Magic: The Gathering Murders at Karlov Manor takes players into a gothic mystery set in the heart of Ravnica. This intriguing set transforms the iconic Karlov Manor into a crime scene filled with suspense, secrets, and supernatural elements. Players will assume the roles of detectives, suspects, and witnesses, each with their own hidden agendas and abilities. The set features eerie environments, enigmatic characters, and a web of clues that must be unraveled to solve the murder. With new mechanics that emphasize deduction, strategy, and deception, Murders at Karlov Manor offers a unique blend of mystery and magic. Engage in a thrilling whodunit experience where every card could hold the key to unveiling the culprit. Step into the shadows of Karlov Manor and uncover the truth behind the murder in this captivating MTG adventure. Murders at Karlov Manor is the ninety-ninth Magic expansion. It is a backdrop set taking place on Ravnica and was released on February 9th, 2024. Murders at Karlov Manor is a top-down designed murder mystery set, featuring the tropes of the genre.[7] Murders and mysteries are woven into the game itself. Play detective as you collect evidence, don disguises, and identify suspects to decipher the deadly murder mystery at the heart of Ravnica. Karlov Manor contains 286 regular cards (81 commons, 100 uncommons, 70 rares, 20 mythic rares, 15 basic lands), and includes randomly inserted traditional foil versions of all cards.[8] The rare double cycle of surveil lands comes from a separate print sheet. The regular cards include 5 full-art "Impossible" basic lands (#272-276). These invoke mathematically-inspired visuals with irregular perspectives, each one a puzzle to ponder on its own. Alternate card frames have a different number than the original version. The Story Spotlight Showcase "Magnified" cards are #287-316. Utilizing the frame introduced for Ravnica with March of the Machine, the "Ravnica City" card treatment frames each card with Ravnica's signature city spires (#317-323). Double-rainbow foil serialized versions of the cards with the "Ravnica City" treatment, each with 250 English-only copies, can only be found in Collector Boosters (same number with an added z). Borderless cards - surveil lands, Kellan and Kaya - are #324-335. Cards with the Showcase "Dossier" treatment are #336-376. Select "Dossier" cards have "invisible" ink versions, adding surprise elements for players to uncover in their search (#377-388, 433). These Showcase "Dossier Invisible Ink" cards are only available in Collector Boosters. Extended art cards and #389-422. The promos are #423-432. Storyline Murders key art Murders at Karlov Manor key art, featuring Alquist Proft and his main suspects. Murders at Karlov Manor is the third set in the Omenpath Arc. Someone has committed a string of murders (and attempted murders) across Ravnica, and the city is on the verge of chaos. Alquist Proft and the Ravnican Agency of Magicological Investigations need to uncover the murderer. The team working on the case expands as Kaya Cassir (and her skills with spirits) and Kellan join Proft to solve the plane-wide mystery. Suspects are Massacre Girl, Etrata, Izoni, Krenko, Judith, Kylox, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Rakdos and Aurelia. The latest murders have taken place at the mansion of the Karlov family. The race is on to uncover who's next — and who's behind it all.[9] This set features more Story Spotlights than usual.[10] The cards that represent them are: Analyze the Pollen Anzrag's Rampage Assemble the Players Audience with Trostani Auspicious Arrival Call a Surprise Witness Coerced to Kill Convenient Target Deadly Complication Deduce Demand Answers Dramatic Accusation Expose the Culprit Fae Flight Fanatical Strength Insidious Roots Intrude on the Mind It Doesn't Add Up Makeshift Binding Murder Not on my Watch Officious Interrogation On the Job Reenact the Crime Slice from the Shadows Soul Enervation The Chase is On Unauthorized Exit Warleader's Call Worldsoul's Rage As we follow Proft and company across Ravnica, players can solve a mystery themselves. Across Murders at Karlov Manor cards and products, players can uncover clues to something bigger — with a final reward for the most attentive detectives out there. Each product in the set contains a puzzle to be solved; some puzzle components are only found within the physical products, but others encourage players to continue the discovery online with web-based puzzles added regularly throughout the season. There is one overarching puzzle — across all products and online — that gives players who crave a true challenge the opportunity to solve a greater mystery; however, there are still 12 individual puzzles that are self-contained and are just as satisfying cases to crack.[11] Marketing MKM Play Booster Play Booster MKM Collector Booster Collector Booster This set is the first to feature 15-card Play Boosters that replace both Draft Boosters and Set Boosters (one card being a marketing card or art card).