Zephiel

## Overview

Written by: Basil

Zephiel is an aggro MC that no one is comfortable facing. Even if you have a favorable matchup, he only needs to get lucky once or twice and you lose. Although he is a turn 4 promotion, with the number of low cost units he has swinging, plus some fate emblem shenanigans, Zeph can reliably hit a kete and promote early. From there, he just keeps the pain coming, deploying low costs, buffing them and himself, critting, and trying to rip the opponent’s dodges from their hand. If he goes first and/or ketes enough, he can even rip his opponent’s main promo before they can promote into it, which all but wins him the game instantly.

## Gameplan

As an aggro deck, early on his goal is simple- get as many hits on the opponent’s MC as possible. Whatever 1 costs you have, dark mages, sword units with fate emblem, even ketes, it all goes at their MC.

All that swinging plus some fate emblems should allow him to hit a kete support and ramp, so he can promote on turn 3. From there, you want to be using his LIS every turn possible for the rest of the game. Zephiel should be your only bond spender because of this.

When using his LIS, you usually want to do so before you swing, since you opponent will just dodge whatever you attack them with so Zephiel can’t discard the dodge himself. The reason it's so bad for Zephiel to rip a dodge is not only do they lose the dodge, but the opponent’s MC is destroyed, so they take an orb, or if they have no orbs, they lose.

There is no real other phase for Zephiel, you’re just trying to end the game ASAP. Deploy whatever you have, use his LIS, eek out whatever value you can so that you can keep attacking.

## Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

* Unbelievable cheese factor, can just steal games
* 80 base promotion means even against other aggro decks he’ll be hard to hit
* Being in purple gives him access to the ketes and fate emblems for stacking them

Weaknesses:

* If he doesn’t kete, his aggression can fall off
* Can burn out fast with the 1 cost spam and wanting to kete as much as possible
* Freyr bothers him a fair amount, locking him and taking advantage of when he ketes
* Anti-discard tech like Rainbow Robin and Mirabilis can be a problem for him

## Key Cards

### Fae & Myrrh (Dragonkin Emblems)

Fae and Myrrh are probably the only cards every Zephiel deck MUST have. What 1 cost aggro cards you run can vary, but at the end of the day, you need these guys to promote at a reasonable time to keep the pressure up. They’re also good targets for his buff later on, since they are 60 + 20 + support.

### Fate/Courage Emblems

Al and Eliwood are in many Zephiel decks because they are good attackers and have fate/courage emblem for stacking ketes early. Al is just a great 1 cost that swings for 50, and Eliwood can be 60 once the opponent promotes, making him a great target for Zephiel’s buff.

### Lachesis BS

With how many 1 costs you want to deploy and how much you want to kete, Lachesis has become a staple card in the deck. She basically makes bonding free, which is excellent for Zephiel since he always wants to bond even at low hand size just so he can continue to use his LIS.

### Lianna 4(3)

Lianna isn’t a key component of Zeph’s gameplan, but more insurance against a handful of annoying cards. She mainly is included in Zephiel lists to kill Mirabilis if the opponent deploys her, since she can stop Zephiel’s LIS if the opponent is low on cards. She can also kill Freyr if he is locking Zephiel.

## Sample Decks

Zephiel (Darks)
4 Zephiel, Prince of Bern
4 Myrrh, Girl of the Dragonkin
4 Fae, Innocent Dragon Girl
2 Lianna, Beautiful Sunflower Princess
3 Eliwood, Blazing Knight of Valor
4 Al, Brave Youth
4 Canas, Scholar of Ancient Magics
4 Eliwood, Firstborn Son of House Pherae
4 Eirika, Princess of Kindness and the Storm Blade
4 Lachesis, Leonine Princess+
4 Raigh, Darkness-Pursuing Youth
4 Roy, General of the Lycian League
MC:
1 Zephiel, Awakened into Despair