

Outside of Black Friday, holiday weekends are one of the best times to buy a laptop or a gaming PC. These are high-priced items that will always receive discounts during these times. We’re already seeing some great Presidents’ Day sales from Lenovo and HP and expect another one from Dell over the weekend.

TVs

Similar to laptops and PCs, Presidents’ Day is actually one of the best times to buy a TV. A lot of the newer TV models are released in January and we start to see some significant price drops around the same time as the Super Bowl. Many of these same deals transfer over to Presidents’ Day weekend.

Furniture

Any of the shopping holidays where mattressses go on sale are also a great time to buy furniture. You can find disocunts on furniture from pretty much every major online retailer, including Amazon, but the best sitewide discounts are usually at specific brand stores. For example, there’s a Secretlab Presidents’ Day sale that has discounts on gaming chairs and desks, which might be preferable to a general Wayfair sale if that’s what you’re shopping for.

Should You Shop Now or Wait for Upcoming Sales?

Like we mentioned above, Presidents’ Day sales are not the overall best time to shop for every single thing. If you see something on sale for a good price that you want right now, we recommend you buy it. However, if it’s a bigger purchase that can wait until later in the year, then it’s worth holding off. The next big sales event after Presidents’ Day is Memorial Day sales, which will have many of the same discounts we’re seeing right now. After that, you’ll likely have to wait for Prime Day in July or Black Friday in November to find the best overall deals.

Berlin Film Festival Day 5 Recap: SPC Snags Jodie Foster Starrer ‘Vie Privée,’ Plan B’s Dede Gardner on Living in L.A., Making ‘Mickey 17’ and ‘Nickel Boys’

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

Sales activity at the Berlin Film Festival and European Film Market revved up on Saturday as Sony Pictures Classics struck a deal for North American rights to Rebecca Zlotowski’s murder mystery “Vie Privée,” starring Jodie Foster. Variety‘s Elsa Keslassy had the scoop on SPC’s deal for the film, which also covers key territories in Latin […]

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Gets Paramount+ Streaming Release Date

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, Variety

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” the third iteration in the film franchise based on Sega’s enduring speedster, will be available to stream on Paramount+ on Feb. 18. The third “Sonic” feature picks up with the blue blur, along with Tails the Fox and Knuckles the Echidna, having to team up with their nemesis Dr. Robotnik to take on the […]

Cleaner Review

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, IGN

Cleaner opens in theaters Friday, February 21.

Some villains you love to hate, some you hate to love. And then there are the ones that kind of have a point. In Cleaner, the latest drip into the bottomless mop bucket of Die Hard clones, masked eco-terrorists crash the London skyscraper soirée of a multinational energy corporation. They’re not secretly out for money like Hans Gruber and his goons. No, these are true believers – bleeding hearts ready to bleed Mother Earth’s enemies dry. And as the leader of the group (Clive Owen) lays out his master plan to crash the company, and the bigwig hostages start confessing at gunpoint to burying environmental impact reports and financially backing climate-change deniers, you really have to wonder: Who are we supposed to be rooting for here exactly?

That would be Joey Locke (Daisy Ridley), Britain’s limber female answer to John McClane. Gun-toting radicals are just one trouble facing this military vet, who makes ends meet up high, cleaning the windows of the tower HQ the bad guys seize. Joey is on thin ice with her boss (at least before he catches a bullet between the eyes), and stressed out by the full-time responsibility of looking after her autistic brother, Michael (Matthew Tuck), who keeps getting booted out of care facilities. Like many neurodivergent movie characters, Michael is also a computer wiz – one of several hoary tropes Cleaner dusts off over its brisk 96 minutes. Their shared traumatic backstory is another.

