LogFAQs > #881024347

I think they do matter to show how his magic casting cred should be compared to the rest of the FF8 cast. Like in FF6 pretty much everybody can cast magic but you can kind of look at the plot and the base stats to see that like Celes/Terra/Relm are the best casters, someone like Shadow is probably in the middle and the Figaro brothers are kinda bad at magic. A junctioned Zell is probably good enough at casting but I wouldn't give him better casting cred than a Terra or a Vivi.

I agree with that - junctioning can make you a much better caster but it won't let Squall beat Kefka at a casting duel even with the most magic heavy junctions. I do think it easily takes Squall from 'strictly Tifa tier' in magic to 'would outcast Celes cleanly' (but not Terra, who can trance and thus boost a lot), which means with triple he can definitely beat Neclord even if Reflect doesn't work.

(That said, I feel like Squall's thorniness is being overstated. He's not an idiot and he chills out significantly over the course of the game. Unless the Star Dragon Sword is an absolute ass he won't throw it away, at least not until he's stripped away Neclord's resistances so he can gunblade his ass. To me Squall probably wins via melee, not magic spam.)
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Shine on, you crazy diamond.