Timeless: 10 Best Cards from Murders at Karlov Manor for the format!

With the end of spoilers for the new Magic expansion, Murders at Karlov Manor, we begin our season of reviewing its cards, where we evaluate their potential for the main competitive formats.

Since our last review, Magic Arena has gained a new format, Timeless, where all cards on the platform are legal in their original version and its banned list is limited to restricting Channel, Demonic Tutor and Tibalt's Trickery.

Therefore, this is a high power level format, where we have access to historical staples like Necropotence alongside more recent pillars like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer - and impacting it is an arduous task for sets aimed at Standard.

Murders at Karlov Manor, however, brings a new surprise to Magic Arena: cards from The List, a list of select reprints distributed in boosters, will be available on the digital platform, in addition to cards from Special Guests, which include some of the most famous staples from Legacy and Modern.

In this article, we review the ten best cards from the new expansion for Timeless, whether from the set itself, or from the special slots of The List and Special Guests who entered the format, which you can check out here.

10 - Kuldotha Rebirth

Alongside Gleeful Demolition and artifacts like Experimental Synthesizer and Ichor Wellspring, Kuldotha Rebirth is another step on the path to making “8-Whack” decks viable in Timeless - except that the “Whackers” (Goblin Bushwhacker and Reckless Bushwhacker) aren't yet available in Magic Arena.

It is possible to use Imodane's Recruiter or Goblin Chieftain as options to take advantage of this micro-interaction with artifacts and token-generating spells, in addition to also taking advantage of spells with Convoke, such as Loxodon Hierarch , Knight-Errant of Eos and Stoke the Flames along with already known artifact generators, especially Thraben Inspector and its new twin, Novice Inspector.

9 - Doorkeeper Thrull

Doorkeeper Thrull is a decent Sideboard option that deserves space as an evasive threat that punishes ETB effects from some of the most played cards in the format, such as Orcish Bowmasters, Primeval Titan and The One Ring, as well as helping to “cheat” Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath's trigger to keep it on the battlefield.

Today, Timeless already has Hushbringer and Strict Proctor for these interactions, and neither of them has much impact on the current Metagame. Therefore, my expectations are low with Doorkeeper Thrull, but any change in format could make it an important Sideboard piece.

8 - Insidious Roots

Timeless doesn't have the cards from the Asmo Food deck to have the same impact here as it can have in Modern, especially because Deathrite Shaman is an efficient graveyard hate and maindeck staple in several lists in the format.

However, the new enchantment interacts with Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven, in addition to working with Bloodghast and Gravecrawler, where it even allows an infinite damage combo with another zombie, Goblin Bombardment and Mass Hysteria - which will also be released in Magic Arena via The List.

7 - Smuggler’s Copter

Smuggler's Copter will be much more relevant in Explorer than in Timeless, but it is still an excellent asset for aggressive creature decks and its interaction with Inti, Seneschal of the Sun can give it space in the Midrange with a lower mana curve as a complement to the attrition plan.

The card is unlikely to become a staple in a Metagame with as high a power level as Timeless, but its addition to the format and Magic Arena is a sure step forward.

6 - Break Out

The mini-Collected Company has more potential in Timeless than in other eternal formats, as its mana cost is suited to bringing high-powered threats into the format while making them have an immediate impact.

Tarmogoyf, Death's Shadow, Scourge of the Skyclaves Territorial Kavu and Nishoba Brawler are some of the best targets for Break Out and can bring a powerful “surprise effect” to the opponent at inopportune moments, while other creatures like Questing Druid can be kept in hand to cast their adventure and generate more card advantage.

This card can find a home in more aggressive versions of Jund, especially those with Death's Shadow, and also in Domain variants that want to give up an attrition plan with Oko, Thief of Crowns to favor more speed and aggression with more low-cost threats.

However, it competes with Perilous Iteration in Timeless and also has a failure rate if a list has a very low number of creatures, so there are compromises to be made to get the most out of Break Out and, today, Shadow and Domain decks don't seem to run enough creatures to extract the same value from it that archetypes in other formats extract from Collected Company.

5 - Spell Snare

Spell Snare was once a powerful staple in Modern and Legacy. In Timeless, the card can become a necessary answer to the current Metagame by dealing with several spells for one mana: Underworld Breach, Tarmogoyf, Territorial Kavu, Counterspell, Demonic Tutor and Orcish Bowmasters are some of the main targets for it.

The spell competes with Stern Scolding, which also encompasses Orcish Bowmasters, as well as Deathrite Shaman, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and even Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, but is less comprehensive against other card categories.

We can expect the presence of both in the Timeless Metagame as conditional counterspells which show up in lists as the format evolves.

4 - Pick Your Poison

Pick Your Poison is a modal spell that stands out for its versatility and low mana cost. With just one Sideboard slot, this card allows you to respond to Blood Moon, Alpine Moon, Necropotence, Pithing Needle, Grafdigger's Cage and other cards in the Timeless metagame without losing the versatility of dealing with flying threats.

The absence of Murktide Regent is notable in this case, but Pick Your Poison deals with Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Ledger Shredder and Dragon's Rage Channeler in Timeless, and This range of valid targets in a single slot can guarantee space on the Sideboard of some green decks that need to deal with specific hates.

3 - Gamble

Gamble is the most efficient red tutor in the game, and is second only to Burning Wish in effectiveness. While risky, it is an excellent enabler for archetypes that already want to have cards in the graveyard as part of their strategy.

In Timeless, two notable archetypes for the new tutor are Rakdos Breach and Izzet Phoenix, as both can take advantage of what is fetched even if it is discarded, but new variants of combos with Goblin Charbelcher and other cards that require specific mechanics also deserve a test with Gamble

2 - Archdruid’s Charm

The mana cost seems heavy for an archetype that relies on Field of the Dead as its main victory condition and uses a certain amount of colorless lands for its game plan, but Archdruid's Charm is the best card that Murders at Markov Manor has brought to the current versions of Titan Field.

In addition to being a maindeck answer to Alpine Moon, Blood Moon, Necropotence, The One Ring and other troublesome artifacts and enchantments, the new spell is another way of acquiring redundancy when finding Field of the Dead, Primeval Titan or any other creature and/or land we need for the occasion, adding even more value to Bojuka Bog, Blast Zone and the like.

1 - Show and Tell

Show and Tell is an archetype-defining card in Legacy and one of the best ways to cheat mana costs in Magic.

As I explained in my highlight, it is another powerful combo engine in Timeless and complements Natural Order in that category, granting up to eight ways to get Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Worldspine Wurm into play as early as the second turn

Additionally, it fits into existing archetypes: Titan Field can enable a Simic mana base to increase the amount of means of having Primeval Titan on the board early, Sultai decks can alter their structure to fit Show and Tell and Natural Order and turn into a combo-control, while Sneak Attack gains even more redundancy and can develop its own archetype.

Coming from Urza's Saga, Show and Tell has a huge potential to impact the Timeless competitive Metagame and make it even more combo-oriented, requiring the Metagame to adapt and revolve even more around cards like Thoughtseize and Counterspell to keep these combos in check.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for reading!