(Restart Sequence | Art by Lie Setiawan)

White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Artifacts & Lands | Allied Colors and Shards | Enemy Colors and Wedges | Reprints | cEDH

Nothing is True, Everything is.. meh

Hello and welcome back to yet another set review! It's been so long since we had spoilers (by the time you're reading this, it's been 18 days since my last set review), I was beginning to think that maybe Wizards was in need of medical assistance. With only twelve new black cards, this is going to be a short review, so I have the space to give you a quick history of my torrid love affair with Assassin's Creed:

When the first installment in the franchise came out, I was so excited. Such a unique game for its time. If you want to learn more about why, my friend Riley co-hosts an excellent gaming podcast, with a specific episode about Assassin's Creed. Anyway, then they decided to split the second installment into three games, and I lost interest. I didn't even play Assassin's Creed III (or is it five?) and I moved off the franchise entirely. My interest came screaming back with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, which focuses on my favorite place and time in history: early 1700s Caribbean, with all the Pirate-y goodness you could want. Then we got a new and (I'm guessing) mediocre game seemingly every year after that and I just couldn't keep up.

Why is that relevant? Well, when they announced the Universes Beyond crossover, I was very excited (Assassin's Creed) then got distracted by other stuff (Assassin's Creed II and III), then I got excited again by spoiler season (Black Flag) and now that I see what's in the set, it's all mediocre to me (all the rest). It's exactly like my experience with the video games, so I guess the crossover works in that regard. So let's get into these black cards, and fair warning: it won't be as upbeat as my set reviews usually are.

Mythics

No mythics to look at in black, which is the best foreshadowing I could ask for.

Rares

Desmond Miles

Our singular rare is at least a character I recognize. Desmond's obvious home is next to cards that care about surveilling, like Dimir Spybug and Mirko, Obsessive Theorist. Mirko is the head of an entire surveil-based precon, so Desmond might deserve a look if you're making changes. Unless he's your commander and you've built around both parts of the card, the Assassin text is most probably irrelevant. Having said that, I can imagine him at the head of a black Voltron deck that can make Desmond gigantic and take people out of the game while taking advantage of self-mill and reanimator cards. Losing out on blue for Equipment AND surveil synergies hurts that game plan, but it could certainly be tried.

Uncommons & Commons

Assassin Initiate

This wouldn't be a terrible card to go into the aforementioned Desmond deck, since its activated ability can compliment any Auras or Equipment you're sticking on it. You also wouldn't mind milling it, because it's a terrible draw later in the game.

Brotherhood Ambushers

Here's our first instance of freerunning, and it could be zero mana and I'm still not putting this card in my deck. Vanilla 6/3s aren't good in commander at any point outside of caring about high power, so maybe I could see this in a Ribbit Rodeo deck, but you can refer to my article for much better inclusions. NEXT!

Chain Assassination

Chain Assassination is a good design for freerunning. If you can trade off a few creatures in combat while your commander sneaks through, you've got a cantripping Infernal Grasp without the life loss. It's less exciting at four mana, but since it's an instant, you can kill something and draw a card on an opponent's turn if you've got the mana up. Its floor is a four mana Murder. Not ideal, but as we will see, this is one of the better cards in the list.

Hemlock Vial

A black cantripping artifact that would be a borderline card in Limited. The only interesting thing about this card is that it gives your Equipment deathtouch. If you turn your Equipment into creatures with something like Cyberdrive Awakener, or your deck is filled with Viridian Longbows and friends, I guess you could include this? Kelsien, the Plague is a cool commander...

Petty Larceny

This is pretty bad unless you're paying the freerunning cost, in which case it's a draw two from not your own deck and it refunds you a Treasure. Theft decks like the new Gonti, or exile-matters decks like Prosper are where you could put this, but I think there are better choices for those decks.

Phantom Blade

I'm kind of surprised this wasn't the name of a Magic card already. Giving enter-the-battlefield (ETB) triggers to Equipment certainly makes them better, and it's cool that in this case it's "modal" removal spell. If this had flash, I'd be in but sadly it doesn't, so I'm out.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: At this point in writing I realized that these are legal in Modern too, which is laughable given that we just saw how powerful Modern Horizons 3 is. Who are these cards for outside of Assassin's Creed fans? I also realized this is supposed to sell in small packs like March of the Machine: The Aftermath, which was one of the biggest product flops in recent years. Since Wizards cancelled a similar product for Outlaws of Thunder Junction, I'm guessing there wasn't enough time to change this one. Yikes.

Poison-Blade Mentor

A 2/1, non-evasive creature that cares only about Assassins? It could go in Assassin decks like Ramses, but maybe not even there. With all the cards to choose from in our format, I have a hard time seeing this making the 99.

Restart Sequence

Alright, they got me. I'm a sucker for reanimation spells. We don't usually get them even at four mana anymore, and this even has the option to cast for two. If you're playing Assassins or attacking a lot with your commander, this is a solid inclusion in one of your recursion slots over something like Persist and certainly over Zombify. I like this as a budget option as well, so consider it over Reanimate or Animate Dead to save a few bucks. I'm pretty sure this is the best card in this list.

Roshan, Hidden Magister

What in Ratadrabik's name is this? A Maskwood Nexus for Assassins? A support card for Kadena? Both? Morph Assassins is not something I thought I'd talk about in an article but here we are. Also cool with Scarblade Elite for your Assassins deck I guess, but what an odd design. There must be something here from a flavor perspective that I'm missing.

The Revelations of Ezio

With Ezio as the focus, is this Saga supposed to represent all three Assassin's Creed II games? If so, I get the first chapter which is just Assassinate, but the other two are lost on me. Again, if you're doing the Assassin thing with Ramses, Mari, or Etrata, this seems like the set for you. Otherwise I suggest looking elsewhere for your revelations.

Merciless Harlequin

As with everything else, consider if you're building an Assassins deck. What blew my mind about this card is the name. I didn't know what harlequin meant, so I looked. Almighty Google defines it as: "a mute character in traditional pantomime, typically masked and dressed in a diamond-patterned costume." Harlequin. Harley Quinn. You learn something new every day.

Yikes. In my opinion, just like the video game franchise, the Assassin's Creed set perfectly encapsulates the vibe of initial excitement and success being completely destroyed by product fatigue. Not something unfamiliar to us Magic players. I know it was a negative review, but I want to be honest with my suggestions and opinions for all you fine readers. If you're looking for more bubbly and excited writing from me, and/or you're interested in budget deck building, check out my usual series, Brew For Your Buck.

If you're excited about this set, I'd love to hear about it. Change my mind! Or maybe you agree with everything I said and we can commiserate together. Either way, drop me a line in the comments or give me a follow on Twitter @BrewForYourBuck. I'll see you next time!

Brian Cain

Brian played Magic intermittently between 2003 and 2017 when he fully embraced his love for Commander. Finding ways to maximize the value of each piece of cardboard in the deck is one of his favorite things to explore, especially if it involves putting lands in the graveyard! Outside of Magic, Brian works as a consultant in the marine industry, turning his passion for boats and ships into a career.