[12] Because of the decrease in common cards in a pack, the total amount of common cards in a given set is also going down. R&D lowered the number of commons from 101 to 80 (and increased uncommons from 80 to 100)[13]. The rare surveil lands are put in the "wild card" slot of the boosters rather than taking the "rare" slot, but their frequency is much higher than if the slot was normally distributed; reportedly, they appear in every six packs (16.67%, rather than 3.69%, given by 10/271). Murders at Karlov Manor is also available in Collector Boosters, a Bundle and four Commander decks. Bundles now contain 9 booster packs and 30 lands (including 10 full-art), whereas previous set bundles contained 8 (Set) Boosters and 40 Lands. The starting preorder price is up to $50 from the usual $35. Ravnica: Clue Edition Main article: Ravnica: Clue Edition Murders at Karlov Manor is accompanied by the release of Ravnica: Clue Edition, an annex set that is a crossover with the property owned and published by Hasbro.[4] Special Guests Murders at Karlov Manor features 10 Special Guests, highly desirable reprints with art and flavor text matched to the flavor of the plane they appear in (SPG #19-28). These are incorporated in The List of the Play Boosters.[15] These may be played in Limited games. Ghostly Prison Fabricate Show and Tell Tragic Slip Victimize Gamble Crashing Footfalls Tireless Tracker Drown in the Loch Field of the Dead Promos Prerelease: a stamped card that can be any rare or mythic rare of Murder at Karlov Manor. An promo card that may be any one of the following: Melek, Reforged Researcher, Tomik, Wielder of Law or Voja, Jaws of the Conclave[16] (not playable in Standard or Limited) The seasonal dark-frame promos are: Long Goodbye, Gleaming Geardrake, Kraul Whipcracker, Lightning Helix, No More Lies. Open House: retro frame Underworld Connections[16] Buy-a-Box: alternate art Wojek Investigator. Bundle promo: alternate art Axebane Ferox. Store Championship promos: Mortify (participation), Angel of Despair (Top 8), full art textless Dauthi Voidwalker (winner)[16] 30th Anniversary promos: Dovin's Veto, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Deadly Dispute, and Urza, Prince of Kroog Commander Party: full-art Rogue's Passage Standard Showdown: Dragonlord's Servant (participation), Sarkhan Unbroken (winner)[16]. In addition: full-art Omenpath basic lands with art by Piotr Dura[16] Play Booster Draft: retro frame Arcane Signet, alternate art Commander's Sphere and alternate art Chaos Warp.[17] Reception According to Mark Rosewater, the reception of the murder mystery theme in the set was “polarizing”. He noted players’ criticism was aimed towards the set's focus on theme and tone, “moreso than it didn’t feel like it was taking place on Ravnica.”[18] Tokens and markers MKM punch card Punch card with counters and indicators Murders at Karlov Manor has 20 tokens and a helper card:[19] {W} 1/1 Dog creature for Dog Walker; Hunted Bonebrute and Krovod Haunch. {W} 1/1 Human creature for A Killer Among Us. {U} 1/1 Merfolk creature for A Killer Among Us. {B} 1/1 Bat creature with flying for Leering Onlooker. {B} 2/1 Skeleton creature for Case of the Stashed Skeleton. {R} 1/1 Goblin creature for A Killer Among Us and Krenko, Baron of Tin Street. {R} 2/2 Imp creature with “When this creature dies, it deals 2 damage to each opponent.” for Judith, Carnage Connoisseur. {G} 0/0 Ooze creature with trample for Slime Against Humanity. {G} 0/1 Plant creature for Audience with Trostani and Insidious Roots. {W/U} 2/2 Detective creature for Chalk Outline; Drag the Canal; Felonious Rage; Inside Source; Museum Nightwatch; Person of Interest and Unyielding Gatekeeper. {B/G} 2/1 Spider creature with menace and reach for Izoni, Center of the Web. {W/B} 1/1 Spirit creature with flying, for Kaya, Spirits’ Justice; Soul Search and Teysa, Opulent Oligarch. {G/W} Voja Fenstalker, a legendary 5/5 Wolf creature with trample for Tolsimir, Midnight’s Light. {C} Clue artifact for Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth; Auspicious Arrival; Case of the Filched Falcon; Case of the Pilfered Proof; Chalk Outline; Cold Case Cracker; Curious Inquiry; Deduce; Detective's Satchel; Drag the Canal; Eliminate the Impossible; Evidence Examiner; Ezrim, Agency Chief; Flotsam // Jetsam; Forensic Gadgeteer; Gleaming Geardrake; Homicide Investigator; Hotshot Investigators; Innocent Bystander; Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy // Tail the Suspect; Lazav, Wearer of Faces; Loxodon Eavesdropper; Magnifying Glass; Meddling Youths; Mistway Spy; Novice Inspector; No Witnesses; Officious Interrogation; On the Job; Out Cold; Persuasive Interrogators; Sharp-Eyed Rookie; Teysa, Opulent Oligarch; The Chase Is On; They Went This Way; Torch the Witness; Toxin Analysis; Undercover Crocodelf and Wojek Investigator. {C} Clue artifact. {C} Clue artifact. {C} Clue artifact. {C} Clue artifact. {C} 0/0 Thopter artifact creature with flying for Intrude on the Mind. {C} 1/1 Thopter artifact creature with flying for Detective's Satchel; Fuss // Bother; Gadget Technician; Harried Dronesmith and Surveillance Monitor. A Mysterious Creature helper card for Cloak and Disguise. There is also a punch card with Suspected and Solved Case indicators. Themes and mechanics Being a backdrop set taking place on Ravnica but focused on a crime fiction thematic, Murders at Karlov Manor doesn't feature named Ravnican guild mechanics but instead has new mechanics based on words resonant with the mystery genre.