Sets (MKM) Murders at Karlov Manor Previews

Full set's out! Here's what I'm interested in, in descending order of how much I like the card:



I like Aurelia's Vindicator but I almost wish it were "just" the 4 power lifelink flier with ward? It's nice to have the Angel of Serenity trigger back but I don't know if I love Disguise, on only one card, without reminder text. Mirko, Obsessive Theorist from the Commander product isn't for me but I really hope that it's enough for someone here to try really going in on Surveil as a theme. Likewise I think the new surveil 1 ETB-tapped duals are going to be awesome for Cubers everywhere.

On the whole this set is a miss for me as 3 mana 2/2's are unplayable in my format and I don't lean heavily into artifact stuff. Fortunately, there are angels with 4 power + lifelink, and some green instants and sorceries I think I'm pretty interested in.
 
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Such a silly card. As someone who studied economics and continues to keep up with the literature, this is a delight to me.

Sadly this doesn’t stay true to the original Prisoner’s Dilemma Matrix. There are normally a reward to the amount of time you yourself serve in prison for being the only one who snitches. In order to snitch here you have to suffer minimum a +4 damage to your own face.
 
Sadly this doesn’t stay true to the original Prisoner’s Dilemma Matrix. There are normally a reward to the amount of time you yourself serve in prison for being the only one who snitches. In order to snitch here you have to suffer minimum a +4 damage to your own face.
If only one player snitches they take no damage while all others taken +4 damage. It's a wall of text but I believe it adheres to the Prisoner's dilemma?
 
Some random commander cards I don't really care about but someone might.


A lot of words for a 2/2 with ward and flying every turn.


4/3 flash for 4 that comes back once with a somewhat questionable ability for 20-life formats.


Legally distinct blue win condition.


For your self-mill artifact cross-synergy needs.
 
Interesting thing I noticed today: no one in the testing thread but me is going to run or test Reasonable Doubt!



I know we're no longer in the era where people run singleton Rune Snags anymore for lack of good options of counters, but besides having an excellent name (which increases play equity for sure), I thought this was a perfectly acceptable Tier 2 option for a 2MV counter that still has some function mid-late game. It's one that's got great upside for tempo decks, whether you're making a pesky blocker unable to stop your dudes, or if you have a specific creature that needs to get through and just needs menace to do so.

What I hate about it -- and I do mean hate -- is the "suspect" mechanic, which I assume is the biggest reason why folks have skipped this card. It requires a token or other signifier that will not be top-of-mind for most of my drafters, and will certainly lead to a mistake or two in its run of players not remembering the two specific mechanics associated with "suspect". However, I think the card is interesting and powerful enough to overcome that. It's certainly the first time such an aggressive mechanic has been added on, essentially for free, to a totally acceptable and playable counter spell. What do you all think?
 
I think it's a very good Rune Snag! but my format is on Force of Negation, and so, alas....

for real though I think this is a superb mana leak-lite for decks with creatures in them
 
Outside of the suspect memory issues issues, it also has the cursed rule 63 Ion Hazzikostas artwork that I do not want to partake in.
 
If I can avoid adding a keyword or mechanic as a one of in the cube, I will. Since there are a bunch of good alternatives that are pretty similar, I am ok skipping it. I do think it is one of the best because it can affect the board and the stack.
 
Interesting thing I noticed today: no one in the testing thread but me is going to run or test Reasonable Doubt!

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Reasonable Doubt has the distinction of being the best card that uses the Suspect mechanic, and I don't believe it's close. Adding an extra keyword to a Cube just to play another B+ Quench variant is not necessarily worthwhile in smaller Cubes. We're really not starved for two-mana Counterspells anymore, especially thanks to other new cards like Make Dissapear, Spell Stutter, and Lose Focus.

I think my opinion on Reasonable Doubt would be different if there were more good Suspect cards to pair with this. However, right now, I think this card is just a little too niche for most Cubes.
 
I think it's somewhat close. Reasonable Doubt is a mostly replaceable counterspell, and Frantic Scapegoat is a mostly replaceable red one drop for very aggressive decks that I think is quite neat. The rest of them are all various flavors of mostly bad, with the possible exception of Case of the Stashed Skeleton which I think is a trap card, but I'm open to being wrong.
 


Wanted to highlight this card, because I haven't really seen much discussion on it, and I feel like it might be a bit of a sleeper hit. It's quite awkward that it doesn't have reminder text, although you can fix that if you make your own renders, and if you play with enfranchised players then I think collecting evidence is probably going to see tournament play. It's possible that flexible removal options like Abrade and Leyline Binding oppresses it too much, but barring that, it has pretty strong play patterns. It dodges most conventional removal, and in URx tempo decks, you can then untap with it and have mana open for counterspells before you expose it to creature removal, at which point it turns into a big body that generates card advantage. The interaction it has with adventure creatures is what pushes it over the edge for me, as you can cast their adventure side, which won't be put on the bottom of your library, and can then be cast on their creature side to crew the voltstrider.
 
The interaction it has with adventure creatures is what pushes it over the edge for me, as you can cast their adventure side, which won't be put on the bottom of your library, and can then be cast on their creature side to crew the voltstrider.

When you say ‘cast their Adventure side’ are you talking about collecting the Adventure cards as evidence from the graveyard first and then cast them with Voltstrider?
 
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