It’s not new for Wizards of the Coast to release cross-over sets of cards with other IPs. We’ve had everything from Transformers to Doctor Who, but with the release of the Assassin’s Creed MTG set, it’s the first to not include any Commander Decks and instead rely on the joy of opening Beyond Boosters, a new type of booster, as well as Collector’s Boosters, and the joy of seeing characters and settings you recognise from the Assassin’s Creed franchise. As someone who has played most of the games, I find it a joy to see people and moments you recognise, but there’s something odd about this set, with the lack of Commander Decks just making everything feel slightly hollow.
Unlike other ‘Universes Beyond’, where there’s an even mix of wanting to attract fans of the IP that the set is featuring and appealing to MTG fans who are already fans of the game, this Assassin’s Creed set seems mostly focused on attracting new fans, who are picking up packs because they see Assassin’s Creed on the box. The Beyond Boosters contain only 7 cards, which is definitely better than the meniscal 5 in the March of the Machine: Epilogue packs, which felt like opening promo packs. But outside of the more expensive Collectors boosters, following the usual path of shiny cards seen in standard sets, there’s only a dual ‘Starter Deck’ to pick up from this set. The two decks have characters that fans will know and be ready to dive into playing with, such as “Eivor, Battle-Ready” or “Ezio, Blade of Vengeance.”
From a gameplay point of view, there’s a unique keyword ability introduced in this set, ‘Freerunning,’ which I like, even if it’s currently limited. But it allows you to cast a card with ‘Freerunning’ for its alternative cost if you’ve dealt damage to a player with either an Assassin or a commander this turn.
This is a set designed more for opening cards than playing with them — fortunately, I’m pretty good at opening cards. And you’ll recognise things like the Animus, locations from all the games, modern characters like Layla, side characters like Shaun & Rebecca, Leonardo da Vinci and more. I really like the look of the Showcase cards in this set, especially the characters in the white, which does not have an Animus background. It may be a bore for any other set, but this white background is synonymous with the franchise, and it makes these cards stand out more as Assassins Creed-related than the ones with more colour. That said, I do love the background flair on t some of the other characters that make them fit into their own games, like Edward Kenway with a ship in the background or the third-eye-like Animus background of Eivor.
So, is the Magic: The Gathering Universe Beyond: Assassin’s Creed set targeted at new players or not? Well, not really, as the cards are Modern Legal, but everything you open and all the Legendary Creatures make this set seem like it should still be Commander-focused. It makes the overall design odd, even if the cards themselves are pretty cool. As a fan of the game, I’m left feeling like this is the oddest Universe Beyond release from Wizards of the Coast so far. But even with all of that said, if you’re a fan of Assassin’s Creed and want to get into MTG, the Starter Deck here is going to be the one for you, without a doubt.
