Aerith, Last AncientAerith, Last Ancient | Art by Marta Nael

Spoiler warning for Final Fantasy VII, a game that was released in 1997. (Feel old yet?)

The fate of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII remains one of the biggest shocks in the franchise’s history. Not only does her death occur midway through the game, but you suddenly lose your dedicated healer — a staple found in almost every viable party. Cloud and company recover, but it’s still a bummer that Aerith doesn’t get to participate in walloping some of the game’s biggest bosses with late-game monster summoning, arguably one of the more intoxicating elements of a Final Fantasy game. She can theoretically equip big dragon Bahamut's summon materia before exiting your party (bad idea, as she’ll waltz away with it) but misses out on such badasses as Neo Bahamut, Bahamut ZERO and, the pinnacle, Knights of the Round.

This Aerith, Last AncientAerith, Last Ancient Commander deck aims to right that tragic wrong by affording Aerith a plethora of monsters to enlist for battle in the name of proving even healers can dish out massive damage. And, much like the materia gems that house FF7's fantastic beasts, Aerith traps them between heaven and hell in a version of purgatory where the only way out is through the battlefield.

Life After Death

This iteration on Aerith from the Final Fantasy Commander precons — not to be confused with Aerith GainsboroughAerith Gainsborough, found in the main set — is a Selesnya () graveyard-based commander who channels lifegain into recursion and reanimation. The former, bringing a creature back to your hand, occurs at your end step if you’ve gained one to six life during your turn, and the latter triggers if you’ve gained seven or more life. Aerith boasts lifelink herself but only three power, which means she can partially trigger her raise ability on her own but requires assistance to power something back onto the battlefield directly.

Aerith plays similarly to a few other commanders, though not precisely so. Orzhov remains the undisputed champion of weaponizing lifegain — Amalia Benavides AguirreAmalia Benavides Aguirre, Astarion, the DecadentAstarion, the Decadent and Karlov of the Ghost CouncilKarlov of the Ghost Council are just a few of many that harness the unparalleled power of black mana’s many Blood ArtistBlood Artist and Animate DeadAnimate Dead sorts of effects.

Without black in her color identity, Aerith most closely resembles Celestine, the Living SaintCelestine, the Living Saint from the Warhammer 40K Commander precons, both for how they weaponize lifegain and operate within a limited pool of janky nonblack graveyard enablers. (Rodolf DuskbringerRodolf Duskbringer doesn’t have that problem, of course.) It’s a mixed comparison; Aerith maintains a slight advantage because she has access to green’s ramp, mill, and unconditional recursion. But while Celestine can return a small lifegain creature to the battlefield off a single point of life gained, Aerith demands you reach the seven life threshold to reanimate a creature of any mana value.

For this take on lifegain reanimation, I’ve leaned into the fact that Aerith’s raise is not a “may” ability and, therefore, it's worth maximizing every trigger. This means keeping the yard stocked at all times with at least something worth returning to hand, especially early in the game when gaining seven life in a turn is most difficult. It made sense, then, to find creatures who maintain utility whether they’re brought to hand or to the battlefield, which is how I identified a motley crew to do Aerith’s bidding, hovering between life and death to be summoned at will.

Aerith's Soulful Acolytes

The Selesnya Soul Sisters bench, aka creatures that gain you a life when another creature enters the battlefield, runs particularly deep. These deck inclusions won’t surprise anyone: Soul WardenSoul Warden, Soul’s AttendantSoul’s Attendant, and Essence WardenEssence Warden trigger off everyone’s creatures. And while gaining life on your opponents’ turns won’t count towards Aerith’s requirement, a little extra can add up pretty quickly and keep you insulated from your enemies. Some are only triggered by our own creatures, with Guide of SoulsGuide of Souls leading that pack as a one-mana sometimes-win con all on its own.

Even without a lifegain doubler like Rhox FaithmenderRhox Faithmender or Cleric ClassCleric Class on the field, gaining seven life in a turn shouldn’t be too difficult once a few Soul Sisters really get going. But, considering you don't receive a choice between hand or battlefield even at seven life, it's sometimes worth tamping down lifegain if your hand is the place to be. This is where Food tokens become particularly helpful as, essentially, lifegain batteries to store for later use. This deck doesn’t need too many, so I only opted for a few, including Samwise GamgeeSamwise Gamgee, Hurska Sweet-ToothHurska Sweet-Tooth, and Gilded GooseGilded Goose that can turn excess Food into other resources.

