Celes, rune knight necromancer by AtomicXCII

Format: Commander

Commander: Celes, Rune Knight

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 41

Deck overview

This deck is a Mardu reanimator and aristocrats combo engine commanded by Celes, Rune Knight. The primary strategy focuses on utilizing Celes's enter-the-battlefield ability to churn through the library, depositing key combo pieces like Murderous Redcap into the graveyard while refilling the hand. Once Celes is on the battlefield alongside a free sacrifice outlet such as Goblin Bombardment or Viscera Seer, any persist creature can be looped infinitely. Celes's static trigger places a +1/+1 counter on each re-entering creature, negating its persist -1/-1 counter and allowing infinite sacrifices for lethal damage or mill. The deck is supported by robust secondary win conditions, including the classic Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Zealous Conscripts combo, Reveillark loops, and Underworld Breach storm lines. While the deck boasts immense explosive potential and strong recovery from graveyard wipes through redundant recursion spells, it remains vulnerable to well-timed instant-speed creature removal and graveyard hate due to limited stack protection.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Ad Nauseam
• 1 Aggravated Assault
• 1 Altar of Dementia
• 1 Anger
• 1 Archetype of Aggression
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Ashnod's Altar
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Big Score
• 1 Bitter Triumph
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Bolas's Citadel
• 1 Braids, Cabal Minion
• 1 Celes, Rune Knight
• 1 Chainer, Nightmare Adept
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crucible of Worlds
• 1 Cruel Tutor
• 1 Dihada, Binder of Wills
• 1 Disciple of Bolas
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Edgar, Master Machinist
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Faithless Looting
• 1 Fear of Missing Out
• 1 Feed the Swarm
• 1 Fetid Heath
• 1 Final Fortune
• 1 First Day of Class
• 1 Furycalm Snarl
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Grave Researcher // Reanimate
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 Grinding Station
• 1 Haunted Crossroads
• 1 High Market
• 1 Imp's Mischief
• 1 Isochron Scepter
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire
• 1 Karmic Guide
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Lesser Masticore
• 1 Lethal Throwdown
• 1 Lightning, Army of One
• 1 Lorehold, the Historian
• 1 Millikin
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Murderous Redcap
• 1 Night's Whisper
• 1 No Witnesses
• 1 Path of Ancestry
• 1 Persistent Constrictor
• 1 Phyrexian Altar
• 1 Phyrexian Tower
• 1 Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
• 1 Pitiless Plunderer
• 3 Plains
• 1 Priest of Fell Rites
• 1 Pull from the Grave
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Reanimate
• 1 Reveillark
• 1 Revolutionist
• 1 Ripples of Undeath
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Sensei's Divining Top
• 1 Shineshadow Snarl
• 1 Silverquill, the Disputant
• 1 Smothering Tithe
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Splinter's Technique
• 1 Squall, SeeD Mercenary
• 1 Stitcher's Supplier
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Sundial of the Infinite
• 1 Surveillance Room
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Terra, Herald of Hope
• 1 The Grey Havens
• 1 Thriving Heath
• 1 Underworld Breach
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1 Urza's Bauble
• 1 Victimize
• 1 Viscera Seer
• 1 Wander Off
• 1 Zealous Conscripts
• 1 Zulaport Cutthroat