Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	The Assassin Brotherhood symbol
Design	Corey Bowen
Art direction	Matt Cavotta and Stephanie Cheung
Release date	July 5, 2024
Themes and mechanics	Assassins
Keywords/​ability words	Freerunning
Set size	100 + 207
Expansion code	ACR[1]
Universes Beyond
Fallout Assassin's Creed Final Fantasy
Magic: The Gathering Chronology
Summer Superdrop 2024 Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed Starter Kit

Assassin's Creed is a product in the Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond series that was released by Wizards of the Coast on July 5, 2024.^[2][3][4][5]

Set details[ | ]

This is a cross-over product based on Assassin's Creed, an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft.

The Assassin's Creed video game series depicts a fictional millennia-old struggle between the Order of Assassins, or Hidden Ones, who fight for peace and free will, and the Knights Templar, who desire peace through order and control. The series features historical fiction, science fiction, and fictional characters intertwined with real-world historical events and historical figures. In most games, players control a historical Assassin while also playing as an Assassin Initiate or someone caught in the Assassin–Templar conflict in the present-day framing story, with the latter using advanced technology to view the former's memories.

The first Assassin's Creed was released in 2007, and it has featured twelve main games in total, the most recent being Assassin's Creed Mirage in 2023. The main games in the Assassin's Creed series are set in an open world and played from the third-person view. Gameplay revolves around combat, stealth, and exploration, including the use of parkour to navigate the environment. The games feature both main and side missions, and some titles also include competitive and cooperative multiplayer game modes.

Assassin's Creed is Modern-legal.^[6] The main set contains 100 cards (including 20 reprints). It is targeted to 60-card formats but also allows for Commander play.^[7] The main way of distribution is through the newly introduced Beyond Boosters. There are no Commons in the main set.

Storyline[ | ]

This article or section discusses story elements that are not canonical. The story discussed here is based on another IP than Magic: The Gathering. It has no bearing on Magic continuity.

Versions of the two societies have existed for centuries, with the Order of Assassins seeking to stop the Knights Templar from gaining control of Pieces of Eden, artifacts that can override free will to control people.

These artifacts are remnants of an ancient human-looking species pre-dating humanity called the Isu, or Precursors, which created humanity to live in peace alongside them. The Isu ensured humans could not rise against them by creating the Pieces of Eden to control them. When the first hybrid Isu-human beings emerged, they were immune to the effects of the Pieces of Eden. They stole the Pieces of Eden, which led to a great war that ended when a massive solar flare devastated the surface of the Earth. The Isu began to die out while humanity thrived. Three Isu — Minerva, Juno, and Jupiter — attempted to prepare humanity for a solar flare they knew would come centuries later. Minerva and Jupiter prepared vaults from which humanity could activate a protective shield around Earth with the Pieces of Eden and the Eye, a means to communicate how to find and use these vaults; however, Juno saw humanity as a threat and attempted to sabotage Minerva and Jupiter's plan. Minerva and Jupiter were forced to destroy Juno, unaware she had hidden her consciousness to wake upon activation of the Eye. All that remained of the Isu were the traces of their memories in the world's mythologies, and religions, while the Pieces of Eden were lost to time.

The series takes place in the modern era, in which the Templars have established the mega-corporation Abstergo Industries. Abstergo has developed a device, the Animus, whose users can relive the memories of their ancestors through their genetic material. Abstergo has kidnapped people who are descendants of past Assassins to locate the missing Pieces of Eden via the Animus. A user of the Animus can move about in simulated memories as their ancestor, but performing actions outside the bounds of what their ancestor did can lead to desynchronization of the memory. Extended use of the Animus creates a bleeding effect that gives users some of the skills and capabilities they experienced with their ancestors.

Several foil versions of cards feature additional flavor text.

Marketing[ | ]

Assassin's Creed is sold in 7-card Beyond Boosters, 10-card Collector Boosters, the Assassin's Creed Bundle and a Starter Kit.

