Last week, Murders at Karlov Manor finally launched, much to the excitement of MTG fans. As always, the release of this set unleashed plenty of soon-to-be staples and flavorful Commander additions. Curiously, while the official release date was on February 9th, there was something missing from Murders at Karlov Manor’s launch.
Thankfully, while technically true, we’re not talking about the missing Alchemy set here, as that will launch later. Instead, Murders at Karlov Manor was missing a chunk of its story. Specifically saved for a later date, Wizards was going to make MTG players work for this intriguing final story chapter.
Locking it away behind the Alternate Reality Game (ARG) surrounding Murders at Karlov Manor, players had their own mystery to solve. With clues sprinkled throughout the set’s myriad products, this puzzle required the entire community to band together. Thankfully, the resourceful efforts of players have finally paid off.
A Reward Well Earned
At long last, the final story chapter for Murders at Karlov Manor, Portents and Omens, has been revealed. For better or worse, this final chapter isn’t full of twisty twists or exceptionally dramatic reveals. Instead, this 11th chapter is more like an MTG post-credits scene, teasing a future development in the story.
To cut a long story short, or rather a short story even shorter, in this chapter, Niv Mizzet finally appears. Having been surprisingly absent in the set’s main story, many players have been wondering what Ravnica’s Living Guildpact has been up to. Thankfully, Alquist Proft has finally given us an answer; Niv Mizzet’s been scheming.
Specifically, rather than protecting Ravnia, Niv Mizzet has been tracking the new Omenpaths that have been popping up everywhere. According to Proft, the hope is to turn Ravnica into the central hub within the multiverse. Should this happen, this obviously has some pretty big implications for Magic’s future.
Unfortunately, outside of this curious detail, the Portents and Omens chapter doesn’t offer much. Due to this, a lot of players, such as u/Doombringer1331, were left disappointed, commenting “Well that was a bit underwhelming.” Following up on this comment, u/Tratolo remarked that compared to the effort put in this reward was decidedly naff.
“Yeah, I mean what he’s trying to do could have big implications on the setting. But as the ‘reward’ for the ARG it’s a bit… disappointing.”
u/Tratolo
Thankfully, while some MTG players were disappointed with this lackluster ending, not everyone was upset. For some players, like u/mweepinc, the fun was in the journey, not the final destination. With each case file being its own intriguing puzzle, it’s hard to say MTG’s ARG hasn’t been a fun time.
Reward 2: Electric Boogaloo
Thankfully, while the new epilogue story chapter is nice, it’s not the only reward MTG players can get for solving the ARG. On MTG Arena, players can receive a whopping 5,000 XP alongside a commemorative sleeve to mark the occasion. Sure, this sleeve may look like it was made for Streets of New Capenna, but it’s nonetheless a nice added celebratory touch!
As the final step of the ARG, unfortunately, claiming this reward isn’t exactly the simplest process. Rather than just going to the player inbox or inputting a code, instead, you have to build a specific deck. Thankfully you don’t have to craft this deck, so don’t waste your wildcards!
Just follow these steps to get the reward!
- Open MTG Arena
- Go to the Decks Tab
- Create a new deck
- Import the below decklist
- Name the deck “thewayisopen”
- Save and exit the deck builder (you do not need to craft the deck)
- Check your Player Inbox for the reward!
To import this decklist to MTG Arena, just copy this to your clipboard and hit the import button!
1 Extract a Confession (MKM) 84
1 Homicide Investigator (MKM) 86
1 Leering Onlooker (MKM) 91
1 Glint Weaver (MKM) 162
1 Granite Witness (MKM) 206
1 Meddling Youths (MKM) 219
1 Furtive Courier (MKM) 59
1 Case of the Stashed Skeleton (MKM) 80
1 Out Cold (MKM) 66
1 The Pride of Hull Clade (MKM) 172
1 Reckless Detective (MKM) 141
1 Novice Inspector (MKM) 29
While this boatload of XP is a great boon to MTG Arena players, unfortunately, paper players aren’t so lucky. At the moment, it seems there’s no physical reward for solving the ARG beyond the feeling of satisfaction from this case being closed.
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