Last updated on April 19, 2024
Murders at Karlov Manor Key Image | Illustration by Julian Kok Joon Wen
Ravnica is one of Magic’s most popular settings. The City of Guilds has often been revisited and even hosted the events of War of the Spark, concluding one of Magic’s biggest story arcs. It’s even received the remastered treatment with Ravnica Remastered.
You also got a Standard set on Ravnica: Murders at Karlov Manor. This set has familiar characters in an iconic setting, with a couple of twists! This set more than any other before it made you question, What do you really know?
Let’s dive in!
Murders at Karlov Manor Basic Information
Murders at Karlov Manor Key Image – Illustration by Lie Setiawan
Set Details
| Set Symbol |  |
| Set Code | MKM |
| Hashtag | #MTGKarlov |
| Number of Cards | 261 (81 commons, 100 uncommons, 60 rares and 20 mythic rares) |
| Rarities | Common, Uncommon, Rare, Mythic Rare |
| Mechanics | Investigate, Goad, Surveil, Disguise, Cloak |
Important Dates
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Previews Start | First Look: December 5, 2023 |
| Full Gallery | January 26, 2024 |
| Available on Draftsim's Draft simulator | Now! |
| Release on MTGA/MTGO | February 6, 2024 |
| Available on Arena Tutor | February 6, 2024 |
| Prerelease Week | February 2, 2024 |
| Paper Release Date | February 9, 2024 |
| Launch Party | February 23-25, 2024 |
About the Set: The Story
The set's story focuses not on Ravnica’s guilds but on solving a murder at the Karlov Manor. The Manor is home to Teysa Karlov, the scion of the Karlov family, who runs the guild while the true Orzhov guild master, Kaya, returns from being off on other planes.
The characters of the 10 two-color guilds exist, but rather than display those color differences, it instead focuses on the private eyes and detectives of the plane, like Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth. Get to know fresh and familiar faces who are key parts of the story. These include Aurelia, Erata, Izoni, Judith, Kaya, Kellan, Krenko, Kylox, Massacre Girl, Rakdos and Tolsmir.
Oh, and you can simulate drafts of the set with our official Draft Simulator! If you want an overview of the set, check out Draftsim's up to date MKM pick order ratings.
Set Mechanics
Disguise & Cloak
Disguise and cloak are reminiscent of morph and manifest. Disguise lets you cast a card face down for , and then later turn it face up for its disguise cost. Cloak, on the other hand, puts a card face down, again as a 2/2 with ward , and can be turned face up at any time for the card's mana cost (as long as it's a creature card). They're two very similar implementations of the overall same concept.
Suspect
Suspect is a pretty simple and intuitive mechanic. If a card has suspect, or is suspected, then it has menace and can't block. This really fits into the crime and mystery theme of the set, both mechanically and thematically. There's even a fancy suspected counter in boosters to help you keep track of which creatures are being suspected!
Collect Evidence
Collect evidence is an additional cost that has you exile cards with a mana value of N or greater from your graveyard. If you're able to do so, this mechanic gives you a kicker effect for some kind of added bonus. WotC will never beat the every-mechanic-is-kicker allegations at this rate.
Cases
Continuing with the evocative, on-theme mechanics are cases! These are like sagas, but rather than have time-based mechanics, you've got to actually fulfill some aspects of the investigation to progress. In the Case of the Pilfered Proof, you need to control three or more detectives at the beginning of your end step. If the card is solved, then you get the bonus of having free clue generation! A quick way to differentiate cases from sagas is the art being on the left side, rather than the right.
Investigate / Clue tokens
You have the return of the straightforward mechanic, investigate, for some balanced and easy add-on card advantage. The puzzle is: when is it best to crack your clues and what will you be able to pay for after you spend ?
Full Card Gallery
White
Blue
Black
Red
Green
Multicolored
Colorless
Lands
Notable Cards
Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth
Thank goodness stamping Magic cards is not a thing, or you'd see a big red CONFIDENTIAL one covering the dossier showcase cards. The showcase treated Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth is a new central legendary character that apparently uses invisible ink on certain dossier cards that can only be found in the Murders at Karlov Manor Collector Boosters.
Aurelia
The warleader is back, back in both the showcase dossier treatment and the showcase Ravnica City frame. The Aurelia cards are literally framed in the skyline of Ravnica and this treatment is reserved for guild leaders only.
The Ravnica City framed cards also have 250 serialized cards that can only be found in collector boosters.
