Sokrates, Athenian Teacher – Assassin’s Creed
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 3.0
Casual: 4.25
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Those of you who have played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey will likely remember the encounters with Sokrates and his probing philosophical questions. Some of those discussions made me want to slap him, but I could never find a way to do so; at least they always give you dialogue options to tell him to stop talking to you! Unfortunately, they haven’t really replicated the depth of his signature question-and-answer-and-insight dialogues in Magic form, but he does give you an interesting tool that I’m pretty sure is unique in this form. Usually you want to deal damage, and I’m sure some analyses will complain that you have to pick between damage and drawing cards, but that’s the kind of decision you make in strategy games. Besides, once you remember that his ability works on opponents’ creatures too, it becomes even more interesting. You can obviously defend yourself with it, but also use it tactically on someone attacking a third person in multiplayer – or just mess with people for the heck of it. Which is kind of in the spirit of Sokrates’ appearances in Odyssey, if you think about it – appearing on the scene to distract Kassandra from assassin stuff.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.5
As Assassin’s Creed is a series set in history, this crossover is the perfect time to bring in Actual Historical Figures, as they are shown in those games. One such figure, Socrates, is represented in Odyssey as Sokrates, and naturally the philosopher gets a card.
Sokrates is very much blue/white, trying to guide you along the…probably wide and pleasant, but philosophers are always like that, I suppose. Sokrates has a really interesting ability in both an offensive and defensive context: if you’re willing to give up damage and let your opponent get some cards, you also can draw from the experience. The obvious idea here is to use it more defensively, as you can blunt an attack and potentially draw into an out to deal with it later. Sokrates does open himself up that way, but it makes for interesting risk/reward considerations…and, in a pinch, you can turn your attack into card draw if you need it, but I imagine you’d rather aim this at an opposing attack. His resistance to removal and adequate body may give him a home in Modern’s more controlling shells, though I imagine it’s more of a cute option than a good one…that said, if you stop lethal damage one turn, then he’ll have taught everyone a valuable lesson in the process.
Constructed: 3
Casual: 4.5
Limited: N/A
Multiplayer: 3.5 (fun politics to be had, just keep in mind that it’s not without risk)
Commander [EDH]: 4
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