Murders at Karlov Manor

Murders at Karlov Manor
Set Information
Set symbol
Symbol description	A dagger with the Return to Ravnica symbol over its hilt.
Design	Mark Rosewater (co-lead), Mark Gottlieb (co-lead), Annie Sardelis, Ethan Fleischer, Erik Lauer, Doug Beyer, Dan Musser, Chris Mooney, Daniel Xu, Michelle Roberson
Development	Mark Gottlieb (co-lead), Andrew Brown (co-lead), Erik Lauer, Yoni Skolnik, Jadine Klomparens, Daniel Holt, Eric Engelhard, Chris Kvartek, Jeremy Geist, Cameron Williams, Aaron Sorrells
Release date	February 9th, 2024
Plane	Ravnica
Themes and mechanics	Disguise, Suspect, Investigate, Cases
Keywords/ability words	Collect evidence
Set size	Limited = 286 + 40 + 10; Eternal = 279; Collectable = 433 + 7 + 10
Expansion code	MKM
Development codename	Polo
Outlaws of Thunder Junction Standard
Magic: The Gathering Chronology

Commander decks

Card comparisons

Trivia

Art Series

Puzzles

The Case of the Three Blade Knife

MKM expansion symbol — The expansion symbol's hilt is a modified combination of the *Return to Ravnica* () and *Guilds of Ravnica* () set symbols.^[2]

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.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Set details[ | ]

“

Unravel the Mystery

”

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:

Magic Story[ | ]

Main article: Magic Story

Title	Author	Publishing date	Set	Setting (plane)	Featuring
Murders at Karlov Manor Episode 1: Ghosts of Our Past	Seanan McGuire	2023-12-05	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Kaya Cassir, Teysa Karlov, Ezrim, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Aurelia, Judith, Tomik Vrona, Krenko, Kellan, Zegana, Vannifar, Yarus
Episode 2: Monsters We Became	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-08	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Teysa Karlov, Kaya Cassir, Ezrim, Larysa, Aurelia, Zegana, Vannifar, Kellan, Alquist Proft, Etrata, Lavinia
Episode 3: Shadows of Regret	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-09	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Etrata, Teysa Karlov, Kaya Cassir, Alquist Proft, Kellan, Ezrim
Episode 4: Justice Before Mercy	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-10	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Kaya Cassir, Ezrim, Kellan, Agrus Kos, Judith
Episode 5: Chains of Expectation	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-11	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Alquist Proft, Etrata, Massacre Girl, Kaya Cassir, Kellan, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Voja, Trostani
Episode 6: Explosions of Genius	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-14	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Alquist Proft, Etrata, Kylox, Kaya Cassir, Kellan, Ezrim, Agrus Kos, Aurelia, Massacre Girl, Krenko
Episode 7: Rot Before Recovery	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-15	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Kellan, Kaya Cassir, Anzrag, Ezrim, Agrus Kos, Etrata, Alquist Proft, Izoni, Rakdos, Judith, Aurelia
Episode 8: Gods of Chaos	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-16	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Judith, Kaya Cassir, Ezrim, Yarus, Krenko, Massacre Girl, Vannifar, Aurelia, Alquist Proft, Etrata, Lavinia, Trostani, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Ral Zarek, Izoni
Episode 9: Beauty in Destruction	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-17	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Ezrim, Kaya Cassir, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Alquist Proft, Trostani, Judith, Krenko, Izoni, Aurelia, Lavinia, Vannifar, Etrata, Ral Zarek, Massacre Girl, Yarus, Kellan
Episode 10: Roots of Decay	Seanan McGuire	2024-01-18	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Kaya Cassir, Trostani, Krenko, Alquist Proft, Etrata, Ral Zarek, Yarus, Aurelia, Tolsimir Wolfblood, Kellan, Teysa Karlov
Episode 11: Portents and Omens	Seanan McGuire	2024-02-14	Murders at Karlov Manor	Ravnica	Alquist Proft, Etrata, Niv-Mizzet

Puzzles[ | ]

Main article: Murders at Karlov Manor/Puzzles

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 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]

Beadle & Grimm's[ | ]

On January 26, 2024, Beadle & Grimm's published the murder mystery game Murders at Karlov Manor: The Case of the Three Blade Knife. It used the augmented reality embedded in a Ravnican Agency of Magicological Investigations (RAMI) badge (3" x 3") to identify suspects and bring a killer to justice.^[14]

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.

Events[ | ]

Prerelease: February 2 – 8, 2024
Open House: February 9 – 11, 2024
Friday Night Magic: February 9 – March 28, 2024
Commander Party: February 16 – 18, 2024
Standard Showdown: February 12 – April 4, 2024

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]