Lightning Helix
The flavor text hints at how Magic players from 2005 say to newcomers: “Back in my day…” this was the best battle magic from the Boros guild. In all seriousness, Lightning Helix is a welcome reprint and a testament to its strong design from about 20 years ago.
Showcase Dossier Treatment
Review the files on key cards and line those text boxes up, these cards come straight from the manila folders, those with invisible ink are only found in collector boosters.
Showcase Ravnica City Treatment
Experience the Ravnica guild leaders in the city's frame.
Showcase Magnified Treatment
The magnified frame treatment signifies the card is a key moment in the murder mystery's story. Told in part, through Proft's case notes.
Special Guests
The special guests arrived as reprints that are not legal in Standard but can drastically impact your draft. You may recall from the special guests in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan that incredible cards like Mana Crypt were reintroduced in this way, and there are 10 for Murders at Karlov Manor. The guests come inside of collector boosters with a 3% chance of being a foil special guest, and inside play boosters with a 1.56% chance of being a nonfoil special guest.
Full-Art Impossible Basic Lands
The five basic lands are an impossible, magic eye puzzle, and with an astounding amount of detail fit into the art by Mia Boas.
Available Products
New Booster Type: Play Boosters
Play Boosters made their debut in Murders at Karlov Manor. This booster pack type is meant to be an optimal combination of Draft and Set boosters. They're Limited playable, and can have a card from The List and even additional rares! You are guaranteed at least one foil in every Play Booster, and a slight increase in cost compared to draft booster packs of the past.
- INTRODUCING PLAY BOOSTERS—Get the best of Draft and Set Boosters, combined into one! Play Boosters are great for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of multiple Rares and at least 1 shining foil card in every pack
- TRACK THE CLUES. CRACK THE CASE—Play detective as you collect evidence, don disguises, and identify suspects to decipher the deadly murder mystery at the heart of Ravnica
- PACKS MAY CONTAIN MULTIPLE RARES—Each MKM Play Booster contains 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including the possibility of a special Borderless Mythic Rare card from Magic’s history
- SHINING FOIL CARD IN EVERY PACK—Every Play Booster contains 1 shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity; in 20% of packs you’ll also find a Traditional Foil Land card (which may even be Full-Art!)
- MAY CONTAIN ART CARDS, A PLAY BOOSTER EXCLUSIVE—Now found only in Play Boosters, some packs also contain an Art Card showcasing a piece of art from the Murders at Karlov Manor set, sometimes with a foil signature from the artist
Collector Boosters
Some dossier showcase cards can include invisible ink that is only visible at certain angles. The cards with a Ravnica City frame could be one of 250 serialized English versions. The serialized and dossier invisible ink cards are only available in Murders at Karlov Manor Collector Boosters.
- CHASE DOWN RAVNICA’S KILLER CARDS—Track down the city’s most notorious cards as you collect evidence, don disguises, and identify suspects to decipher the deadly murder mystery at the heart of Ravnica
- BEST BOOSTERS FOR COLLECTORS—Collector Boosters are a shortcut to the coolest cards in a set, with packs full of Rare cards, shiny foil cards, and special alt-art, alt-frame cards
- EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL TREATMENTS—Found only in Collector Boosters, every pack contains at least 2 Extended-Art card and may contain a card with a special new type of foil treatment
- MORE RARE CARDS—Collector Boosters contain more hard-to-find cards than any other Murders at Karlov Manor booster, with 5 cards of rarity Rare or higher in each pack
- PLAY A GAME THAT FUSES ART, STORIES & STRATEGY—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy with art and mechanics that explore the themes of a particular world and story—whether you want to play a casual game with friends, collect cool cards, or get competitive, Magic welcomes you to The Gathering
Bundle
The Murders at Karlov Manor bundle has nine Play Boosters, one more than The Lost Caverns of Ixalan's bundle. Crammed into the bundle are 30 lands, ten of which are full art basics and a foil promo.