[4][20] As such, all ten guilds are flavorfully present, and there is a greater prevalence of dual-colored cards compared to most other sets. Additionally, there are allusions to other Ravnican sets, such as guild-themed split cards, Leyline of the Guildpact referencing the original Leyline cycle from Guildpact, and Hunted Bonebrute referencing the Hunted cycle from Ravnica: City of Guilds. However, the multicolor aspect is reduced compared to other Ravnica sets, there are no common dual lands like Gates, and there are no guild watermarks utilized. Furthermore, although several red-white cards feature a non-keyworded mechanic similar to Boros's Battalion mechanic which rewards attacking with three or more creatures, there are no other color-pair exclusive keywords. Two associated new mechanics interact with face down cards: Disguise and Cloak. By paying a permanent's disguise cost, or using the cloak keyword action on it, it becomes a 2/2 facedown creature, but unlike with morph and manifest respectively, it has ward {2}.[21] Suspect is a keyword action that can be applied to your own or opposing creatures, representing that all eyes are on them as dangerous criminals. Once a creature has been suspected, it has menace but can't block. Collect evidence is a keyword ability representing a cost. To collect evidence X, you must exile cards with total mana value X from your graveyard. Some cards want you to collect evidence, while a few impose it on opponents. A returning mechanic is Investigate (Create a colorless Clue artifact token with "{2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card."). A minor theme related to this is the drawing of the second card of a turn. After several sets of typecycling cycles, basic landcycling returns as a fixing mechanic and now is deciduous. Card types Murders at Karlov Manor introduces the Case enchantment type.[22] The creature type Detective, recently introduced in the crossover Doctor Who set for various companions of the Doctor, is heavily featured in this set and has typal payoffs. Counter types Murders at Karlov Manor introduces Bloodstain counters, Impostor counters and Unlock counters.[22] Limited archetypes Murders at Karlov Manor features the following Limited archetypes:[8] {W}{U}: Detectives {U}{B}: Clues Control {B}{R}: Suspect Aggro {R}{G}: Big Disguise {G}{W}: Go-Wide Disguise {W}{B}: Pint-Size Disguise {U}{R}: Artifact Sacrifice {B}{G}: Gravebreak {R}{W}: Battalion {G}{U}: Collect evidence Reprinted cards Assassin's Trophy — first printed in Guilds of Ravnica, last seen in Double Masters 2022 Lightning Helix — first printed in Ravnica: City of Guilds, last seen in Secret Lair 30th Anniversary Countdown Kit Magnifying Glass — first printed in Shadows over Innistrad, last seen in Jumpstart 2022 Murder — first printed in Magic 2013, last seen in Starter Commander Decks Shock — first printed in Stronghold, last seen in Mystical Archive Notable cards Archdruid's Charm is part of a mega-mega cycle of Charms.[23] Trouble in Pairs came under scrutiny because the art by Fay Dalton appeared to depict figures from multiple other works.[24][25] Misprints The magnifying showcase art of the printed Fanatical Strength uses an earlier version of the artwork.[26] The digital versions of the card on Magic Online and MTG Arena use the final art version. Variant cards After the release of the set, people noticed that some cards had unannounced variances in the art, often in the colorization of certain depicted items. These were part of the Puzzle challenge. The variant cards are not distinguishable by their collector number. The following cards have been noticed to have a variant:[27] Break Out (light beam) Case File Auditor (aura) Case of the Gorgon's Kiss (blanket) Clandestine Meddler (curtain) Kraul Whipcracker (whip) Sudden Setback (bottle) Surveillance Monitor (picture frame) Torch the Witness (lamp) Undercover Crocodelf (rope) Wojek Investigator (feather) Preconstructed decks Main article: Murders at Karlov Manor/Commander decks Karlov Manor features four Commander decks released as a regular part of a set's product line. Theme deck name Color Identity Commander {W} {U} {B} {R} {G} Deadly Disguise W R G Kaust, Eyes of the Glade Revenant Recon U B Mirko, Obsessive Theorist Deep Clue Sea W U G Morska, Undersea Sleuth Blame Game W R Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser