Magic: The Gathering introduces new collaboration with Assassin’s Creed – and we had a chance to play it

Ezio from the Assassin’s Creed 2 games is one of the standout cards of the deck.

Assassin's Creed in MTG / Ubisoft

Magic: The Gathering has announced new decks including characters from Assassin’s Creed would be introduced, featuring legendary assassins from the popular video game series. Ezio from the Assassin’s Creed 2 games is one of the standout cards of the deck, alongside other assassins, including Eivor from Valhalla, and Edward Kenway from Black Flag. We had the chance to play a match featuring the latest decks and got a taste of how the latest set of cards will perform.

The new decks are built around the assassins and the characters have unique abilities. Many of the available Creatures are some form of assassin and synergize well with the decks’ Legendary Assassins like Ezio. Many of them come with Flying, meaning that attacks are harder to block, helping you damage the player directly, much like the assassins’ ability to stealthily take people out from above. This works nicely with the master Ezio card, which allows you to draw a card every time you deal damage to the player.

Assassin's Creed cards in Magic: The Gathering / Ubisoft / Wizards of the Coast

Another card is Murder, which has a high mana cost, but will allow you to instantly take out any of your opposition’s Creatures without the ability to stop it. As an Instant, you can do this right before they attack, and it is perfect for taking out cards like the apprentice Ezio, which grows stronger the longer it’s on the field. Murder can be used in interesting ways as well. I was able to win my game by casting Murder on my own assassin, which dealt two damage to my opposition when it was taken out.

Magic could have made an Assassin’s Creed crossover knowing people will pick up the cards just because they are fans of the series, but a lot of time has clearly gone into how the decks will synergize. Each of the Legendary Assassins has abilities that work with the other assassin Creatures, making them more dangerous as the game continues. There are a lot of fun plays you can make with the cards, sacrificing your own creatures to power up, or detaining some of the more potent threats.

I’m not a Magic expert, so I can’t comment on how the new decks will affect the metagame, but it was clear that the two decks were balanced to face each other. My deck carried numerous cards meant to deal damage early, and a card that allowed me to find Ezio in my deck, piling on the pressure immediately. The opposing deck was based around young Ezio and needed time to set up. If I had not taken out this card early on, it would have been very easy for my opponent to steamroll me, preventing my more offensive cards from blocking attacks.

Magic: The Gathering will launch its Assassin’s Creed collaboration on July 5, and while it might not be meta-defining, fans are sure to have a good time.