Tetra Master

Tetra Master is the side quest card game that can be played throughout Gaia during a playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. It is a follow up to the card game in Final Fantasy VIII called Triple Triad.

Tetra Master Card selection screen

The primary difference between Triple Triad and Tetra Master though is that this card game offers very few (if any) rewards aside from the satisfaction of finding the cards and mastering the game. As a result, there is really no reason to play the card game unless your goal is to complete a full playthrough and experience/master everything that Final Fantasy IX has to offer.

Tetra Master card board

There is a point in the game on Disc 3 when the team travels back to Treno which is why the rules and strategy sections for the game are included as part of this guide.

Obtaining Tetra Master Cards

Tetra Master Cards are obtained as rewards at various points in the game and are sometimes included as a reward for defeating a monster or boss.

Playing Tetra Master against other Card Players

Use the SquareButton when standing in front of a non-playable character (NPC) to initiate a Tetra Master game. Not all of the NPCs will accept the challenge and play cards, but many of them do.

The game grid has 16 squares with up to 6 of those squares randomly locked off from being used. Each player takes turns placing a card on the game grid until all of the cards have been played. The object of the game is to challenge or battle adjacent cards and “capture” them over to your color.

Card Values

Each of the cards have 4 characters listed near the bottom representing the cards stats (with descriptions of how each functions below).

  • The first character represents the power of the card
  • The second character represents the class of the card
  • The third character represents the physical defense of the card
  • The fourth character represents the magical defense of the card

The character/value is represented via hexadecimal, which means that the value will range (from lowest to highest) as shown: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F

The first character is the Power Stat. It represents the offensive power of the card and the power that the card has when it is used to attack and capture other cards on the board.

The second character is the Card’s Class which will be represented as either:

  • P (Physical)
  • M (Magical)
  • X (Flexible)
  • A (Assault)

Having a P class means that the card’s attack will impact the physical defense, M means it will attack the magical defense, X will attack the lowest of the two stats (and this is an extremely rare class), and A will attack the lowest overall value on the card.

The arrows on the card, pointing either up, left, down, right or to any of the corners, indicate the direction of attack that the card will employ. No arrow pointing on the card means that the card will not attack any adjacent cards in those directions.

Combos

Combination attacks are where the game gets rather complicated. Once a card has been defeated or captured, any enemy cards pointed at by the arrows of that card are also captured.

Winning

You win the game if you have more cards at the end of the game then your opponent.

Strategies

Make sure that you protect your cards by placing them in secure locations using the blocks placed around the board. Save your stronger cards for the end of the game making sure that the arrow directions will allow you to utilize it properly when the time comes and then unleash it for a final combo.

Maximum Amount of Cards

The maximum amount of cards that you can hold at any given time is 100. This rule doesn’t make much sense, but as a result, you will have to throw away more common cards later in the game in order to free up space for more rare cards.

Number Card Type
1) Goblin 0P00
2) Fang 0P00
3) Skeleton 0P00
4) Flan 0M01
5) Zaghnol 0P00
6) Lizardman 1P00
7) Zombie 1P10
8) Bomb 1M01
9) Ironite 1P10
10) Sahagin 1P10
11) Yeti 1M01
12) Memic 1M11
13) Wyerd 1M02
14) Mandragora 2M02
15) Crawler 2P20
16) S. Scorpion 2P21
17) Nymph 2M02
18) Sand Golom 2P21
19) Zuu 2P02
20) Dragonfly 2P21
21) Carrion Worm 2M11
22) Cerebus 3P20
23) Antlion 3P31
24) Cactuar 3PC0
25) Gimme Cat 3M21
26) Ragtimer 3M21
27) Hedgehog Pie 3M12
28) Raluimahgo 3P40
29) Ocho 3P21
30) Troll 4P32
31) Blazer Beetle 4P51
32) Abomination 4P33
33) Zemzelett 4M26
34) Stroper 4P40
35) Tantarian 4M22
36) Grand Dragon 4P44
37) Feather Circle 4M22
38) Hecteyes 5M04
39) Ogre 5P41
40) Armstrong 5M24
41) Ash 5M33
42) Wraith 5M51
43) Gargoyle 5M32
44) Vepal 5M33
45) Grimlock 5M23
46) Tonberry 2P33
47) Veteran 5M19
48) Garuda 6M41
49) Malboro 5M36
50) Mover 6MF0
51) Abadon 7M62
52) Behemoth BP46
53) Iron Man CP60
54) Nova Dragon EP7C
55) Ozma DM0C
56) Hades FMC1
57) Holy 8M23
58) Meteor BMA0
59) Flare DM11
60) Shiva 5M05
61) Ifrit 6M91
62) Ramuh 4M16
63) Atomos 4M66
64) Odin CM84
65) Leviathan BM61
66) Bahamut CM95
67) Ark EM65
68) Fenrir 8M21
69) Madeen AM16
70) Alexander EMB5
71) Excalibur 2 FPB0
72) Ultima Weapon FP16
73) Masamune CPB3
74) Elixir 6M66
75) Dark Matter CM3C
76) Ribbon 0MCF
77) Tiger Paw Racket 0P01
78) Save The Queen 7P30
79) Genji 0P6A
80) Mythril Sword 2P00
81) Blue Narciss 8P91
82) Hilde Garde 3 6P31
83) Invincible BP9C
84) Cargo Ship 2P60
85) Hilda Garde 1 6P40
86) Red Rose 8P19
87) Theater Ship 2P61
88) Viltgance EP92
89) Chocobo 0P00
90) Fat Chocobo 1P11
91) Mog 0M00
92) Frog 0P00
93) Oglop 2P20
94) Alexandria 0P6B
95) Lindblum 0P6B
96) Twin Moons 7M55
97) Gargant 2P03
98) Namingway 7M77
99) Boko THE Chocobo 8M77
100) Airship 8P77