Murders at Karlov Manor is the ninth Magic: The Gathering set to return to Ravnica (again). The set will launch with four pre-constructed Commander Decks, each one themed around a different Ravnica guild and its unique mechanics.
Besides the many, and frankly superb, reprints, we also get new MTG cards with these four Commander decks. Cards that have been originally printed in a Commander product but not into the actual set are not Standard or Modern legal and are only playable in Commander, Pauper, Legacy, Vintage, and, of course, casual kitchen-table Magic. Here are the top seven Commander cards from Murders at Karlov Manor.
Seven best Commander cards in Murders at Karlov Manor
7) Charnel Serenade
- Mana Cost: 4BB
- Type: Sorcery
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “Surveil 3, then return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. Exile Charnel Serenade with three counters on it. Suspend 3 – 2B (Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay 2B and exile it with three time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a timer counter. When the last is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.)”
This sorcery has a very interesting design as it can potentially be recast perpetually. Ideally, you should never cast Charnel Serenade for its full cost of six mana. Rather, try casting it for its suspend cost of only three mana, even if it means waiting three turns. Then, get your first creature back from the graveyard. For no more mana and with no more effort on your behalf, this spell will recast itself again and again, each time bringing a creature from your graveyard back to the battlefield.
6) Merchant of Truth
- Mana Cost: 2WW
- Type: Creature – Angel Detective
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “Flying. Whenever a nontoken creature you control dies, investigate. Clues you control have exalted. (Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, that creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each instance of exalted among permanents you control.)”
Nontoken creatures you control will go to the graveyard—period. If a game of Commander goes the way it’s supposed to, there will be combat, board wipes, and targeted removal spells. Merchant of Truth reeks of Orzhov’s guilt philosophy by maximizing value whenever other creatures die. Your deck doesn’t even need to be themed around clue tokens, this angel will effortlessly make enough of them all by herself. The magic behind this angel lies in her adding a layer of versatility to clue tokens. She lets you choose between drawing cards or swinging in for massive damage, whichever is most advantageous at the moment.
5) Duskana, the Rage Mother
- Mana Cost: 2RGW
- Type: Legendary Creature – Bear
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “When Duskana, the Rage Mother enters the battlefield, draw a card for each creature you control with base power and toughness 2/2. Whenever a creature you control with base power and toughness 2/2 attacks, it gets +3/+3 until end of turn.”
Duskana repays her Commander player kindly for buying into her strategy by letting them replenish their hand as soon as she enters the battlefield. She then turns her adorable 2/2 bear cubs into ferocious 5/5 threats during the attack phase. The sheer amount of valuable 2/2 “bear” creatures in MTG is too long to list here, but here are some examples that fit into Duskana’s colors: Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker, Grand Abolisher, Duskwatch Recruiter, Gaddock Teeg, Collector Ouphe, Scavenging Ooze, and Vexing Susher.
4) Immortal Obligation
- Mana Cost: 1W
- Type: Instant
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “Return target creature card from an opponent’s graveyard to the battlefield under their control with a duty counter on it. For as long as that creature has a duty counter on it, it is goaded, can’t attack you or a permanent you control, and can’t block creatures you control.”
Immortal Obligation does a lot of things for only two mana and at instant speed. Bring back your opponent’s best creature from their graveyard and goad it, forcing it to attack everyone except you. The creature is not goaded just until your next turn; it is goaded forever, or until it dies, whichever comes first. While it’s true you’re giving one of your opponents a creature back that was already dead, the pure shenanigans and unexpected alliances this spell can instigate all on its own is what a multiplayer format like Commander is really about.
3) Case of the Shifting Visage
- Mana Cost: 1UU
- Type: Enchantment – Case
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “At the beginning of your upkeep 1. To Solve – There are fifteen or more cards in your graveyard. (If unsolved, solve at the beginning of your end step.) Solved – Whenever you cast a nonlegendary creature spell, copy that spell.”
This case shouldn’t be too hard to solve. Just play Magic: The Gathering and you will fill up your graveyard. Once you hit 15 cards in your graveyard, all of your spells will be copied—yes, all of them. Removal spells? Remove two for one. Creature spells? Get a token that’s a copy of the original. Enchantments that beef up your creatures? Get a second copy of that as well. For only three mana, Case of the Shifting Visage puts in serious work.
2) Knowledge is Power
- Mana Cost: 3WU
- Type: Enchantment
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “Creatures you control get +X/+X where X is the number of cards you’ve drawn this turn.”
I had to read Knowledge is Power twice to make sure I understood how powerful it was. If you do one of the most powerful things there is to do in Magic, which is to draw cards, you get to do another powerful thing, which is to pump up your creatures. If you have creatures that allow you to draw cards, or even if you have a draw spell, such as Brainstorm, that lets you draw three cards for one mana, this enchantment becomes a nightmare for your opponents. Players will hate to attack you as much as they’ll hate to block against you, leaving them guessing just how big your creatures are actually going to be during the combat step.
1) Trouble In Pairs
- Mana Cost: 2WW
- Type: Enchantment
- Rarity: Rare
- Ability: “If an opponent would begin an extra turn, that player skips that turn instead. Whenever an opponent attacks you with two or more creatures, draw their second card each turn, or casts their second spell each turn, you draw a card.”
This card basically reads, “Whenever your opponent plays Magic: The Gathering and tries to have fun while doing so, punish them for it.” Trouble in Pairs is one of the most unfun cards WotC has printed in some time. While there are more sadistic enchantments in the game, like Stranglehold, Rhystic Study, or Smothering Tithe, Trouble in Pairs should fit in like a glove in decks that run these sorts of cards already. Decks such as Death & Taxes and Pillowfort strategies are rejoicing over this new addition to their already insufferable armory of enchantments.
