Triple Triad is a card game within FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. It is originally from the PS1 game Final Fantasy VIII and is almost identical in how it functions. The minigame requires you to beat an opponent by winning more cards on a 3×3 grid than your opponent. Player 1 is the blue player and player 2 is the red player. Upon defeating an opponent you will be rewarded with Manderville Gold Saucer Points (MGP) and sometimes a card. The more cards you have, the better your deck can become and the higher your chance of winning.
The purpose of this guide is to explain the basics of the minigame, what each rule is, where to obtain your cards and a few general strategies. It does not go into depth on how to play Triple Triad itself; that can be found in the 2.51 patch notes.
The basics
In order to unlock Triple Triad you must first unlock the Gold Saucer. This is done by first completing the level 15 main scenario quest “The X Envoy” where X is your Grand Company. You can then pick up the quest “It Could Happen to You” from Well-Heeled Youth in Ul’dah – Steps of Nald (X:9 Y:9). This will lead you to the airship area and take you to the Gold Saucer. Upon arriving you can head towards the Triple Triad area (X:4 Y:7) and pick up the quest “Triple Triad Trial” from Triple Triad Master. This quest serves as a tutorial of the basics of Triple Triad and provides you with your starter deck.
Once you have your starter deck you can challenge any NPC. I recommend starting with the ones around you in the Gold Saucer and then following our card listing and look for the NPCs that drop 1 or 2 star cards. As you get better cards you will have a higher chance of being successful against harder opponents. Opponents with Plus rule can be easier with starter cards so it is worth challenging those as well.
Rules & Deck Restrictions
There are a number of rules that come into play either during the game or pre-game. The pre-game rules are more restrictions as they determine what your best deck can look like. To begin with you are very limited but as you get more cards the restrictions are eased. The current restrictions are as follows:
1-29 cards – You can select 4 1 star cards and 1 2-5 star card.
30-59 cards – You can select 4 1-2 star cards and 1 3-5 star card.
60+ cards – You can select 4 1-3 star cards and 1 4-5 star card.
Your first 5 star card will most likely be Squall Leonhart upon defeating 30 different NPCs, unless you are very lucky. You should use this as your higher star card until you have other 5 star replacements.
Once you have created your deck and challenge opponents you will notice that they have up to 4 rules in play. Two are match rules that the NPC always has or the two you and your real player decide on, and up to two regional rules. Regional rules change daily and are applied to all matches within that region.
the rules themselves range from simple to complex and even annoying (Random and Chaos). There’s not much point in copying the text for each rule from the official FFXIV site here as it is quite beefy so we recommend reading the information from the 2.51 patch notes.
Card Locations
Triple Triad cards come from defeating NPCs, purchased with MGP, tournament prizes and battle instances such as trials and dungeons. Some cards come from more than one source while others only have one source. In most cases where cards can beobtained from multiple sources there is one that stands out as being better than the other in terms of time invested, however at the end of the day it is all random and highly luck based. For cards that can be obtained in an instance that has more than one difficulty setting the drop rate appears to be higher on the harder of the two.
The table below lists each card, the locations it can be obtained and which source in my view is the better way to go for obtaining the card.
| Card | Rarity | Values | Type | Location | Note |
| Ahriman | * | 5 5 2 2 | Dzemael Darkhold | ||
| Amalj’aa | * | 1 4 7 1 | Beast | Memeroon Silver Triad Card | Common reward from Silver Triad Card |
