Grendel is a Triple Triad card in Final Fantasy VIII used to play the minigame and for turning into items with Quezacotl's Card Mod. Grendel is the twentieth card in the inventory, the eighth basic Level 2 Monster Card.
Being a Level 2 card, the card values on the Grendel are not strong, but may be useful for games that use Same and/or Plus. It is a lightning-elemental card used for when Elemental 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 the Grendel on a tile with the matching lightning bolt symbol boosts its vales by +1. The boosted values are not counted towards Same/Plus triggering, but do count towards Combo mechanics.
Obtain[]
The Grendel monster has a 3.5% chance to drop the card. Using the Card command on a Grendel has a 93.7% chance to procure a Grendel card when it succeeds.
Any AI Triple Triad player who uses Level 2 cards has a chance of using Grendel in a play, from where the player can win it in a card match.
Card Mod[]
A Grendel card refines into a Dragon Fin with Quezacotl's Card Mod ability, an item needed to make Maverick for Zell and for making Double spells with Diablos's Time Mag-RF. The Cerberus Guardian Force makes casting Double and Triple spells in battle redundant, but they are rare spells and good for raising stats via junctions, and thus it may be worthwhile to collect Grendel cards for modding purposes.
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.