Cecil, Dark Knight was, for many, the most impressive card during MTG X Final Fantasy first look. One mana is a great start for any card, and Cecil has some powerful synergies that could put in on the map for a few different formats.
Sadly, while this is the case, Cecil may be bizarrely out of place.
Cecil, Dark Knight
As you can imagine, a 2/3 Deathtoucher for one mana seems too good to be true. While power creep has certainly impacted MTG in recent years, Cecil still comes with a downside. Damaging yourself equal to the damage Cecil deals is undeniably not ideal, but there’s more to this story.
Similar to Cecil’s character growth in the Final Fantasy 4 story, this card also grows in MTG. Once your life total hits half of your starting total, or less, thanks to Cecil’s ability, he will transform into something much stronger. Not only will the Lifelink help recover the damage that Cecil dealt, but a 4/4 for one mana is an absurd payoff.
Cecil even turns the rest of your attackers into indestructible menaces, basically ensuring that your opponent has to point removal toward this card. Since Cecil needs to transform before becoming deadly, players have a lot of time to do this. Unfortunately, because the damage needs to be dealt with Cecil’s ability, there won’t be any opportunities to transform the card in response to removal.
Fortunately, thanks to Deathtouch, Cecil can continue to be annoying, even if your opponent’s forces out scale him. Trading your one-mana creature for a bigger body that costs more mana is a trade that anyone should be happy to make. To put it lightly, Cecil has a ton of potential as a very solid MTG card.
A Lack of a Home
While Cecil, Dark Knight does have a lot of potential, he is held back by the current state of Standard. There is a lot of time between this article and the release of the MTG X Final Fantasy crossover, with an entire set in the interim, but at the moment, this card would struggle to keep up, which is ludicrous.
The only archetype that may be interested in Cecil, Golgari Midrange, isn’t exactly in a great position. The deck had an incredibly measly representation at the Pro Tour, and it wasn’t putting up any impressive records, either.
Some players may think that Cecil could play a role in Dimir and Esper tempo decks, but that seems unlikely. Most of these decks currently use one-drops that synergize with bounce effects, making them incredibly efficient. Cecil would need to be able to provide similar levels of value quickly. You would either need to flip the card consistently in the early game or allow Cecil to consistently take out larger creatures.
As a result, Cecil would be unlikely to find a place in Standard right now. Fortunately, there are a lot of elements that could create meaningful change in the future.
Beyond Standard
Cecil struggles with the current state of Standard, but there are opportunities for him outside of it. The card probably performs decently in Pioneer at the moment. This is thanks to some unintuitive synergies in Rakdos. Cecil can both pressure and act as removal against various matchups, which certainly helps.
Ironically, Cecil’s anti-synergy with the Demon package may actually create an unintentional harmony. If you don’t have a Demon in play, Unholy Annex deals two damage to its user on their end step. This can accelerate the rate at which this card transforms. Sadly, this also means that Cecil combined with a Demon to turn on the life drain aspect of Unholy Annex creates massive anti-synergy. This could be enough to rule Cecil out of Rakdos.
Otherwise, various aggressive strategies see experimentation from time to time in Pioneer. Cecil is a Human, so it could allow the Humans archetype to lean in an Orzhov direction. The body on the card is certainly strong enough to be considered for the deck.
Cecil does have a chance in Modern, but this seems more unlikely. Notably, thanks to the existence of Fetch Lands, flipping this card is a lot easier in this format. You could easily flip Cecil on turn three, but could even flip the creature on turn two with some specific setup.
As a result, Cecil could be an interesting addition to the Death’s Shadow archetype. Notably, this nostalgic deck has not performed well in recent days and has little chance of becoming competitively relevant while Underworld Breach remains in the format. Even if the card does find its way into Death’s Shadow, however, the Lifelink on Cecil’s flipped body is awkward.
Notably, Dismember can allow Cecil to easily flip on turn two.
Absurd Potential That Needs a Home
Cecil, Dark Knight is the most straightforwardly impressive card from the Final Fantasy First Look. It offers a great tool for any deck that can use it, but that somehow still may pale in comparison to existing strategies.
Of all the places discussed, Cecil’s role in a Pioneer Humans deck seems like the most promising one. Humans is currently an Azorius archetype, utilizing Mockingbird to create powerful boards, but this card could easily allow Orzhov Humans to work. The archetype already has powerful support from Ikoria, Lair of Behemoths like Dire Tactics and General Kudro of Drannith which could make the jump worthwhile.
Players are eagerly awaiting for Final Fantasy to hit shelves, and this card is just one of the many tools that will likely see play.
