Best Deck & Strategy to Beat the Shadowblood Queen in Final Fantasy 7 (FF7) Rebirth

The culmination of the Queen’s Blood card game storyline in Final Fantasy 7 (FF7) Rebirth sees players taking on the villainous Shadowblood Queen, and she can be quite tricky to beat, so here’s the best deck I found and the strategy I used to beat her.

Best Deck for the Shadowblood Queen in FF7 Rebirth

Here is the best deck for beating the Shadowblood Queen in FF7 Rebirth:

• Security Officer (2)
• Crawler (2)
• Rictus (2)
• Chimera (2)
• Adjudicator (2)
• Insectoid Chimera (2)
• Diabolic Variant (1)
• Kelzmelzer (2)

You’ll notice there’s no Emerald Witch in this deck, as FF7 Rebirth sets up this card game, intending for you to use the Emerald Witch card to beat the Shadowblood Queen. But I found I didn’t like that strategy for beating the Shadowblood Queen for a few reasons.

The Shadowblood Queen starts with the Shadowblood Queen card in the middle slot on the far right. The card gains 3 Power “for each other enfeebled allied and enemy card.” As such, the Shadowblood Queen’s deck is based around weakening allied and opposing cards to make the Shadowblood Queen nigh unstoppable.

In addition, the cards that the Shadowblood Queen plays are ludicrously powerful, including versions of such summons as Ifrit and Ramuh. I understand what the developers were trying to do here as, basically, giving her cards that the Shadowblood Queen can de-power, but without destroying them entirely.

FF7 Rebirth believes the best deck for beating the Shadowblood Queen thus involves the Emerald Witch using her ability, which enhances cards around her, to counter the Shadowblood Queen. I struggled to get that strategy to work effectively. So instead, I devised a simple workaround: Use the Shadowblood Queen’s power against her.

The cards listed above are all relatively simple to get, and if you don’t have them by the time you can take on the Shadowblood Queen, check out a card shop and see if you have any packs left to buy, or if there are any challenges left in Costa del Sol to do. As always, your mileage may vary. This deck worked for me. You might be someone who really likes buffing and enhancing other cards in Queen’s Blood, and if you do, there might be guides that work better for you. I love enfeebling, though, and know how to use those effects to my advantage.

How To Beat the Shadowblood Queen in FF7 Rebirth

The best way to beat the Shadowblood Queen by using her own power against her is by getting a Chimera and either an Adjudicator or Rictus in two of the lanes. It’s easiest to target the top and the bottom, since the Shadowblood Queen already having a card in the middle gives her a big advantage there.

Your starting hand should, ideally, have a Security Officer and a Crawler. Play the Security Officer in the first column of the second row followed by a Crawler in the second column of the second row. That should give you the ability to play in the top and bottom lanes of the board without too much issue. Drop a Rictus, Chimera, or Adjudicator in the first or third row of the second column. You don’t want to fill the first column quite yet.

Part of the struggle is that, because of how the board is set up and the cards she has, the Shadowblood Queen can flip spaces pretty easily. As such, you’ll want to use Insectoid Chimera or Kelmelzer to flip the spaces in the second column back to you if she takes one of them. If you can get any spaces in the third column, that’s even better! However, it’s difficult to do.

Once you’ve got a Chimera and/or Adjudicator and Rictus in two of the lanes, you’re very likely to win those lanes. The reason for that is simple: The Shadowblood Queen enfeebles her own cards, meaning they don’t do as well in those lanes. Her strategy is to win the game by destroying you in the middle lane. By winning the other two lanes at roughly her same power due to using the same effects, you can use her own strategy against her. I beat the Shadowblood Queen 51 to 31 in my match using this strategy.

I’m aware of how unusual that deck looks. However, I found the path to victory a lot simpler. Basically, the idea is that Rictus, Chimera, and Adjudicator all have abilities that are like that of the Shadowblood Queen. As such, the fact her cards are centered around enfeebling the cards on the board works in your favor and helps get around the fact their base strengths are relatively high. This means that enhancing them can start to work against you if you’re not careful.

As a quick word of warning, it’s entirely possible this strategy might not work for you. If you have one you like better, feel free to sound off in the comments below. That being said, give this deck and strategy a few spins and see how it works for you. A lot of beating the Shadowblood Queen comes down to what you both draw and play. That’s my nice way of saying luck. This was the best deck I found that allowed me to beat the Shadowblood Queen in FF7 Rebirth with relative regularity.

The above article was updated on April 20, 2024 by Escapist Editorial to provide additional context about the best Shadowblood Queen strategy.