MTG Assassin’s Creed’s most-wanted Commander gets 500% price spike

Edward Kenway is the current star of MTG’s Assassin’s Creed set, with players clamoring to get their hands on this powerful pirate as it sees a huge spike in price.

Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed is stuffed with powerful and memorable Assassins from all across Ubisoft’s storied franchise. From Altaïr to Valhalla’s mighty Viking Eivor, MTG players and Assassin’s Creed fans have a wealth of excellent characters and card designs to add to their collections.

One Assassin is currently outstripping the rest of the pack, however, as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag’s Edward Kenway is quickly ramping up in price.

From a starting point of around $6 the Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed set’s, Edward Kenway has swiftly climbed to a median price of $34 at TCGplayer. The borderless showcase variant is fetching an even higher price, at a median of $46.11.

Ubisoft/WotC

There are several reasons why Edward Kenway has seen such a huge boost in price. Black Flag is among the most popular games in the series. With titles like Skull and Bones failing to recapture just what made this pirate adventure so great, Black Flag’s legacy only grows stronger.

Pirates are also a popular archetype in Magic: The Gathering, with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan featuring a pre-con dedicated to the theme. However, it’s hard to argue that, compared to other iconic Creature types, pirates can be underpowered and unfocused.

With past pirate decks having to be built with a hodgepodge of disparate themes, Edward Kenway helps to provide some clarity in deckbuilding by focusing on two powerful and thematically appropriate effects: gaining Treasure and stealing opponents’ cards.

Treasure is a hugely powerful and flexible MTG mechanic, with Commanders like Prosper, Tome-Bound, and Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s Vihaan, Goldwaker thriving when building up a real trove.

Treasure can quickly set you ahead of opponents in mana production, and Treasure-generating Artifacts like The Reaver Cleaver and Creatures like Ancient Red Dragon fetch a high price as a result.

Edward Kenway is one of the best Treasure cards available in Grixis colors. While the card’s use in the 99 of other Pirates decks is significant, Edward really shines as a Commander that can be reliably cast and provide a payoff for attacking in the form of a huge amount of Treasure tokens.

Ubisoft/WotC

This Commander also ties three possible themes together, providing support for Pirates, Vehicles, and Assassins all at once. Universes Beyond: Assassin’s Creed has added some excellent new Assassins to the game, including Edward’s crewmate and fellow Brotherhood member Adéwalé, giving Edward yet more powerful cards to play with.

While Edward is swiftly climbing the ranks. Assassin’s Creed’s all-time most popular protagonist – Ezio Auditore – currently has Edward Kenway beat in popularity. According to sites like EDHrec, Ezio has almost double the number of constructed decks as Edward.

However, a crucial factor in this is that the Ezio Auditore da Firenze card was revealed much earlier than Edward’s, meaning that players had a significant headstart on constructing decklists using Ezio and MTG’s existing Assassin Creatures.

Ezio’s game-ending combo with Ramses, Master Assassin may have won the card some early popularity, but it seems as though Edward is quickly coming for the crown.

MTG players looking to add some extra spice to their Pirate decks, as well as Assassin’s Creed fans hoping to recreate the glory days of Black Flag, will want to keep an eye on Edward Kenway going forward.

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