How Fun Are The Assassin's Creed Commanders?
Ezio Auditore da Firenze | lustrated by Fajareka Setiawan
Leonardo da Vinci | Illustrated by Wangjie Li
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad | Illustrated by Axel Sauerwald
Edward Kenway | Illustrated by Borja Pindado
Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh | Illustrated by Mandy Jurgens
Hello, everyone! For this week's article, I wanted to give my thoughts on how fun I think all of the new Assassin's Creed commanders are. Of course, fun is subjective, so if you disagree with anything on this list, I'd love to hear why!
The ranks are as follows:
- Want to build: These are commanders I'm interested in building. It could be their effect is unique or a new take on an old mechanic I like.
- Very Fun: These are close to wanting to build, but not going out of my way brew a list for myself.
- Fun: This is where most commanders fall. They either have enjoyable play patterns or a unique effect.
- Kinda Fun: This is where more generic commanders go that are kindred lords or tend to become pile decks.
- Not Fun: This is usually reserved for older commanders that are seven-mana vanilla creatures or a legendary creature that isn't meant for EDH.
So with all of the explanations out of the way, let's get into it!
Achilles Davenport
Achilles is a basic commander who acts as a lord for other Assassins. I'm not interested in having them as my commander, but probably great in the 99.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Adéwalé, Breaker of Chains
They're an interesting Assassin/Pirate/Vehicle commander, but I don't think their effect is that interesting. You could maybe build some weird sacrifice deck where you loop them, but not that interested.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos
Reminds me a bit of Khârn the Betrayer. Early on it might be easy to trade with it, but give it indestructible and you'll be smashing face in no time.
My ranking: Fun
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
It's a Mardu Assassin mill commander that benefits from extra combat and has a unique effect. I want to pair this with Sundial of the Infinite or The Master, Multiplied.
My ranking: Fun
Arbaaz Mir
It's an Impact Tremors in the command zone for historic permanents, including legendary lands. Plus, it gains you life, which is a nice cherry on top. Great as a blink, artifact, or if you want to be spicy, a Boros lands deck.
My ranking: Fun
Arno Dorian
It's another Assassin lord in the command zone and it has disguise. If you want, you could cast it face-down from the command zone, but not sure if you'd want too.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Aveline de Grandpré
A more interesting deathtouch commander than Fynn, the Fangbearer. If you can give your creatures trample along with deathtouch, you should be able to close out games pretty quickly.
My ranking: Fun
Aya of Alexandria
I love the idea of a Boros legendary matters deck that uses all the legendary creatures that either make tokens or double them. Seems like it could get out of hand very quickly with cards like Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon and Otharri, Suns' Glory.
My ranking: Very Fun
Basim Ibn Ishaq
A Dimir Voltron commander which gets larger with every hit, and whenever you cast an Equipment spell, you can give this unblockable. Throw on some card draw Auras with counterspell protection and you're off to the races.
My ranking: Very Fun
Bayek of Siwa
Great in the 99 of some of these historic matters decks, but very underwhelming in the command zone.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
I love Golgari, so I might be biased, but a Golgari legendary sacrifice deck seems incredibly fun. You can add Hardened Scales effects and ways to recur creatures.
My ranking: Want To Build
Desmond Miles
I'm not interested in a mono-black Assassin matters commander. You get to surveil when they deal combat damage, but that isn't enough for me.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Edward Kenway
Seems like a fun Vehicle commander in Grixis. You can easily tap your Assassins and Pirates to make a ton of untapped Treasure tokens and steal other players' spells.
My ranking: Very Fun
Eivor, Battle-Ready
I like this take on Boros Equipment. You don't need to suit up all your creatures in order to get a benefit. Instead, you want as much cheap Equipment in play as possible, and since Eivor deals the damage, lifelink and infect must be included.
My ranking: Want To Build
Eivor, Wolf-Kissed
A new Saga commander that isn't Tom Bombadil, so love that. Also can be a Naya lands matters commander.
My ranking: Very Fun
Evie Frye // Jacob Frye
The only partner pair of the set. I like the play pattern of lootings, then exiling Assassins or freerunning cards when we hit with an unblockable creature.
My ranking: Very Fun
Ezio Auditore da Firenze
If you want to play all of the Assassins, this is your commander. The last ability won't be relevant too often, but that doesn't matter. I'm more interested in giving all my Assassins freerunning for double black.
My ranking: Fun
Ezio, Blade of Vengeance
Drawing cards is usually pretty fun, and having all your Assassins draw cards is even more fun. He's on the lower of the fun side, but still makes the cut.
