Assassin's Allies (and Shards)
Assassin's Creed has been one of my favorite video games franchises of all time. When I heard that Magic was bringing this whole universe in with Universes Beyond, I was beyond excited. Today I'll be reviewing the ally color pairs and the shards from the set, so without further ado let's jump in and synchronize!
Mythics
Starting off, we have the main character from Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, Edward Kenway. Fun Fact: This game made me stop playing Assassin's Creed for a little while because it killed my PS3, and I did not enjoy (read: was not very good at) the sailing mechanics.
Speaking of sailing mechanics, Edward Kenway is a bona fide Pirate and would be great at the helm of any Pirate kindred deck. Seeing as Pirate decks also care about their ships, you also gain benefits from playing loads of Vehicles, like The Belligerent, The Indomitable, and Edward's own ship, Jackdaw.
This set came with an influx of Assassins in Grixis colors, so Edward Kenway's first ability makes him an excellent commander for an Assassin deck as well. Either way you go, Edward's first ability will trigger even if you don't attack with your creatures as long as they're tapped at your end step (like, say, from crewing a vehicle). Here are a few cards that would go well in whatever direction you choose to take him: Throne of the God-Pharaoh, Roaming Throne, and Xorn.
Edward is just as flexible in what deck he can see play in. In a Pirate deck, like Don Andres, the Renegade or Admiral Brass, Unsinkable, he would be a major player. On the Assassin side, we really only have Ezio Auditore da Firenze as he is the only five-color commander that cares about Assassins at this point, ignoring other five-color kindred commanders like Morophon, the Boundless and arguably Jodah, the Unifier.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is one of the only Assassin's Creed games I have yet to pick up and play, but this character and card make me want to change that real quick. Eivor, Wolf-Kissed is a six-mana 7/6 with trample and haste and a mill ability not commonly seen on a Naya legend other than the last Universes Beyond Naya commander, Dogmeat, Ever Loyal. The difference here is you get to immediately bring something back to the battlefield other than your hand, be it a land or Saga card. That points us in two very obvious directions: Landfall/lands strategy or Sagas, and both of which have incredible support in these colors.
If you choose the Landfall direction, staples like Scute Swarm, Omnath, Locus of Rage, or Zendikar's Roil are great because they leave behind some blockers after attacks. Watch out, though: even though staples like Lotus Cobra and Moraug, Fury of Akoum are still very powerful cards, the way they interact with Eivor can be a real non-bo.
Going the Saga route, Ajani Fells the Godsire and Elspeth Conquers Death are great for removal, while The Mending of Dominaria and The Binding of the Titans help get things out of your graveyard to use again.
In terms of what decks could use, Eivor, Wolf-Kissed is the master of Sagas himself, while Tom Bombadil would love the thought of being able to put more Sagas on the battlefield. Commanders like Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor, Omnath, Locus of Creation, and Yuma, Proud Protector are great picks for land shenanigans. Eivor's brother, Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe, is also a great option in the 99 or the commander of a deck with Eivor.
Rares
Achilles Davenport a four-mana 3/3 lord that has the ability freerunning, making him a potential two-mana lord. Freerunning is a new keyword that gives an alternate cost to a card when you deal combat damage with an Assassin or a commander; very similar to the keyword prowl. Achilles Davenport is limited to just the Dimir Assassins, but there are still over 80 different creatures to choose from, so it's not like the color identity is much of a limiting factor there.
Sneaky Assassins, like Silumgar Assassin, Etrata, the Silencer, and countless others with deathtouch, will ensure that you'll be able to freerun Achilles Davenport out reliably. Once Achilles Davenport is out, he has evasion in the form of menace, so getting damage through and triggering more freerunning and other Assassin abilities will be that much easier.
However, where he will really play a role will be in the 99 of decks like Ezio, Blade of Vengeance, Evie Frye, and Jacob Frye and fittingly, in a Ratonhnhaké꞉ton deck, as they both appear in Assassin's Creed 3.
Basim Ibn Ishaq is a well-known character in the AC franchise, appearing in multiple games and having his own game in Assassin's Creed: Mirage, and he'll definitely be well-known to your opponents after a few turns of him being out. As long as you can reliably play historic spells, this card might as well say "can't be blocked" on it.
Artifact strategies are a dime a dozen in Dimir, so employing some of those same tactics and playing cards like Kappa Cannoneer, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, and Jhoira's Familiar will make it easier to trigger Basim Ibn Ishaq's first ability.
Proliferate will increase those counters once he has them, so artifacts like Staff of Compleation, Contagion Engine, and Sword of Truth and Justice are excellent picks for this savvy Assassin.
Decks that would love to see Basim Ibn Ishaq in the 99 would be Gonti, Canny Acquisitor, Felix Five-Boots, and partner pair of Ukkima, Stalking Shadow and Cazur, Ruthless Stalker.
The man that made me, and many others, fall in love with Assassin's Creed in the first place. Appearing in Assassin's Creed 2 all the way to Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Ezio made a large mark and has become one of the most well-known characters in video game history. Let's see how this card holds up to the clout.
