You know, it's the person who does a thing who gets remembered for the thing. Moon landing? Neil Armstrong. But that doesn't take into account the literal thousands of other people it took to get Mr. Armstrong to the moon, make sure he survived while he was there, and get him home safely.

If you want to build an Assassin Kindred deck, it's not just going to be a pile of Assassins and some Lands. Nope, you're going to need some help. So let's do a top 10 list of the best Assassin support cards!

Honorable Mentions

Vraska is going to show up again on this list, but this particular model is worth looking at, even if it doesn't quite make the Top 10. Assassins often have deathtouch (an ability which makes a great deal of sense for them), plus she actually makes Assassins. They are an interesting little creation, though, because they're deadly to opposing Planeswalkers. This is an ability worth having, but it's rarely game-winning and often useless, so Swarm's Eminence is relegated to an honorable mention.

This fun, on-theme Case is too much fun to not mention. It kills a thing for us, then it leaves us with a bit ol' Creature in the end. Maybe not for everyone, but it's certainly a good time!

Number 10

Starting off our list is this strange three-color Legendary Creature. Xira is an Assassin, but she doesn't mention Assassins. Instead, she helps when Assassins do what they normally do, which is kill opposing Creatures. She comes down fast and with evasion, then refills our hand and makes us some little dudes when our Assassins get to work. Plus, she can be a Commander for an Assassin deck and puts us in three colors we really want. Win/win!

Number 9

All four of these cards are variations on a theme, but they all have "Assassin" in their names so they make the list. I particularly like the phrasing on the original printing of Assassin's Blade - "before you declare interceptors". But we want to kill stuff, and all of these will help us do it. (Assassin's Strike is pretty expensive and slow, though!)

Number 8

Anyone who knows my style knows I love to draw cards, and Rogue's Gloves is a go-to for my decks. Assassins tend to be the kind of Creatures which sneak through defenses, and wearing these Gloves makes sure we benefit more from the work we're doing getting them through. They're cheap, too!

Number 7

Truthfully, I want to put Mari higher on the list (for a while she was first!), but that's because of my personal love for the card, not an honest assessment of her as a support card. As leaders go, she's a strange one: she's not Assassins only, for one thing. Also, she requires some work to get working - we have to be killing other things, then we have to get our Assassins through, then we can finally start getting a payoff. All of these things are things we're likely already doing, but still - plus, we might have other uses for those hit counters (hi, Etrata, the Silencer).

Number 6

Now we're talking. Assassins are small and we're going to need resources to win games. Drawing cards will be important. Twinblade Assassins does that for us. Because we're likely to be killing things a lot, their ability will almost always be active, plus they're decently-sized as both attacker and blocker. I'll take it!

Number 5

Again, we have to build around it, but this is quite strong for an Assassin build. First, it makes it fairly easy for us to kill specific targets on the 'field, since we're likely to have ways to do a bit of damage. Second, it gives us excellent bargaining chips: "don't want that guy to have a bounty counter? What will you do for me?" Seems like the sort of back-room dealings appropriate for a deck built around Assassins.

Number 4

These two cards cover a whole host of others which deal damage to everything. Because Assassins so often kill things which have already been dealt damage, something like Pestilence makes that easy. Note the synergy with Termination Facilitator!

Number 3

Sometimes our Assassins will need to get through, and sometimes our Assassins need to be able to see their target, and these four Lands can help us do it. They're not splashy, but all of these cards are well worth the cost of admission.

Number 2

These two are different from each other, but I'm using them to demonstrate a group of Artifacts (and other permanents) which can help our Assassins do their dirty work. Some of them tap to do their thing (Royal Assassin), others enter the Battlefield (Nekrataal), and untapping them so they can tap again or bouncing them so they can be recast can be very useful.

Number 1

These three Vraskas all have one thing in common: they let you have one or more Creatures which, when they deal combat damage, kill a player. This is incredibly powerful and, in the correct build, can lead to nearly certain doom for opponents. Maybe they can't have blockers because you keep killing them all. Maybe you sneak them through with Rogue's Passage or Whispersilk Cloak. Either way, that guy makes contact and that opponent is done for. These are worthwhile win-conditions for an Assassin deck - and just like Assassins, the kill comes out of nowhere.

What did I miss? Do you think I got the wrong order? Let us know on social media!

Thanks for reading.