I think in my days one part of course was some imaginary set and one actual course was MIPS. Still, picking something simple makes lot of sense as pedagogical

I think in my days one part of course was some imaginary set and one actual course was MIPS. Still, picking something simple makes lot of sense as pedagogical tool. x86 is outright mess and ARM is probably going to that direction on long term as well. So something more locked down and fully explainable is the better choice. If students want to do assembly they then can pick what they need.