| Bomb | * | 3 4 3 3 | Triple Triad Trial Quest | Starter Deck | |
| Chocobo | * | 3 7 2 1 | Jonas of the Three Spades Guhtwint of the Three Diamonds Bought for 600 MGP | No need to buy, it’s common from the NPCs. | |
| Coblyn | * | 3 3 3 4 | Maisenta Wymond Bronze Triad Card | Common reward from Bronze Triad Card | |
| Coeurl | * | 2 5 2 5 | Triple Triad Trial Quest | Starter Deck | |
| Dodo | * | 4 2 3 4 | Triple Triad Trial Quest | Starter Deck | |
| Goobbue | * | 2 5 5 2 | Aurifort of the Three Clubs Mother Miounne Maisenta Bronze Triad Card | Common reward from Bronze Triad Card | |
| Ixal | * | 6 1 3 4 | Beast | Jonas of the Three Spades Joellaut | Common drop. |
| Kobold | * | 2 2 4 6 | Beast | Silver Triad Card | Common reward from Silver Triad Card |
| Mandragora | * | 4 2 5 3 | Triple Triad Trial Quest | Starter Deck | |
| Moogle | * | 2 1 3 7 | Jonas of the Three Spades Trachtoum Bought for 840 MGP | No need to buy, it’s common from the NPCs. | |
| Morbol | * | 5 2 5 2 | Roger Aurum Vale | Get it from Roger. | |
| Pudding | * | 2 4 3 5 | Roger Bronze Triad Card | Common reward from Bronze Triad Card | |
| Sabotender | * | 4 3 3 3 | Triple Triad Trial Quest | Starter Deck | |
| Sahagin | * | 4 5 3 3 | Beast | Sastasha Seagrot & Hard Mode | |
| Spriggan | * | 2 3 4 4 | Triple Triad Master Bronze Triad Card | Common reward from Bronze Triad Card | |
| Sylph | * | 2 4 5 4 | Beast | Maisenta Silver Triad Card | Common reward from Silver Triad Card |
| Tataru Taru | * | 7 2 3 2 | Scion | Silver Triad Card | |
| Tonberry | * | 2 2 7 2 | The Wanderer’s Palace & Hard Mode | Common drop. | |
| Baderon Tenfingers | ** | 3 7 5 5 | Baderon Gold Triad Card | Common reward from Gold Triad Card | |
| Biggs & Wedge | ** | 5 3 7 5 | Mimidoa Sezul Totoloc | ||
| Blue Dragon | ** | 2 2 7 7 | Ourdilic Stone Vigil & Hard Mode | Get it from Ourdilic | |
| Chimera | ** | 7 7 2 2 | Cutter’s Cry | ||
| Demon Wall | ** | 6 7 2 3 | Amdapor Keep & Hard Mode | ||
| Frixio | ** | 6 2 6 6 | Beast | Marcette Piralnaut | Common drop. |
| Gerolt | ** | 1 7 3 7 | Helmhart Rowena Gold Triad Card | Common reward from Gold Triad Card | |
| Livia sas Junius | ** | 3 7 7 1 | Garlean | Indolent Imperial Castrum Meridianum | Get it from Indolent Imperial |
| Memeroon | ** | 6 6 6 2 | Beast | Memeroon | |
| Momodi Modi | ** | 7 5 5 3 | Momodi Gold Triad Card | Common reward from Gold Triad Card | |
| Mother Miounne | ** | 5 5 3 7 | Mother Miounne Gold Triad Card | Common reward from Gold Triad Card | |
| Mutamix Bubblypots | ** | 2 6 6 6 | Beast | F’hobhas | |
| Rhitahtyn sas Arvina | ** | 7 1 3 7 | Garlean | Indolent Imperial Cape Westwind | Common drop from both. |
| Scarface Bugaal Ja | ** | 6 6 2 6 | Beast | Guhtwint of the Three Diamonds Bronze Triad Card | Get it from Guhtwint of the Three Diamonds. |
| Siren | ** | 3 6 7 2 | Pharos Sirius | ||
| Succubus | ** | 7 3 2 6 | Piralnaut Haukke Manor & Hard Mode | Get it from Piralnaut. | |
| Ultros & Typhon | ** | 2 3 6 7 | Helmhart Dragon’s Neck | Get it from Helmhart. | |
| Behemoth | *** | 7 8 4 2 | Sezul Totoloc Ourdilic Joellaut Bronze Triad Card | Get it from one of the NPCs. | |
| Garuda | *** | 6 1 7 7 | Primal | Marcette Garuda hard & Extreme Mode | Get it from Marcette. |
| Gilgamesh & Enkidu | *** | 8 3 7 3 | Battle on the Big Bridge | ||
| Godbert Manderville | *** | 6 6 5 6 | Ruhtwyda of the Three Hearts King Elmer III Hab Bought for 9,600 MGP | Get it from King Elmer III while trying to get Bahamut. | |
| Good King Moggle Mog XIII | *** | 7 6 7 1 | Primal | Thornmarch Hard & Extreme Mode | |
| Ifrit | *** | 7 1 6 7 | Primal | Swift Ifrit Hard & Extreme Mode | Get it from Swift. |
| Nero tol Scaeva | *** | 4 1 8 7 | Garlean | Indolent Imperial | |
| Papalymo & Yda | *** | 3 7 8 2 | Scion | Buscarron Vorsaile Heuloix Landenel | Common drop. |
| Raya-O-Senna & A-Ruhn-Senna | *** | 5 6 6 6 | Buscarron Landenel Bought for 4,800 MGP | Get it from an NPC, | |
| Thancred | *** | 2 3 8 7 | Scion | Fufulupa Hab | Get it from Fufulupa. |
| Titan | *** | 1 7 7 6 | Primal | Landenel Trachtoum Titan Hard & Extreme mode | Get it from an NPC. |