Joey spends an unusually large percentage of that runtime stuck on the side of the building. (Improbably, the high-rise cradle can only be operated by her boss from a control room above; stranding your cleaners on a rickety platform with no manual override protocol is yet another strike against a company that really seems to have it coming.) Ridley, clenching her jaw with Jedi-like determination, is a fine fit for the working-class hero routine, but she’s a long way from her tenure in a galaxy far, far away. The Star Wars curse is no joke: One minute you’re headlining the most popular movie franchise of them all, the next you’re mopping the floor with generic henchmen in Redbox fare.

Ridley isn’t the only blockbuster veteran slumming it here. The movie is directed by Martin Campbell, a proficient journeyman who used to make Hollywood event pictures (his Casino Royale is a dazzling, dizzying highpoint of the James Bond series) but now exclusively applies his chops to straightforward B-movies like The Foreigner and The Protégé. He’s dropped the definite article this time (Cleaner is cleaner, and a fine title for such a legible action vehicle) while still offering the kind of no-frills thrills that’s made him a favorite of adrenaline junkies with classical meat-and-potato sensibilities. The closest Campbell ever gets to flashiness is an early montage of Joey racing across town to make it to work on time, cutting off each expletive she utters with a cutaway.

In theory, this is the kind of genre exercise we’re supposed to cherish for its leanness and lack of pretensions – a blessed alternative to bloated effects spectacles. (It’s certainly a breezier time than The Rock’s adventure through a towering inferno, Skyscraper.) But Cleaner doesn’t have the juice, or enough distinguishing its Die Hardian antics from any other imitation’s. The dialogue is all clichés. “We are in,” brags the bad guys’ resident, obligatory hacker (Flavia Watson). “What we got?” asks the seasoned superintendent (Ruth Gemmell) late to the scene. “Find them!” bellows the other Gruber substitute (Taz Skylar), a more extreme extremist who wires the whole building to a wrist monitor, threatening to blow the place sky high if his pulse stops or even slows. Thankfully for the hostages, the device isn’t tracking our heart rate.

Cleaner has one halfway clever twist up its sleeve – a surprising reconfiguration of the villainous hierarchy. Otherwise, it mostly goes through the motions, one picked-off goon at a time. The most novel element might be the rather sympathetic motives of the antagonists, and how much method there is to their madness. But is that a productive tweak on formula? The rugged individualism of the Die Hard model gels uncomfortably with bad guys who are literally fighting for the greater good. You shouldn’t be wondering if these radicals deserve a newsletter or podcast instead of a long plummet to their doom.

Final Fantasy Commander Decks Revealed, Feature Cloud, Tidus, and More

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, IGN

Even if you don’t play Magic: The Gathering, you’ve probably caught wind of its numerous video game crossovers in recent years, including Fallout, Tomb Raider, and Assassin’s Creed. But today we’ve got an exclusive first look at one of the most exciting yet: Final Fantasy. And not just one Final Fantasy – from Terra to Y’shtola, four different mainline games are represented across the preconstructed Commander decks headlining the set.

Flip through the image gallery below for a first look at the lead card and packaging for each deck, and read on for a conversation with Wizards of the Coast about what to expect inside them, why these four games were picked, and plenty more.

Set to launch this June, Magic’s Final Fantasy crossover will be a fully draftable, Standard-legal set accompanied by the four preconstructed decks in the gallery above. Each of those includes 100 cards made up of both reprints of existing cards with new Final Fantasy art and brand new cards designed with Magic’s most popular format, Commander, in mind. And while Commander precons are always themed around certain characters, colors, or strategies, the twist with these is that each one is built around a single Final Fantasy game – specifically 6, 7, 10, and 14.

“Final Fantasy games are so rich with flavor, beloved characters, and unique settings that choosing a single game as the theme provided more than enough material to design a full deck of cards around,” says Senior Game Designer Daniel Holt, who is the Commander Lead for the set. “Approaching each deck as a single game also provided the opportunity to dive deep into the lore of each, capturing even more beloved moments from across the game’s storyline that we may not have been able to achieve otherwise.”

“…we have so many passionate Final Fantasy fans in the building.”

