Assassin's Creed: Commander Review - Best Cards

Universes Beyond has just brought us another beloved franchise in this latest collab: Assassin's Creed! This new set brought us dozens of new cards and mechanics that will definitely pop off in our dear Commander in the upcoming months. Today, let's review all the new cards for this format!

Please keep in mind that this set didn't bring us any commons, and that we won't consider reprints for this review, only actual new releases. We'll also show you the cards meant for casual Commander, the classic and fun EDH. Without further ado, let's go!

Uncommon

We finally got the white card of the "you can put any number of cards named X in your deck" cycle: Templar Knight. This card might inspire incredibly fun decks, all, of course, with Thrumming Stone, an artifact Templar Knight's ability itself will get for you.

You can even get other cards with it, like Akroma's Memorial, The Great Henge, Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut, Avacyn's Memorial, Bolas's Citadel, or The One Ring, even. We just have to wait and see which fun builds Templar Knight will inspire.

Haystack is a great defensive artifact that easily fits into several builds. Saving one of your creatures, be it your commander or another just as important, for just two mana is great, even more so because you can use this effect multiple times. The fact it is cheap is also incredible.

Rare

Caduceus, Staff of Hermes is an impressive equipment that performs really well in a format with more than 30 starting life. This is the requirement it has to give +5/+5, indestructible, and lifelink, besides preventing all damage dealt, to the creature it is equipped to. It's also incredibly cheap, as it only costs 3 mana to play and 2 white mana to equip.

The equipment archetype and other types of decks, like lifegain lists, will definitely appreciate this artifact.

Another global removal in this format is never too much, and What Must be Done certainly fits this bill. The fact it is a modal spell is what makes it stand out, as it is both a global destruction for creatures and artifacts and a reanimate for historic permanents. This means that, with it, you will be able to reanimate important legendary creatures, like your commander, artifacts and Sagas.

Uncommon

Loyal Inventor is a fascinating artifact tutor. Of course, it is no Fabricate, but, because it is a creature, you can blink and/or reanimate it, and thus use its ETB effect more times to tutor an artifact. Decks that need to tutor blue artifacts usually draw cards quite easily too, so, even if this artifact ends up on your top deck, it is no issue.

It easily fits several archetypes, and even budget combos.

Assassin Gauntlet is in this review because it costs 3 mana and taps all the target opponent's creatures. This effect is incredibly strong, particularly because it is so cheap. As a bonus, this is also an equipment that buffs one of our creatures and loots: it draws a cards and discards another. However, even though this is unarguably a good card, I can't think of an archetype that would use it well.

Eagle Vision features a new mechanic in this new set, freerunning: you may cast a card for its freerunning cost if one of your assassins or your commander dealt combat damage this turn. As many blue commanders deal combat damage easily and fast, a card that draws you 3 other cards for just 2 mana is definitely a great advantage. Decks like Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow and similar can easily play Eagle Vision.

Rare

Desynchronization is easily one of the strongest cards in this set for Commander. It's almost like a mini Cyclonic Rift that only leaves historic permanents on the board - that is, legendary permanents, Sagas, and artifacts. It will easily find some space in artifact decks to return attacking creatures as tokens to everyone's hands and keep all your other permanents on the board, as well as Saga decks, like Tom Bombadil. In a Jodah, the Unifier deck, it might even be a win condition because it will remove all the blockers out of the way. It has a lot of potential for Commander.

Crystal Skull, Isu Spyglass is a mana rock that lets you cast historic lands and spells from the top of your deck. Once again, I can see this card in artifact decks like Sharuum, the Hegemon and Breya, Etherium Shaper.

Its effect, on its own, is already incredible, so the fact it also gives you one blue mana makes it even better.

Mythic

Of course, we couldn't forget the great Leonardo da Vinci for this review. This iconic artist commands an army of Thopters with cards like Darksteel Forge and Portal to Phyrexia, for instance. He's a great, fun commander that will potentially be quite popular, and also turns cards like Cybermen Squadron and

Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut into Thopters themselves.

Uncommon

Restart Sequence follows the same logic as Eagle Vision. You'll get a lot more out of it if you cast it for its freerunning cost, particularly as it's a reanimate that only costs 2 mana. Of course, we have many other options in this format that are even better than this card, but, as we mentioned with Eagle Vision, it might be more interesting in budget versions. Not to mention, in some cases, more redundancy in Commander decks is often welcome.

Mythic

This is one of the cards from this set that will most certainly be incredibly popular in Commander. It costs very little considering it's a great Assassin commander, particularly because it makes Assassin spells only cost 2 mana, thanks to its freerunning effect.