| Urianger | *** | 8 1 4 7 | Scion | Ruhtwyda of the Three Hearts Silver Triad Card | Get it from the NPC. |
| Y’shtola | *** | 7 8 1 4 | Scion | Gegeruju R’ashaht Rhiki | |
| Alphinaud & Alisaie | **** | 9 3 3 9 | Scion | Joellaut Swift | Get it from Swift. |
| Cid Garlond | **** | 5 9 9 2 | Sezul Totoloc Gold Triad Card | You can only challenge Sezul if you are highly ranked on Ixal beastman dailies. | |
| Lahabrea | **** | 4 9 4 8 | Silver Triad Card | ||
| Leviathan | **** | 8 8 8 1 | Primal | R’ashaht Rhiki Leviathan Hard & Extreme Mode | Get from R’ashaht Rhiki |
| Louisoix Leveilleur | **** | 9 4 9 3 | Scion | Rowena | |
| Minfilia | **** | 9 8 3 5 | Scion | Gegeruju Silver Triad Card | Get from Gegeruju. |
| Odin | **** | 8 8 1 8 | Primal | Landenel Urth’s Font | Get from Urth’s Font as the NPC’s random rule is over-powered. |
| Ramuh | **** | 8 1 8 8 | Primal | Vorsaile Heuloix Ramuh Hard & Extreme Mode | Get from Vorsaile. |
| Shiva | **** | 1 8 8 8 | Primal | Shive Hard & Extreme Mode | Extreme seems to be higher drop rate. |
| Ultima Weapon | **** | 7 8 9 1 | Garlean | Ultima Hard Mode Gold Triad Card | You’ll get it from Gold Triad Cards eventually so avoid farming the instance. |
| Bahamut | ***** | 9 5 9 6 | Primal | King Elmer III | Very low chance |
| Bartz Klauser | ***** | 4 4 A A | Battle in the Big Keep | Very low chance | |
| Cecil Harvey | ***** | 4 A 4 A | Tournament Prize | ||
| Cloud Strife | ***** | 9 3 9 8 | Bought for 1,000,000 MGP | ||
| Firion | ***** | A 5 A 1 | Tournament Prize | ||
| Gaius van Baelsar | ***** | 4 A 5 9 | Garlean | Indolent Imperial Praetorium | Lowest drop rate from all NPC cards. Praetorium may be better. |
| Hildibrand & Nashu Mhakaracca | ***** | 1 8 A 8 | Hab Helmhart | Very low chance | |
| Kan-E-Senna | ***** | 9 A 1 7 | Vorsaile Heuloix | Very low chance | |
| Lightning | ***** | 9 1 7 A | Tournament Prize | ||
| Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn | ***** | 5 9 A 3 | R’ashaht Rhiki | Very low chance | |
| Nanamo Ul Namo | ***** | A 6 4 8 | Bought for 400,000 MGP | ||
| Onion Knight | ***** | 8 2 8 A | World of Darkness | ||
| Raubahn Aldynn | ***** | 6 2 9 A | Swift | Very low chance | |
| Shantotto | ***** | 4 9 7 9 | Achievement: Win 30 Tournament Matches | ||
| Squall Leonhart | ***** | 6 A A 1 | Achievement: Beat 30 NPCs | ||
| Terra Branford | ***** | A A 2 5 | Dragon’s Neck | Very low chance | |
| Tidus | ***** | A 7 1 9 | Tournament Prize | ||
| Vaan | ***** | 1 7 A 9 | Achievement: Win 300 games with Roulette rule | ||
| Warrior of Light | ***** | A 2 5 A | Gold Triad Card | Very low chance | |
| Zidane Tribal | ***** | 5 A 6 8 | Gold Triad Card | Very low chance |
General Strategies for Success
Once you’ve grasped the basics of the minigame you should begin thinking about how you can best assemble your deck to defeat each opponent. NPCs can even be predictable as often they have a very narrow amount of cards and their first moves often use the same cards each time you challenge them.
Work your deck to your advantage. If you are up against an opponent with Plus rule then having a selection of cards that add together easily will help you. For example having four cards with 6 6 6 2 on them gives plenty chances for two 6s to line up and Plus to kick in. You will likely get some combos and take more cards.
Ascension is another rule that you can play in your favour. By selecting 4 cards of the same card type you can vastly improve the power of your cards, essentially turning 2 star cards into the power 3 or 4 star cards would have.
Another method is to make note of the cards your opponent uses and tailor your deck to the weak points in their deck and try to cover their strong points. For example if the NPC has lots of cards with strong left side numbers then you should aim to have cards with strong right side numbers. Likewise cover their weak points with stronger numbers.
Employing these kinds of strategies are what will set you apart from the crowd and give you a better chance of succeeding in tournaments.