Magic: The Gathering - 8 Best Assassin Commanders

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• Kelsien, The Plague

• Ramses, Assassin Lord

• Etrata, Deadly Fugitive

• Xira, The Golden Sting

• Etrata, The Silencer

• Queen Marchesa

• Olivia, Opulent Outlaw

• Mari, The Killing Quill

Once an underutilized creature type in Magic: The Gathering really only good for killing your opponent's creatures, Assassins have slowly been getting stronger and stronger, especially with sets like Murders at Karlov Manor and Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

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This also makes Assassin Commander decks more and more competitive, with unique combos and win effects. Whatever type of deck you want to build, there is an Assassin commander that can help you stab it in the back and hide the body.

8 Kelsien, The Plague

Self Buff With Assassin Synergy

Kelsien, the Plague is a perfect Asassin commander, as athe red, white, and black color identity gives you access to a variety of control and kill effects that allow it to get additional +1/+1 counters easily. Also, being able to deal one damage at instant speed can make any creature an opponent plays a potential experience counter if it has one toughness.

By giving Kelsien deathtouch, you can kill any target that it deals damage to and gain experience counters much more easily. You can also combine it with Otharri, Sun's Glory; Minthara, Merciless Soul; or Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas to get additional experience counters without tapping to kill creatures.

7 Ramses, Assassin Lord

Automatic Win With Creature Buff

A blue and black commander that excels in multiplayer Commander, Ramses, Assassin Lord makes use of unblockable mechanics in blue to automatically win the game even if there are other players still kicking around. While this won't win you any favors at your table, it makes the weakest target the only one you need.

The +1/+1 bonus plus the addition of deathtouch makes Ramses especially valuable considering it is only four mana and is a 4/4 creature. This is especially useful for Assassin creatures, which tend to have low power and toughness and are otherwise unable to destroy larger creatures without deathtouch.

6 Etrata, Deadly Fugitive

Spell Steal With Free Creatures

Etrata, Deadly Fugitive is an Assassin commander that is great for allowing you to steal you opponent's spells while giving you additional creatures. Since every time an Assassin deals damage and you get to cloak a card onto the battlefield, you can use cards like Maskwood Nexus to allow those "creatures" to cloak even more cards.

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This also gives you hidden answers that can be cast at any time for four mana, which can cheat in larger creatures if you're lucky. Combined with cards like Training Grounds, Etrata gives you access to many additional spells for only two mana each, which gives you an advantage even when your commander is no longer on the battlefield.

5 Xira, The Golden Sting

Card Draw And Sacrifice Targets

With a splash of green, Xira, the Golden Sting gives you access to more niche Assassin creatures like Twinblade Assassins and Ochran Assassin which double as additional card draw and allows XIra to attack without worrying about flying blockers. With the swathe of kill effects on most Assassin creatures, you will be able to trigger Xira almost every turn.

Because you are creating cheap, 1/1 tokens, you can add more sacrifice effects that most Assassin decks aren't fond of, giving you targets for Village Rites or Goblin Bombardment. Also, one of the few commanders that have dual creature type synergy for cards like Kraul Whipcracker or Kraul Stinger.

4 Etrata, The Silencer

Automatic Win With Combo Potential

Another Assassin commander with an automatic win condition in blue and black, Etrata, the Silencer's ability to add hit counters and then hide in your library is unique in Commander. Instead, you drop it in your command zone, replay it, and then add another hit counter without having to use other cards or hope that it reappears in your hand.

You can also add other Assassin cards like Mari, the Killing Quill and Ravenloft Adventurer to add additional hit counters faster. By adding Herald's Horn, you can make the stacking command tax cheaper while finding your other Assassin creatures faster.

3 Queen Marchesa

Assassin Tokens With Political Power

While popular for monarch decks, Queen Marchesa is useful as a commander for Assassin decks to create creature tokens that allow you to build a dangerous battlefield. Since your opponents are likely to be the monarch, it gives other players in multiplayer Commander another target to focus on and guarantees 1/1 Assassins every turn.

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Combined with cards like At Knifepoint, you can give all of your Assassin tokens the deadly combo of first strike and deathtouch, giving you a massive edge in combat. Because you will have an excess of 1/1 tokens, Skullclamp can be used as a one mana ability to draw two cards over and over.

2 Olivia, Opulent Outlaw

Mana Ramp And Creature Buff

Olivia, Opulent Outlaw follows in Mari, The Killing Quill's steps with a way to give Assassins the ability to give you treasure tokens. Unlike Mari, Olivia also adds white and red in its color identity and can mass buff all of your other creatures fairly reliably.

Because you just need treasures from any source to buff creatures, this gives you a ton of options with combo potential, especially with Mari and cards like Deadly Dispute or Academy Manufactor to increase the value of all of your various effects that rely on treasures.

1 Mari, The Killing Quill

Card Draw And Additional Mana

Despite also buffing Mercenaries and Rogues, being an Assassin makes Mari, the Killing Quill an ideal Assassin commander by also receiving effect triggers from other Assassin cards. Like Ezio, Mari can double as a card draw engine while also dropping two treasures for additional mana, which is rare in black decks.

Since all of your Assassins will have deathouch, applying hit counters to opponents' creatures will be easy while making creature trades in combat be in your favor. Also, any Assassin with first strike, like Nekrataal or Nightshade Assassin, becomes especially powerful.

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