Final Fantasy 9: A Guide To Tetra Master

Published by Emma o n September 2, 2025, 9:59 pm

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A Guide To Card Stats

How Card Battles Work

Tetra Master Strategies

Collector's Level And All Tetra Master Card Locations

After the success of Triple Triad in its predecessor,Final Fantasy 9 blessed us with another compelling card game in Tetra Master. While it seems they learned their lesson and detached the cards from any features that could break the game's difficulty in half, the minigame is no less fun as a result.

RELATED: The Best Sidequests In Final Fantasy 9

In addition to getting a neat tutorial at the beginning of the game, Tetra Master becomes a plot point around halfway through the storyline as you are forced to participate in a card tournament in Treno. Knowing how the game works is a great advantage, and there are some handy things you can get out of it.

A Guide To Card Stats

When it comes to an individual card, there are two things that you'll notice right away:

The number of arrows that it has on its outer edge.
The letters and numbers at the bottom of the card.

The arrows are easy to explain. Each corner and side of the card is a potential battlefield, and the arrows denote the offensive directions of that particular card. When a card is placed, it will make an attack toward each tile that it has an arrow facing. What happens depends on the tile:

If the attack is directed at an empty square, nothing happens.
If the attack is directed at a square with another one of your cards in it, nothing happens.
If the attack is directed at a square with an enemy card in it, you will attempt to take that card.
- If the enemy card does not have an arrow facing the attacking card, you will automatically take it.
- If the enemy card does have an arrow facing the attacking card, the two cards will fight with the winner taking the loser's card.

For the above rules, 'taking' a card involves flipping that card over to your side. The winner of the game is the player with the most cards on their side once all cards are placed - you have blue cards, the enemy has red cards.

The very last point is where a card's alphanumerical stats come into play. Each card has a four-character stringof numbers and letters at the bottom which denotes its combat stats:

The first character is the power of the card.
The second character is the card's battle class.
The third character is the card's physical defense stat.
The fourth character is the card's magical defense stat.

The first character to understand is the battle class. There are four different battle classes: P, M, X, and A. These stand for Physical, Magical, Flexible, and Assault. Battle class dictates which stat that card targets when starting a card battle.

Physical cards target the opponent's physical defense stat.
Magical cards target the opponent's magical defense stat.
Flexible cards target the lower stat of the opponent's two defenses.
Assault cards target the lowest value on the opponent card, which can be their power stat.

The power and defense stats can be letters - this is because these values are in hexadecimal format, meaning that zero is the lowest, while F is the highest.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 9: All Stellazio Coin Locations

How Card Battles Work

When a card battle starts, an amount of hit points is attributed to each card. This amount is dictated by whichever stat is being targeted. As the stat increases, so do the minimum and maximum amount of hit points the card can be attributed to in a particular battle.

Card battles are inherently quite random, with the actual values applied in battle being randomly chosen from ranges. The more powerful a card is, the more likely it will be to win - but it's not a sure thing.

There are three steps to a card battle:

Temporary attack and defense values are generated for the attacking and defending cards, respectively, within their respective ranges.
A number is generated randomly between zero and the attack and defense values.
The numbers generated in Step 2 are subtracted from the numbers generated in Step 1. The winner is the card with the biggest difference.

Thanks to how card battles work, higher numbers are more likely to lead to success, but this is never guaranteed. A card may generate an attack value of 255, the highest it can be, but if the second number generated is 254, it will almost certainly lose.

When a card wins a card battle, there is the potential for a combo takeover to occur.

This happens when the losing card is taken and has arrows facing other cards. If the card being taken is red and has arrows facing other red cards, they will be taken automatically without the need for a card battle. The reverse is true for blue cards. This makes starting card battles a risky maneuver depending on the board's setup.

Tetra Master Strategies

It is quite possible to be good at Tetra Master without understanding the ins and outs of card battles, as long as you develop good strategies. Here are some things that you should consider:

More arrows on a card do not necessarily win you matches. They can be turned against you through combo takeovers quite easily.
Cards can increase in power by winning card battles. The chance is low, but their power and defense values can increase, and their battle class can change from P or M to X, or X to A.
Use the blocks that can sometimes appear on the board to your advantage. Use them to hide undefended sides and create defensible locations.
You can use weak cards to bait out an opponent's cards in indefensible locations. It's a risky strategy but can allow you to take their stronger cards easily when used well.

Collector's Level And All Tetra Master Card Locations

When you check your card collection in the menu, you will notice a Collector's Level and a Title attributed to you. This is a measure of how diverse your card collection is and is ranked on three metrics.

Simple card diversity is the first measure. As there are 100 cards in the game and you can only hold 100 at a time, this means getting one of every card.
Arrow pattern diversity is the second measure. For maximum points, you'd need every single card to have a completely unique arrow pattern.
Card power is the third measure. This is based on the battle class of your cards, with A granting the most points.