Assassin's Creed contains 100 regular cards (54 uncommons, 32 rares, 14 mythic rares), and includes randomly inserted traditional foil versions of all cards. Alternate card frames have a different number than the original version. There are 10 full-art basic lands in the set, each one displaying the landscapes from the Assassin's Creed franchise (#101-110). The Borderless Scene cards are #111-116, regular Borderless cards are #117-126, and Showcase Borderless "Memory Corridor" cards are #127-154. Extended art cards and #155-171, Foil etched are #172-264, Textured foil cards are #265-271. The English and Italian-language serialized cards have the same number as their original versions, but the Greek-language serialized cards are #272-273. Twenty-five additional cards are exclusively found in the Starter Kit (#274-298) (9 commons, 8 uncommons, 6 rares, 2 mythic rares). Reprints in the Starter Deck are #299-301, and #302-305 are the Starter Deck basics. The Bundle promo is #306 Buy-a-Box promo is #307.^[8]

Promos[ | ]

• Bundle: Royal Assassin
• Buy-a-Box: Hidden Blade

Beyond Boosters[ | ]

Assassin's Creed introduces Beyond Boosters. These are not draftable, but each booster "takes you on a journey unique to the specific Universe".^[9] Beyond Boosters contain both new cards and reprints.^[4] The concept is similar to that of the failed micro sets with Epilogue Boosters (i.e. March of the Machine: The Aftermath), but with a larger card pool.

The boosters consist of seven cards: three non-foil uncommons, a non-foil land or scene card, a non-foil rare or mythic, a traditional foil of any rarity, card that is a Booster Fun variant. An additional nonplayable eighth card is a token or marketing card.^[7]

Scene cards[ | ]

The set includes one set of borderless scene cards. When brought together these cards form a recognizable scene from the game. The six "Rome Vista" cards consist of Ezio Auditore di Firenze looking out over the ancient city of Rome, and a cycle of five lands.^[10]

Serialized Historical Figures[ | ]

The Serialized Historical Figures treatment allows players to explore the past with key historical figures featured in the Assassin's Creed games. The four Serialized Historical Figures are found only in Collector Boosters and are printed in their native language (Italian, Greek, and English). Their serialized total is 500 for each.^[10]

• Leonardo da Vinci
• Mary Read and Anne Bonny
• Cleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
• Sokrates, Athenian Teacher

Secret Lairs[ | ]

The release of Assassin's Creed is accompanied by two themed Secret Lairs:

• Assassin's Creed: DaVinci's Designs
• Assassin's Creed: Lethal Legends

Tokens, emblems and markers[ | ]

Assassin's Creed has eight tokens, emblems and markers:^[11]

1. Copy, for Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Leonardo da Vinci
2. 3/2 Shapeshifter creature with changeling, for Black Market Connections.
3. 1/1 Human Rogue creature, for Distract the Guards.
4. 1/1 Assassin creature with menace, for Aya of Alexandria, Headsplitter, Origin of the Hidden Ones, Ratonhnhaké꞉ton and Rooftop Bypass.
5. Phobos, a 3/2 legendary Horse creature, for The Spear of Leonidas.
6. Treasure artifact, for Black Market Connections, Edward Kenway, Mary Read and Anne Bonny and Petty Larceny.
7. Emblem for The Capitoline Triad
8. A Mysterious Creature helper card, for Arno Dorian, Aveline de Grandpré, Bayek of Siwa and Become Anonymous.

There are also three special created minigames that are exclusively found in the Beyond Boosters.^[11]

Themes and mechanics[ | ]

Assassin's Creed has an "Assassins-matter" theme.^[10][12]

The set introduces the Freerunning mechanic that allows you to cast a spell for the reduced freerunning cost if you hit your opponent this turn with an Assassin or with your Commander. It also sees the return of the Historic, Disguise, and Cloak mechanics.^[12][13] For flavor reasons the set sees the one-off return of the Detain mechanic, Islandwalk and Shroud.

