Later this month, Magic: The Gathering will be crossing over with the world of PlayStation via an exciting Secret Lair drop that features 6 distinct groupings of cards based on popular first-party IPs. One of the more interesting aspects of this crossover is how many mechanically unique cards players will be getting, including new commander-eligible legendary creature cards based on the protagonists from many of the most popular PlayStation exclusives. The reveal of these new Magic cards has already inspired plenty of deck-teching from players interested in building decks around them, and an early standout is the face card of the Ghost of Tsushima set: Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima.
A 4-drop commander with a power and toughness of 2/4, Jin Sakai has one of the highest CMCs of each of the new commanders in the PlayStation Secret Lair drop, but it makes up for it with immense value. As an attacker, Jin serves as a card draw engine each time it deals damage to an opponent, but it's actually more potent as a supporting card for other creatures in the 99 that get bonuses from attacking alone. By adding double-strike or removing the ability to block the declared attacker, Jin Sakai is a clear frontrunner as a must-have commander in a variety of decks, especially those focused on stacking effects like Myriad and Exalted or using a Voltron strategy.
How Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima Stacks Up Against Other PlayStation x MTG Commanders
Out of the 7 new PlayStation-themed drops arriving on October 27, there are 10 new-to-Magic commander cards that players have to look forward to. There are actually 11 cards in the Secret Lair drop that are commander-eligible, but one of them is a reprint of Iroas, God of Victory. As far as how Jin stacks up when compared to the rest of the new commander cards in the PlayStation drop, it's arguably one of the best of the bunch when looking at each of them side-by-side:
|
Card Name |
Converted Mana Cost (CMC) |
Power/Toughness |
Card Text |
|
Joel, Resolute Survivor |
5 (3 generic, 1 black, 1 green) |
4/4 |
Menace Whenever a creature token dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Joel and draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn. Partner — Survivors (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) |
|
Ellie, Brick Master |
2 (1 generic, 1 red) |
2/1 |
Distract the Horde — Whenever a player attacks one of your opponents, that attacking player creates a tapped 1/1 black Fungus Zombie creature token named Cordyceps Infected that's attacking that opponent. Partner — Survivors (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) |
|
Abby, Merciless Soldier |
3 (1 generic, 1 red, 1 green) |
4/4 |
When you cast this spell, create a number of 1/1 black Fungus Zombie creature tokens named Cordyceps Infected equal to the amount of mana spent to cast it. Abby enters under the control of an opponent of your choice. Partner — Survivors (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) |
|
Ellie, Vengeful Hunter |
3 (1 generic, 1 black, 1 red) |
3/1 |
Pay 2 life, Sacrifice another creature: Ellie deals 2 damage to target player and gains indestructible until end of turn. Partner — Survivors (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) |
|
Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter |
3 (1 blue, 1 black, 1 red) |
3/2 |
First strike You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast spells you don't own or to activate abilities of permanents you control but don't own. Whenever Nathan Drake attacks, exile the top card of each player's library. You may cast a spell from among those cards. |
|
Kratos, God of War |
3 (3 red) |
2/3 |
Double strike All creatures have haste. At the beginning of each player's end step, Kratos deals damage to that player equal to the number of creatures that player controls that didn't attack this turn. |
|
Kratos, Stoic Father |
4 (2 generic, 1 black, 1 red) |
4/4 |
Whenever you attack with one or more Gods and whenever a God dies, you get an experience counter. At the beginning of your end step, put a number of +1/+1 counters on target creature equal to the number of experience counters you have. Partner — Father & son (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) |
|
Atreus, Impulsive Son |
3 (1 generic, 1 blue, 1 red) |
2/4 |
Reach 3, tap: Draw a card for each experience counter you have, then discard a card. Atreus deals 2 damage to each opponent. Partner — Father & son (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.) |
|
Aloy, Savior of Meridian |
5 (3 generic, 1 blue, 1 green) |
3/5 |
Vigilance, reach In You, All Things Are Possible — Whenever one or more artifact creatures you control attack, discover X, where X is the greatest power among them. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with that mana value or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) |
|
Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima |
4 (1 generic, 1 white, 1 blue, 1 black) |
2/4 |
Whenever Jin Sakai deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. Whenever a creature you control attacks a player, if no other creatures are attacking that player, choose one —
|
It's fairly rare to get either an MTG Secret Lair drop this big or one that contains so many mechanically-unique cards, which has already helped inspire plenty of discourse in the community regarding which of the new PlayStation commanders might be the most fun to build around. Almost immediately, Jin Sakai stood out as an early highlight, with a fair CMC to get on the battlefield and plenty of utility as either a commander or a valuable card in the 99 for many decks in the Esper color combination.
Jin Sakai's Value Comes Through in How Versatile It Will Be
The Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima card is great on its own as a commander, but its real value shines through in how essential it could be in a wide range of deck strategies. Since it's aligned with the Esper color identity, players have several powerful black mana enchantments at their disposal that increase the deadliness of lone attackers, which would only be further enhanced with Jin Sakai's ability to give them double strike. Further, Jin's ability to serve as a card draw engine incentivizes attacking at every opportunity, giving a little more aggression to an Esper deck than one might be used to. Combine that with effects like Exalted (giving +1/+1 to a lone attacker) and Myriad (creating token copies of the lone attacker to attack all other opponents), Jin's ability to apply double strike or remove defending players' ability to block is incredibly powerful.
On the other hand, players could easily use Jin as a support to buff up an attacking creature that's already been empowered by multiple pieces of equipment and enchantments, making it an incredibly valuable card for any Voltron-based deck where players are aiming to stack artifacts and auras on a single attacker to have them swing for high damage against an opponent. A great example is the Fallout Scrappy Survivors precon with Dogmeat, even though color identities differ. Some players are already pointing out how powerful Jin would be as a member of the 99 in decks led by commanders like Arna Kennerud, Skycaptain, establishing it as one of the most versatile cards in the PlayStation Secret Lair drop that players will likely be rushing to add to their collections.
Magic: The Gathering
- Original Release Date
- August 5, 1993
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- Richard Garfield
- Player Count
- 2+
- Age Recommendation
- 13+