Malboro is a Triple Triad card in Final Fantasy VIII used to play the minigame and for turning into items with Quezacotl's Card Mod. Malboro is the fifty-first card in the inventory and the seventh Level 5 card.
Malboro 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 a corner as most NPC players do not play cards that can beat a 7. Malboro is a poison-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 Malboro on a tile with the matching poison symbol boosts its stats by +1. The increased values do not count toward Same/Plus triggering, but do count toward Combo mechanics.
Obtain[]
The Malboro enemy has a 3.5% chance to drop the card. Using the Card command on a Malboro has a 93.7% chance to procure a Malboro card when it succeeds.
Any AI Triple Triad player who uses Level 5 cards has a chance of using Malboro in a play, from where the player can win it in a card match. Examples of players who use Level 5 cards are the man manning the entrance barriers, Trepies in the 2F classroom, and CC King in Balamb Garden, and the familiar face by the lift and Martine in Fishermans Horizon.
Card Mod[]
Four Malboro cards refine into a Malboro Tentacle with Quezacotl's Card Mod ability. Malboro Tentacles are good items to have as six are needed to get the secret Guardian Force Doomtrain (along with Remedy+ and Steel Pipe) and to make Quistis's ultimate weapon, Save the Queen. Early in the game Malboro Tentacles are useful for teaching Quistis her best status-inflicting Blue Magic spell, Bad Breath. Malboro Tentacles are also used for making Bio spells. It is good to take Malboro cards if they are available in the Triple Triad games, as Malboro the monster is a late game enemy that can be annoying to fight for tentacle-farming.
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.