Card types[ | ]

The Capitoline Triad is the first Legendary creature to create an emblem (apart from creatures with The Ring Tempts You).

Counter types[ | ]

The set introduces Memory counters.

Cycles[ | ]

Assassin's Creed features the following cycles.

Cycle name
Uncommon sagas	Fall of the First Civilization	Ballad of the Black Flag	The Revelations of Ezio	Origin of the Hidden Ones	The Aesir Escape Valhalla
	Five uncommon Sagas
Uncommon colored equipments	Hookblade	Assassin Gauntlet	Phantom Blade	Hidden Footblade	Hunter’s Bow
	Five uncommon colored equipments that attach to a creature you control upon entering the battlefield.
Cycle name
Horizon lands	Silent Clearing	Fiery Islet	Nurturing Peatland	Sunbaked Canyon	Waterlogged Grove
	Five rare enemy dual pain lands that can be sacrificed to draw a card by paying . Reprints from Modern Horizons.

Reprinted cards[ | ]

• Assassin's Trophy, first printed in Guilds of Ravnica, last seen in Murders at Karlov Manor.
• Black Market Connections, first printed in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate, last seen in Lost Caverns Commander.
• Cathartic Reunion, first printed in Kaladesh, last seen in Secret Lair.
• Coastal Piracy, first printed in Mercadian Masques, last seen in Jumpstart.
• Conspiracy, first printed in Mercadian Masques, last seen on The List.
• Cover of Darkness, first printed in Onslaught, last seen in Salvat 2005.
• Fatal Push, first printed in Aether Revolt, last seen in Secret Lair.
• Go for the Throat, first printed in Mirrodin Besieged, last seen in Tales of Middle-earth Commander.
• Mortify, first printed in Guildpact, last seen in Tales of Middle-earth Commander.
• Murder, first printed in Magic 2013, last seen in Breaking News.
• Path to Exile, first printed in Conflux, last seen in Breaking News.
• Propaganda, first printed in Tempest, last seen in Modern Horizons 3 Commander.
• Reconnaissance, first printed in Exodus, last seen in Secret Lair.
• Reconstruct History, first printed in Strixhaven: School of Mages.
• Rest in Peace, first printed in Return to Ravnica, last seen in The Big Score.
• Royal Assassin, first printed in Alpha, last seen in Dominaria Remastered.
• Sword of Feast and Famine, first printed in Mirrodin Besieged, last seen in The List.
• Sword of Light and Shadow, first printed in Darksteel, last seen in Double Masters.
• Temporal Trespass, first printed in Fate Reforged.
• Terminate, first printed in Planeshift, last seen in Modern Horizons 3 Commander.
• The enemy colored Horizon lands, first printed in Modern Horizons, and partly last seen in Doctor Who.
  • Silent Clearing
  • Fiery Islet
  • Nurturing Peatland
  • Sunbaked Canyon
  • Waterlogged Grove

Notable cards[ | ]

Misprints[ | ]

• The etched Foil card version of the printed Shay Cormac card has a typo in its 2nd paragraph where the word 'county' should instead say 'counter'.^[14]

Preconstructed decks[ | ]

Starter Kit[ | ]

The Starter Kit comes with two Modern-legal 60-card decks, designed to create an interactive learning experience for two.

Starter kit deck name	Colors Included					Commander
Ancient Arsenal	W			R		Eivor, Battle-Ready
Brotherhood Agents		U	B			Ezio, Blade of Vengeance

Gallery[ | ]

• 

  Beyond Booster

• 

  Collector Booster

• 

  Scene cards

External links[ | ]

• Assassin's Creed wiki
• Official product page.
• WPN product page.
• Magic: The Gathering - Official Assassin’s Creed Trailer Reveal (Video). IGN. YouTube (June 9, 2024).

References[ | ]