Stronghold Assassin
Creature — Phyrexian Zombie Assassin
, Sacrifice a creature: Destroy target nonblack creature.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- B
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Stronghold
- Price
- $1.35
- EDHREC rank
- #10966
Stronghold Assassin puts a repeatable, instant-speed edict on the board — opponents sacrifice a creature every turn you have a zombie to pitch. The cost is real: you're trading your own creatures as fuel, which means the card earns its slot only in decks that generate zombie tokens faster than they can be spent.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Gisa, the Hellraiser
Gisa, the Hellraiser floods the board with 2/2 zombie tokens on each attack, giving Stronghold Assassin a constant supply of fodder to convert into forced sacrifices — the two cards form a loop where Gisa replenishes what the Assassin consumes.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Stronghold Assassin does its best work: three opponents mean three potential edict targets per turn cycle, and zombie tribal shells can generate the sacrifice fodder it needs at scale. In Legacy and Vintage it's technically legal but competes with faster, cheaper interaction and sees essentially no play. Outside those formats it's not legal at all, so Commander and Oathbreaker are the only practical homes — and Oathbreaker's smaller game size makes the repeated edict effect proportionally stronger when you can keep the Assassin alive.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$1.35 cheap tier
At $1.35, Stronghold Assassin sits firmly in the budget tier — cheap enough to include without deliberation in any zombie deck that can use it. The price is stable; it's not a card chasing a spike, and supply is broad enough that it's unlikely to creep up absent a major reprint in a popular precon.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.