Final Fantasy’s Newest Spoiler Showcases Deadly Mardu Reanimator Commander

Last updated on March 13, 2025

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls | Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Spoiler season for Final Fantasy x MTG won't formally begin for several more months, but that doesn't stop random cards from showing up every now and then! The card seen today is Celes, Rune Knight, which is the secondary commander for the Terra, Herald of Hope precon. Like Terra, Celes is a Mardu commander that specializes in reanimating creatures to the battlefield.

Introducing Celes

Celes, Rune Knight was previewed on Final Fantasy's official X account on March 10, which is non-coincidentally the character's birthday. Celes is a major character from Final Fantasy VI, and the one many players were expecting as the lead of a Mardu deck after Terra, Herald of Hope was previewed. They'll be seen fighting side-by-side as the two main commanders of the Revival Trance precon.

Comparing the Two

On a superficial level, there are some obvious differences between Celes and Terra:

• Celes costs 4 rather than 3.
• Celes is bigger by +1/+1.
• Celes lacks any form of evasion, whereas Terra basically always has flying on offense thanks to their triggered ability.

Once you get into the weeds of their abilities though, that's where the real play begins:

• Celes discards directly from hand in any number, but only when they enter. Terra will bin more cards long-term, but you won't know what you are milling.
• Terra must connect with your opponent to reanimate, and also forces you to pay (2).
• Celes does not reanimate cards in any way themself. Instead, Celes offers a substantial reward for decks that can consistently play from their graveyard.

Playing Celes

Building around Celes is all about two things: playing from the graveyard and going wide. Playing from the graveyard is of course necessary for the card to do much of anything, while going wide is the best way to maximize the +1/+1 counters it generates. There's no builds online yet (it was spoiled this morning!), but here are some suggestions.

Reanimation Spells

Bringing back multiple creatures at the same won't confer additional counters, so if you want to maximize Celes activations, a one at a turn time approach is best. Of course, you can always rely on the tried-and-true Reanimate and Animate Dead. Beyond that, this would also be a great home for cheap reanimators like Unearth, Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate, Victimize, etc.

Recursive creatures that cast or return themselves from the graveyard do the trick to, making this yet another home for Gravecrawler, Forsaken Miner, and unearth creatures.

Cheap Utility Creatures

While there's no direct requirement for Celes that the creatures you bring back are cheap (unlike Terra), it's still easier to bring them back with many of the cards suggested. To this end, some great creatures to consider include:

• Accursed Marauder
• Fear of Missing Out
• Plaguecrafter
• Ravenous Chupacabra
• Vile Entomber

Looking Forward

Overall, if you like Mardu colors and graveyard decks, consider picking up the FFVI precon when it comes out. It's certainly debatable which of the precon commanders is better, but both also play great in the 99s of the other, so don't worry about it too much.