Edward Kenway’s MTG card brings Black Flag pirate gameplay to Commander with theft mechanics and Treasure generation
Introduction: Why Edward Kenway Matters
The inclusion of Edward Kenway in Magic: The Gathering’s Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed collaboration represents a significant moment for both franchise enthusiasts and competitive players. This crossover bridges the narrative depth of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag with MTG’s strategic deck-building ecosystem, offering fresh gameplay avenues.
For Commander format enthusiasts, Edward delivers exactly what pirate tribal decks have needed – a commander that synergizes with both creature types and vehicle strategies while generating substantial resource advantage. His design captures the essence of naval combat and plundering from Black Flag perfectly.
Assassin’s Creed Crossover Impact
Magic’s collaboration with Assassin’s Creed has dramatically expanded the viability of Assassin creature types, building upon recent support from Thunder Junction’s Outlaws mechanics. New additions like Ezio Auditore complement existing assassination strategies while introducing novel combo potential.
Edward Kenway stands out by serving dual archetype purposes. While classified as an Assassin, his mechanics heavily favor Pirate tribal strategies, making him an ideal commander for players seeking alternatives to pure assassination decks. This flexibility addresses deck diversity concerns within the crossover set.
The Grixis color combination (blue, black, red) provides access to powerful pirate support cards while maintaining assassination synergies, creating a versatile deck-building foundation that appeals to multiple playstyles.
Edward Kenway Card Analysis
Edward Kenway enters the battlefield as a substantial 5/5 Legendary Human Assassin Pirate, immediately presenting a credible combat threat. His stat line ensures he survives most removal spells while applying pressure independently.
The first ability triggers during each end step, generating Treasure tokens equal to your tapped Pirates, Assassins, and Vehicles. This rewards aggressive attacking strategies and vehicle crewing, rapidly accelerating your mana development. Proper sequencing can yield 3-5 Treasure tokens per turn cycle in optimized builds.
His secondary ability leverages vehicle combat damage to exile cards from opponent libraries. Each time one of your vehicles connects with an opponent, you exile their top card, gaining casting rights regardless of color requirements. The Treasure generated from his first ability conveniently covers any colored mana needs for these stolen spells.
While lacking explicit color-fixing text, the Treasure generation effectively provides rainbow mana, enabling casting of any exiled cards. This elegant design avoids wordiness while maintaining functional flexibility.
Advanced Strategy Guide
Optimal Play Patterns: Deploy Edward after establishing a board presence of low-cost Pirates and Vehicles. Prioritize crewing vehicles before combat to maximize Treasure generation. Use the mana advantage to cast high-impact spells ahead of curve or deploy additional threats.
Common Mistakes to Avoid: Don’t overextend into board wipes – maintain card advantage through theft rather than overcommitting creatures. Avoid playing Edward without support creatures already in play. Remember that vehicles must deal combat damage to trigger theft, not just attack.
Advanced Combos: Pair with Weatherlight Compleated for additional vehicle synergy or Revel in Riches for alternate win conditions. Dockside Extortionist creates explosive Treasure turns when combined with Edward’s generation. Use Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots to protect your commander from targeted removal.
Mana Curve Considerations: Include numerous 2-3 mana Pirates to ensure early board presence. Balance vehicle count with crew requirements – too many vehicles without sufficient crew reduces Treasure output.
Community Reception and Future Outlook
Player response to Edward Kenway’s card design has been overwhelmingly positive across both MTG and Assassin’s Creed communities. Fans appreciate the authentic translation of Black Flag’s pirate fantasy into functional mechanics.
As one community member noted: “The card perfectly captures Edward’s character – generating resources through piracy while stealing from opponents. This feels like actual Black Flag gameplay in card form.” Another highlighted deck-building flexibility: “Grixis Pirates already has established support, so Edward slots perfectly into existing archetypes while bringing new synergies.”
The Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed set launches globally on July 5th, featuring multiple product configurations. While Beyond Booster pricing has drawn some criticism, the mechanical depth and thematic execution of cards like Edward Kenway demonstrate the potential of well-designed crossovers.
For players interested in pirate strategies or Assassin’s Creed themes, Edward represents one of the most compelling reasons to engage with this crossover set, offering both immediate playability and long-term deck-building potential.
No reproduction without permission：SeeYouSoon Game Club » MTG Assassin’s Creed’s new Pirate Commander raises the Black Flag Edward Kenway's MTG card brings Black Flag pirate gameplay to Commander with theft mechanics and Treasure generation