The Commander
As long as Ratonhnhaké꞉ton hasn't dealt damage yet, it has hexproof and can't be blocked.
Whenever Ratonhnhaké꞉ton deals combat damage to a player, create a 1/1 black Assassin creature token with menace. When you do, return target Equipment card from your graveyard to the battlefield, then attach it to that token.
Guide
Gameplan
Suit up Ratonhnhaké꞉ton with Equipment, swing in (he's hexproof and unblockable until he connects), then convert combat damage into a stream of menace Assassin tokens that recur Equipment straight from your graveyard. Snowball the board into an Equipment-laden assassin army that goes wide and tall, leveraging cheap-to-cast/expensive-equip gear and recursion to grind out value, then close with evasive beats or a combat alpha strike.
Strengths
- Built-in evasion and protection make the first hit nearly guaranteed, jump-starting the engine.
- Free Equipment reanimation each combat is huge card and tempo advantage, especially with high-equip-cost gear.
- Goes both wide (menace tokens) and tall (Voltron commander) in efficient Esper colors with great removal and protection.
- Synergizes with sacrifice and Assassin tribal payoffs for flexible win paths.
Weaknesses
- Loses hexproof/unblockable forever once it connects once, becoming removal-vulnerable.
- Engine is graveyard-dependent—graveyard hate shuts off the Equipment recursion.
- Wants Equipment in the yard first, so early turns can be slow without setup.
- Three-color manabase and equip-heavy build can be clunky if you stumble.
Key Cards
- Lightning Greaves — Cheap to equip and re-grants protection, but more importantly fuels the recursion loop if it dies.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Adds protection plus untaps your lands, and is a premium target to repeatedly recur onto tokens.
- Colossus Hammer — Trivial cast cost but huge equip cost—free attachment via the trigger turns tokens into 10/10 threats.
- Goldvein Pick — Cheap value Equipment that triggers treasure on hits, snowballing your token army's mana and board.
- Sigarda's Aid — Lets you flash in and auto-attach Equipment for free, accelerating the suit-up and ambush plan.
- Reconnaissance — Lets Ratonhnhaké꞉ton deal damage then pull back, dodging blocks/removal while still triggering tokens.
- Open the Armory — Tutors the Equipment you need to either protect the commander or set up the recursion engine.
- Forge Anew — Reduces equip costs and recurs Equipment from the graveyard, deepening the gear-recursion theme.
Upgrade Path
Lean into cheap-cost/high-equip-cost Equipment (Colossus Hammer, Cranial Plating) so the free attachment trigger generates maximum value, and add equip-cost reducers like Puresteel Paladin, Sigarda's Aid, and Forge Anew. Prioritize protection (Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Heroic Intervention) since the commander becomes a target after first damage, and round out with strong Esper interaction (Swords to Plowshares, Cyclonic Rift, Counterspell) plus token anthems or sacrifice outlets to convert the assassin army into a reliable kill.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Equip a Colossus Hammer or sword and beat down with the unblockable commander for fast Voltron damage.
- ▸Go wide with menace Assassins carrying Equipment for a lethal alpha strike.
- ▸Generate incremental advantage (treasures, lifegain, card draw) off Equipment triggers and grind opponents out.
- ▸Loop sacrifice/recursion with Assassin tokens and aristocrat payoffs for drain or combo finishes.
Archetypes
- Voltron — Hexproof and unblockable make him a safe carrier for game-ending Equipment and protective gear.
- Tokens — Each combat hit spawns menace Assassins that quickly flood the board.
- Equipment Aristocrats — Sacrificing Equipment (or letting tokens die) feeds re-attach value and ties into sac payoffs.
- Assassin Tribal — The token generator pairs with Assassin lords and payoffs for a focused creature-type plan.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BUW), by popularity.