You'll see Ezio working with cards like Ramses, Assassin Lord and Virtus, the Veiled to slay your opponents more easily, besides elegantly. And we haven't even mentioned the absurd number of new Assassins in this set. This commander has a lot of potential for this format and seems quite fun to pilot.

Uncommon

It'll probably be easier to cast cards for their freerunning cost with red than any other color. With this in mind, an extra combat and an extra main phase for just three mana is incredibly strong, and that's what Overpowering Attack gives you. You'll have to untap the creatures you attacked with that turn, but it still stands out, as it is basically an extra combat for just 3 mana if you cast it with freerunning.

Many decks can easily cast Overpowering Attack for its freerunning cost, and deal a lot of damage with it.

Granting haste, +1/0, and first strike to a creature for just one mana is quite interesting. And you'll have all of this at instant speed because this artifact has flash.

This is a decent offensive equipment, and, in a sense, it is even defensive, considering first strike is a way to prevent the equipped creature from dying for just one mana. Equipment archetypes and other monored builds can definitely find some space for this card.

Red is known for its punitive card draw: you often have to discard a card to draw others. However, there are also "impulsive draws" in red: cards that exile the top card in your deck and let you play these exiled cards on that same turn or even the next. Monastery Raid is, thus, an impulsive card draw. It usually draws two cards if you cast it for its regular cost, but it draws up to X cards for its freerunning cost. Monored decks and decks that need a drastic amount of card advantage can easily play Monastery Raid.

Rare

The Spear of Leonidas will probably only show up in Boros decks centered around equipment, but that doesn't make it any less good. All its three effects are interesting, and you'll use each as you need them: be aggressive and give double strike to the equipped creature, be defensive and create a 3/2 Horse to block, or be recursive and discard two cards to draw two new ones. These three incredible effects earned The Spear of Leonidas a spot in our review.

Uncommon

We mentioned many freerunning cards already, but we couldn't leave out Viewpoint Synchronization. After all, ramping two basic lands onto the board and one to your hand for three mana is simply incredible. This is a well-buffed Cultivate or Kodama's Reach.

However, keep in mind that only its freerunning cost is three mana, so not every deck will be able to use it. Still, because it isn't difficult to play and because it's quite valuable, Viewpoint Synchronization deserved a mention in our review, and might stand out in Commander really soon.

Rare

This card is a treasure for all deathtouch enthusiasts. Congratulations, you've just found your commander! Aveline de Grandpré will boost decks with this keyword, which notoriously struggled to find a commander to use. She'll make Fynn, the Fangbearer, Hooded Blightfang, and several other cards viable.

Uncommon

I definitely didn't expect this card to remove indestructible, protection, shroud, hexproof, and ward, all at once, nor that we'd get such a card in Assassin's Creed.

Shay Cormac does all this and gets +1/+1 counters thanks to its other ability, which interacts with bounty counters. Because it is quite cheap and removes all these keywords from enemy creatures, it might be quite popular in Commander.

At a first glance, Shao Jun seems like a relatively strong commander that combos quite easily. Its ability, which lets you tap two artifacts to ping one damage to each opponent, is a finisher in the command zone, particularly because you can cast it at any speed. As a result, this card might show up in many competitive builds.

Rare

Saga decks already have great commanders: Tom Bombadil, Narci, Fable Singer, and now Sigurd, Jarl of Ravensthorpe. Doctor Who might have brought us several great cards that interact with historic permanents and Naya Sagas, but now Assassin's Creed brought us a great commander for this specific archetype, in these colors.

The fact it costs 3, has 3 keywords, and is a 3/3 already made it great, but its other abilities make it even better. I'm anxious to see Saga decks with Sigurd in action.

Bayek of Siwa will potentially be a great finisher in decks centered around legendary creatures, like Jodah, the Unifier or Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge, for instance. Its disguise ability might even let you finish your opponents quite suddenly with a lot of protection because of the ward 2 in the disguised creature (while it's face-down). This card has a lot of potential in decks like this.

Speaking of decks that focus on legendary creatures, Bayek of Siwa easily fits a Havi, the All-Father deck. Naya finally got its God, which has an interesting theme: interactions between legendary creatures. It will potentially be quite fun and unusual as a reanimate/legendary creatures deck.

