Murders at Karlov Manor MTG set introduces multiple new mechanics

The first set of cards for Magic: The Gathering in 2024 is Murders at Karlov Manor , and it hits the street on Feb. 9. Set in the fan favorite plane of Ravnica, the mysterious set offers a whole host of new mechanics all based on the classic murder mystery trope. Details were shared Tuesday in a news release.

When players Investigate in Karlov Manor , they’ll create a Clue token — just as they did when the mechanic was introduced in Shadows Over Innistrad in 2016. This artifact can be sacrificed for two mana, allowing players to draw a single card. That’s a fairly expensive way to prime the pump on a bad hand, but it can pay off in the long run — especially if that next card includes one of the game’s other new mechanics.

Perhaps the next card will let you don a Disguise. Disguise lets players cast a card face down, concealing what’s been brought to the table. That allows you to set clever traps for other players — such as Aurelia’s Vindicator featuring lifelink, which earns the controlling player additional life for each damage it deals across the table.

The Case mechanic, on the other hand, is a clever reimplementation of Sagas. These multi stage enchantments stay on the table for a while, evolving in ways similar to a classic murder mystery. The payoff can be fairly lucrative. The Case of the Filched Falcon, for instance, nets the player a small flock of flying Bird creatures to harass opponents.

Meanwhile, the new Suspect mechanic appears poised to help accelerate the end game. Suspected is a label that gets applied to a creature. The Suspect label lasts indefinitely, and creatures granted it go on a rampage, gaining menace. Finally, the last new mechanic is called Evidence and gives players who like to play tricks using that part of the board — which is technically outside the game itself — another way to place cards into this liminal space.

Related We’ve included all of the new preview cards in the gallery below. Stay tuned for pre release weekend, which kicks off Feb. 2. Pre orders are already open..