Magic: The Gathering – Assassin’s Creed (MTG Assassin’s Creed) is jumping headfirst into the historic assassination gaming franchise and pulling deep from the lore to capture it all in card format. The conflict between the Brotherhood and the Templar Order re-engages on brand-new battlefields with characters, weapons, and locations taken directly from the award-winning action-adventure franchise. And it’s not just Ezio who gets the chance to make his MTG Assassin’s Creed debut. The Universes Beyond set features Assassins and lore from the beginning of the series up until Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
The MtG Assassin’s Creed Starter Kit features two 60-card decks with everything you need to learn and play Magic: The Gathering. It also includes 31 cards exclusively found in this product: 2 mythic rares, 6 rares, 8 uncommons, 9 commons, and 4 basic lands with unique artwork.
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Outside of the Starter Kit, the MtG Assassin’s Creed (ACR) booster release contains 54 uncommons, 37 rares including 5 rare dual lands, and 14 mythic rares in addition to 10 full-art basic lands. The set itself will also be legal in Modern, Commander, Legacy, and Vintage. You can check out the detailed collector’s breakdown here.
Like other adaptations of existing IP, the team at Wizards of the Coast has found a way of capturing the world of Assassin’s Creed and adapting it to Magic’s signature mechanics. Between the two decks, you have two playstyles to embrace, both of which capture different elements of the iconic Ubisoft Original franchise. With the Blue/White Deck, you play through Ezio’s life, using various cards that capture moments in his life. The play style is more subdued. However, with the Red/Black Deck, you use artifacts to hit hard and span the more adult Ezio and other famed assassins from the franchise.
When I played a match at Summer Game Fest, MTG Assassin’s Creed with the Red/Black Deck, I built momentum. I got lucky with a draw of a lot of Land cards, and as I played them, the artifacts in my hand became crucial deciding factors in building my assassins to their hardest-hitting potential. Only my opponent has several cards for immediate safety. Chief among them was “Murder.”
There I was, ready to win, and then my creature was murdered by the “Murder” card, and the entire game changed. I will be honest: I am a Magic The Gathering newcomer. However, learning the game through the lens of Assassin’s Creed immediately pointed to the complexity of how the developers adapt existing IP and also create a frame of reference for newcomers to latch on to. For those who love Assassin’s Creed, its lore, and the gameplay, MtG Assassin’s Creed is the perfect way to enter the card game and to do so with some understanding.
As I understand them, the mechanics introduce a new mechanic: Freerunning. Inspired by the game that made parkour all the rage, Freerunning is a new alternative cost that allows you to cast spells for a bit of a savings if, earlier in the turn, an Assassin you controlled or a commander you controlled dealt combat damage to a player.
Additionally, Freerunning still applies if you’re not playing Commander—you’ll just need an Assassin to connect. The Assassin and/or commander doesn’t have to be alive or under your control. As long as it dealt combat damage to a player earlier in the turn, the freerunning cost is now available for you to tap into. This helps quicken the pace of play. Casting a spell for its freerunning cost doesn’t change its mana value. That said, you can ignore freerunning if that mechanic is too much to balance, which was easier for me to do as a new player.
In addition to the Freerunning mechanic, there are also three returning mechanics: Historic, Disguise, and Cloak. Historic is a returning game term that refers to artifacts, things with the legendary supertype, and Sagas collectively.
Fitting perfectly with the theme of the set, a card with disguise allows you to cast it face down and keep its identity hidden. It becomes a face-down creature spell, meaning it’s a colorless 2/2 with no name or creature types. Cloak is another returning keyword action that captures MtG Assassin’s Creed well. If you’re instructed to cloak a card, put that card onto the battlefield face down. The resulting permanent is a 2/2 colorless creature with no name, no creature types, and no mana cost.
Like other Universes Beyond sets, MtG Assassin’s Creed is a good first step for new players and a fun collection for existing ones too. While I may not be the best to explore the intricacies of the decks and gameplay, I do know that this is a perfect entry point for people looking for a new hobby—Or looking to expand their Assassin’s Creed collection that they already have.