Mythic

Kassandra, Eagle Bearer will be one of those cards that sees play in almost every equipment deck around. Besides tutoring The Spear of Leonidas directly onto the battlefield, she will potentially draw you cards as well. When we consider that the card it gets for you gives double strike to the creature it is equipped to (and thus essentially draws you two cards), you might say Kassandra is a great addition for this archetype, to say the least.

This is another historical figure that has now entered the Magic: The Gathering canon. Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh's effects only interact with legendary creatures, but she draws you cards whenever a legendary creature with counters on it dies. She'll draw you cards according to how many counters the creature has, so, if one of your creatures has 10 +1/+1 counters and dies, you'll draw 10 cards. As many +1/+1 decks are also Golgari decks, Cleopatra will be an incredible addition if you want to draw a ridiculous number of cards.

Edward Kenway deserved an honorable mention, considering it interacts with Assassins, Pirates, and Vehicles. He also might potentially give you endless turns with Time Sieve. Other than that, building a Pirates, Assassins, and Vehicles deck with him to get the most out of his abilities seems quite fun.

Uncommon

Cards that give your creatures "can't be blocked", like Whispersilk Cloak, guarantee damage, and, in certain situations, may even win you the game. Brotherhood Regalia is a new addition for decks that take advantage of this type of mechanic. It is cheap, protects the creature it is equipped to with ward 2, and only costs one mana to equip if it's a legendary creature. It's a simple card with a lot of potential for this format.

Smoke Bomb will definitely catch everyone off-guard when you use it to give shroud to all your creatures. As a bonus, it also gives "can't be blocked" to another creature right afterward. Its design and flavor are incredible, and it will potentially be quite popular in Commander because it's an overall protection for all your creatures for 3 colorless mana: this means it fits into any deck.

Rare

Excalibur, Sword of Eden can easily cost 0 mana depending on the deck. +10/+0 and vigilance is a great effect for an artifact that you'll cast for little or no mana at all. Though you can only equip it to legendary creatures, you can easily go around this with cards that directly attach an equipment to any type of creature.

Historic and equipment decks will greatly appreciate Excalibur.

The Animus is an interesting artifact, particularly because it exiles legendary creatures with a memory counter. This counter means that The Animus can still use the exiled creature, even if it is destroyed and returns to the graveyard later. With it, you can disrupt your opponents by removing their legendary creatures from their respective graveyards, and thus prevent them from reanimating them.

Its other effect, which copies exiled creatures, is also quite strong, particularly if we exile problematic creatures like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur or similar.

Mythic

Speaking of reanimates, we have Yggdrasil, Rebirth Engine. This artifact is quite strong, and has a lot of potential in many reanimate builds. Its ETB only exiles creatures in your graveyard, and thus only exiles what it needs to. For four mana, it will return one of the creatures exiled this way with haste back onto your battlefield.

I can see players using cards that untap permanents to make the most out of Yggdrasil's effect. This artifact might be popular precisely because it is so strong in Commander, in particular.

Decks that steal other people's permanents will be quite happy with Staff of Eden, Vault's Key. Besides reanimating a legendary permanent from your graveyard or any other graveyard, it draws a card for each permanent that you control but don't own when you activate its ability.

Decks like Etali, Primal Conqueror, Gonti, Canny Acquisitor, or Don Andres, the Renegade will definitely appreciate Staff of Eden.

At a first glance, I didn't think Apple of Eden, Isu Relic was that strong. However, after I realized this artifact will get rid of one of your opponents' hands completely, and that, even if you don't play any of the cards you exiled with it, it can practically be a win condition, I changed my mind.

It might make sure one of your opponent's can't interact with you during an entire turn, and, if you exile something interesting with it, you can cast it and thus prevent your opponent from using it permanently. It has a lot of potential for this format, and even for more competitive games, as you can use it to stop an enemy combo, or remove their hand to guarantee your own combo.

As another honorable mention, we have The Capitoline Triad, the colorless God. This is another card that you will potentially cast for little or no mana at all, and it's also the first non-planeswalker that creates an emblem. Depending on how you build your deck, getting this emblem won't be hard.

For instance, if we exile a Metalwork Colossus, an Ancient Stone Idol, and any other artifacts that add up to more than 9 mana, you can already get The Capitoline Triad's emblem. And all your creatures having base power and toughness 9/9 is something your opponents should fear.

Even though this set doesn't have any commons, it will be great for Commander, as usual. We'll have many new cards and mechanics to explore and dozens of new commanders that'll inspire us to build new decks and diversify the format, which will make it even cooler! Commander is a format that always gains something whenever WotC releases a set, so I'm pretty excited about this one.

Do you agree with our picks? Would you add another card to our review? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!