The team decided on these four Final Fantasy games based on a balance of what they wanted for the gameplay of each deck and how well known each story was overall. Holt says that while Final Fantasy 7 and 14 were clearer picks, 6 and 10 took more discussion to arrive at, but were chosen partially because they were favorites among the team. “This was one of those products where everyone in the building was invested in each stage of development, as we have so many passionate Final Fantasy fans in the building.”

Of course, even within those picks, there are some decisions you have to make about direction. For instance, Final Fantasy 7’s remake trilogy has been running alongside the development of this Magic set, so is its Commander precon telling the story of the original or its reality-bending reimagining? Dillon Deveney, Principal Narrative Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast and Narrative Lead for the set, says you’ll see a bit of both throughout that deck’s art, but the story itself will follow the 1997 classic.

“Our core approach to Final Fantasy VII was to capture the original PS1 game’s narrative, while using Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s modern aesthetics to push the fidelity of each character design, story moment, and memorable location to the next level,” Deveney explains. “With that in mind, if a scene existed in both games, we had our choice of showing it as the original game did, how the modern version interpreted it, or a unique fusion of both. Hopefully, this deck feels familiar and nostalgic to players of both the original game and the modern series!”

Speaking of nostalgia, Final Fantasy 6 is a trickier nut to crack in some ways as it lacks the more modern art references the other three games can provide. Deveney says they wanted to stick close to what fans would expect from its pixel art sprites and limited concept art while also expanding upon them, and hopes that “the character designs should feel like how you ‘remember’ them, despite being a hybridization of many different references and new ideas.” To help accomplish that, WOTC even consulted directly with the Final Fantasy 6 team as they updated these character to the standards needed for Magic art.

“We developed a workflow that asked concept artists and card artists to pull hallmark character designs from Yoshitaka Amano’s original (and legendary) concept art, the original FFVI sprites, and the FFVI Pixel Remaster character portraits, to synthesize the most consistent elements of each character’s design into something ‘new.’ We also encouraged our artists to punch up finer details and bsexplore elements where they thought they could push (fabric, patterns, textures, etc.) Then, we would meet with the Final Fantasy VI review team, and they would give us feedback on what core elements they wanted to preserve and what new elements they were excited about.”

“It’s our hope that the [FF6] character designs should feel like how you ‘remember’ them…”

So they had the four games decided, but when it comes to Commander, that’s only half the equation– WOTC also needed to figure out which characters would lead each deck. Cloud may be the obvious pick for 7, but Holt tells me the others involved some brainstorming. Celes was considered for 6 since the deck is focused around the World of Ruin and the second half of that game, while Yuna was considered for 10 as a fan-favorite. They ultimately decided to stick with the “lead” characters on those, but Final Fantasy 14 is an MMO, which presented its own problem.

“For Y’shtola, it came down to a mix of popularity of the character as well as being a spellcaster, her story and character development offered a wide range of abilities and moments to pull from to lead the deck,” Holt explains, going on to say this deck represents her specifically during her Shadowbringers arc. They did explore the concept of making a “Warrior of Light” commander players could make their own in some fashion, but Holt says those ideas had some “pretty in-depth executions,” and that your own personal hero still has plenty of moments in this deck even without being at the helm.

Now comes the question of figuring out how to fit an entire video game’s story, characters, and themes into a single deck and the carefully balanced restrictions of Magic’s five colors. “Building these decks called for us to decide color identity for the chosen game itself, but also the gameplay we desired from them,” says Holt, going on to point out that it’s no mistake all four include White, “for both theming and it helped cover the wide range of Heroes we wanted to include in each deck.”

As mentioned, the deck for 6 is centered on the latter half of that game – as such, it’s essentially all about rebuilding your party by bringing other creatures back from your graveyard. For 7, Cloud wielding a big sword lines up nicely with the equipment strategies of a white-red Magic deck, but Holt says that “adding green to the mix let us tie in the ‘power matters’ cards and cards that reference the Planet and lifestream.”