With a perfect card collection, you'll have a Collector Level of 1,700 points.

The table below should help you in at least the first measure, as it contains the locations of every single Tetra Master card in the game. If the card drops from an enemy that isn't the one on the card it will be listed here as long as that enemy can be found at the end of the game. Otherwise, the table will detail some card players in the game who use that card that can be challenged during Disc Four.

Card

Stats

Location

001

Goblin

0P00

Card Seller in Treno, dropped by Goblins, Pythons, and Vices

002

Fang

0P00

Card Seller in Treno, dropped by Fangs

003

Skeleton

0P00

Card Seller in Treno, dropped by Skeletons, Ghosts, and Mus

004

Flan

0M01

Card Seller in Treno, dropped by Cave Imps, Flans, Hornets, Serpions, Trick Sparrows

005

Zaghnol

0P00

Dropped by Zaghnols, Carve Spiders, and Hedgehog Pies

006

Lizard Man

0P00

Dropped by Lizard Men, Basilisks, and Ladybirds

007

Zombie

1M10

Dropped by Zombies and Lamias

008

Bomb

1M01

Dropped by Bombs, Axe Beaks, and Magic Vices

009

Ironite

1P10

Dropped by Ironites, Abominations, and Clippers

010

Sahagin

1P10

Dropped by Sahagins and Axolotls

011

Yeti

1M01

Dropped by Yetis

012

Mimic

1M11

Dropped by Mimics, won from Card Freak Gon (Lindblum - Residence) or Queen Stella (Treno - Queen's House)

013

Wyerd

1M01

Dropped by Bandersnatches and Land Worms

014

Mandragora

1M02

Dropped by Mandragoras and Feather Circles

015

Crawler

2P20

Dropped by Crawlers and Blazer Beetles

016

Sand Scorpion

2P20

Dropped by Sand Scorpions and Griffins

017

Nymph

2M02

Dropped by Nymphs and Goblin Mages

018

Sand Golem

2P20

Dropped by Sand Golems, won from Waitress (Treno - Pub), Tot (Treno - Tot Residence), or Hippaul (Alexandria - Inn)

019

Zuu

2P02

Dropped by Zuus, won from Ryan, Ovenmeister, or Hippaul (Alexandria - Square, Main Street, and Inn respectively)

020

Dragonfly

2P21

Dropped by Dragonflies and Anenomes

021

Carrion Worm

2M11

Dropped by Carrion Worms, won from Hippaul (Alexandria - Inn) or Mario (Treno - Slums)

022

Cerberus

2P20

Dropped by Cerberus and Whale Zombies

023

Antlion

2P21

Won from Nikolai (Alexandria - Main Street), Olivier (Lindblum - Shopping Area), or Natalie (Treno - Slums)

024

Cactuar

3PC0

Dropped by Cactuars

025

Gimme Cat

3M11

Dropped by Gimme Cats and Garudas

026

Ragtime Mouse

3M21

Dropped by Gigan Octopuses

027

Hedgehog Pie

3M12

Dropped by Jabberwocks

028

Ralvuimago

3P40

Won from Natalie (Treno - Slums), Boatman (Alexandria - By the Steeple), or Scholar (Daguerreo - Right Hall)

029

Ochu

3P21

Won from Queen Stella (Treno - Queen's House), Flower Girl (Alexandria - By the Steeple), or Booklover (Daguerreo - Entrance)

030

Troll

3P32

Dropped by Trolls

031

Blazer Beetles

4P51

Won from Hippolady (Alexandria - Inn), Waitress (Treno - Pub), or Female Customer (Lindblum - Weapon Shop)

032

Abomination

4P33

Won from Card Boy (Lindblum - Station Area), Ryan (Alexandria - Square), or Engineer Zebolt (Daguerreo - 2nd Floor)

033

Zemzelett

4M15

Dropped by Yans

034

Stroper

4P30

Won from Father (Treno - Card Stadium), Bookworm (Daguerreo - Entrance), or Red Mage (Alexandria - Inn)

035

Tantarian

4M22

Won from Card Freak Gon (Lindblum - Residence), Hippolady (Alexandria - Inn), or Part-Time Worker Mary (Dali - Weapon Shop)

036

Grand Dragon

4P44

Dropped by Grand Dragons

037

Feather Circle

4M22

Dropped by Worm Hydras

038

Hecteyes

4M04

Dropped by Hecteyes

039

Ogre

5P41

Dropped by Ogres and Behemoths

040

Armstrong

5M24

Dropped by Armstrongs

041

Ash

5M33

Dropped by Ashes and Chimeras

042

Wraith

5M40

Won from Young Lady (Lindblum - Main Street), Bookworm (Daguerreo - Entrance), or Genome (Black Mage Village - Inn)

