Hookblade Veteran
Creature — Human Assassin
During your turn, this creature has flying. (It can't be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach.)
- CMC
- 1
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Assassin's Creed
- Price
- $0.23
- EDHREC rank
- #11269
Hookblade Veteran enters as a 3/3 with deathtouch and immediately untaps a creature — that's board presence plus a combat trick stapled to a body that demands an answer. The cost is narrowness: outside of Assassin tribal, you're paying three mana for a synergy piece that does nothing exceptional on its own, and Etrata, Deadly Fugitive decks are the only shell where it earns its slot without question.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
Etrata, Deadly Fugitive triggers off Assassins dealing combat damage, and Hookblade Veteran's untap ability lets you swing with Etrata, untap her after damage, and set up a second attack — doubling up on hit-trigger accumulation in a single turn cycle.
Ramses, Assassin Lord
Ramses, Assassin Lord pumps every Assassin you control, so Hookblade Veteran arrives as a relevant body that also frees up a tapped Assassin for blocks or a second attack, keeping the pressure continuous rather than telegraphed.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Hookblade Veteran is legal in Commander, Legacy, Modern, Vintage, Pauper, and Oathbreaker, but its home is clearly Commander — the only format where Assassin tribal is a coherent strategy rather than a footnote. In Pauper it's a legal common, but three mana for a creature with situational upside competes poorly against the format's efficiency bar. Legacy and Vintage won't touch it; the power ceiling is nowhere near those formats' baselines. Commander is where Hookblade Veteran actually gets played, and specifically in the narrow slice of Assassin-tribal decks where the untap trigger has a real target.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.23 bulk tier
At $0.23, Hookblade Veteran is deep bulk — grab a copy without thinking about it. Tribal commons with mechanical upside rarely spike unless the archetype breaks wide into popularity, and Assassin tribal isn't there yet, so don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
- Ramses, Assassin Lord
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.