Can you believe that Magic: The Gathering – Assassin’s Creed releases next weekend? This much-anticipated Universes Beyond set combines Magic with something never done before: parkour.
In all seriousness, Assassin’s Creed was a collaboration I eyed with much trepidation. With the recent success of Fallout, I was curious to see how Wizards of the Coast (WotC) would tackle an IP grounded in real-life history. Well, after much eyeing, I have come to the conclusion that, even in an IP I’m not fluid in, I can still ground myself with incredibly interesting and fun commanders. There’s a lot to tease apart and brew around in this set, so let’s take a peek at what caught my attention!
Leonardo da Vinci
Wow, Mr. da Vinci! I’m a huge fan of your work in Titanic and Wolf of Wall Street! Your paintings are okay too, I guess.
I’ll be the first to admit: I do not like seeing real historical figures in Magic. Same goes for Cleopatra and Sokrates. However, I am willing to look past that in order to talk about just how much I enjoy Leonardo’s design. As one would expect, Leonardo cares about artifacts. He creates tiny, little 0/2 Thopter tokens if your discarded, looted artifact card was exiled from your graveyard. That Thopter is also a token copy of that artifact, which is really neat. What I care about the most, however, is that he is a fun commander for Thopter kindred decks…which is such a weird niche. I love it. When you sink mana into him, until end of turn, your Thopters have base power and toughness X/X based on the number of cards in your hand.
Of course, Ornithopter has a place in this deck, as do Thopter Spy Network, Efficient Construction, and Sai, Master Thopterist. These cards are infamous for pooping out Thopter tokens. Urza, Lord High Artificer is a great way to easily achieve Leonardo’s mana sink, and Cybermen Squadron is a hysterical way to multiply your Thopter tokens like bunnies. There really is no wrong way to brew a deck around this guy. I think that if you’re going to have a historical figure as your commander, it might as well be an Oscar winner.
Mary Read and Anne Bonny
Oh my God, they were roommates.
Mary Read and Anne Bonny are two badass ladies in one card with an ability that gave me pause…but in a good way. This is such a specific commander that I have to say it steered me out of thinking it was linear and straight into, “How the hell am I gonna make this work?” I haven’t thought that about a commander in a while, so I was tickled! This commander lets you loot as soon as they hit the field, but also creates tapped Treasure tokens if you do one specific thing. You have to discard an Island, Pirate, or a Vehicle. It’s so weird! I like it!
The first thing I want to do in a deck like this is fill it to the brim with rummage effects, loot effects, and, of course, Pirates and Vehicles. I load this list up with cards like Demand Answers, Frantic Search, and Faithless Looting, to name a few. We want to be able to discard as many cards as we can so as not to be limited by the commander’s tap and done ability. Of course, since you’re making Treasure tokens, it never hurts to run Academy Manufactor, Xorn, or even Descent into Avernus. Slap in an Ingenious Artillerist and Reckless Fireweaver, and you’re cooking with gas! At that point, you just top off the rest of the list with Breeches, Eager Pillager or Captain Storm, Cosmium Raider, and you’re on your way to being a veritable Capt. Jack Sparrow!
Shao Jun
Next is Shao Jun, a simple yet elegant legendary creature design. She kind of reminds me of a legendary version of Sunshot Militia. Her Leap Strike ability, while cool, doesn’t interest me as much as Rope Dart. I’m a red player at heart, and I like dealing damage. While part of me wanted to go into this deck with Treasure tokens, I think Equipment would be way more fun.
Bloodforged Battle-Axe is a great Equipment that continuously makes copies for you to tap, and Brass Knuckles makes a copy on cast! The Reaver Cleaver creates tons of Treasure tokens that you can eventually tap to your commander as well. If you wanted to really push the limit, adding a Mycosynth Lattice to create tons of salt with your opponents. Is it streamlined? No, but who cares!?
Card draw can also come easily to Shao Jun by enchanting her with pieces like Curiosity or Ophidian Eye, or soulbonding her with Tandem Lookout. Shao Jun is just a fun and freshly designed commander because she fits snugly in the middle of the power level spectrum. Designs like her are why I really enjoy uncommon commanders as of late. I really hope to see one of these across the board from me at my next con.
Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
“Mom, I want Slicer, Hired Muscle as my commander!”
“We have Slicer at home.”
Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos is Slicer at home. Yes, we have another uncommon commander! All jokes aside, Alexios is essentially Slicer without the double strike and convert. In all honesty, I prefer Alexios to Slicer due to his lack of these abilities. I also enjoy the card’s lack of the word goad and its lack of initial haste (it doesn’t have the keyword of haste but gets it at the beginning of each player’s upkeep). Once you pass the turn, Alexios goes from a four-mana 4/4 with trample to a four-mana 5/5 with trample and haste. Alexios gaining counters and the immediate combat once you pass the turn make me appreciate this card more than its Autobot predecessor.
Of course, an Alexios deck needs Equipment. Any Equipment attached to Alexios stays on when another player gains control of it. Commander’s Plate and Blackblade Reforged are dangerous pieces to suit up. If you want to be evil, Trailblazer’s Boots is a great way to just win with unblockable combat damage (y’know, because commander players are allergic to running basic lands). Want card draw? Simply slap a Mask of Memory on it. Your opponents swing, but you get the reward!
A cheeky way to make everyone suffer from your wrath is Brash Taunter. Brash Taunter’s two-mana fight ability makes Alexios a threat as soon as it enters. Since Alexios gets bigger each turn, it only makes sense to pepper in some extra damage as you see fit. One thing I am desperate to see happen is equipping a Helm of the Host onto Alexios and watching it multiply each turn. I may hate math, but I am willing to make an exception!
Havi, the All-Father
Lastly, we have Havi, the All-Father, a Naya commander that cares about historic cards and legendary creatures. Personally, I see this as being a beloved commander because of how many strong legends there are in these colors. These are also the colors of aggressive combats and card advantage. While historic spells are what Havi likes, he prefers legendary creatures, so don’t be afraid to really pepper those in.
Basically any legendary creature that has a self-sacrifice ability belongs in this deck. Saffi Eriksdotter; Boromir, Warden of the Tower; and Hajar, Loyal Bodyguard are all amazing inclusions. They are their own sacrifice outlets, which can cut out the middleman in a Naya recursion deck.
However, it never hurts to run sacrifice outlets on their own, and no, I’m not talking about Ashnod’s Altar. Greater Good, Life’s Legacy, and Evolutionary Leap are excellent forms of card advantage that require a sacrifice. In a similar vein, Goblin Bombardment is a sacrifice outlet that deals damage as its payoff.
Focusing on newer cards, Six allows you to retrace nonland permanent cards from your graveyard if you’re itching for bodies. Annie Joins Up is also another interesting new inclusion, as it doubles the triggered abilities of legendary creatures you control. This can double your legendary enters abilities, cast triggers, and even your attack triggers. Havi at the helm definitely feels like a “good stuff,” toolbox commander. I think everyone needs at least one of those in their arsenal!
Oh No, My Creed! It’s Getting Assassinated!
While I’m not an incredibly invested Assassin’s Creed player, I will say that this set has me wanting to revisit the games I used to play when I was in middle school. Yes, I said middle school. I am a youth! Regardless, this set has tons of flavor packed into every ability and line on a card. Hell, it’s even making me revisit my thoughts on real-world figures in the game.
All in all, I find this set to be endearing, and I hope it draws in as many new players as Fallout did. Happy assassinating, deckbuilders!
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