While Tidus’ ability to pass counters around might lead you to think the deck for 10 is all about Blitzball, this classic white-blue-green strategy actually primarily came from the idea of that game’s Sphere Grid leveling system as a way to empower your creatures. Holt also admits that the theme for 14 was tricky to land on, but its white-blue-black color identity allowed them to lean into a noncreature spell casting theme while also including the characters they wanted to.

“…fans can expect to see some of their favorite characters in the 99 of each deck…”

Last but not least, Commander might be all about your leader, but RPGs are often about your party as a whole, and WOTC won’t leave the supporting casts of these games hanging. “Final Fantasy games are full of loveable AND villainous characters and getting them in these decks was very important,” Holt says. “While I can’t talk specifics on who is included in each deck or their abilities just yet, fans can expect to see some of their favorite characters in the 99 of each deck as new legendary creatures and captured in action on other exciting spells.”

Magic’s Final Fantasy set will release on June 13, and if you don’t see your personal favorite Final Fantasy game or character here (or even if you do), don’t worry – Holt assures me that “all sixteen of the mainline games will have their moments to shine in the accompanying products.”

Returning to the same territory as the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks from 2022, all four of these decks will be available in both a regular version (MSRP $69.99) and a Collector’s Edition (MSRP $149.99), the latter of which will feature all 100 of the cards in each deck in a special Surge foil treatment.

Read on for the full, unedited interview with Wizards of the Coast’s Daniel Holt and Dillon Deveney:

IGN: Why did you decide to build each commander deck around a whole game this time?

Daniel Holt, Senior Game Designer: Final Fantasy games are so rich with flavor, beloved characters, and unique settings that choosing a single game as the theme provided more than enough material to design a full deck of cards around. Approaching each deck as a single game also provided the opportunity to dive deep into the lore of each, capturing even more beloved moments from across the game’s storyline that we may not have been able to achieve otherwise.

How did you land on these four games specifically? Were there any close runner-ups you considered?

DH: In exploratory design, before getting too deep into deckbuilding and card design, we brainstormed what games offered the most for what gameplay we wanted with the decks as well as being the more commonly known storylines among the audience. Final Fantasy VII being one of the more referenced games in media made it a strong first contender. Final Fantasy XIV offered a unique gamestyle, that of an MMO, and has SO MANY active players that we knew we could delight this group by selecting it as one of the four. After that, it became a bit more of a team discussion. Final Fantasy X is a favorite of mine and Zakeel, the FIN Product Architect, so we were a little biased in choosing it. Final Fantasy VI touched the pixel era of games and was a favorite of several other designers in the studio. So with that, we ended up with our four game selects! That said, all sixteen of the mainline games will have their moments to shine in the accompanying products.

Should we expect reprint art/lands/etc. within each deck to also be tied to each game?

DH: Absolutely! We want players to feel like they are entering the world of that game as they summon creatures and cast spells from it. This means that the nonland reprints are placed from within that deck’s game, while lands can appear from any of the four games included in the product.

Can you talk a bit about your approach to Magic’s color identities across these decks as it relates to Final Fantasy – why these colors for these characters/games?

DH: Building these decks called for us to decide color identity for the chosen game itself, but also the gameplay we desired from them. Being three colors each did help me have a wider range of options to apply to different characters and moments within the game. For example, you’ll notice all four decks include White in their color identity for both theming and it helped cover the wide range of Heroes we wanted to include in each deck.

Final Fantasy VI – This is a graveyard reanimator deck, so white-black-red was a great fit — gaining access to discard and mill effects in BR and ‘return from graveyard’ effects from WB. Thematically this deck rebuilds its large ensemble of characters in the World of Ruin, so the deck theme really plays into that section of the story.

