Standard: 8 Murder at Karlov Manor Cards to Keep an Eye on Post-Rotation

Standard rotation is coming. Starting with the prerelease of Edge of Eternities, the sets from Dominaria United to March of the Machines: Aftermath leave the format and, with them, a range of preexisting options and staples that have solidified in recent years: Temporary Lockdown, Cut Down, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Monastery Swiftspear, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, the pain lands and half of the fast lands are just a few examples.

With this blank space and the clear changes in the Metagame caused by them, it is natural that some cards that were previously irrelevant may gain more space in Standard, whether due to their individual power level, interaction with a specific mechanic, or simply because their deck becomes more viable without certain cards in the Metagame.

In this series of articles, we've listed eight cards from each expansion that will remain in Standard that are worth a second look for the upcoming season, and today we're covering cards from Murders at Karlov Manor.

Delney, Streetwise Lookout

Delney, Streetwise Lookout has gotten more attention in recent weeks, and it has some interesting interactions with Voice of Victory's Mobilize ability and cards like Kellan, Daring Traveler, Dark Confidant, or even Cecil, Dark Knight if you want him to transform faster.

Without Knight-Errant of Eos, white Aggro decks will likely need to rely on creatures with some added value, and Delney is an excellent tool for building lists around their abilities.

Case of the Stashed Skeleton

With slower Aggro and the absence of Sunfall, Sacrifice decks featuring Bartolomé Del Presidio and Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER are a potential archetype in the new season.

Despite not being a creature, Case of the Stashed Skeleton provides a useful body when it comes into play, which we can sacrifice with other cards to trigger the enchantment, allowing us to find any card in the list, including Raise the Past to start looping with Amalia Benavides Aguirre, Bartolomé Del Presídio and Vengeful Bloodwitch.

Case of the Crimson Pulse

Urabrask’s Forge is leaving Standard and there is still no viable replacement for Red Aggro today, except for Case of the Crimson Pulse, which benefits from the ease of these archetypes to empty the hand.

While it should be prioritized in Prowess/Burn lists, perhaps go wide variants with more creatures will opt for another card.

Connecting the Dots

If your list has plenty of creatures, especially with Haste, Connecting the Dots can guarantee more cards than Case of the Crimson Pulse in the long run. From the third turn onwards, we will have virtually compensated for the number of cards we invested in it and in our creatures, with the advantage of accumulating more and more pieces for each attack to, in the late-game, crack the enchantment.

Although cheaper, however, Connecting the Dots does not work well on an empty board and in a topdeck war, so the choice will depend a lot on each player's priorities.

Archdruid’s Charm

Archdruid’s Charm hasn’t had it's time to shine in Standard yet, but there are a few factors that could make the second card of the Arch cycle stand out more: Tifa Stompy decks are regularly popular and could rise to a wider competitive level, depending on how the Metagame develops after Edge of Eternities.

Another relevant point is that there are specific lands with good abilities in the format today, such as Adventure Lands, in addition to the charm also serving to exile artifacts and enchantments, or as a board interaction. If there is a Mono-Green Aggro, with or without Tifa, it will have Archdruid’s Charm as one of its main tools.

Insidious Roots

Insidious Roots did some good before the bans, but it loses Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler, which allowed for some of its most explosive plays. However, there is enough support from cards that interact with the graveyard to try new variants after the rotation.

Keen-Eyed Curator and Scavenging Ooze provide repeated triggers, Osteomancer Adept can still create tokens while casting more cards, and Molt Tender works well as a mana dork in these lists; the question is whether there will be a viable replacement for Tyvar, or if there will be a way to take advantage of Agatha’s Soul Cauldron with Vivi Ornitier and the +1/+1 counters placed on Plant tokens.

Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy

Between the vehicles in Aetherdrift and the spacecrafts from Edge of Eternities, cards like Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy can gain plenty of targets to destroy when they deal combat damage, and Kellan has the bonus of functioning as a pseudo-Explore with Adventure.

He may be too slow for Aggro, but if there are efficient Ramp or Midrange lists in this color combination, he can be considered as an option for the Sideboard.

Trostani, Three Whispers

When Bounce was the best deck in the format, some players experimented with running Wilt-Leaf Liege in the maindeck to counter Hopeless Nightmare, which is now banned but has been replaced by Tinybones Joins Up and may eventually require the same measure.

In this case, Trostani, Three Whispers is still one of the best creatures for cheap, especially when combined with evasive threats, where it can grant Double Strike for tons of damage.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!