Celes, Rune KnightCeles, Rune Knight | Art by Néstor Ossandón Leal

Greetings, and welcome! Today I come with a deck tech featuring Celes, Rune KnightCeles, Rune Knight from the upcoming Final Fantasy set, something I (and I'm sure a lot of you as well) am utterly hyped about. I say this as someone who hasn't really touched the IP much, if at all, so that speaks volumes.

The last time that happened for me was when the Doctor Who decks come out about a year and a half ago. I knew nothing about it, and I considered those decks to be among the best they released, despite their complexity. Now I have a deck using The Fourteenth DoctorThe Fourteenth Doctor as the commander, and it's been a favorite of mine in recent years.

I've been trying to hold off until the set releases in June. The reason for that is because I wanted to see what was in the entire release, so I knew what to work with. That's especially true with the Mardu precon, headlined by Terra, Herald of HopeTerra, Herald of Hope. However, my patience gave out in the end, so here we are. With that out of the way, let's dive in.

What Does Celes, Rune Knight Do?

Firstly, Celes will enter and allow us to discard as many cards as we like to draw the same amount, plus one. This is reminiscent of Faithless LootingFaithless Looting and its ilk. Further, this feeds into the second ability, which gives all of our creatures a +1/+1 counter if we cast or put a creature (or creatures) from our graveyard onto the board.

Celes is akin to a few other commanders. Most notably are two iterations of Sauron: Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord and Sauron, Lord of the RingsSauron, Lord of the Rings. The former has an ability identical to Celes's first ability, but only when the Ring tempts you. You can achieve this by either connecting with an Army you amassed, or playing one of the other cards that feature the mechanic. The latter, from the precon, does it all in one go. You mill five, amass five, and reanimate a creature, all on cast. Celes doesn't reanimate, but Sauron's game plan's not too different from Celes'.

An in-universe similarity is Raffine, Scheming SeerRaffine, Scheming Seer, which is closer to what Celes does, courtesy of the connive mechanic. It draws and discard cards, plus gives +1/+1 counters if said discarded cards were nonlands. Another one, again in Esper colors, is Sidar Jabari of ZhalfirSidar Jabari of Zhalfir, but he's kindred-orientated. In addition, you only trigger the eminence ability once each combat, but you do bring a Knight back if he connects.

In traditional Beyond the Multiverse fashion, I'm assembling this deck with only UB cards (I'll be going over in-universe inclusions later on). That said, Celes, and the card pool, easily pulls us into a reanimator strategy. She's both an enabler and a payoff, giving her multiple roles in the deck.

Key Cards for Celes, Rune Knight

Firstly, we have a number of creatures that we can reanimate. However, we have to get there first, and Celes helps us with this. In a similar vein, Cathartic ReunionCathartic Reunion (95,409 decks) and the aforementioned Faithless LootingFaithless Looting (471,023 decks) help put big creatures into our graveyard while drawing us cards. Bonus points to Unexpected WindfallUnexpected Windfall (182,867 decks) for ramping us as well.

Secondly, Buried AliveBuried Alive (173,071 decks) jumpstarts this process by throwing three of our most needed creatures into the bin. Choose accordingly to the board state; we're not looking to put in any particular card, except AngerAnger (171,509 decks). It'll give us haste while it's in our graveyard as long as we have a Mountain out. We also have The War in HeavenThe War in Heaven (9,278 decks), which will mill us for three on the second chapter, and reanimate on the third. That alone fulfills both this paragraph, and the next.

Speaking of reanimating, that's what we'll be doing once we chucked those big creatures away. To begin, we have the mighty ReanimateReanimate (502,792 decks), which is cheap to cast, but can cost a decent amount of life. Incarnation TechniqueIncarnation Technique (reskinned as Escape Containment; 32,270 decks) doesn't just reanimate; it also mills us for five. As a bonus, we can demonstrate it to get the effect again. Moreover, Beacon of UnrestBeacon of Unrest (29,174 decks) shuffles itself back into our deck while Restart SequenceRestart Sequence (19,059 decks) gets easier to cast if we hit a player in combat with Celes.

One of my favorite cards in recent years is another reanimation spell, Too Greedily, Too DeepToo Greedily, Too Deep (15,972 decks). It brings something back, then uses that creature to clear the board the best it can. That's a combination of ReanimateReanimate and Chandra's IgnitionChandra's Ignition (which is also in this deck, reskinned as Miku's Spark; 142,000 decks).

Other Key Cards

We have a few other noteworthy cards as well. Celestine, the Living SaintCelestine, the Living Saint (35,748 decks) will recur something equal to the life we gained that turn. If she accrues enough of a buff from Celes, she's going to start bringing out big stuff.

