The beginning of Murders at Karlov Manor’s spoiler season has been incredibly explosive! Showcasing dozens of new cards was just the beginning. While many of the new MTG cards that the murder mystery set is offering is already interesting, they do not compare to what has yet to come!
Many of the new cards in Murders at Karlov Manor are reinventing old MTG effects into something new, bringing classic powerhouses back to the Standard format with a clean coat of shiny paint. From Fetchable Temple upgrades, to a new Mana Leak and some incredible reprints, things are seriously heating up in The Murders at Karlov Manor!
Fetchable Temple Upgrades!
Wow. These are incredibly exciting for Commander, Standard, and Pioneer! Surveil is a strict upgrade to Scry, allowing these lands to fuel graveyard synergies like the new Gathering Evidence mechanic. These cards should essentially be replacing Temples in almost any deck that uses them.
These cards being Fetchable is a massive deal! This could also allow these cards to have some niche Modern interest, but tapped lands that only tap for two colors is much weaker than a lot of the format’s alternatives – meaning that the strategy in question will likely really want Surveil to make these playable.
That said, these are definitely a huge deal in Commander. Having access to multi colored lands that are Fetchable, and offer card selection allows players to fix their mana bases and fix their draws. The lands do enter tapped, which severely limits the power level of this new cycle, but they are incredibly interesting and should see lots of experimentation. While these lands have huge potential, this crippling flaw makes it difficult to know exactly where these will land in terms of playability.
If anything, these may render Temple lands completely obsolete except in rare situations where you really do not want to Surveil certain cards into the grave, but don’t want them in your hand either.
A New Mana Leak… With Upside!
Standard is getting an Azorius-colored Mana Leak! One of the most famous counterspells out there, Mana Leak is seriously efficient. This is capable of countering most effects in a tempo manner, and only starts to become less efficient in the lategame. Overall, this looks incredibly powerful and should shake up Standard and Pioneer significantly.
One thing that No More Lies has that Mana Leak did not is the ability to exile the countered spell! This won’t always be relevant, but being able to exile things like hard casted Arclight Phoenixes, core pieces to the Amalia Combo strategy and Escape cards like Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger means that No More Lies is not only efficient, but can provide unique answers to traditional problems for controlling strategies.
Briefly after the card’s spoiling, competitive MTG players everywhere are singing the praises of No More Lies. The card is ultra flexible, able to stop a ton of different strategies in their tracks. Many MTG players are expecting Azorius Control to make a massive appearance at the upcoming Murders at Karlov Manor Pro Tour thanks to this card.
Assassin’s Trophy Reprint
Assassin’s Trophy isn’t what it used to be, but that doesn’t take away from the notability of this reprint. Able to destroy any permanent for just two mana, this is exactly the type of card you want in your Commander decks. The variation of threats in Commander that format is huge, and having something that can answer anything is very valuable.
The downside is that this card allows an opponent to find a Basic Land in exchange. Regardless, Assassin’s Trophy could see some Standard play thanks to this reprint, and should otherwise knock down the current secondary market average of about $7.50.
Kraul Whipcracker
Kraul Whipcracker is a little situational, but for two mana, this card can provide some serious value. A 3/2 body with Reach that can destroy a permanent is incredibly powerful for this rate, even if the permanent in question is a bit restrictive. There’s enough Investigate synergies present in Murders at Karlov Manor to suggest that Kraul Whipcracker will generally have a target in Limited. In Commander, tokens are all over the place. Whether you’re creating token copies of a creature, or creating Treasure Tokens, Kraul Whipcracker is likely able to blow something up.
Tons More to Come!
If this article didn’t have enough spoilers for you, we highlighted 25 more cards already. These incredible additions to Murders at Karlov Manor, however, were simply too good to ignore!
The excitement for this set is currently dialed up to an 11, with multiple new MTG cards promising to make appearances in multiple formats. Will No More Lies dominate the Pro Tour? How popular will the new Surveil Lands be? Will Assassin’s Trophy make an appearance in Standard? We’ll have to wait and see!
If you want more information on The Murders at Karlov Manor, you can find everything you need to know here.
Interested in what new mechanics the set has to offer? You can find those here.
Read More: New MTG Karlov Manor Commander Generates Tons of Clues and Spirits!