Final Fantasy VII – As an equipment matters deck, white-red is well-known for that archetype in Magic and showcases this group’s iconic weaponry and battle prowess. Adding green to the mix let us tie in the ‘power matters’ cards and cards that reference the Planet and lifestream.

Final Fantasy X – White-blue-green counters are a classic staple in Magic deckbuilding and having access to all three here really let us build out a whole deck about moving the counters on the board and leveling up your team.

Final Fantasy XIV – This deck was tricky to land on, but by being white-blue-black, we had access to the colors we needed for the characters we wanted to include, but also be a noncreature matters theme, representing spell casting and ability usage you perform as the player while playing the Final Fantasy XIV game!

Terra, Cloud, and Tidus are the clear picks for their games, but how did you land on Y’shtola for Final Fantasy 14?

DH: I won’t deny that Cloud was a pretty obvious choice for the face commander of the Final Fantasy VII deck. The others went through a few rounds of brainstorming though! In Final Fantasy VI, since we were focusing on the themes of the second half of the game, Celes was actually a big contender for the lead. And with Final Fantasy X, we know Yuna is a fan favorite and could have led the deck to success. We ultimately landed on ‘the main protagonist’ character for each of these titles, resulting in Terra and Tidus filling those slots respectively; though Final Fantasy VI is an ensemble cast, Terra is often portrayed as the face of the series.

For Y’shtola, it came down to a mix of popularity of the character as well as being a spellcaster, her story and character development offered a wide range of abilities and moments to pull from to lead the deck.

Was using the Warrior of Light as the lead ever on the table, perhaps with some sort of background/class system to let players customize their precon?

DH: You caught me! We did explore card designs and themes around the Warrior of Light with some…pretty in-depth executions, before ultimately landing on Y’shtola as the commander. That said, there are still plenty of ‘Warrior of Light’ moments in the deck!

7, 10, and 14 have plenty of modern references when it comes to Magic-style art, but you’re pulling from a comparatively smaller pool for 6. Did you feel like there was more freedom to define your own look for those characters, or did you try to stick as closely to what was out there as possible?

Dillon Deveney, Principal Narrative Game Designer: I love this question! We wanted to stick closely to what fans remembered about these characters, while looking to merge the two major aesthetics of FFVI: the concept art and the in-game sprites. There was a lot of freedom in this approach, while trying to stick closely to the original designs. We worked directly with the Final Fantasy VI team to determine the aesthetics, designs, and costumes of the FFVI characters and world. To do that, we developed a workflow that asked concept artists and card artists to pull hallmark character designs from Yoshitaka Amano’s original (and legendary) concept art, the original FFVI sprites, and the FFVI Pixel Remaster character portraits, to synthesize the most consistent elements of each character’s design into something ‘new.’ We also encouraged our artists to punch up finer details and explore elements where they thought they could push (fabric, patterns, textures, etc.) Then, we would meet with the Final Fantasy VI review team, and they would give us feedback on what core elements they wanted to preserve and what new elements they were excited about. Ultimately, it’s our hope that the character designs should feel like how you ‘remember’ them, despite being a hybridization of many different references and new ideas.

Conversely, was there more pressure to get a character like Y’shtola exactly right when fans know so precisely what she looks like?

DH: From the game design side for each of these popular characters, this was one of those products where everyone in the building was invested in each stage of development, as we have so many passionate Final Fantasy fans in the building. At every playtest of the decks, I would get feedback about coworkers’ favorite characters, story moments, etc. that they wanted to make sure got included and implemented properly.

Some characters, like Y’shtola, have such deep character development throughout portions of their game. Each card that depicts one of those types of characters needed to capture them at a specific point in time of their story. For the Final Fantasy XIV commander deck, we have Y’shtola in the Shadowbringers arc where she has become a talented spell caster.

For the Final Fantasy 7 deck, did the recent remake series influence or impact your thinking/designs much, or were you mostly looking toward the original here?