Celes could get expensive if we have to recast her, but we can use Command BeaconCommand Beacon (270,660 decks) to get her back. Moreover, The Spear of LeonidasThe Spear of Leonidas (which is fast becoming my favorite UB card; 21,598 decks) can pull a good Faithless LootingFaithless Looting impression, give us a blocker, or allow us to hit harder. That said, we're more likely to be using the first option for reasons already explained. Lastly, Bloodcrusher of KhorneBloodcrusher of Khorne (14,834 decks) gives all of our creatures trample. This will make our monsters look much scarier.

How to Win With Celes, Rune Knight

I'm sure you probably figured out how we're winning: we're smashing faces and taking no prisoners. But the question remains, what creatures we will be bringing back? First, both Rampaging War MammothRampaging War Mammoth and The Balrog of MoriaThe Balrog of Moria (11,456 and 24,703 decks, respectively) are scary creatures in their own right. That said, their real value is in their cycling abilities because we can discard them, saving some trouble while getting value out of them going into the yard. Secondly, Scourge of the ThroneScourge of the Throne and BloodthirsterBloodthirster (70,438 and 44,795 decks, respectively) will give us additional combat steps alongside hitting like trucks.

Meanwhile, HelbruteHelbrute (1,566 decks) is a special case because it can reanimate itself from the graveyard. But be careful: you have to exile a creature from your graveyard as well as pay the mana cost. Inferno TitanInferno Titan (42,108 decks) is a classic target, letting us bolt a blocker on both entry and attack, softening up an opponent in the process. In addition, Judoon EnforcersJudoon Enforcers (6,454 decks) is big, naturally has trample, and can take some of the heat off our back, restricting who can attack us. You could also suspend it if you don't have a way to get it into the graveyard, if you don't mind waiting a few turns. Lastly, Cavern-Hoard DragonCavern-Hoard Dragon (70,364 decks) can hit someone who relies too much on their trinkets, netting us lots of Treasure tokens in the process.

In-Universe Inclusions

Now, before we go over the deck list, I want to take a moment, and look at our in-universe options (because, I know from the comments of my past articles, such suggestions have come up). Looking at Celes's Reanimator page on EDHREC, we can see there's a massive combo angle, focusing on numerous infinite combos. One of the more notable ones is Murderous RedcapMurderous Redcap (19,983 decks) which, with a free sacrifice outlet, you can go infinite easily. You do need a sacrifice outlet in play, alongside both Celes and the Redcap. You sacrifice the Redcap, but it'll come back with a -1/-1 counter thanks to the persist mechanic. Celes will see it, and put a +1/+1 counter, negating the other. So, when you send the Redcap back into the yard again, it'll come back. Repeat ad nauseam for infinite damage.

However, this doesn't serve our purposes for this deck tech, and we're not going to be exhaustive in the way of suggestions for our list below. Among these, the recently printed Teval's JudgmentTeval's Judgment (13,820 decks) gives us value when we recur something. Both Animate DeadAnimate Dead and NecromancyNecromancy (276,322 and 95,979 decks, respectively) are enchantments that'll reanimate something while having rules text for ants. EntombEntomb (216,798 decks), meanwhile, is a quicker Buried AliveBuried Alive, but we can send only one creature, so make it count. In addition, Puppeteer CliquePuppeteer Clique (41,162 decks) works with Celes like the Redcap, but it doesn't outright win you the game. Still, you get to attack with the creature you took.

Two Rakdos legends, Alesha, Who Laughs at FateAlesha, Who Laughs at Fate and Chainer, Nightmare AdeptChainer, Nightmare Adept (22,597 and 62,178 decks, respectively), can recur something if it's big enough, and by discarding a card and paying other costs, respectively. Finally, Karmic GuideKarmic Guide and Sun TitanSun Titan (110,120 and 253,363 decks, respectively) are two creatures capable of bringing something back.

Celes, Rune Knight Deck List

In the End

This is my take on the Celes list. I was originally going to wait until the set dropped to cover even one of the Final Fantasy legends, but I have so many ideas to cover that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do all of them. In a similar vein, we don't know what the entire main set will contain, though the Mardu precon (of which Celes is the backup commander for) has been revealed. In saying that, this will be a deck that would be upgraded when the set comes out.

This is a deck for those who want to swing with massive creatures, and do so with a reliable, and powerful, option. If you like to use your graveyard as a toolbox, filled with creatures that act both as finishers and value pieces, this is the deck for you. Granted, I can imagine at least some of you swapping in some in-universe cards, and that works, too. I see the reanimation strategy, and big flashy creatures are the first thing to come to mind.

It's a fun deck if you're looking to beat your opponents down, and avoid the complex decision trees. Even more so if you were to cut out the Game Changers, and make it a Bracket Two list. The deck's not going to win too many games, but I imagine it'll be a solid contender as its resilience will carry it into the late game.

Until next time, I hope the deck serves you well, or be a guiding light for your own builds. If you do play with it, let me know how well it performs.