Ezio, Blade of Vengeance is a five-mana 5/5 with deathtouch, which by itself isn't terrible. Add on the fact that whenever an Assassin you control deals combat damage to a player you draw a card, and now we're getting somewhere. Of course, we have to keep in mind that this Ezio was printed to be a face card of a preconstructed deck meant to be played by newer players, so it couldn't be too powerful, but it definitely isn't weak.
Like we've seen with Basim Ibn Ishaq and Achilles Davenport, most Assassins have their own form of evasion, so Ezio, Blade of Vengeance ability will most definitely get triggered by Assassins you control.
Wizard Class, Kindred Discovery, and Reconnaissance Mission/Coastal Piracy are great redundant/benefit pieces for an Ezio deck. Along with the previous two Assassins, he fits into Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Edward Kenway, and Ratonhnhaké꞉ton.
Also known as Odin, Havi, the All-Father is a godlike being from the world of Assassin's Creed. I won't dive into the lore too much, but that's why he has the God typing on his card. Stats-wise he's fairly good: for six mana you get a 6/6 with an indestructibility clause that's pretty easy to achieve, especially if you play him in a deck with Eivor, Wolf-Kissed.
Keeping Havi, the All-Father on the battlefield with indestructible is a good idea considering his second ability allows you to bring back other legendary creatures when yours die, which can lead to all sorts of combos, though I'll let the fine folks at Commander Spellbook tackle those.
Annie Joins Up will give Havi, the All-Father additional triggers for his last ability. You'll be looking to play legendary creatures to take advantage of his last ability, so Bard Class, Delighted Halfling, and Faeburrow Elder are some cards to help you cast them. Since you'll be able to bring them back Éowyn, Fearless Knight, Etali, Primal Conqueror and Dragonlord Dromoka are great targets to recur.
One of the coolest early game twists I had experienced was while playing Assassin's Creed 3: the reveal of Haytham Kenway's true allegiance. Him being a Templar is represented on his card by giving all Knights protection from Assassins and giving them +2/+2. Not only that, but when he enters the battlefield you get to Oblivion Ring a creature from each opponent. All of that for four mana is pretty sweet.
As a commander, Haytham Kenway is very obviously a Knight kindred commander with elements of control, again; on-point flavor-wise for the Templars. He'll play very nicely with other Knights, such as Vodalian Wave-Knight, Marshal of Zhalfir, Knight Exemplar, and Herald of Hoofbeats. As for decks that could want Haytham Kenway, I would look in the direction of Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir or, because of his exile effect, Ranar the Ever-Watchful.
Moving right along from the father to the son, and the "real" main character of Assassin's Creed 3. Ratonhnhaké꞉ton (pronounced: ra-dune-ha-GAY-dune) is an unblockable hexproof 3/3 for just Esper, he and keeps those abilities as long as he hasn't dealt damage. When he eventually does deal combat damage to an opponent, you get to create a 1/1 Assassin with menace and you get to return an Equipment card from your graveyard attached to that token.
Esper Equipment isn't a filled-out niche quite yet, so it's nice seeing a commander pop into it. Self mill strategies to get those Equipment in the graveyard, along with blink spells to reset Ratonhnhaké꞉ton, will be extremely effective in this deck, so Teleportation Circle, Sword of Hearth and Home, and spells like Forbidden Alchemy provide some strong support.
Having Equipment with enter-the-battlefield triggers will increase the value you get off of bringing them out of the graveyard, so cards like Hammer of Nazahn, Hookblade, Assimilation Aegis, and Assassin Gauntlet should be considered.
As for decks where Ratonhnhaké꞉ton will fit, Kamiz, Obscura Oculus would make sure that he could get through, and the newly printed Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain would love more ways to get more modified creatures.
Ah, Shaun & Rebecca, Agents, the nerds in the real world, or as Ned from Spider-Man: Homecoming asks, "Hey, can I be your guy in the chair?" These folks start with Desmond and help others through their journey in The Animus and all through their genetic memories of the past. As a Magic card, they come down and throw The Animus right onto the battlefield no matter where it is (other than exile), but other than that they are a french vanilla 4/4 for four mana. Technically you're getting six mana worth of cards for just one generic and Bant, so that's not a bad deal, and Shaun & Rebecca, Agents's mana ability feeds The Animus and potentially gives you more targets.
As a commander, their whole strategy will be having as many legendary creatures as they can so that The Animus will have multiple targets from which to turn other creatures into.
Paired with The Animus, this couple wants to go into decks that are all based around legendary creatures, like Alistair, the Brigadier, Jedit Ojanen, Mercenary, and the pairing of The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Mentioned before in Eivor, Wolf-Kissed's section, Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe is her brother, and a very charismatic and passionate one at that. Unlike his sister, though, his card is very straight forward in what it wants to do and how it wants to do it: charge into glorious battle, come back, tell the glorious tale, rise and repeat.
Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe really hits on the number three a lot: he's a 3/3, costs three mana, and has three keywords in vigilance, trample, and lifelink. He also has aboast ability, an ability we haven't seen since Kaldheim, Magic's Norse-/viking-inspired set, except for one card: Broadside Bombardiers.