DH: We had the fortunate overlap of some of the remake game series releasing WHILE we worked on this set. So it was a really cool experience getting to leave work, go home, and play games featuring the characters of cards I was designing in a ‘new’ video game.

DD: Our core approach to Final Fantasy VII was to capture the original PS1 game’s narrative, while using Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s modern aesthetics to push the fidelity of each character design, story moment, and memorable location to the next level. You will see a mix of classic FFVII moments and modern FFVII visuals in the deck, but generally, the product is intended to follow the original game’s story. With that in mind, if a scene existed in both games, we had our choice of showing it as the original game did, how the modern version interpreted it, or a unique fusion of both. Hopefully, this deck feels familiar and nostalgic to players of both the original game and the modern series!

It’s super cute that Tidus is all about passing counters around like a ball. Did you know this was going to be a counter deck already or did counters come from exploring Blitzball as a concept?

DH: Everyone loves Blitzball! People in the office got a ‘kick’ out of every time we mentioned it or referenced it somewhere in the product. But when starting the Final Fantasy X deck, the actual theming of counters came from the Sphere Grid experience system used in the game. This system is visually portrayed as a board where you add colored markers on the tracks to gain new abilities. In commander, I wanted to capture that idea by filling the deck with +1/+1 and other counters and then moving them around your team for added abilities!

Commander is all about your leader, but what is an RPG without a party – was it important to y’all to also highlight the folk supporting these leads within each deck?

DH: Of course! Final Fantasy games are full of loveable AND villainous characters and getting them in these decks was very important. While I can’t talk specifics on who is included in each deck or their abilities just yet, fans can expect to see some of their favorite characters in the 99 of each deck as new legendary creatures and captured in action on other exciting spells.

I assume a popular character like Cloud is going to be on more than just this card in the same way Frodo or Galadriel were in the Lord of the Rings set – I know you can’t get into main set spoilers here, but is there anything about designing around these characters for a commander-only product that you enjoy getting to do differently from a product that has to be in Standard?

DH: I think it’s safe to say you’ll see some characters making multiple appearances in the product and each is appealing to different kinds of players. With the ones we see here, they are all ‘commander-sized’, meaning they are aimed to be exciting in the commander format, both in and out of the precon. All the legends in these decks have a unified goal of working together within their deck’s theme and it’s fun building cards like this to have that creative team synergy, whether that’s say…interacting with counters in Final Fantasy X or playing with the graveyard in Final Fantasy VI. On the other hand, legends in the main set can be designs built around the character independently of other cards to spark new archetypes of decks.

Tom Marks is IGN’s Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.

Is Anthony Mackie the MCU’s Permanent Captain America?

February 17, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, IGN

Ever since he hung up his Captain America shield in Avengers: Endgame, there have been rumours that Chris Evans is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to play Steve Rogers once again. It’s a suggestion he’s repeatedly denied, claiming that he’s “happily retired.” But this is one rumour he’ll likely need to continue batting away, its persistence driven by one key thing: in comic books, no one really dies.

Death and rebirth is a significant recurring event in the world of comics, and the original Captain America is no stranger to it. The assassination of Steve Rogers in the wake of Marvel’s 2007 Civil War storyline was a major moment in modern comic book history, and it resulted in another recurring comic book event – the passing of the mantle. In this case, it was Bucky Barnes who became Marvel’s new Captain America. But the position, much like Steve’s death, would prove to be temporary. Of course there was a way to bring Rogers back from the dead, a way to explain away the fatal bullet. And so Steve Rogers was put back in his “rightful” place.

Several years later, Marvel (sort of) did it again. Steve’s super-soldier serum was neutralized, turning him into a feeble old man incapable of carrying the shield (not to mention beating up bad guys). And this time it was Sam Wilson, AKA The Falcon, who stepped up to become the new Captain America. It’s this storyline that paved the road towards the MCU’s Falcon, Anthony Mackie, becoming the titular star of Captain America: Brave New World.

