Pioneer Set Review: Murders at Karlov Manor

The preview season for Murders at Karlov Manor has come to an end. The new expansion for Magic: The Gathering explores the mysterious murder cases that occurred on Ravnica, being another chapter in building the game's next major story arc.

In this article, we explore the potential of its main cards for the Pioneer format, where the expansion conveys the feeling of having been designed with more complicated themes that require larger steps and more impactful concessions to work.

Pioneer already has a wide range of effects to play cards from the top, and none of them really have much presence in the format. Assemble the Players gets a little more attention due to its low mana cost and permanent type, which is a little more difficult to deal with.

It may be worth some testing on archetypes that require card advantage in games where the opponent has a lot of removal, such as Humans and Spirits.

Case of the Uneaten Feast may deserve testing on Abzan Amalia, as it offers two of the main functions that the archetype needs in a single card: life gain and recursion.

This enchantment does not exceed Return to the Ranks in recursion due to the low explosive potential and need for high life gain in a single turn to solve its case, which normally means that we are already in the middle of the combo or that we are ahead in the game.

It also doesn't seem to replace the Lunarch Veteran slot, as it reduces the number of creatures needed for Chord of Calling and Collected Company, where the Midnight Hunt creature can start looping if accompanied by Amalia or Wildgrowth Walker.

Delney, Streetwise Lookout is an interesting card for Collected Company decks and can enable new variants of Selesnya Company and similar.

However, the new creature doesn't grant enough value to improve the bad matchups, and further limits its scope and deckbuilding restrictions to work, being excellent to build around, but shouldn't bring any relevant results while the Amalia Combo is around.

Doorkeeper Thrull joins Hushbringer as ETB Effects “Lock” on Pioneer. Today, this category is declining and most archetypes rely on Strict Proctor as a means of disrupting ETBs while benefiting from cards like Lotus Field.

If we have other degenerate skills with ETB in the future, as was the case with Geological Appraiser, it is possible that it will deserve sideboard slots.

Thraben Inspector's twin brother is one of Murders at Karlov Manor's most important additions to Pioneer, as it adds more redundancy to Boros Convoke.

Now, this archetype can use up to 12 creatures that create tokens when they come into play to cast Venerated Loxodon and Knight-Errant of Eos as early as the second turn while making it more consistent and guaranteeing greater reach in long games with Warden of the Inner Sky and the extra draws.

Four mana seems like a very high cost for a downgraded Ensoul Artifact, but Izzet Ensoul has grown considerably in the Metagame and Case of the Filched Falcon is a one-drop that puts an artifact into play and can benefit its controller as the game goes on.

It deserves some testing, but I have low expectations of its potential compared to Spyglass Siren.

Case of the Ransacked Lab deserves an honorable mention for adding value to decks that want to play multiple spells in a single turn.

Due to its less proactive aspect and low interaction with current archetypes, it doesn't seem like the card category that will have much impact on the Metagame, but it wouldn't be a surprise to find ways to break it in Pioneer.

The improved Think Twice doubles its function as an efficient draw spell that leaves one more recursion or a token to be sacrificed with Indomitable Creativity, ensuring greater consistency to the combo in versions that aim to seek Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Torrential Gearhulk.

Outside this case, it doesn't seem to do enough to get into other decks, but drawing two cards with a single resource can give it some space in Control lists.

Forensic Gadgeteer creates infinite tokens with the looping between Mox Amber and Retraction Helix, but there don't seem to be many ways to take advantage of this other than via interactions with Ghirapur Aether Grid or Mechanized Production, putting even more pieces into a combo that already requires too many cards to work.

Kiora’s Follower is a cheaper option for the Deeproot Waters combo. But as players start to build lists with the Explore mechanic alongside Agatha’s Soul Cauldron, having the redundancy of eight merfolks capable of untapping creatures is important.

In this case, Forensic Researcher can complement this combo while taking advantage of all the typical interactions of the Merfolks deck.

In the perfect play, Reenact the Crime is used on the fourth or fifth turn after a Blood token discards Omniscience for it to bring back and, thus, start a sequence of absurd plays.

In practice, completing a combo with it requires too many steps and is very vulnerable to the opponent's interactions. The best scenario for this spell in Pioneer is to discard Magma Opus on the fifth turn to cast it with Reenact the Crime, which is one turn slower than fetching Torrential Gearhulk with Indomitable Creativity.

Deadly Cover-Up is an unconditional sweeper in black for five mana, which Pioneer still lacks. Furthermore, its additional cost ability is a super efficient hate against Arclight Phoenix, Amalia Benavides Aguirre, Greasefang, Okiba Boss, or any other recurring threat and/or card capable of winning games on their own.

