Players had their first chance to see what Magic: The Gathering is cooking up in their upcoming Murders at Karlov Manor set. This murder mystery-themed set has players trying to catch the culprit behind a series of murders plaguing the Ravnican aristocracy.
Host Blake Rasmussen gave players a look into the post-Phyrexian Invasion Ravnica and a taste of what players can expect from the new set. Unlike other sets based on Ravnica, Murders at Karlov Manor is not a Guild-based set, so the usual high density of two color pairings and emphasis on hybrid mana seems to be downplayed a bit, making the set resemble a more traditional Magic set.
What Is Happening On Ravnica Now?
There’s a ton of information to hit so let’s take a look at some of the suspects and investigators in the set first. Many key players from some of Ravnica’s most powerful guilds are here and everyone is a potential suspect.
The revealed art from the set reveals several familiar faces including Aurelia, Etrata, Izoni, Judith, Kaya, Kellan, Krenko, Massacre Girl, Rakdos, and Tolsmir.
Newcomers include Alquist, a detective who we will cover shortly, and Kylox, who kinda looks like a baby Niv-Mizzet / Vashino mash up and I can’t wait to see more. These characters seem to account for seven of the ten guilds on Ravnica, with the Cult of Rakdos bringing several characters to the set.
A key component of the overarching plot of the set seems to have been revealed in the flavor text Demand Answers.
“After the attempt on Aurelia’s life, she gave the Agency an ultimatum: solve the case in twenty-four hours, or the Boros Legion will declare war on the Cult of Rakdos.”
Who put the hit out on Aurelia and whether or not it’s a smokescreen for a larger plot is still unknown but honestly seems pretty likely.
Players will get to help solve the mystery plaguing Ravnica by particiaping in a real world mystery case. Some puzzles will be unveiled during story tie-ins, the first of which is available on December 5, with a new one dropping with each story release. Further mysteries will have to wait until players have the cards in hand, as some clues are hidden among packs.
Solving the mystery will give players an insight into what the future of Magic is going to look like.
Assemble Your Investigative Team
We got a look at some of the card players will get to solve the mystery with, including the lead investigator on the case, Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth.
Proft brings with him a new creature type, Detective, which comes with some of its own kindred-based synergies. Alquist creates a clue when he enters the battlefield, letting you do sleuthing on your own. Then he can supercharge those Clues, letting you pay XWWU and sacrifice a Clue token to turn it into a Sphinx’s Revelation which is pretty darn good.
A new Angel Detective, Wojek Investigator is a three-mana 2/4 with flying and vigilance, which is already real good, but only gets better since it also lets you investigate at the beginning of your upkeep if an opponent has more cards in hand than you. It might be early set hype, but this card seems pretty darn good.
Not much to say here, this little creature is a new and more generic version of Thraben Investigator, a one-mana 1/2 that investigates when it comes into play.
One of the best burn spells is back with Murders at Karlov Manor, complete with some absolutely amazing new artwork.
Speaking of burn spells, Shock is back, making Murders at Karlov Manor a great set to pick up some removal pieces.
Another iteration of the fearsome Angel from the Boros Legion, Aurelia, the Law Above comes with all vigilance, flying, and haste, as well as two new abilities. If any player, not just you, attacked with three creatures, you draw a card. And then, when any player in the game attacks with five or more creatures, you get to Lightning Helix each of your opponents, though you only gain a max of three life this way.
A Rakdos card with pure upsides, this six mana 6/6 has a purely evil ability that triggers on your end step, giving your opponent the choice to sacrifice two nonland, nontoken permanents. If they don’t want to, you get to draw two cards.
Some fascinating full art lands are coming in Murders at Markov Manor. Called Impossible Lands, these cards show off the winding and constricting streets and buildings of Ravnica. They’re a little claustrophobic but very cool to look at.
Three more cards were shown, with the special showcase treatment called Magnified Cards. These cards feature a special magnifying glass motif which will only appear on noncreature cards in the set.
Deduce, Demand Answers, and Fanatical Strength are all solid cards, with Deduce being particularly interesting as a two-mana draw spell that also creates a Clue token.
More commons and uncommons from the set were shown off too, and give some insight into what you can expect to find in packs.
Inside The Play Booster Wrapper
Speaking of packs, Blake gave players their first looks at what comes in a Play Booster pack. Play Boosters look a lot like regular set booster packs, with commons, uncommons, and a rare, but with some variance.
One of the common slots in the pack has the chance of being a Special Guest List card, the numbered slot 14 card is where you’re going to find Booster Fun cards including alternate arts and showcase cards, though this slot is always going to be nonfoil. Then finally, slot 15 is a guaranteed foil wildcard, so more Booster Fun options are there too.
One of the coolest showcase frames in Magic’s history is dropping with the set, and that’s the Dossier frame. These cards are all creatures and look like they’re from a file about a suspect’s motives and actions, complete with an old typewriter ribbon tape font. Dossier cards can be found across all rarities
Easily the coolest part of these Dossier cards are the fact that they have comments written in invisible ink, which is only observable under certain conditions. Check out what they look like here.
Now You Can Play Magic…But With Clue
Ravnica: Clue Edition is a new game that mixes Magic with the classic Clue game. It works by giving players eight packs and from those packs 3-4 players will battle in a unique game of Magic, seemingly like Jumpstart games, to either win via Magic rules, or by solving the mystery, kinda like a traditional game of Clue by determining person, place, and weapon.
The characters from Clue, like Colonel Mustard, Mrs. Peacock, and Professor Plum are getting their very own Magic card with this release, with Senator Peacock being the first they revealed.
The big reveal with Ravnica: Clue Edition is that there are no Shock Lands in Murders at Karlov Manor. Instead, each box is going to come with a randomized full-art Shock Land, all with new artwork to make them appear more like a room where someone could potentially get murdered in a la Clue.
There are also going to be alternate art versions of cards found in the main set, that can be used in your Ravnica: Clue Edition, like this Lead Pipe card.
Or this Dining Room card.
Make sure to check out Hipsters of the Coast for more information on what to expect in Murders at Karlov Manor during our first look on January 16.