1/1 Dog creature for Dog Walker; Hunted Bonebrute and Krovod Haunch.
1/1 Human creature for A Killer Among Us.
1/1 Merfolk creature for A Killer Among Us.
1/1 Bat creature with flying for Leering Onlooker.
2/1 Skeleton creature for Case of the Stashed Skeleton.
1/1 Goblin creature for A Killer Among Us and Krenko, Baron of Tin Street.
2/2 Imp creature with “When this creature dies, it deals 2 damage to each opponent.” for Judith, Carnage Connoisseur.
0/0 Ooze creature with trample for Slime Against Humanity.
0/1 Plant creature for Audience with Trostani and Insidious Roots.
2/2 Detective creature for Chalk Outline; Drag the Canal; Felonious Rage; Inside Source; Museum Nightwatch; Person of Interest and Unyielding Gatekeeper.
2/1 Spider creature with menace and reach for Izoni, Center of the Web.
1/1 Spirit creature with flying, for Kaya, Spirits’ Justice; Soul Search and Teysa, Opulent Oligarch.
Voja Fenstalker, a legendary 5/5 Wolf creature with trample for Tolsimir, Midnight’s Light.
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.
Clue artifact.
Clue artifact.
Clue artifact.
Clue artifact.
0/0 Thopter artifact creature with flying for Intrude on the Mind.
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 .^[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 ", 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]

Cycles[ | ]

Cycle name
Rare Cases	Case of the Uneaten Feast	Case of the Ransacked Lab	Case of the Stashed Skeleton	Case of the Crimson Pulse	Case of the Locked Hothouse
Rare Cases	Five rare Cases.
Uncommon Cases	Case of the Pilfered Proof Case of the Gateway Express	Case of the Filched Falcon	Case of the Gorgon's Kiss	Case of the Burning Masks	Case of the Trampled Garden
Uncommon Cases	Six uncommon Cases. Includes a seventh member — Case of the Shattered Pact.
Clue Artifacts	Wrench	Candlestick	Lead Pipe	Knife	Rope
Clue Artifacts	Five uncommon equipment that may be sacrificed for to draw a card, like a Clue token. They allude to 5 of the 6 weapons in the North American board game editions of Clue, with "Revolver" being excluded. Clue Crossover with Ravnica: Clue Edition.
Double-hybrid split cards	Fuss//Bother (/)	Flotsam//Jetsam (/)	Push//Pull (/)	Hustle//Bustle (/)	Cease//Desist (/)
Double-hybrid split cards	Five uncommon hybrid split cards that represent two guilds that share a color, making a wedge. The right-side spell is always a 4CC Sorcery, giving them high Collect Evidence values. Unlike most previous split cards, the artworks on both halves form one continuous art piece.

Double cycles[ | ]

Cycle name
Mythic guild spells	Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth	Etrata, Deadly Fugitive	Rakdos, Patron of Chaos	Anzrag, the Quake-Mole	Trostani, Three Whispers	Kaya, Spirits' Justice	Kylox's Voltstrider	Urgent Necropsy	Agrus Kos, Spirit of Justice	Vannifar, Evolved Enigma
Mythic guild spells	Ten mythic spells belonging to each Ravnican guild. Except for Kylox's Voltstrider and Urgent Necropsy, all spells in this cycle are legendary.
Rare legends	Ezrim, Agency Chief	Lazav, Wearer of Faces	Judith, Carnage Connoisseur	Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods	Tolsimir, Midnight’s Light	Teysa, Opulent Oligarch	Kylox, Visionary Inventor	Izoni, Center of the Web	Aurelia, the Law Above	Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy
Rare legends	Ten rare dual-colored legendary creatures.
Rare gold noncreatures	Officious Interrogation	Drag the Canal	Blood Spatter Analysis	Worldsoul's Rage	Relive the Past	Treacherous Greed	Ill-Timed Explosion	Assassin's Trophy	Warleader's Call	Doppelgang
Rare gold noncreatures	Ten rare dual-colored noncreature cards.
Tap-surveil lands	Meticulous Archive	Undercity Sewers	Raucous Theater	Commercial District	Lush Portico	Shadowy Backstreet	Thundering Falls	Underground Mortuary	Elegant Parlor	Hedge Maze
Tap-surveil lands	Ten rare dual lands with both the associated basic land types, which enter tapped but surveil 1 when they do.
Gold signposts	Private Eye	Curious Cadaver	Rune-Brand Juggler	Tin Street Gossip	Sumala Sentry	Wispdrinker Vampire	Gleaming Geardrake	Kraul Whipcracker	Meddling Youths	Evidence Examiner
Gold signposts	Ten uncommon dual-colored creatures, each a signpost for a draft archetype.
Uncommon gold noncreatures	No More Lies	Coerced to Kill	Deadly Complication	Break Out	Buried in the Garden	Soul Search	Detective's Satchel	Insidious Roots	Lightning Helix	Repulsive Mutation
Uncommon gold noncreatures	Ten uncommon dual-colored noncreature cards.
Common hybrid disguisers	Granite Witness	Faerie Snoop	Shady Informant	Riftburst Hellion	Crowd-Control Warden	Sanguine Savior	Gadget Technician	Rakish Scoundrel	Dog Walker	Undercover Crocodelf
Common hybrid disguisers	Ten common dual-colored creatures that un-disguise using a cost that includes two hybrid mana. Notably, all the nongreen creatures flip for under five mana, whereas the green ones flip for more, and so follow the five-mana morph rule.

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]

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
Theme deck name						Commander
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

Reception[ | ]

The set performed below expectations.^[28] Criticsm included the feeling that the Detective aesthetic and creature type had been overused, overshadowing the original flavor of Ravnica.