Ruby Dragon is a Triple Triad card in Final Fantasy VIII used to play the minigame and for turning into items with Quezacotl's Card Mod. Ruby Dragon is the fifty-second card in the inventory and the eighth Level 5 card.
Ruby Dragon has good values for a Level 5 card, and its value placements may be useful for games that use Same and/or Plus. It has two 7s, the highest value for Level 5, making it great to place in middle position between two cards as most NPC players do not play cards that can beat a 7. Ruby Dragon is a fire-elemental card, a property that comes into effect when the Elemental rule is in play. Elemental is encountered halfway through the game at Fishermans Horizon, though it is also a rule in Dollet and the Queen of Cards can be paid money to introduce new rules to a region. Placing a Ruby Dragon on a tile with the matching flame symbol boosts its stats by +1. The increased values do not count toward Same/Plus triggering, but do count toward Combo mechanics.
Obtain[]
The Ruby Dragon enemy has a 3.5% chance to drop the card. Using the Card command on a Ruby Dragon has a guaranteed chance to procure a Ruby Dragon card when it succeeds; unlike most normal enemies, Ruby Dragons never become boss cards.
Any AI Triple Triad player who uses Level 5 cards has a chance of using Ruby Dragon in a play, from where the player can win it in a card match. Early such players are Trepie Groupie #1 in the Balamb Garden cafeteria, the man in charge of the Garden's entrance barriers, and Ma Dincht in Balamb Town.
Card Mod[]
Ten Ruby Dragon cards refine into a Inferno Fang with Quezacotl's Card Mod ability. Inferno Fang teaches Quistis the Fire Breath Blue Magic, making it a useful item to procure early. Inferno Fang is also needed to make Crescent Wish for Selphie, but more usefully, refines into the top tier Flare spells with Ifrit's F Mag-RF, a GF the player has since the beginning. By collecting Ruby Dragon cards the player could potentially farm a top tier spell before even taking part in the Dollet field exam, however, the ten-card requirement for one Inferno Fang is steep and the card players who use Level 5 cards (such as the Balamb Garden gate operator) also use various other card levels, making the chance of Ruby Dragon specifically appearing in a game small.
Physical version[]
In 1999, following the release of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan, Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards in Final Fantasy VIII Carddass Masters Perfect Visuals. The set was made up of the 110 cards as seen in the game along with 72 artwork cards and a collector's edition playing mat. The cards have a blue side and a red side. The cards have become a rare collector's item.