- NOW WITH 9 PLAY BOOSTERS—Get the best of Draft and Set Boosters, combined into one! Play Boosters are great for Limited play and fun to open, with a possibility of multiple Rares and at least 1 shining foil card in every pack
- TRACK THE CLUES. CRACK THE CASE—Play detective as you collect evidence, don disguises, and identify suspects with a box full of boosters and Land cards to build murder mystery-inspired decks
- FULL-ART LANDS & SPECIAL ALTERNATE-ART CARD—Every Bundle also contains 1 foil promo card featuring Bundle-exclusive alternate art, and 10 of the 30 included Basic Land cards feature gorgeous Full Art
- EXCLUSIVE ACCESSORIES—In addition to cards from the set, each Bundle comes with exclusive accessories, including a special die to track your life total and a sturdy box to store everything in
- PLAY A GAME THAT FUSES ART, STORIES & STRATEGY—Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game that weaves deep strategy with art and mechanics that explore the themes of a particular world and story—whether you want to play a casual game with friends, collect cool cards, or get competitive, Magic welcomes you to The Gathering
Commander Precons
You have four decks in the Murders at Karlov Manor Commander Deck Bundle, each with a mechanical theme, 11 unique cards, two legendary rainbow foils, and a collector booster sample. There's also one unique MKM card that is found in each 100-card, ready-to-play commander deck.
Choose from:
- Blame Game: Goad Your Foes – Identify Suspects play the Blame Game with upgrades
- Deadly Disguise: Disguise Cards – Big Surprises the Deadly Disguise upgrades are here
- Deep Clue Sea: Clue Tokens – Card Advantage and look up these upgrades for Deep Clue Sea
- Revanant Recon: Surveil – Resurrect Creatures and check out some Revanant Recon upgrades
- TRACK THE CLUES. CRACK THE CASE—Play detective as you collect evidence, don disguises, and identify suspects to decipher the deadly murder mystery at the heart of Ravnica
- EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
- INTRODUCING 45 COMMANDER CARDS—Get all 4 Murders at Karlov Manor decks for a total of 45 never-before-seen Magic: The Gathering cards (11 unique to each deck + 1 found in all 4), including 8 foil Legendary Creature cards
- COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the Murders at Karlov Manor set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
- CONTENTS—All 4 Murders at Karlov Manor Commander Decks; each 100-card deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack, 1 Foil-Etched Display Commander, 10 double-sided tokens, 1 life tracker, and 1 deck box
Ravnica: Clue Edition
Shocking news, the Ravnica: Clue Edition includes a foil shock land as its box topper! Plus, eight boosters, that function like this set's jumpstart product since you shuffle two packs and play. The Clue-themed game is expressed in both new cards and reprints in a self-contained, ready-to-play experience. Wizards delivers the iconic suspects, weapons, and rooms as a part of Clue in Ravnica: Clue Edition.
You may be familiar with names like Commander Mustard, Senator Peacock, and Mastermind Plum. There are two ways to win: solve the mystery before your rival sleuths or be the last detective standing. This is a twist in the right direction that tweaks how you play Magic and adds in evidence cards that determine the killer. You can entertain 2-4 players and have endless replayability. For that, I'm on board.
- A CLASSIC MURDER MYSTERY REIMAGINED—In this unique, Clue-inspired spin on Magic: The Gathering there are two ways to win: solve the mystery before your rival sleuths or be the last detective standing
- PLAY MAGIC WITH A KILLER TWIST—Guildmage Boddy lies slain in his manor and it’s your job to determine the manner of his demise; gather evidence when you deal combat damage, then follow the clues to crack the case
- JUST SHUFFLE & PLAY—Grab 2 boosters, shuffle them together, and let the sleuthing begin; with 8 ready-to-play boosters (each featuring 1 new Rare card), Ravnica: Clue Edition is perfect for 3–4 players but also plays well with 2
- BORDERLESS CARDS FEATURING CLASSIC CLUE CHARACTERS—Draw from 21 Evidence Cards to determine the killer, murder weapon, and scene of the crime; each Evidence card is also a playable Magic card, including 6 classic Clue characters reimagined in the Ravnica setting as Legendary Creatures
- ENDLESS REPLAYABILITY—The Clue elements of this box can add mystery to any 2–5 player Magic game; play with your own decks and reshuffle the Evidence Cards for a new case to solve
Mysterious Conclusion
Murders at Karlov Manor Key Image – Illustration by Ryan Pancoast
Murders at Karlov Manor is much more than a simple return to a fan-favorite plane. When you take the focus off the guilds, it gives you a chance to explore Ravnica to new depths and brings different perspectives to a much-traversed plane.
Top-down sets create Easter eggs and thematic references, which fit the detective themes perfectly. It was a blast to delve into this and pick out iconic mystery moments as I solved the cases in Murders at Karlov Manor.
What do you think of the murder mystery? What surprised you? What do you think of drafting with play boosters? Let me know in the comments or on the Draftsim Discord!
Stay safe, and follow the Clues!
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