The case is solved and we now know whodunit. Murders at Karlov Manor and its adjacent releases are all now completely previewed and as such, there's tons to talk about! We even got all cards a few days earlier than usual, with even the commons trickling through sooner than expected, coming alongside typical previews instead of in a final dump the Friday before prerelease. There's lots to talk about so break out those magnifying lenses and let's dive on in!

A Commanding Presence

All four Commander decks were revealed on Wednesday, showing off a whole host of awesome new cards. We'd already seen several of the new commanders themselves, but what got people talking the most were the other new cards.

Prisoner's Dilemma provides a fun and interesting mind game and utilizes the political angle of Commander to its fullest extent. How can you trust anyone? Do you think everyone will call one thing or another? What if someone tries getting everyone to call "silence" only to then be the one person to call "snitch" and cause major life point swings? It's a really sweet design that had everyone talking about how it works in games and is no doubt going to lead to interesting gameplay experiences for many.

Another thing that came up - not just with Commander previews, but with the set as a whole - were the continued references that made appearances. Players were quick to note two particular cards among the rest with the Commander cards: Otherworldly Escort and Final-Word Phantom. Final-Word Phantom was an obvious Columbo reference, utilizing his famous catchphrase of "just one more thing." Similarly, Otherworldly Escort was a clear reference to anime Yu Yu Hakusho lead Yusuke Urameshi. The series begins with Yusuke diving in front of a car to save a kid, dying, and turning into a spirit detective whose signature weapon is a beam he shoots using finger guns. Heck, even Sophia, Dogged Detective features a great dane named Tiny that's clearly a nod to Scooby-Doo.

There're many others in the main set as well, such as Case of the Gateway Express (Murder on the Orient Express) or Case of the Filched Falcon and Coveted Falcon both referencing the film classic The Maltese Falcon. It's a ton of fun trying to find all the references you can, and I highly recommend pouring through the card list to see which ones you can spot yourself.

Speaking of finding interesting things, the Murders at Karlov Manor ARG campaign continues. Last week, keen eyed players noticed that the borderless nonbasic lands lined up to form letters and symbols. Now with the Commander decks comes Ransom Note: a set of four cards with cryptic codes that players have taken to try deciphering to see what they mean and see if they provide clues to new things within the set's puzzles. Cryptex also used similar symbols, leading to its use in helping to try deciphering the codes from Ransom Note. The real puzzles start next week alongside the prerelease and should provide a fun additional game for the sleuths among players!

The Mysteries of Ravnica: Clue Edition Revealed

In addition to the main set and Commander sets being fully revealed, we also got to see everything from Ravnica: Clue Edition as well. The release features 51 all new cards (including five that are special versions of cards from the main set) and several reprints focusing heavily on the various guilds of Ravnica.

Most of the new cards aren't the most exciting, which is probably to be expected since the booster packs are meant to be closer in power to the various Jumpstart sets. Those releases have a lower power level on average to help ease newer players into a fun Limited-style experience. Similar to Jumpstart, though, this set still provides some really fun and interesting cards and even provides a couple new legends for players to use to head their Commander decks.

For all the details on the new cards, possible booster configurations, and general information on Ravnica: Clue Edition, check out this article from the WotC homepage. If you'd like to see a game of Ravnica: Clue Edition in action, check out the Weekly MTG stream VOD on YouTube where they play through a game and talk through how it all works.

The Cards People Are Talking About

People saw this card at first and didn't know what to make of it. The common joke was something along the lines of "oh look, that's going to be my prerelease card!" given how poor the card plays in Limited. However, on the Constructed front, it got lots of players brewing. Scapeshift utility quickly came to mind and also the high amount of devotion it provides you if you use it alongside Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - especially if you can hit multiple Leylines at the start of the game. Will it see a ban like Leyline of Abundance or will it continue bringing about new and innovative brews?

Speaking of brews, we got the latest "you can have any number of this in your deck" card in Slime Against Humanity. Players immediately loved the name, but more importantly quickly tried to come up with cool and fun ways to build around the card and see how best to make big tokens as fast as possible. This is especially notable in the land of Pauper, where players have already been experimenting to find ways to try getting copies as big as 5/5s or 6/6s within the first few turns of the game. Like similar cards before it such as Persistent Petitioners and Shadowborn Apostle, even if it doesn't make a lasting impact, it provides a fun experience that gets players talking, brewing, and trying to make it all come together.

Lastly isn't a card so much as it is a token. We've seen our share of dogs in Magic before, but hardly any so cute as this adorable pupper. Players couldn't get over how sweet this token looked and it'll no doubt be one in high demand as the set comes out. As an additional note, level 3 judge Jason LeMahieu noted on Reddit that the artist, Alayna Danner, actually used his dog Tank as a reference for the painting.

Notable Reprints

While The Lost Caverns of Ixalan featured a fairly stellar chain of reprints, we only ended up getting a couple in this set. Both of the primarily impactful ones - Lightning Helix and Assassin's Trophy - were shown earlier. Instead, the focus was more heavily on all the sweet new cards dropping instead, and brought with them a ton of new power or else fresh and unique ways to play the game. We also got all of the Special Guests and the cards for The List up front this time around too. However, there is still the Commander decks, which provided a whole host of awesome reprints.

Following the outstanding amount of value reprints in the Commander lists for both Universes Beyond: Doctor Who and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, you'd be forgiven for thinking that WotC would likely slow down on reprints. However, when the lists for this set were revealed, it became clear there were no brakes to be found on this reprint train. Every deck has some extremely strong reprints, but the Deep Clue Sea and Revenant Recon are just loaded with value.

For example, here's a list of cards being reprinted with value around or over $10 (valuations taken from MTGGoldfish.com):

• Adrix and Nev, Twincasters
• Alandra, Sky Dreamer
• Bennie Bracks, Zoologist
• Chulane, Teller of Tales
• Koma, Cosmos Serpent

There's also Farewell and Finale of Devastation, which go for about $8 and $7, respectfully. Two of the cards in that list are even around or over the $20 range, never mind $10!

The numbers are similar in Revenant Recon where you get reprints around or over $10:

• Phyrexian Metamorph
• Reanimate
• Toxic Deluge
• Rise of the Dark Realms
• Necromancy

Both of the other decks have far less expensive reprints, but still feature a couple of high profile cards apiece, such as Jeska's Will and Seedborn Muse in Deadly Disguise and Fiendish Duo and Comeuppance in Blame Game. This provides some great access to some much needed reprints and shows a continued commitment to find new ways to get cards into players' hands more easily - something that's always welcome.

Additional Resources

If you'd like more information on this set, check out the following links to various official resources from Wizards of the Coast:

• Murders at Karlov Manor official card image gallery
• Where to Find Murders at Karlov Manor Previews
• Collecting Murders at Karlov Manor
• Murders at Karlov Manor Mechanics
• What's New on The List for Murders at Karlov Manor
• Murders at Karlov Manor Story Episode One (additional stories can be found on the right side of the page)
• The Ravnica Detective Agency Mystery Puzzle Webpage

The mystery may be over, but there's still much more to come yet with the puzzles on the above Ravnica Detective Agency Mystery Puzzle starting up on prerelease weekend next week. I will not be covering those, but I highly recommend following along on social media to try and see if you along with others can crack the case! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the set and have excellent luck - and pulls - at your own prerelease!

Last but not least, please remember to check out the CoolStuffInc.com webpage for Murders at Karlov Manor for all your needs with the latest set!

Paige Smith

Twitter: @TheMaverickGal

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