But, just a few years after Wilson became the all-new Captain America in the pages of Marvel comics, Steve’s aging was overturned and he returned to his shield-slinging duties once more. When you consider this story – and similar storylines for the likes of Batman, Spider-Man, and Green Lantern, among others – then it’s understandable why the rumours around Chris Evans’ return as Steve Rogers persist. The original always comes back. So, is Anthony Mackie’s red, white, and blue position in danger, or is he the MCU’s permanent Captain America?

“I hope so!” Mackie told us as part of a recent interview ahead of Brave New World. “I don’t know. I think when you look at Sam Wilson, I guess the life or the span of him being Captain America goes with how well the movie does. So go see the movie!”

I think that by the end of this movie, audiences are going to feel that Sam Wilson is Captain America, full stop.

While Mackie seemingly knows nothing of his character’s fate, he stands a better chance of holding onto the shield longer than Sebastian Stan ever would have. While the comics eventually saw Bucky’s tenure as Captain America come to an end, Steve Rogers’ most recent comeback saw Steve and Sam agree to work together and share the Captain America mantle. They both have a shield. They both wear the flag. They are both Captain America. And so even if Chris Evans does return in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday or 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, Mackie has a good chance of holding onto that important title.

But there is something else to consider. The MCU is not Marvel comics. Since it began all the way back in 2008, one of the more significant differences between the MCU and its printed parent is a greater sense of permanence. When a villain dies in the movies, they (usually) stay dead. We’re likely not seeing the return of Maliketh, Kaecilius, or Ego any time soon. And so it really does seem like Steve Rogers has said his final goodbye.

“We’re aware that, for some people, it’s hard to let go of Steve Rogers,” says Nate Moore, a veteran MCU producer and one of the guiding hands behind Captain America: Brave New World. “We love Steve Rogers, he’s so fantastic. But I think that by the end of this movie, audiences are going to feel that Sam Wilson is Captain America, full stop.”

When asked if Anthony Mackie is the MCU’s permanent Captain America, Moore simply says: “He is. He is. And we’re so happy to have him.”

That’s pretty clear cut: from the final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier onwards, Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson is the MCU’s Captain America until the day the character’s storyline comes to an end. He has not been built to be replaced. This sense of permanence gives the MCU a subtly different flavour to its parent medium: the stakes are higher. There’s no coming back from the very worst. Natasha Romanoff is dead. Thanos is gone. Tony Stark is no more. And Steve Rogers is… well, he’s just too old for this shit.

“When Tony Stark dies, that’s a big deal,” says Julius Onah, director of Captain America: Brave New World. “As a storyteller, you’re just looking for the best dramatic playground for your actors to bring these characters to life. So it was a real treat for me to be able to [work with Sam’s role] in the MCU.”

“It’s going to be exciting to see how he leads the Avengers going forward,” Onah says, referring to the most important job anyone holding the title Captain America has to take on.

By installing a sense of permanence in the films, Marvel aims to avoid the somewhat cyclical nature of the comic medium. The studio doesn’t just want more of the same. “I do think [permanent change] does make the MCU feel different than it did in phase one through three,” says Moore. “Sam is Captain America, not Steve Rogers. He’s a different person. And I think if you ask Sam who would be on the Avengers, it might be a different collection of people than Steve [would suggest]. So the way Sam might go about it could be completely different.

“But I think those questions are the questions we have fun with too,” he adds. “Because we want to explore every avenue – much like our fans do – and make sure if and when the time is right for the Avengers to come back, it’s an Avengers that feels different, but also is worthy of the Avengers name.”

With so many original Avengers now out of action, it will be interesting to see how the MCU’s next major event differs from the Infinity War/Endgame years – broadly considered to be the peak of Marvel Studios’ output. But the one thing that we do know is that Anthony Mackie will be front and centre, leading the Avengers as the one and only Captain America. Because Marvel has never purposefully obscured the truth and later pulled some kind of casting stunt, has it?

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.

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