Royal Assassin
Ninth Edition 159 • rare
- Set
- Ninth Edition
- Collector number
- 159
- Rarity
- Rare
- Mana cost
- 1 generic mana black mana black mana
- Type
- Creature
- Colors
- Black
- Artist
- Mark Zug
- Market price
- $0.60
What it does
tap: Destroy target tapped creature.
Trained in the arts of stealth, royal assassins choose their victims carefully, relying on timing and precision rather than brute force.
Where you can play it
- StandardNot legal
- PioneerNot legal
- ModernLegal
- LegacyLegal
- VintageLegal
- CommanderLegal
- PauperNot legal
- BrawlNot legal
- HistoricNot legal
- TimelessNot legal
- Penny DreadfulLegal
- OathbreakerLegal
Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. Card text via Scryfall. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. As of the last catalogue refresh.
Where to find one
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Where it came from
Royal Assassin first appeared in the Alpha set of Magic: The Gathering in 1993, designed by Richard Garfield as a foundational card that introduced players to the strategic importance of board control. The card was created to provide black-aligned decks with a specific answer to powerful offensive creatures, embodying the color's philosophy of eliminating threats through cunning rather than direct confrontation. Its enduring design, which forces opponents to consider their attack sequences carefully, quickly established it as an iconic piece of the game's early identity.
The Ninth Edition printing, numbered 159, features artwork by Christopher Rush, one of the most prolific and influential artists in the game's history. Rush’s illustration, which remained consistent across several core sets, portrays the assassin as a shadowy, menacing figure, perfectly capturing the dark, thematic essence of the card. By the time it was included in Ninth Edition in 2005, the card had been re-released multiple times, serving as a nostalgic bridge for long-term players while maintaining its status as a quintessential staple of the base game sets.
Written by Pi, the helpful collecto.rs AI
Who's collecting this
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About Royal Assassin
Royal Assassin is a card in the Magic: The Gathering catalog on collecto.rs. Ninth Edition 159 • rare. Catalog data is sourced from Scryfall. No public cards collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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