The Assassin’s Creed and Magic: The Gathering crossover is nearly here, introducing new assassin cards to the Commander and Modern formats. We’re diving into the best legendary assassins revealed and released in Magic to prepare for its launch.
So far in Magic’s history, there’s been 93 cards printed or revealed with the assassin creature type. Their breakdown by color pie is as follows:
- White – 0
- Blue – 1
- Black – 63
- Red – 4
- Green – 1
- Dimir – 9
- Rakdos – 1
- Orzhov – 2
- Golgari – 4
- Boros – 1
- Grixis – 2
- Jund – 1
- Mardu – 4
As you can see, assassins are overwhelmingly mono-black. They are best supported by Dimir, although there is only one mono-blue assassin in the game.
This means that your support color is going to be for noncreature spells or creatures that synergize with your assassins’ abilities.
I hope you aren’t a pacifist at the Commander table, because assassins are best at one thing: destroying other people’s creatures. Any card that benefits from destroying creatures is key in creating a winning assassin Commander deck.
Here is our list of the 10 Best Assassin Commanders in MTG & EDH:
#1 Ezio Auditore da Firenze
It’s only fitting that one of the greatest assassins of Assassin’s Creed has an MTG card that reflects his stature.
Ezio has a suite of characteristics that makes him the perfect assassin Commander.
First, he gives you access to all 5 colors. Second, his ability to KO a player who is low on life (which combos well with Sorin Markov) oozes with flavor. Finally, he has one of the best legendary assassin abilities in the game with freerunning. Being able to play every assassin in the game for only BB is a huge tempo advantage.
#2 Mari, the Killing Quill
Mari is a new assassin printed in the “Most Wanted” Commander precon from Outlaws of Thunder.
Since assassins predominantly have abilities that kill creatures, Mari helps you execute that strategy while providing card draw and tempo advantage. She also makes it difficult for opponents to attack or block you thanks to deathtouch.
#3 Ramses, Assassin Lord
“Why butcher an army when you can slash a single throat for the same result?”
Apt flavor text for what Ramses is capable of. Assemble your assassin army and go for the weakest player to win the game here! It’s a thematic and epic way to win a Commander game.
#4 Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad
New from MTG’s Assassin’s Creed Universes Beyond is Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad. Altaïr has a rather unique ability that triggers on attack. To get the most out of him, combo it with cards that double tokens such as Anointed Procession and Mondrak, Glory Dominus.
#5 Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
Another new Assassin from the Karlov Manor set is Etrata. She provides a novel way to generate card advantage in your assassin deck. Plus, you’ll be pulling from your opponent’s libraries, so the potential is limitless.
#6 Ezio, Blade of Vengeance
If you’re looking for a more direct way to generate card advantage, Ezio, Blade of Vengeance might be the Commander for you. This new legend comes in the Assassin’s Creed starter set.
The mana cost here is a little steep, but if you’ve been playing out assassins in the early game, he can act as a massive card draw engine on turn 5.
#7 Olivia, Opulent Outlaw
Also new from the “Most Wanted” Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander precon is Olivia, Opulent Outlaw. Olivia is best in a go-wide type of strategy where you pump all of your outlaws and assassins to win the game.
#8 Xira, the Golden Sting
Xira is similar to Mari in that she gives you cards for destroying creatures. She is a little bit harder to pull off, since only she can put the egg counters on a creature once per combat. On the upside, Xira gives you access to green, which is the only assassin Commander on the list to do so other than Ezio.
#9 Queen Marchesa
Long may she reign! Queen Marchesa is one of the most fun Commanders in the game, thanks to the monarch mechanic. It introduces a way to force players into combat decisions for potential card advantage.
For your assassin deck, she can create 1/1 assassins every turn. There are quite a few ways you can brew Queen Marchesa, and she works just as well as a standalone Commander as the head of an assassin build.
#10 Kelsien, the Plague
Finally on our list we have Kelsien, the Plague. Kelsien decks tend to use cards like Basilisk Collar and other creatures that ping for damage to quickly ramp up experience counters and instantly destroy any creature that dares attack you.
Thanks to Vigilance, it’s easy to attack with Kelsien and those experienced counters ramp up quite quickly. It’s not unheard of for him to KO a player through Commander damage from time to time.
That’s everything for our list of the top 10 Assassin Commanders in Magic: The Gathering and EDH! No doubt, more assassins will be announced for the Assassin’s Creed MTG crossover and we will be updating this article as more spoilers drop.
The Magic: The Gathering Assassin’s Creed Universes Beyond crossover officially releases worldwide on July 5, 2024.
If you enjoyed this list, you might also like our article on the best Eldrazi Commanders in MTG!
