A killer is on the loose in the world of Magic: The Gatheringbut this time it’s a little bit different from all the other times a killer has been on the loose! Wizards’ next card set for the game, Murders at Karlov Manoris getting its Clue on in a big way, with returning and new mechanics that will transform your decks into veritable whodunnits of their own accord.
Revealed today ahead of Murders’ debut next month, Wizards of the Coast has dropped a look at a swath of new cards that will explore the mechanical aspect of the murder mystery vibes underpinning the set’s story. Based around events at a party in the realm of Ravnica—meant to celebrate the surviving heroes of the recent, devastating battles with the Phyrexians—turning sour when the Merfolk wizard Zegana is found murdered, Murders at Karlov Manor will see multiple new mechanics introduced to let players not just try and uncover the culprits themselves, but use their powers of intuition to put the squeeze on their opponents cards.
Returning from the Innistrad sets from 2016 is, naturally, the Investigate mechanic, which allows players to create clue tokens to use as a resource for drawing more cards, but it’ll be joined by four major new mechanics: Cases, Disguise, Suspect, and Evidence. Cases are adjacent to the story-themed “Saga” or “Quest” cards of other sets, letting players solve them by completing specific objectives to reap rewards.
The other mechanics are similarly self-explanatory. Disguise lets players pay an additional cost on a card to turn it face down and mask it as having other stats and abilities, lying in wait for you to reveal its true nature. Suspect, meanwhile, lets you target a card as the focus of your investigative ire, giving it Menace and making it unable to block attacks. Lastly, Evidence lets players exile cards in their graveyards to pay a mana cost that unlocks other abilities on a card.
Murders at Karlov Manor is set to release starting with pre-release events February 2, before a wider rollout on Magic: Arena February 6 and a general launch for the physical game February 9. Click through to see a bunch of cards that lean on these new mechanics—and some more glorious art on top of that!
