As more and more Karlov Manor spoilers have become revealed, there’s no denying that many of the cards and mechanics seem to make direct callbacks to previous designs. For instance,
Analyze the Pollen
Analyze the Pollen
As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may collect evidence 8. (Exile cards with total mana value 8 or greater from your graveyard.)
Search your library for a basic land card. If evidence was collected, instead search your library for a creature or land card. Reveal that card, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
has a very similar effect to
Traverse the Ulvenwald
Traverse the Ulvenwald
Search your library for a basic land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
Delirium — If there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, instead search your library for a creature or land card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
, but this time, you will need to Collect Evidence 8 to search for any Creature or Land instead of needing Delirium. Similarly, Disguise works quite closely to Morph, except a Disguised Creature has Ward 2 as a nice bonus.
It’s interesting to see just how much older card design still plays a role in how newer cards are created, even in a world where power creep has run rampant. Today, we are going to highlight a few newer spoilers that play similar roles or have close effects to cards in the past. Let’s start with one in particular takes a really intriguing spin on a
Necromentia
Necromentia
Choose a card name other than a basic land card name. Search target opponent's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with that name and exile them. That player shuffles, then creates a 2/2 black Zombie creature token for each card exiled from their hand this way.
effect that opens the door for a ton of possibilities.
Board Wipe+Hate Card?
Deadly Cover-Up is a very interesting design for a board wipe. For five mana, you get to destroy all Creatures. Alone, that isn’t very exciting, as there are more efficient board wipes to go around. However, where Devious Cover-Up separates itself is with the additional effect gained if you Collect Evidence 6. If you pay this additional cost, you get an effect that has been commonly used on a multitude of cards over the last decade: you get to exile a card from the opponent’s graveyard, then remove all other copies from their graveyard, hand, or library from the game.
Often times, this is used as a form of hate against combo decks that rely heavily on one specific card. Getting to remove all copies of
Lotus Field
Lotus Field
Hexproof
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, sacrifice two lands.
{T}: Add three mana of any one color.
from the Lotus Field combo deck in Pioneer with cards like
The Stone Brain
The Stone Brain
{2}, {T}, Exile The Stone Brain: Choose a card name. Search target opponent's graveyard, hand, and library for up to four cards with that name and exile them. That player shuffles, then draws a card for each card exiled from their hand this way. Activate only as a sorcery.
, for instance, could be a big deal. Seeing this on a board wipe, though, is rather unique.
Now, when you destroy all your opponent’s Creatures, you can choose one of those Creatures to remove from their deck entirely for the game. In a Pioneer setting, this could be quite impactful against decks like Abzan
Amalia Benavides Aguirre
Amalia Benavides Aguirre
Ward—Pay 3 life.
Whenever you gain life, Amalia Benavides Aguirre explores. Then destroy all other creatures if its power is exactly 20. (To have this creature explore, reveal the top card of your library. Put that card into your hand if it's a land. Otherwise, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature, then put the card back or put it into your graveyard.)
combo, as you can both wipe the board and remove the opponent’s ability to combo in the future.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this card, though, is that, based on the wording, you can actually exile a basic Land from the opponent’s graveyard and then remove all of that same Land from their deck. This could be backbreaking for mono-colored EDH decks, so long as you can make sure the opponent has a basic Land in their graveyard.
Thanks to cards like
Strip Mine
Strip Mine
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}, Sacrifice this land: Destroy target land.
and various mill effects, this is rather trivial. Notably, it’s possible this is a mistranslation, as it wasn’t previewed in English. It’s also possible this was a general oversight. What is for certain, though, is that almost every card with an effect like this in the past has been restricted to only hit non-basic Lands, making this a rather big deal.
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Protection Spell+Tempo Element
Next up, we have another card whose versatility allows it to play multiple roles in a game. Lost in the Maze, much like March of Swirling Mist, can be used as a way to either protect your own Creatures from removal or prevent opposing Creatures from attacking or blocking. It is a little less efficient than March and doesn’t have the added benefit of saving your Creatures from board wipes, but it has some added benefits that make it a rather interesting card.
First, the opposing Creatures you target get stun counters on them, meaning you may be able to get multiple attacks in before the effect wears off. Also, because Lost in the Maze is an Enchantment that sticks around, all of your tapped Creatures on future turns will also be immune to removal spells. As such, this card pairs exceptionally well with cards like
Opposition
Opposition
Tap an untapped creature you control: Tap target artifact, creature, or land.
that let you tap your untapped Creatures at will.
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Casualties of War 2.0
Urgent Necropsy is a cool card with a potentially powerful effect. The key is that, in order to maximize this card, you likely need to be filling your graveyard over the course of the game. Otherwise, you may not have enough of a total mana value among cards in your graveyard to destroy all the opposing permanents you want to.
However, assuming you can meet the requirements, this is a very versatile card. From
Leyline Binding
Leyline Binding
Flash
Domain — This spell costs {1} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
to
Trumpeting Carnosaur
Trumpeting Carnosaur
Trample
When this creature enters, discover 5.
{2}{R}, Discard this card: It deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
, Urgent Necropsy can remove all sorts of problematic permanents from the battlefield. Much like
Casualties of War
Casualties of War
Choose one or more —
• Destroy target artifact.
• Destroy target creature.
• Destroy target enchantment.
• Destroy target land.
• Destroy target planeswalker.
, though, this card threatens to destroy multiple permanents at once in the right matchup.
For instance, getting to destroy
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Deathtouch
Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, they lose 2 life.
and
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — Create a 2/2 red Goblin Shaman creature token with "Whenever this token attacks, create a Treasure token."
II — You may discard up to two cards. If you do, draw that many cards.
III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.
at the same time against Rakdos midrange in Pioneer can be a big blowout. Obviously, not every deck can reliably cast Urgent Necropsy, and it’s a bit inefficient if it isn’t killing multiple things. This is especially true considering the fact that Casualties of War could destroy Lands, too. Still, it’s possible a deck like Abzan
Greasefang, Okiba Boss
Greasefang, Okiba Boss
At the beginning of combat on your turn, return target Vehicle card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Return it to its owner's hand at the beginning of your next end step.
combo could make use of something like this.
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Another Solid Azorius Win Condition
Finally, we have Ezrim, Agency Chief. Ezrim, much like
Dream Trawler
Dream Trawler
Flying, lifelink
Whenever you draw a card, this creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever this creature attacks, draw a card.
Discard a card: This creature gains hexproof until end of turn. Tap it.
, is tough to kill, has WWUU in its mana cost, and threatens to run away with the game on its own against Creature decks. The fact that Dream Trawler naturally has Lifelink likely makes it a better finisher for Azorius control decks in Pioneer.
That being said, Ezrim provides a lot of value for five mana in a Standard environment. Often times, it will be best to play Ezrim with six mana available so that when you pass the turn, you have a mana up to protect it from removal spells. You do have to sacrifice an Artifact to protect Ezrim, but it generates two Clue tokens for you when it enters the battlefield. If you have enough expendable Artifacts lying around, Ezrim becomes very difficult to remove and can gain Lifelink to make it hard to race. Given this set’s focus on powerful Investigate cards, it’s possible Ezrim cements itself as a solid finisher.
Ultimately, it’s unclear just how much Constructed impact these cards will have. Still, it’s interesting to see all of these throwbacks to previous successful designs while simultaneously maintaining a unique and fresh feel within the set. Murders at Karlov Manor looks like a blast, and we’ve still got more to look forward to.
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