Frenzied Pressure: Standard Kefka Unrelenting

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Introduction

In the previous deck article, Crossroads Divination: Standard Fatehold Aggro, we found a job for Matoya, Archon Elder from FINAL FANTASY. Of course, the potential of Reality Fracture goes beyond that. Does Kefka, the final boss of FFVI and a mad artificial magitek mage, also have a suitable tech to play? Let’s have you readers judge how well they fit together!

Deck Analysis

First, let’s analyze the card itself. Kefka, Court Mage is a powerful discard-draw engine, and its distinguishing feature is that it makes all players discard, then you draw cards based on the number of card types discarded. In a one-on-one situation, entering usually nets you a two-card advantage, and once you start attacking you profit even more. Of course, it usually eats removal immediately upon entering, so you need a way to protect it or dig it out of the graveyard. Its enter-the-battlefield discard-and-draw works excellently with reanimator decks, but the body itself is a so-so five-drop, not powerful enough as a reanimation target and a bit slow as a looting engine. This problem is solved in Reality Fracture, and the decklist is as follows:

Decklist

• Core engine: Rewrite Regrets, Ajani Unrelenting, Ashling, Rekindled

Rewrite Regrets: A new four-mana reanimation spell from Reality Fracture. Although the reanimation target has a mana value cap of six, it can bring back planeswalkers and also empowers Jace 2 for filtering, which is just right for digging up Kefka.

Ajani Unrelenting: The other target for Rewrite Regrets, a powerful finisher that combines sweeping, board development, and card draw. The +1 gives your whole team haste so Kefka can attack right away, and the -3 deals 4 damage to sweep the board while just barely not killing Kefka. Kefka’s hand disruption also has a chance of discarding your opponent’s answers, helping you win quickly.

Ashling, Rekindled // Ashling, Rimebound: A looting and mana-ramp engine. If undisturbed, the fastest you can Rewrite Regrets is turn three. Even if you don’t draw the reanimation spell, she can loot to dig through your deck, or ramp you into a big play.

• Accelerated looting: Theorist’s Proxy, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Way of the Pyromancer

Theorist’s Proxy: An early blocker with built-in flash. Its enter-the-battlefield empower Jace 3 is just enough to draw you a card, so you don’t lose card advantage, and sacrificing it can also protect your next spell from being countered, making it a great tool against control decks.

Chandra, Torch of Defiance: An all-around reliable old red friend. The -3 removal eases pressure on your board, the +1 ramp helps you hold up mana for a big play, and she is a finisher herself. With Ashling you can land her on turn three, which suits her as a mainstay of this deck’s curve.

Way of the Pyromancer: A ramp engine that goes from two to four. Its enter-the-battlefield empower Jace 2 can be used for filtering, and if the top card of your library is a reanimation target, you can surveil it into the graveyard on turn two and follow up with Rewrite Regrets on turn three to bring it back.

• Removal and support: Burst Lightning, No Admittance, Vraska’s Final Mercy, Sanctum Lurker

Burst Lightning: My favorite red one-mana removal, with the biggest upside being that it never becomes a dead card, and once kicked it has a chance to finish the game.

No Admittance: A Volcanic Hammer with empower Jace 1 attached, which you can fire at your opponent’s face when you have nothing better to do while filtering. But it is, after all, a sorcery with limited range, so if you dislike it, feel free to swap it out (for example, Bitter Triumph, which is better suited to reanimation).

Vraska’s Final Mercy: At its core, a sorcery-speed removal version of Sign in Blood. In most situations you use it to empower Jace 6 and draw two, and only occasionally as removal. Because of the life-loss side effect, I only run two.

Sanctum Lurker: A support creature for the planeswalker theme that protects your planeswalkers from being killed by damage, and also gives +2 and lifelink to speed your planeswalkers toward their ultimates. With burn support it has a chance of finishing your opponent outright.

Gameplay Demo

In the gameplay video we can see how powerful the synergy between Kefka and Ajani is: one refills resources while shrinking your opponent’s hand, and the other suppresses the board and grants haste. If one eats removal, dig it back, and the back-and-forth creates a clear resource gap, after which you finish your opponent with creature attacks or burn.

Conclusion

Although it’s called a reanimator strategy, the deck’s construction doesn’t lean particularly heavily on reanimation. The benefit is that you aren’t affected much when facing graveyard hate, and a Rewrite Regrets drawn into your hand is simply discarded as fodder for Kefka. If you readers want to execute this combo more efficiently, try adjusting toward a build that relies more on reanimation, winning game one with reanimation and swapping out the graveyard tricks in the sideboard games is also a reasonable strategy.