043

Gargoyle

5M32

Dropped by Gargoyles

044

Vepal

5M33

Dropped by Vepals and Stilvas

045

Grimlock

5M23

Won from Card Boy (Lindblum - Station Area), Weimar (Alexandria - By the Steeple), or Lani (Madain Sari - Kitchen)

046

Tonberry

2P33

Dropped by Tonberries

047

Veteran

5M19

Dropped by Veterans

048

Garuda

6M41

Won from Hippaul (Alexandria - Inn), Scholar (Daguerreo - Right Hall), or Straight Shooter Shak (Treno - Card Stadium)

049

Malboro

5M36

Dropped by Malboros

050

Mover

6MF0

Won from Black Mage No. 33 (Black Mage Village - Water Mill) or Beast Master Gilbert (Treno - Card Stadium)

051

Abadon

7M62

Dropped from Abadons and Iron Men

052

Behemoth

BP46

Won from Beast Master Gilbert or Worker #9 (both at Treno - Card Stadium)

053

Iron Man

CP60

Won from Beast Master Gilbert or Gilbert's Teacher (both at Treno - Card Stadium)

054

Nova Dragon

EP7C

Won from Straight Shooter Shak or Beast Master Gilbert (both at Treno - Card Stadium)

055

Ozma

DM0C

Dropped from Ozma, rewarded from Mene upon beating Ozma, won from Beast Master Gilbert (Treno - Card Stadium)

056

Hades

FMC1

Won from Master Phantom (Memoria - Stairs of Time) or Rare Phantom (Memoria - Time Warp)

057

Holy

8M23

Dropped by Hades, won from Genome (Black Mage Village - Inn) or Magic Master Thalia (Treno - Card Stadium)

058

Meteor

BMA0

Won from Black Mage No.189 (Black Mage Village - Pond) or Magic Master Thalia (Treno - Card Stadium)

059

Flare

CM00

Won from Card Freak (Lindblum - Station Area), Booklover (Daguerreo - Entrance), or Magic Master Thalia (Treno - Card Stadium)

060

Shiva

5M05

Won from Black Mage No.44 (Black Mage Village - Pond), Straight Shooter Shak, or Eidolon Master Leyra (both at Treno - Card Stadium)

061

Ifrit

6M90

Won from Scholar (Daguerreo - Right Hall), Genome (Black Mage Village - Pond), or Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

062

Ramuh

4M16

Won from Black Mage No.192 (Black Mage Village - Synthesist) or Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

063

Atomos

4M66

Won from Bookworm (Daguerreo - Entrance), Black Mage No.44 (Black Mage Village - Pond), or Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

064

Odin

CM84

Won from Black Mage No.44 (Black Mage Village - Pond) or Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

065

Leviathan

BM61

Won from Genome (Black Mage Village - Inn), Straight Shooter Shak, or Eidolon Master Leyra (both at Treno - Card Stadium)

066

Bahamut

CM85

Won from Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

067

Ark

EM55

Won from Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

068

Fenrir

8M21

Won from Olivier or Joanna (Lindblum - Shopping Area), or Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

069

Madeen

AM16

Won from Weaponsmith (Daguerreo - Left Hall), Straight Shooter Shak, or Eidolon Master Leyra (both at Treno - Card Stadium)

070

Alexander

DMB5

Won from Eidolon Master Leyra (Treno - Card Stadium)

071

Excalibur II

FPB0

Won from Weapon Master Hunt (Treno - Card Stadium)

072

Ultima Weapon

FP16

Won from Black Mage No.44 (Black Mage Village - Pond), Straight Shooter Shak, or Weapon Master Hunt ( both atTreno - Card Stadium)

073

Masamune

CPB3

Won from Black Mage No.192 (Black Mage Village - Synthesist) or Weapon Master Hunt (Treno - Card Stadium)

074

Elixir

6M66

Dropped by Nova Dragon or won from Black Mage No.234 (Black Mage Village - Inn)

075

Dark Matter

CM3C

Won from Dark Phantom (Memoria - Stairs)

076

Ribbon

0MCF

Won from Black Mage No.56 (Black Mage Village - Cemetary)

077

Tiger Racket

0P01

Won from Black Mage No.56 (Black Mage Village - Cemetary)

078

Save The Queen

6P30

Won from Old Woman (Alexandria - Main Street), Mario (Treno - Slums), or Adventurer (Daguerreo - Left Hall)

079

Genji

0P6A

Won from Black Mage No.123 (Black Mage Village - Inn)

080

Mythril Sword

1P00

Won from Weapon Master Hunt (Treno - Card Stadium)

081

Blue Narciss

8P81