Magic: The Gathering meets whodunit murder mystery in new set Murders at Karlov Manor

The trading card game Magic: The Gathering is back again with a brand new set and their first one for the year, titled Murders at Karlov Manor. This new set sees the game head back to Ravnica, a fan favourite setting, to explore a nefarious plot brewing about in a classic whodunit-styled murder mystery.

Ravnica is one of Magic’s most beloved worlds, set in a sprawling cityscape that this time sees its residents battling a series of murders across town. With Ravnica on the edge and about to spill into chaos, War of the Spark veteran Kaya Cassir and Alquist Proft, a character new to the Magic story, team up to find the murderer who’s latest victims are all in the home of the Karlov family.

The new brings with it a number of new mechanics, such as Disguise which lets players play a card face down as a 2/2 colourless creature with Ward; you can then turn them face up again by paying a unique disguise cost. Suspected creatures meanwhile are creatures that gain menace, but can no longer block. Then there’s a new Collect Evidence mechanic that lets players exile a certain number of cards from their graveyard to activate special effects. Lastly, Murders at Karlov Manor also sees the introduction of a new enchantment type called Cases, giving players benefits and a case to ‘solve’ which gives you even more advantages.

One major change coming in this set won’t just affect Ravnica though. The old draft and set boosters of yore are no longer, instead morphed into the new Play Booster. These play boosters combine the playability of draft boosters with pack opening experience of set boosters, giving players a single option to fulfil both players and collectors alike. And speaking of collectors, collector boosters featuring special serialised Ravnica City cards return, along with commander decks, bundles, gift bundles and prerelease kits. Full art lands can also be found in boosters, this time depicting the city of Ravnica.

To celebrate the launch of Murders at Karlov Manor, Wizards of the Coast—the folks behind Magic—have also commissioned a special original murder mystery for Southeast Asian fans. This murder mystery will have you working together to find out the person responsible for a murder that took place during a Magic preview event. It stars an award winning cast featuring Jo Tan, Edward Choy, Feroz Jaan Malik, Tiara Yap and Tysha Khan. You can find excepts of the murder mystery on the Wizards of the Coast Southeast Asia Facebook and Instagram page, and those who solve them will be able to win prizes too.

Murders at Karlov Manor will officially launch on 9 February 2024, with prerelease kits and events already taking place nationwide. You can find all the set on sale at Wizards of the Coast’s official Shopee store, as well as your local game store.