It certainly deserves space in decks like Dimir Control and can join the sideboard of Rakdos Midrange lists that want to play late-game. It can also compete for space with some archetypes running The Meathook Massacre and Extinction Event without taking full advantage of its abilities and limitations.

Eliminate hasn't seen play on Pioneer since Teferi, Time Raveler was banned. However, a variant that cannot be countered is an excellent safety valve against cheap creatures and Planeswalkers, as well as bypassing Graveyard Trespasser's Ward and the like.

“Artifacts You Don’t Control” ruins any combo potential that Anzrag’s Rampage could have. And in the category of destroying artifacts in the current Pioneer, we have more comprehensive cards like Brotherhood’s End.

Crime Novelist has a combo with Animation Module for infinite ETBs and LTBs alongside any sacrifice outlet.

I have very low expectations about its potential in Pioneer: unlike Amalia, this one card doesn't have the spells necessary to establish redundancy and an alternative game plan.

Bedlam Reveler has seen some play on Modern and Pioneer Prowess variants in the past. Fugitive Codebreaker is a slightly more versatile version of its predecessor as an early game threat, but it doesn't have the same impact on as its predecessor if the game drags on, in addition to requiring a total of up to four mana to do what Bedlam Reveler does for two.

Goblins and artifacts are two themes that don't fit well into Pioneer, so Krenko, Baron of Tin Street doesn't seem to have enough of an impact on current versions of the deck, unless lists start running Wily Goblin and Deadly Dispute, which would give more space for the card's interactions with artifacts.

Krenko's Buzzcrusher is one of the most powerful and also the strangest cards in the new set for Pioneer. Due to the way its text is written, the new creature allows destroying Lotus Field even if it has hexproof, as the card's target is the player instead of the land, despite its controller choosing what will be destroyed.

Its text circumvents rules in a very specific way for the simple purpose of targeting lands with hexproof or shroud, and therefore this could become one of Pioneer's main staples, especially if Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx returns to format in the future, as may happen due to the following card.

Mono Green Devotion as we know it is dead, and the sooner enthusiasts and other players accept this, the better the opportunities will be to find new ways to take advantage of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx in Pioneer.

Archdruid’s Charm is another motivator to look for new ways to play Mono Green in the format. After all, in addition to getting the much-needed Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx as early as the second turn (and putting it directly into play), the card is a maindeck hate for Alpine Moon and other common cards to hinder big mana, like Damping Sphere.

In addition to searching for lands and being a maindeck answer to troublesome cards and even operating as removal, Archdruid’s Charm allows for a “toolbox” with his tutor ability, taming up with Vivien, Arkbow Ranger to look for efficient creatures for each situation in the game and/or guarantee inevitability bombs with Emrakul, the Promised End and other difficult to kill creatures.

Chalk Outline has a combo with Ovalchase Daredevil to create infinite tokens, where any artifact coming into play will return the creature to its owner's hand, including the Clue created by the enchantment. This combo can be used with Lotleth Troll or any other unlimited discard source to repeat the loop.

Given the low interactivity between its cards and the conditions necessary for it to work, this doesn't seem like the most promising combo for Pioneer, but it deserves an honorable mention.

Pick Your Poison looks less promising in Pioneer than in eternal formats due to the high density of enchantments like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and the lack of hates that demand one-mana answers, like Blood Moon.

Most decks that run enchantments tend to play with more than one of them, and most lists with artifacts will have Treasures or Smuggler’s Copter to protect their main pieces. Therefore, in Pioneer, there are more efficient options for the Metagame.

Break Out, or mini-Collected Company has undefined potential on Pioneer. While we don't have big-hitting threats like Tarmogoyf or Territorial Kavu to fetch, its abilities can bring a significant number of powerful creatures.

Making Selesnya Company become Naya Company, or giving more redundancy to Gruul Atarka to fetch Burning-Tree Emissary, or Humans to put Thalia’s Lieutenant on the board are just some of the possibilities of this card.

However, the term “mini-Company” applies in all senses to Break Out, including its smaller scope and low cadence to generate card advantage. It doesn't cheat on mana in the same way as its predecessor and the fact that it's a sorcery makes it slower and less impactful in the long run.

Drag the Canal does a little bit of everything: it creates a blocker and if it is used alongside removals and/or after combat, it guarantees long-term card advantage. It might be worth some testing on Grixis Phoenix as another way to have creatures on the battlefield while filtering the top.

However, two colored mana is a relatively complicated cost to extract from three spells per turn, and its effects that really matter to the deck require relying on removal or another means of destroying an opponent's creature.

