The Universes Beyond set of Magic: The Gathering’s Assassin’s Creed crossover includes more than just powerful Assassin Creatures. It also features every Saga used to portray significant moments and tales from Ubisoft’s franchise.
Despite being a relatively new addition to Magic: The Gathering, Sagas have quickly gained popularity in the game’s Universes Beyond sets. Their introduction in the 2018 Dominaria set has been a successful pairing with MTG’s pop-culture collaborations.
Sagas have been employed in various media to portray significant events in their respective universes. In Warhammer 40K, they have been utilized to showcase pivotal moments in the series’ lore; in Doctor Who, they serve as representations of single episodes or serials; and in Fallout, they are synonymous with the iconic vaults in the games. The latest addition to this tradition is Assassin’s Creed, with the Sagas in this set featuring both backstory elements and summaries of standout games in the series.
All Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed Sagas
Ballad of the Black Flag
This four-step Saga can be played for a cost of 1BB. Each of the first three steps of this Saga involves milling three cards and gives you the option to add a Historic card from those milled cards to your hand. This allows you to gather more Sagas to use, as well as Artifacts and Legendary spells which are also fair game.
Although it may be tempting to immediately use these cards once they are added to your hand, it can actually be advantageous to wait until the final step of this Saga. By reducing the casting cost of all Historic cards by 2 generic mana, Ballad of the Black Flag allows for a highly impactful turn where multiple spells can be cast simultaneously.
The Ballad of the Black Flag integrates smoothly with the pirate-themed setting of Assassin’s Creed, uncovering long-forgotten Artifacts and valuable treasure and ensuring they fall into the hands of resourceful individuals.
Fall of the First Civilisation
A Saga with a cost of 2W that produces white mana. Like most white Sagas in Magic, Fall of the First Civilisation serves as a control choice while also offering necessary card draw in a color that can sometimes face difficulties in this aspect.
This card’s initial effect enables you and a chosen player to each draw two cards. During its subsequent step, you may select and remove an Artifact controlled by an opponent. To conclude, all players must select three of their nonland permanents to keep, while all remaining cards are destroyed and removed from the game.
The card neatly encapsulates the downfall of the Isu, the precursor race of Assassin’s Creed, detailing the demise of Juno and the survival of a small group of Isu and humans.
Origin of the Hidden Ones
The Hidden Ones’ origin can be summoned for a cost of 3R. This Saga, fueled by red mana, possesses a fierce and aggressive nature, inflicting damage and enabling the creation of a formidable army of lethal tokens.
The initial stage of this Saga inflicts 4 damage to a target of your choice, functioning as effective removal or burn. The subsequent stage produces two 1/1 Assassin Creature tokens with Menace, making them difficult for opponents to block.
Ultimately, the third stage of the Saga encourages players to attack with as many Assassin Creatures as they can, resulting in the creation of a tapped and attacking Assassin Creature token with Menace for each Assassin that attacked during this turn.
This Saga is a tribute to Assassin’s Creed: Origins, depicting the origins of the group that would eventually evolve into the Brotherhood of Assassins.
The Aesir Escape Valhalla
This Saga, which costs 2G, can be reused and greatly benefits from the use of the Proliferate ability to quickly cycle through its three steps.
The Aesir Escape Valhalla’s initial move is a useful way to gain life if set up correctly. It allows you to remove a permanent from your graveyard and gain life equal to its mana value.
The second step of the card allows you to place +1/+1 counters on a Creature you control. The number of counters placed is equivalent to the mana value of the card that was exiled in the first step. In the final step, both this Saga and the exiled card are returned to their owner’s hand, ready to be cast once more.
The repeating theme of this Saga complements the concept of reincarnation in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and the card’s three stages align with the game’s Yggdrasil.
The Revelations of Ezio
The casting cost of this Saga, which requires 2B, is associated with black mana. The initial step involves easily removing a tapped Creature controlled by an opponent. During the second step, any attacking Assassin under your control receives a +1/+1 counter. The third and last step involves bringing an Assassin card from your graveyard onto the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter.
Fans of the original games in the series, especially the Ezio trilogy, will undoubtedly find this saga to be a success. The initial stage showcases Ezio Auditore as a youthful Assassin, driven by a thirst for vengeance. In the subsequent stage, Ezio assumes leadership of the Brotherhood and its new members. And in the final stage, he follows in the footsteps of his predecessor Altaïr and uncovers the secrets he left behind.
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