The inaugural card set for Magic: The Gathering in 2024, “Murders at Karlov Manor”, brings players back to the beloved and thrilling Ravnica plane. Incorporating mechanics inspired by classical murder mysteries and all the tropes of the genre, players will need their best beige trench coats and cigars for this deck of whodunnit.
Ravnica is one of the most revisited settings in Magic: The Gathering, second only to Dominaria itself. There is even an entire TTRPG sourcebook dedicated to Ravnica for WotC‘s other billion-dollar brand, Dungeons & Dragons.
In a departure from previous sets centered around Ravnica’s guilds, “Murders at Karlov Manor” takes a unique approach by focusing on solving a murder at the eponymous Karlov Manor and finding the culprit. In a recent news release, details about “Murders at Karlov Manor” were unveiled, presenting a top-down designed murder mystery set that immerses players in the heart of the genre.
No detective work necessary, the #MTGKarlov Mastery Pass details have been revealed!
🔎 Investigate here: https://t.co/TPFGDppIjI pic.twitter.com/BXPPjDMJSU
— MTG Arena (@MTG_Arena) January 18, 2024
As players delve into the game, they are cast in the role of detectives, tasked with collecting evidence, donning disguises, and identifying suspects to unravel the deadly murder mystery concealed within the lore of Ravnica.
The grand estate is the residence of Teysa Karlov, scion of the Karlov family, who oversees the guild while the true Orzhov guild master, Kaya, returns from ventures across different planes. Characters like Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth, take the spotlight.
The artwork features both familiar faces, such as Aurelia, Erata, Izoni, Judith, Kaya, Kellan, Krenko, Kylox, Massacre Girl, Rakdos, and Tolsmir, alongside fresh additions integral to the unfolding narrative.
A key mechanic highlighted in Karlov Manor is “Investigate,” allowing players to create a Clue token, a feature reminiscent of the ‘Shadows Over Innistrad’ set from 2016. These Clue tokens can be sacrificed for mana, enabling players to draw a card. While this might seem costly, it proves beneficial in enhancing hand quality, particularly if the drawn card features one of the set’s new mechanics.
The “Murders at Karlov Manor” set comprises 286 regular cards, including commons, uncommons, rares, mythic rares, and basic lands. Additionally, traditional foil versions of all cards are randomly inserted.
Notably, the set introduces a rare double cycle of surveil lands on a separate print sheet. Appropriately, the set will also have a “Ravnica: Clue Edition”, a set that crosses over with the classic Clue (aka Cluedo) published by WotC’s parent company Hasbro, further expanding the thematic elements of the release.
Just like previous sets like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, unique mechanics will be introduced in this set. The first of these are “Disguise” and “Cloak”. Both involve playing face-down cards but with a new twist. By paying a permanent’s Disguise cost or utilizing the Cloak keyword action, cards become 2/2 facedown creatures with Ward (2).
These mechanics bear resemblance to the Morph and Manifest rules from prior MTG sets, offering an interesting twist. Having Ward (2) ideally gives opposing players pause on whether it’s worth it to target the disguised or cloaked card at an increased Mana cost.
The “Suspect” mechanic adds an extra layer of intrigue, applying a keyword action to creatures and signifying their status as dangerous criminals under scrutiny. A suspected creature gains menace but loses the ability to block, aligning with the crime and mystery theme of the set.
Meanwhile, “Collect Evidence” introduces a keyword ability representing a cost, requiring players to exile cards from the graveyard based on their mana value. This mechanic serves as an additional cost, allowing players to exile cards to trigger a kicker effect for added bonuses.
The set also introduces “Cases”, which are essentially Sagas with a different name. Cases are mainly distinguished by requiring fulfillment of investigative criteria to progress. For example, the ‘Case of the Filched Falcon’ Case card can be solved by having three or more artifacts in play at the beginning of the player’s end step. After being solved, the player can pay 2U and put four +1/+1 counters on a noncreature artifact, which then becomes a Bird creature type with Flying.
A returning from previous sets is the “Investigate” mechanic, creating colorless Clue artifact tokens that can be sacrificed to draw cards. This ties into a minor theme related to drawing the second card of a turn.
Basic landcycling also returns and the set’s dual-colored lands enter tapped, but have dual basic land types (i.e Forest, Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp) as well as Surveil 1, contributing to the overall theme and strategy.
In addition to the physical release, Magic: The Gathering – Arena will dispatch “Murders at Karlov Manor” digitally, accompanied by a new Mastery Pass offering various packs, avatars, card sleeves, card styles, event tokens, gold, gems, and companions, including Alquist Proft, Kaya, and Massacre Girl. The Mastery Pass extends up to Level 70, providing a comprehensive array of rewards for players.
Despite the controversies Wizards of the Coast had recently been entangled with, 2024 is looking promising for the tabletop gaming icon. Murders at Karlov Manor” promises an immersive and “whodunit” thematic Magic: The Gathering experience, blending the intrigue of a murder mystery with developing strategies with the new and old mechanics in the set which releases on February 9, 2024.