My ranking: Fun
Ezio, Brash Novice
This feels like a 99 card. I'm not interested in having a commander that doesn't do anything for my deck.
My ranking: Not Fun
Havi, the All-Father
Another historic matters commander that becomes indestructible and can bring other legendary creatures into play. Also, it's a six-mana 6/6, so it slots right into my Colossal Dreadmaw-themed deck.
My ranking: Want To Build
Haytham Kenway
A Knight commander in this set of Assassins, I love it. It's mostly in the fun tier for the flavor of getting protection from Assassins and is a massive lord for Knights. Plus, it can remove up to three creatures for a time.
My ranking: Fun
Lydia Frye
Has pseudo-skulk and lets you surveil if you have a bunch of tapped Assassins. You could build a Dimir Vehicle deck, but I think they are much better in the 99 of some other commanders on this list.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Kassandra, Eagle Bearer
Reminds me of Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith since it tutors up an Equipment directly into play. Granted Hammer of Nazahn is much better than The Spear of Leonidas. But despite that, I really love the focus on legendary Equipment. According to Scryfall, there are 38 legendary pieces of Equipment with more to come.
My ranking: Very Fun
Layla Hassan
If you want to build mono-white Assassins this is probably the commander you want. It lets you return cards to your hand, which is great. Also, it makes a great blink commander, since its ability triggers on ETB.
My ranking: Fun
Leonardo da Vinci
I love seeing unique and flavorful artifact commanders. Three mana to reanimate a Portal to Phyrexia seems incredible, although I think I'd be a bit meaner and use Mycosynth Lattice and Karn, the Great Creator to lock everyone out. Even if you don't include the Lattice lock, Karn does let you return the artifacts you exiled to your hand.
My ranking: Very Fun
Mary Read and Anne Bonny
If you want to build Izzet looting, I found your commander. I love the flavor, and I can't wait to see what degenerate artifact decks people build with this.
My ranking: Fun
Ratonhnhaké꞉ton
Our second Esper Equipment commander in two sets, but instead of copying Equipment, we reanimate them. You can pair this with For Mirrodin! weapons to make additional creatures.
My ranking: Very Fun
Roshan, Hidden Magister
This is an amazing card in the 99 of Assassin decks, but it doesn't seem that interesting as a commander in my opinion. There are 33 morph creatures and 5 disguise creatures you could play, so there might be enough there for a fun deck. It's on the fence for me, so if you have a build for this commander, let me know!
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector
I like Birds, and this is a cool Bird. I also like that their tap ability is instant speed. Of course, you can't use it in response to no blockers being declared, but it helps dodge removal, and if you're worried about not being able to get them back, you just put them into the command zone.
My ranking: Very Fun
Shao Jun
It's a Ghirapur Aether Grid on a stick and pings everyone. Give this infect or lifelink and enjoy.
My ranking: Fun
Shaun & Rebecca, Agents
Bant legendary mill commander that tutors up The Animus. Seems like it could be a fun deck if you can fill it with enough legendary creatures.
My ranking: Fun
Shay Cormac
Solid roleplayer in the 99, but not a great commander. You could make a deck focused on committing crimes and crime payoffs. If you decide to build this commander, don't forget Bounty Hunter, Termination Facilitator, and Bounty Board.
My ranking: Kinda Fun
Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe
If I had a nickel for every Saga commander in this set, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but weird it's happened three times.
Jokes aside, this is probably the de facto Saga commander of the set. You have to attack to activate their ability, but that's fine. You can keep removing counters from Urabrask, The Akroan War, or Elesh Norn.
My ranking: Very Fun
Sokrates, Athenian Teacher
It's a single target fog in the command zone that also draws you a bunch of cards. Personally, I want to combo it with Intruder Alarm and creatures that make tokens when you draw your second card, such as Emrakul's Messenger or Detective of the Month.
My ranking: Very Fun
Surtr, Fiery Jötun
I've been looking for someone to replace Neheb, the Eternal as my mono-red commander. While I do love Neheb, the deck feels too feast or famine; with Surtr, I can build mono-red legends and include Neheb! It's a win-win.
My ranking: Want To Build
The Capitoline Triad
And finally, we have the first creature to make emblems and an interesting colorless commander. I've been wanting to build a colorless deck for some time. Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender has been high on my list, but we already have one in the group, so instead I think this is the obvious choice. This seems like an incredibly fun Eldrazi commander that can turn all your Spawns and Scions into 9/9 beaters.
My ranking: Want To Build
And that wraps up my fun tier ranking for all of the new commanders from Assassin's Creed! I hope you enjoyed and I'd love to hear what commander you're looking forward to building from the set.
Alrighty nerds, I'll see you next time!
