Overview:

This Assassin tribal deck leverages Ezio Auditore da Firenze's freerunning ability to cast Assassins cheaply after dealing combat damage, aiming to reduce opponents to ≤10 life for Ezio's alt-win trigger. Secondary wincons include Ramses, Assassin Lord and incremental drain via Mirkwood Bats. The deck focuses on creature-based combat with light recursion and mana-fixing but lacks infinite combos or stax elements.

Primer:

Core Strategy:

1. Early Setup: Ramp with 1-2 CMC dorks (Llanowar Elves) and land tutors (Farseek) to enable 5-color mana for Ezio's ability. Deploy evasive Assassins (Hookblade Veteran) to trigger freerunning discounts.
2. Midgame Pressure: Use Assassin lords (Achilles Davenport) and anthem effects (Patchwork Banner) to push damage. Leverage Maskwood Nexus to make all creatures Assassins for synergy.
3. Finishers: Activate Ezio's {W}{U}{B}{R}{G} ability post-damage against low-life opponents. Backup plans include Ramses' alt-win or Unstoppable Slasher life halving.

Mulligan Priorities:

• 3+ lands with color diversity (Command Tower, The World Tree)
• Early Assassin (Assassin Initiate) or ramp (Arcane Signet)
• Avoid hands without colored mana sources or freerunning enablers

Key Tips:

• Time Ezio's ability with life reducers (Sorin Markov, Tree of Perdition)
• Use Brotherhood Regalia to grant unblockable to key Assassins
• Protect critical turns with Heroic Intervention/Teferi's Protection

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Relies on combat damage for key mechanics (freerunning/Ezio trigger)
• Slow 5-color mana base (12+ taplands, limited fast mana)

Moderate

• Minimal combo protection (only 2 counterspells, no free interaction)
• Fragile board presence (limited recursion beyond Revelations of Ezio)

Minor

• Life gain/aristocrats resistance (no lifedrain immunity)

Most Important Cards:

• Maskwood Nexus
• Ramses, Assassin Lord
• The World Tree
• Chromatic Lantern
• Sorin Markov
• Tree of Perdition
• Mirkwood Bats
• Unstoppable Slasher
• Brotherhood Regalia
• Teferi's Protection

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

• Goldfish win ~T9-11 via combat/alt-win triggers; no fast mana or cost reducers for 5-color activation.

Resilience: 3/10

• Dies to 2+ board wipes; minimal recursion/protection outside key cards.

Consistency: 5/10

• 2 tutors + light card draw; Maskwood Nexus/Assassin tribal redundancy helps.

Interaction: 4/10

• 8 targeted removals + 2 counterspells; mostly sorcery-speed/B-tier.

Rating Justification:

Focused Assassin tribal with alt-win angles but slow mana and combat-reliant strategy. Matches Casual/Precon (4.0) benchmarks for T10-12 combat wins, rising to 4.5 when synergies align.

Power level: 4.0 - 4.5