With the recent rise of Izzet Ensoul, Gleaming Geardrake may deserve a spot in the archetype by producing two artifacts with a single card, in addition to becoming a flying threat with Ensoul Artifact. It also benefits from Shrapnel Blast, Torch the Tower and Voltage Surge, in addition to Treasure tokens from Fable of the Mirror-Breaker.

Ill-Timed Explosion has a very low floor and a very high ceiling. Worst-case scenario, it's a Divination for four mana. At best, it's a Faithless Looting coupled with a damage-based sweeper.

It may deserve testing at Niv-to-Light, given that it fits into the colors for Niv-Mizzet Reborn while having useful functions in an archetype where mana values tend to be high.

Insidious Roots could become the most impactful competitive card in Pioneer if players find the right methods to take advantage of the new enchantment - which could start with the interaction between Witch’s Oven and Cauldron Familiar.

Scavenging Ooze and Scrapheap Scrounger are other creatures with which Insidious Roots's potential for a powerful board position is even greater, given that we can trigger its ability multiple times by exiling cards from the graveyard.

Jund Sacrifice is the first archetype that comes to mind when we think of homes for Insidious Roots, but its potential in Pioneer is high enough to establish archetypes of its own in Collected Company lists or other mechanics based on creatures, or interactions with the graveyard.

Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy is a good reference to a creature that was once a Legacy staple - Trygon Predator.

Its Explore ability is less impactful than Growth Spiral, but its 3/4 body with evasion and built-in artifact hate can give it some space as a one-of in Niv-to-Light and similar decks.

Leyline of the Guildpact could be the most impactful and broken card in the new expansion for the Pioneer, or the worst maindeck card that people will run in the first few weeks after its release believing it's good.

Alone, the new Leyline guarantees four devotion to green, added to Llanowar Elves, it is possible to cast Cavalier of Thorns or any other five-mana card as early as in the second turn, in addition to facilitating access to other colors to use multicolored planeswalkers alongside Oath of Nissa.

Leyline of Abundance was one of the first cards banned from Pioneer due to its interaction with Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and mana dorks, accelerating mana too quickly by the format's standards. While Leyline of the Guildpact offers two extra points of devotion, it doesn't guarantee extra mana with its dorks nor a way to use it coupled to the card as its predecessor did, being excellent in the starting hand, but not very impressive as the game extends.

Lightning Helix was one of our highlights as soon as the card was revealed. One of the most iconic cards in the game, it is a beneficial inclusion for Boros Burn, Jeskai Control, and Niv-to-Light.

For Niv to Light, Lightning Helix is a perfect early game removal due to the number of times it starts the game with a Triome that generates white to cast Leyline Binding early, and have an efficient removal that guarantees more breath in the first turns and that also destroys Smuggler's Copter is part of what this archetype needs to improve its game against Aggro.

No More Lies was also another highlight when it was revealed. In Pioneer, the new Mana Leak almost certainly has a home in Azorius Control and other Tempo-based strategies like Azorius Flash and Spirits.

Its greater range of costs and the fact that it exiles the spell cast are significant advantages in several games. For example, casting Arclight Phoenix is a viable plan for Izzet Phoenix against Control, given the opponent's obligation to respond with some exile effect if they don't just want to spend resources against a recurring threat - now, No More Lies solves this problem and makes this proposal much less problematic. The same logic can be applied against Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger.

Repulsive Mutation can find space in Aggro or Tempo lists with high-power, low-cost creatures. The first example I can think of is the Simic Stompy decks that existed in Pioneer in 2020 and were forgotten shortly after.

This effect is probably not ideal for bringing this archetype back, but it is a powerful addition as a Mana Leak or better and combat trick in a single card.

There is a lot of speculation about how Warleader’s Call can be added to Boros Convoke to amplify the power of its creatures and grant them immediate impact. While the proposal looks good, I believe that Invasion of Gobakhan and Wedding Announcement do a better job of granting more reach while also offering disruption and card advantage.

It can enter some lists and even surprise by producing results, but today, the new enchantment seems like a redundant effect in the maindeck and worse than other options in the Sideboard.

The new “Scry Lands” cycle with land types doesn’t seem to have enough impact until we have cards whose specific land types really matter, like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, since the absence of Fetch Lands would limit their space even in more specific lists.

Murders at Karlov Manor was the weirdest set I've reviewed in a long time. Many of its cards seem very strong, but also conditional and/or fitted for specific situations, and its mechanics in general are much less exciting than those of other recent releases.

Cards like Leyline of the Guildpact and Insidious Roots have a high potential to develop archetypes or even break formats, Archdruid's Charm is certainly the strongest addition in a vacuum, but requires specific archetypes to work.

Therefore, everything in this set appears to be unknown, and only the weeks after its release will make it clear how much its cards will change Pioneer's competitive Metagame.

Thanks for reading!