Sigurd's boast is to manipulate lore counters on Sagas, either giving them one or taking one off to keep them around a little longer. That also ties into his second ability: whenever a counter gets put on a Saga, you put a +1/+1 on another creature, showing his ability to inspire others with his tales.
Some cards to give this Saga deck some really oomph include Historian's Boon, Song of Freyalise, and Oath of Eorl. Proliferate cards will also trigger the last ability of Sigurd, so make sure at least a few of those cards make it in.
A real historical person in Magic: The Gathering?! I love it. Of course this is just the Assassin's Creed universe version of Sokrates, but still, I can't wait to see a game with Mary Read and Anne Bonny, Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sokrates, Athenian Teacher. Truly meta gaming.
Anyways, back to this card, Sokrates, Athenian Teacher has defender and is an 0/4 and has a whole bunch of text. Essentially, he has hexproof as long as he's untapped, and his tap ability prevents all the combat damage from a creature, and the attacker and defender draw half that many cards, rounded down. A beautiful little political piece, Sokrates, Athenian Teacher makes all group hug players smile with glee, and he makes others know that their Commander games just got at least a half an hour longer.
The kind of deals that could be made with this card, also the amount of "king-making" there will be I sense will be very high. The design philosophy of this card is quite on the nose and leaves a lot of questions unanswered and in the future will pose a lot of questions and debating when this card is on the battlefield.
Much like the sorceries of the old planeswalker starter decks, this a four-mana card that either is a single use spell or a tutor for the "face" of the duel deck. In this case, this card goes and grabs Ezio, Blade of Vengeance from your library or graveyard and puts it in your hand. The other mode of this card is a four-mana sorcery that returns a creature to its owner's hand, so Fading Hope this is not. Unless Ezio, Blade of Vengeance is a key piece in whatever you got going on, this card can stay with the deck it comes with, as that is where it belongs.
This three-mana enchantment does a little Ratonhnhaké꞉ton impression, but it also lets you make an Assassin for each player that you hit, so that means double/triple Assassins! It also isn't limited to Assassin's dealing damage, as it is any nontoken creature dealing combat damage to a player.
Felix Five-Boots, Gonti, Canny Acquisitor, and Cazur, Ruthless Stalker with Ukkima, Stalking Shadow[/el] would all benefit from having this enchantment, slowly filling up their boards with more and more Assassins. Of course, all of the Dimir Assassins mentioned earlier in this review would love to see this in the 99; the same goes for the five-color identity Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
This card is also a no-brainer for Edward Kenway: more Assassins to tap means more Treasure for that Pirate.
Uncommons & Commons
Right away this whole card reads like it belongs aboard Edward Kenway's ship, (er, I mean deck) like he was in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. When Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains enters the battlefield, you look at the top six cards of your library, grabbing either a Pirate, Assassin, or Vehicle, and put it right into your hand.
Not only that, but Adéwalé's second ability allows him to come back from the graveyard to your hand whenever you deal combat damage to an opponent with a vehicle (Smuggler's Copter anyone?). Of course Adéwalé is very capable of running his own ship, and some crewmates he might have aboard; Deadeye Quartermaster, Skeleton Crew, and Golden Argosy.
The lead character of Assassin's Creed: Unity, we have Arno Dorian. This is a four-mana 3/3 creature that has deathtouch and gives all Assassins you control +2/+0, so not terrible stats. The thing that truly makes this card interesting is the disguise keyword ability, which was introduced in Murders at Karlov Manor earlier this year.
For just three generic mana you can put Arno Dorian facedown, and he becomes a 2/2 creature with ward 2, and at any time you can pay the disguise cost and flip him over. In this case the disguise cost is only two mana, meaning that when your opponent least expects it, pay that two mana and give all of your Assassins that extra punch!
For decks that Arno Dorian could see play in, Edward Kenway and Ezio Auditore da Firenze.
A descendant of the Fryes, Lydia Frye is from the game Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. Her abilities match up well with all of the other Dimir Assassins we've seen. She cares a lot about Assassins being tapped to reap some sort of benefit, in this case, to surveil.
Her pseudo-skulk ability has a major upside, if your opponent has creatures bigger than three power, it doesn't matter how big Lydia Frye is, they still can't block her. Very on-theme; the Brotherhood of Assassins all play very nicely with each other when they all share color identities and all care about the other Assassins.
I've been so hyped up on all of the Assassins from Assassin's Creed that I've been neglecting an awesome card that came out a few years ago: Ramses, Assassin Lord. This is a perfect addition to any and all Assassins I have mentioned in this review.
Well, there you have it. All of the ally color pairs and shards from the Assassin's Creed set. After reviewing and thinking about the card more, I'm so excited to build a Edward Kenway deck and steal everybody's cards with my boat-i-ful bounty of ships, driven by expert Assassins and Pirates. What are you looking forward to most out of this set? If you haven't already go and check the other reviews out here and over on EDHREC. Until next time, and as Ezio always says "Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted."
