Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed releases on July 5, with preview season officially starting June 18. For fans of the games, it’s looking to be an exciting and authentic dive into the alternate history the AC weaves.
Even if you’re not a fan of the “Animus” showcase frame (which we think looks really cool, actually), the borderless art and just the art in general so far looks to be Magic artists at the top of their game.
We’ve been brewing some ideas up for some of the revealed cards so far, and thought we’d share a few ideas on cards that have our brewing-brains ticking.
EZIO AUDITORE DA FIRENZE
Arguably the most iconic Assassin of them all, Renaissance Batman got his own trilogy of games and leads the five-color Assassins deck in this expansion. His WUBRG activated ability won’t come up super often, and I think I like this approach to granting five-color identity to legendary creatures, as it takes the focus off of pushed Commander designs and makes the card not too broken. Freerunning is much more relevant.
Cheating in Assassins for just BB is a steal, especially given there are some more spendy options that are excellent in an Assassins deck. Callidus Assassin from Warhammer 40k and Vein Ripper from Murders at Karlov Manor are both well worth playing, and become that much better for just BB.
If you’re playing Assassins, you have to be playing Ramses, Assassin Lord. Ramses is an… Assassin Lord…? And also has a trigger that’s a little more likely to come up than Ezio’s, in my mind. Packing another win condition is essential.
There are some great “value” Assassins too, with the likes of Mari, the Killing Quill offering treasure and card draw, and Ravenloft Adventurer helping you through dungeons and life totals, while keeping graveyards well cleaned. If we see more hit counters in this set, there’s a very real likelihood that OG Etrata gets even better too.
You can’t forget Royal Assassin, a repeatable removal outlet that punishes activating abilities or going to combat. Boardwipes tend to be thin on the ground these days, so you might get to keep this play for a while.
If you’re in five color, don’t forget about new creature-Vraska. She’s a sweet engine piece, and can get in with deathtouch easily to trigger all sorts of on-damage effects. Plus, it’s Vraska. She’s badass.
AH, LEONARDO, MY FRIEND
Real world renaissance-man Leonardo da Vinci makes an appearance in ACR, and he’s had his coffee (though not with milk, like Ezio).
Da Vinci is the kind of mono-blue Commander that excites even me, the die-hard combat junky. That’s partly because he enables combat as a win-con, sure, but it’s also because he has a fascinating activated ability.
That ability helps you cheat mana like there’s no tomorrow, so getting out an early Forsaken Monument can get the party really started. If you want to buff the team even more, then Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut sets your Thopters to kill, rather than stun; it makes them 5/3s. WOW. That’s hot.
If you’re scared of investing overly in tokens, then maybe discard a Darksteel Forge, saving a cool six mana, or perhaps an early Chimil, the Inner Sun, giving you uncounterable spells and a free spell every time you pass the turn.
Cost reduction is still necessary in a deck like this, though, so Training Grounds to reduce Leonardo’s activated ability to a single blue is a solid choice. Artificer Class is also stellar here, giving cost reduction, card draw, and then the ability to copy your artifacts.
There are lots of cards to choose from for this build, and not all are obvious. Dutiful Replicator is a nice four mana way to have a token copy of your best Thopter, essentially acting as a second copy of Phyrexian Metamorph that gets better if you Ghostly Flicker it. Cybermen Squadron, meanwhile, puts your gameplan into overdrive.
Once you Thop, you can’t stop.
KASSANDRA, EAGLE BEARER, HORSE MAKER
Kassandra, Eagle Bearer is… another Boros equipment Commander. Or is she? Well, she wants you to do something a little different. Like Nahiri asked you to go wide with Living Weapons, Kassandra wants you to stack up Legendary Equipments. She also drags The Spear of Leonidas out from the deck, your yard, or your hand, and into play. The Spear is pretty decent, and though it doesn’t grant evasion, it does grant abilities on attack, so evasion isn’t as required.
When you play with Kassandra, you’ll want to maximize your Legendary equipment count. Some you’d play anyways, like Sword of the Animist, but some like Lost Jitte are here because they play for {1} and equip for {1} too.
Legendary Living Weapons are also good here, as they come pre-equipped to trigger Kassandra’s card draw trigger, which isn’t limited to once for each player – it’s per creature.
Halvar offers a way to cheat equip costs while also being a Legendary Equipment himself, giving you double dip. Getting free equips is key to success with Kassandra and getting her Spear equipped, so make sure you run all the best options, from Puresteel Paladin to Fighter Class.
Finally, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Icingdeath provides a decent body to connect with when strapped up with equipment, but also leaves behind a Legendary one when it dies, which helps get your Legendary count up higher.
END STEP
We’re all very excited about Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed, and couldn’t wait to share some of our thoughts on how we’d build some of the new cards. Got some sweet tech? Let us know!
ACR is available to preorder right now. We have singles, boosters, and Bundles. If you’re hyped to know more about the set, stay tuned for previews starting proper on June 18.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.