It’s been nearly two years since MTG Assassin’s Creed released, and it’s safe to say that the set did not live up to expectations. For the most part, the cards were simply far less captivating than anticipated. Plus, for a set designed to be Modern-legal, very few designs were powerful enough to make a competitive splash.
All that being said, the set did bring with it some interesting Assassin Commanders. Altair Ibn-La’Ahad, for example, is an efficient, powerful Commander when leading an Assassin army. This legend even opens the door for some game-ending infinite combos to further heighten his appeal.
MTG Altair Ibn-La’Ahad
Nearly all of Altair Ibn-La’Ahad’s impact lies with his triggered ability. The more Assassin cards you can exile with memory counters, the scarier each attack becomes. To ensure that Altair has consistent fuel, though, you need to incorporate a high density of impactful Assassins.
Thanks to Altair’s triggered ability, your best Assassin options are those with impactful entry or combat damage triggers. Threats like Ruthless Dawnbringer, Big Game Hunter, and Shadow, Mysterious Assassin all provide extra value for each token copy made of them. You can also choose to make use of cards like Roshan, Hidden Magister to turn your other creatures into Assassins. This opens the door for you to make token copies of bigger bombs like Archon of Cruelty.
Once you fill your deck with elite haymakers your next step is to utilize ways to get them into your graveyard. Any graveyard-based tutors like Entomb or Buried Alive will do the trick, as will self-Mill and Surveil effects like Desmond Miles.
Then, to guarantee that Altair can continue to attack unscathed, cards like Cover of Darkness that grant evasion also play a pivotal role. Dolmen Gate, Reconnaissance, and other damage-preventing effects offer similar protection. Once you have everything set up, cards like Isshin, Two Heavens as One and Seize the Day help maximize your Commander’s effects.
While your tokens won’t stick around post-combat on their own, you can always Phase them out in response to Altair’s exile trigger with Haystack or Teferi’s Protection. Alternatively, ending the turn with Sundial of the Infinite may be a strong play if you don’t need to cast spells during your second main phase.
Taking Infinite Combats with Non-Assassins
Interestingly, besides maximizing generic bombs, the combination of Altair and Roshan, Hidden Magister also enables some infinite combos. If you can turn Port Razer into an Assassin with Roshan, exiling it with a memory counter can create infinite combats.
Once Port Razer has a memory counter on it, attacking with Altair will put a copy of the Orc Pirate into play tapped and attacking. So long as Port Razer connects in combat, you’ll get another combat step out of the deal, allowing Altair to make another copy of Port Razer. If your opponents can’t block down or kill your Commander or Port Razer, you’ll have no trouble attacking for lethal damage.
Importantly, this combo line features some redundancy. Both Maskwood Nexus and Conspiracy are capable of filling the same role as Roshan. While Port Razer is a little harder to replace, if you have a way to give Altair Vigilance, Bloodthirster will accomplish the same task.
Cheap, Efficient, and Powerful
As a whole, thanks to the multitude of ways to abuse Altair Ibn-La’Ahad’s triggered ability, he’s one of the strongest Commanders from MTG Assassin’s Creed. Despite this, though, this Assassin remains heavily underrated and only shows up as the Commander in 6,034 decks, according to EDHREC.
Luckily, the fact that Altair has fallen under the radar has helped the mythic maintain a cheap price tag. This Commander barely passes the $1 threshold, making him a perfect budget option to craft a deck around.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!