MTG Assassin’s Creed’s Ratonhnhaké꞉ton Sees Surprising Success in 397-Player Event

With the constant influx of legends in Universes Beyond sets, it’s easy for some Commanders to get overlooked. Yet some of these legends are powerful enough to make a splash in competitive formats when given a chance.

Ratonhnhaké:ton is a great example of a serious threat that many players don’t even remember exists, yet it just made the top 32 of a 397-player Duel Commander event.

A Unique Equipment Commander

Ratonhnhaké:ton, the engine behind this Esper deck, gets a lot of its power from being temporarily untargetable and unblockable. The goal is to use this window to land a hit, get your token, and immediately equip something massive to it.

To do that, you need ways to get Equipment like Meteor Sword and Dissection Tools directly into your graveyard. Unmarked Grave is the strongest tool in this department, since it gets the job done in one fluid motion.

Alternatively, you can use traditional tutors like Stoneforge MysticStoneforge MysticWhen this creature enters, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
{1}{W}, {T}: You may put an Equipment card from your hand onto the battlefield., Steelshaper’s Gift, and Cloud, Midgar Mercenary to get the artifacts into your hand. From there, cards like Careful StudyCareful StudyDraw two cards, then discard two cards., Ghostly Pilferer, or any other discard outlet can chuck them into your graveyard.

Once everything is set up, a single Ratonhnhaké:ton attack should put you pretty far ahead, but you can cement your advantage further by continuing to connect in combat. You just need to pave a path with removal spells like Swords to Plowshares or Fatal PushFatal PushDestroy target creature if it has mana value 2 or less.
Revolt — Destroy that creature if it has mana value 4 or less instead if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn., and the tokens will keep flowing.

Notably, if your Commander ever gets killed, replaying it does reset its Hexproof and unblockable abilities, making it easier to keep the token engine rolling. The same is true if you bounce it with Teferi, Time Raveler or exile it with Parallax Wave, so make sure to keep this in mind.

Even if you aren’t resurrecting an Equipment each time Ratonhnhaké:ton connects, these tokens still wear Umezawa’s Jitte quite well. Going wide also helps maximize Raffine, Scheming SeerRaffine, Scheming SeerFlying, ward {1}
Whenever you attack, target attacking creature connives X, where X is the number of attacking creatures. (Draw X cards, then discard X cards. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each nonland card discarded this way.)‘s trigger and provides consistent fodder for Skullclamp.

When combined with other cheap, powerful threats like Psychic Frog and The Wondrous Wasp, you’re well-prepared to tempo out opponents. Counterspells ranging from No More Lies to Force of NegationForce of NegationIf it's not your turn, you may exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target noncreature spell. If that spell is countered this way, exile it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard. only make it easier to cross the finish line.

Tempo Takeover

What makes Ratonhnhaké:ton such a difficult Commander to play against is that once it’s in play, it’s nearly impossible to stop you from getting your money’s worth. Decks that rely on spot removal to keep the board clear can’t touch your Commander until it’s already made and has a token suited up.

Naturally, this gives you a massive edge against Aragorn, King of Gondor decks that rely on maintaining the Monarch. All your tokens have Menace, and once you claim the throne, you have plenty of removal spells to keep it.

At the same time, the combination of a token-spewing Commander and Umezawa’s Jitte makes it extremely difficult for Brigid, Clachan’s Heart decks to ever gain traction. Even if the opponent removes Jitte, they’re forced to continue blocking your Commander, or you’ll just get it right back.

With access to lots of cheap threats and countermagic, this deck is also set up to get under combo shells like Raph & Mikey, Troublemakers. Sometimes, just curving Frog into Ratonhnhaké:ton instead of spending time assembling Equipment synergies will get the job done.

Even with this elite versatility in mind, though, strategies can stop your Commander from ever getting going in the first place. Tasigur, the Golden Fang decks, for instance, have plenty of counterspells to keep Ratonhnhaké:ton from hitting the board. When backed up by Sheoldred’s Edict and Dress Down, it’s hard to get off the ground.

Facing down Deadpool, Trading CardDeadpool, Trading CardAs Deadpool enters, you may exchange his text box and another creature's.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 3 life.
{3}, Sacrifice this creature: Each other player draws a card. is even more nightmarish, since its enters ability doesn’t target your Commander at all. So, the opponent can simply cast Deadpool after you resolve Ratonhnhaké:ton, and steal its Hexproof clause.

In that sense, Ratonhnhaké:ton isn’t a perfect Commander by any stretch, but it lines up well against some of the format’s top archetypes. Given how few players run the Assassin, you may be able to catch your opponent off guard.

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