Locations
While Murders at Karlov Manor came out some months ago, it was a pretty cool set that had some really sweet designs in it. Unfortunately, the set did have a few issues, most notably the overuse of the detective trope, similar to Outlaws of Thunder Junction's overuse of the cowboy trope, as well as being a Ravnica-based set that didn't feel very Ravnican. Despite that, it was still a fairly impactful set in terms of playable cards.
Today we're going to talk about what I think are some of the most notable rares and mythics from Murders at Karlov Manor, in no particular order, and discuss why they're notable.
Vein Ripper
What MKM list would be complete without Vein Ripper? This dude single-handedly redefined Pioneer until its partner, Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, was banned in the past month or so. I'm not sure if Vein Ripper will ever see play again by itself, without a way to cheat it into play on turn three, but time will tell, I'm sure. It's definitely not the worst creature, but when you're paying six mana, there are a lot of times where paying one more for something like Atraxa is just going to be a better pay off. Nevertheless, this guy was a house for the six or so months it dominated Pioneer.
Leyline of the Guildpact
Leyline of the Guildpact was another card that went absolutely crazy upon release. I remember seeing these at around $6-$8, watching them go up to $11, then to $15, then finding an extended art playset on eBay for around $44. I immediately got rewarded when they shot up to $30 in a matter of days. Now they seem to be back down to around that original $6-$8 range, which is funny, because this card does nothing (ala Null Rod) but still sees a considerable amount of play in notable decks like Zoo in Modern and Mono-Green in Pioneer.
In the latter, the best (and perhaps only) use is to combine the enchantment with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, in order to get a ton of mana, ideally on turn two with a turn-one elf. One of the main issues with this plan is not having a Nykthos. Thankfully, the next card can help with that...
Archdruid's Charm
Archdruid's Charm is super cool, and gives me hope for seeing the "[X]'s Charm" cycle completed some day.
I remember back when ramp spells cost two mana. Now it's much more common for them to cost three and to search for a basic, often at sorcery speed. Archdruid's Charm breaks that convention in a number of ways. It searches for any land, at instant speed, puts it into play, or searches for a creature, or fights a creature, or Naturalizes something! This is such a solid and versatile card. I loved the idea of including it in my Cube, but triple-Green can be hard to swallow at times. Not as hard as, say, Cryptic Command, due to Green's fixing, but still a little hard, and not the most splashable.
Cryptic Coat
Speaking of cards that start with "Cryptic Co," Cryptic Coat was another card that had a pretty meteoric rise, starting at around $1, then jumping to $3, then to $7. It's now back to about $1 again, which is sad because it's a very cool card, and another that made the cut in my own Vintage Cube. It goes great with Stoneforge Mystic, especially if you're able to cast it.
Making repeatable unblockable 3/2 creatures with ward 2 can be pretty obnoxious. This is also a pretty unique equipment, in that you can't actually reequip it to anything else.
Intrude on the Mind
Honestly, this card is just a pet favorite of mine. Fact or Fiction is one of the most iconic card drawing cards in the history of the game. There have been several cards that have tried to recreate the feeling of Fact or Fiction - cards like Steam Augury or Truth or Tale - none of which have been very good. But there's something about Intrude that I like. The fact that you can make piles of 0 and 5 cards, and either draw five or make a 5/5 flier at instant speed is also pretty cool. I like cards like Intrude that have built in minigames.
The Surveil Lands
The surveil lands, all 10 of them, are pretty comical. I remember these being previewed and there was the usual, vocal component of the community that was claiming things like these were the worst lands ever, and they would never see play. I just laughed.
I remember back when Ali Aintrazi and I did our Freshly Brewed podcast. We posted about Jace, Vryn's Prodigy on Facebook and someone said it was the worst Jace ever and it would never see play. In not even a couple months, the card was hovering around $70. Good times, and always best to listen to that vocal minority when it comes to card evaluations.
Truth is, there are a ton of cool cards in the set that I love, that have seen some amount of competitive play: Krenko's Buzzcrusher, Wojek Investigator, Steamcore Scholar, Reenact the Crime, Worldsoul's Rage, Forensic Gadgeteer, Doorkeeper Thrull, Deadly Cover-Up, Analyze the Pollen, Case of the Stashed Skeleton. All of these have great designs, see some amount of play in multiple constructed formats, and are all pretty reasonably priced right now, with most under a buck or two.
As an aside for those interested, you can play the newest iteration of my Horror Cube on Magic Online again this year (an Innistrad-centric version debuted last year around Halloween) from October 9th - 23rd. This time I'll be incorporating Duskmourn cards! You can find the announcement here
As always, thanks a ton for reading and I'll catch ya next time!
Frank Lepore
