The Assassin’s Creed Magic: The Gathering Set Has Me Hooked

Magic: The Gathering is no stranger to crossing the streams and partnering with universes outside the Forgotten Realms. Its latest foray into a new universe is the world of Assassin's Creed, where trickery and surprise attacks are the name of the game. 

At Summer Game Fest Play Days last week, I played a round with Corey Bowen, the design lead of the set, to get a feel for Magic: The Gathering – Assassin's Creed. I played a Blue-Black starter deck, while he swarmed me with a Red-White deck. 

Ultimately I felt like the Blue-Black starter deck was the perfect way to get a feel for the Assassin's Creed setting. I always had a trick up my sleeve, if I had the mana prepared. It felt fitting, since that's what Ezio and his crew of protagonists are all about (well, maybe not Yasuke).

Everything Is Permitted (With Enough Mana) 

One of the big mechanics with this set is Freerunning, and the Blue-Black deck especially benefits from it. If one of your creatures does direct damage to the opponent's life, certain cards in your hand can be played for a slightly cheaper mana cost. 

Hookblade Veteran, which can fly, pairs well with this mechanic. They’re cheap creatures that have a good chance of doing small but direct life damage, opening the door for your bigger cards. 

Of course, there's hints of the classic counter style of gameplay you'd expect from Blue-Black decks; I had no shortage of instant-cast murder or return-to-hand spells to immediately make my opponent regret spending mana on his creatures. 

It's a play style I really enjoy in Magic, and I found it to feel even better with the options Freerunning offers. At its core, this game is all about conserving and maximizing mana use, and choosing between potential defenses or more powerful creatures is a compelling choice every time.

The legendary creature card in my deck was Ezio, Blade of Vengeance, a powerful assassin type with Deathtouch. Additionally, when other assassin types do direct damage, I draw a card. That really came in handy on the turn I summoned him, considering I had an empty hand. 

On the other hand, my opponent's Red-White deck was a force to be reckoned with. There's a big focus on equipment artifacts, which are based on equipment used throughout the Assassin's Creed franchise. For example, while my deck has a Hookblade Veteran creature, he could attach a Hookblade equipment artifact to any creature and give it flying. 

By the late game, he had so many artifacts on the field that could turn any of his creatures into a walking nuclear bomb. I didn't even get much time to play with Ezio because he had to valiantly sacrifice himself on the opponent's next turn to one of these bombs. It's only fair though; I sent his Eivor to the graveyard with a well-timed instant spell early on. 

Still, it was a close match (though I'm sure he was going easy on me). Lots of his cards' effects whittled me down one life point at a time, though my flying creatures gradually returned the favor.

In the one game I played, I felt like these two starter decks complement each other extremely well. Both have some tools that disarm the other, while still carrying some powerful game-ending potential. 

The Art of Assassination 

This isn't Magic's first cross-over event, but it was my first time experiencing one. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised and tickled by just how well the ruleset, card effects, and beautiful art matches the theme. 

For example, Bowen told me about how a lot of the sneakier aspects of Assassin’s Creed fit well into Blue and Black cards, while its more aggressive, action-oriented combat matched Red and White energy. 

Oddly enough, there’s a deficit of Green cards in this set, which is unusual for Magic: The Gathering. Generally, Wizards of the Coast aims for color parity for maximum balancing, especially when it comes to drafting. However, thematically, it just shook out this way for the Assassin’s Creed set. 

Additionally, many of the legendary creatures in this set play prominent roles in the Assassin’s Creed canon. For example, some are protagonists from games, while others played big roles in the story, like Leonardo Da Vinci or Cleopatra. 

Funny enough, Bowen told me about how Ubisoft wanted the minotaur creature card to also be legendary, since there’s only one real minotaur in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. That’s a case where Wizards insisted that it was okay for the minotaur to not be legendary for the sake of the card game. 

While I’m not a regular Magic: The Gathering player, it’s always a good time whenever I return to it. And this Assassin’s Creed deck is a pleasant surprise, especially if you have a soft spot for the franchise. It pairs the crisp mechanics of an all-time classic card game with the flair of a white hooded cloak. 

Magic: The Gathering – Assassin's Creed was previewed at Summer Game Fest Play Days courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.