With lifegain aplenty, now there’s the matter of getting cards into the graveyard itself. Green and white boast a fair number of discard outlets between them, but other than The Underworld CookbookThe Underworld Cookbook and Peace of MindPeace of Mind, they don’t offer much synergy with Aerith’s lifegain aims. Instead, I opted to stock up on creatures who can put themselves into the graveyard via cycling, channel, or their own activated ability.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s call all of these cards "cyclers" (that all can be cycled), and my selections meet the criteria of either a) costing a single mana to discard, b) providing additional value when cycled, or c) ideally both:

• Greater TanukiGreater Tanuki, Altanak, the Thrice-CalledAltanak, the Thrice-Called, and Shefet MonitorShefet Monitor serve as ramp sources, while Generous EntGenerous Ent, Eagles of the NorthEagles of the North, and Spinewoods ArmadilloSpinewoods Armadillo can help with hitting land drops.
• Shigeki, Jukai VisionaryShigeki, Jukai Visionary (also an excellent graveyard-filler), Webstrike EliteWebstrike Elite, Splendor MareSplendor Mare, Agonasaur RexAgonasaur Rex, Warped TuskerWarped Tusker, and Titanoth RexTitanoth Rex can be repeatedly cycled and returned to hand, extracting maximum value.
• Radiant SolarRadiant Solar not only gains you life but introduces the dungeon mechanic (aka, another thing to keep track of). Dungeon of the Mad MageDungeon of the Mad Mage and Lost Mine of PhandelverLost Mine of Phandelver are both decent choices.
• Imposing VantasaurImposing Vantasaur and Winged ShepherdWinged Shepherd are not great creatures, but can be cycled for a single mana to at least draw you a card.

Obviously, some of these creatures make for better reanimation targets than others, but even the less imposing ones (especially Imposing Vantasaur) can be repeatedly and cheaply cycled to draw extra cards, and should provide at least a little muscle on the battlefield if necessary.

The deck also includes a few sources of mill to prime the engine. Staples like Aftermath AnalystAftermath Analyst and Satyr WayfinderSatyr Wayfinder make appearances in green, as does Dredger’s InsightDredger’s Insight to act as a source of lifegain, as well. White contributes a few modest options like Vanguard SeraphVanguard Seraph, whose surveil prevents us from binning something important inadvertently.

Ramp, card draw, and removal options include a suite of mana creatures, creature-based draw, and fabulous white kill spells — fairly standard stuff to keep the deck humming. It’s worth paying special attention to Prize PigPrize Pig, which can produce three or four mana a turn later in the game, and Krosan VergeKrosan Verge, a strict upgrade to Myriad LandscapeMyriad Landscape for Selesnya.

Though the rest of the deck remains somewhat mindful of budget, I decided to shoot for the moon and constructed an ideal mana base that features all of the best Selesnya lands available (minus SavannahSavannah), including Windswept HeathWindswept Heath and Temple GardenTemple Garden, regardless of price. Turns out, the Selesnya options from powerful land cycles are some of the cheapest available; heck, Windswept Heath is only $8. It seems like the mana-producing juice is worth the financial squeeze in this instance, but if you’d like to offset the cost of this merely $170 deck, you could swap some of the pricier options with a few basics. I also threw in a few Deserts to make better use of Spinewoods Armadillo and Shefet Monitor.

How Does This Aerith, Last Ancient Commander Deck Win?

Aerith, Last Ancient wins by out-valuing other players and protecting herself behind a wall of life points until, just when opponents’ resources start running dry, she channels increased lifegain to summon a trampling Titanoth Rex or casts a Sproutback TrudgeSproutback Trudge for cheap. The deck can go tall by augmenting these Beasts with Hurska Sweet-Tooth, or go wide with Blossoming BogbeastBlossoming Bogbeast and Resplendent AngelResplendent Angel. Basically, if you’re triggering Aerith during each of your turns and can start reusing cyclers early on, you’re well on your way to a victory.

I opted not to include it in the decklist, but you could throw in Approach of the Second SunApproach of the Second Sun as a secondary win-con that can not only randomly steal a game but acts as a recursion spell, albeit a pricy one, while Aerith is on the field. To me, the risk of incidentally milling it or having it stuck in your hand was too big, but it’s an option that comes totally out of left field.

Aerith, Last Ancient Commander Deck List

Conclusion

While this Aerith, Last Ancient deck doesn't include any Game Changers, I'd call it a Bracket 3 deck because of its upgraded mana base and modest collection of staples; it's certainly stronger than a precon, even if it doesn't include Sol RingSol Ring, a card I greatly dislike. After all, the true test of power, as any dedicated healer will tell you, is how well you support your team, and Aerith raises that bar to the high heavens before sending its own army to hell.

Please let me know what you think!