Cases in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Herko Kerghans February 1, 2024 Collecting, MTG Cards, MTG Rules

Last updated on February 28, 2024

Case of the Locked Hothouse | Illustration by Leanna Crossan

Every good detective needs a good case to solve.

In fact, that's how good detectives are made: by cracking tough cases.

Murders at Karlov Manor is the first Magic set with a top-down “murder mystery” theme, and as such cases couldn't be absent.

Let's find out how this new enchantment type works, and the legwork we'll need to crack them!

Table of Contents show

How Do Cases Work?

Case of the Shattered Pact | Illustration by Peter Polach

Cases are an enchantment type with three different effects. They are fairly similar to classes from Forgotten Realms in the sense that you have to work to get to the juiciest part (unlike sagas, which advance automatically at the start of your precombat main phase).

Each case has three abilities. The topmost is active as soon as the enchantment enters the battlefield, and it's always active even if the case is solved (and unless the case is removed from the battlefield).

The ability in the middle is the “To solve” ability. Technically speaking, this one is a triggered ability: It’ll go off at the beginning of your end step if its “To solve” condition is met before then.

The third ability at the bottom is the “Solved” ability. This can be a static, triggered, or activated ability.

Some cases, like Case of the Burning Masks or Case of the Stashed Skeleton, may require you to also sacrifice them to get the “Solved” payoff. But many cases stay on the field indefinitely.

The History of Cases in MTG

Cases were introduced in Murders at Karlov Manor in February 2024. There are 12 cases in the MKM Standard set, and one case in a Murder at Karlov Manor Commander precon.

Multi-step enchantments have a longer history: Sagas appeared in Dominaria back in 2018, and classes were introduced three years later in Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms.

“The general space of Cases is something we've been trying to do for a while,” said MTG head designer Mark Rosewater in an article describing how they came up with Murder at Karlov Manor‘s mechanics. “In the original Zendikar, one of our versions of Quests was an enchantment that had a list of three things you had to do, along with a reward that you got for doing them. We tried that version of Quests again in Throne of Eldraine without any success. Streets of New Capenna tried a new enchantment subtype called Crimes that played in similar space, again without making it to print.

“In the end, we decided that Cases worked best if they had three pieces. First, an ETB effect to make the card worth playing. Second, a hoop to jump through to allow the player the ability to solve the Case, but just one item – our attempts with Quests and Crimes showed that multiple goals were too much. Third, a reward for when they do. Making players jump through a hoop can be fun, but there must be a motivation to it. The player has to get something, otherwise they'll spend their time doing something else.”

Personal opinion/speculation: These spells seem a tad too flavorful to become evergreen – they only fit planes and stories that have a “murder mystery” theme, with detectives and law enforcement agencies.

But they seem like a fun, flexible mechanic, so I hope they return in sets where they fit the backstory.

Can Cases Become Un-Solved?

Not in the sense of “let's take it one step backward.” Once solved, a case remains solved for as long as it remains on the battlefield.

Personal opinion/speculation: I see nothing in the rules that would prevent, in the future, some “muddle the case” effect that un-solves solved cases. Nothing like that exists right now.

What if You Flicker a Solved Case?

If you flicker a permanent (“flicker” being MTG slang for effects that temporarily exile a permanent and then return it to the board), it re-enters as a brand-new object with no memory of past events (a bit like Etrata in the MKM story, come to think of it!).

The object is a new case. Therefore, unsolved!

Is a Case Being Solved a Triggered Ability?

Yep!

“To solve” is a textbook case of a triggered ability: If certain conditions are met, then the ability triggers.

Notice that in these cases the conditions are checked twice: First when the ability tries to trigger, then when it tries to resolve. The triggering conditions must be true on both counts for the case to be solved.

Let's take Case of the Locked Hothouse as an example. If by the beginning of your end step you have seven lands, its “To solve” ability will trigger and the trigger will go on the stack.

Let's say that one of your very rude, very obnoxious opponents destroys one of your lands in response; the land destruction trigger will go onto the stack on top of your case's trigger, and will resolve first.

You'll be down to six lands by the time your case's trigger tries to resolve. Since now you can't meet the triggering condition (six lands ain't seven), the trigger will fizzle and your case will remain unsolved.

Cases vs. Sagas

Cases are like sagas, but with more legwork.

Both enchantment types have their topmost effect active as soon as they ETB, but afterward sagas advance automatically by adding a lore counter at the start of your precombat main phase, while cases make you sweat a bit to go from unsolved to solved.

Gallery and List of Case Cards

At the moment of writing, there are 13 cases:

Best Case Cards

Case of the Ransacked Lab

Just like when a detective is certain that the suspect is guilty even when they can't prove it yet, I'm certain that somebody will break something with Case of the Ransacked Lab; I just don't know where.

MKM provides red decks with a lot of toys to put extra cards in their hand (including both Case of the Burning Masks and Case of the Crimson Pulse) – will we get a spellslinger Izzet deck in Standard?

Case of the Crimson Pulse

Here's one of the red cases in question: Case of the Crimson Pulse. Solving it is no minor hoop to jump through; but red drawing a minimum of three cards per turn sure is a scary prospect.

Case of the Stashed Skeleton

The “Solved” effect on Case of the Stashed Skeleton is exactly Demonic Tutor.

Getting rid of the skeleton in your closet can be either a breeze or one tough uphill struggle, though, depending on the format.

Standard decks with black have a couple of staples (Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor and Raffine, Scheming Seer) that love an evasive 2-drop. But not being able to block a red deck on a rampage sure is a strike against our suspected skeleton.

Commander sacrifice-heavy aristocrat decks will likely crack this case in no time flat, and enjoy the whole process.

Case of the Locked Hothouse

Will Domain Ramp decks in Standard prefer Case of the Locked Hothouse over Invasion of Zendikar?

My hunch is a cautious “nope” – the case's ceiling is huge (the battle is mostly a dead draw in the late game, while the case never is), but the floor is awful. This literally does nothing unless you have extra lands in your hand.

Commander is a different story; landfall decks will solve this quick and then go crazy from there.

Wrap Up

Case File Auditor | Illustration by Ryan Valle

Time to close this case!

Cases are yet another iteration of multi-“chapter” enchantments, such as sagas and classes. I think the “make you work for it” angle is very interesting, the flavor is spot on for a set like Murders at Karlov Manor, and overall I think the mechanic gives the MTG designers a lot of room for cool cards.

On the other hand, perhaps cases are too flavorful. Thematically speaking, I don't think they fit planes and storylines without a very strong “whodunit” component to it, so I'm not sure we'll see many of these in the future.

I hope you've enjoyed this mechanical deep dive, and if you have comments or questions please drop a comment below, or stop by the Draftsim Discord for a chat.

And good luck out there!

Follow Draftsim for awesome articles and set updates:

Best case cards Cases FAQ Cases history MTG MTG best cards MTG cards MTG collection MTG FAQ MTG history MTG mechanic MTG rules MTG top cards Top case cards

Herko Kerghans

Herko has been battling online since EVE was a thing, fell in love with digital CCGs nearly a decade ago, and got his first taste of MTG during Arena's Open Beta. He loves Limited formats, crunching data, and (usually silly) puns and wordplay.