Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) Limited Overview: Black

Note: This article was translated from Chinese by AI and may contain errors. Read the original Chinese version.

Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) has its prerelease events on February 2, 2024, and officially releases a week later on February 9, 2024. Want to learn more about card ratings in Limited and some potentially fun synergies? Then check out this series of MKM Limited overviews!

For the mechanics, see this article: Murders at Karlov Manor Mechanics Explained

Rating Scale

5.0: Unconditional first pick
4.0: Worth a first pick
3.5: Strong enough but not necessarily a first pick
3.0: Above average (you’ll really hope it makes your final deck)
2.5: Average, maybe around the 6th or 7th pick of a draft
2.0 to 1.0: Below average (you’d rather not play it than play it)
0.5 to 0.0: Unplayable (basically don’t play it, it will only help you lose)

Black

bruce1235566: 2.5

A sacrifice outlet for the Rakdos archetype. A 5-mana 3/6 body is well suited to defense, and with 6 toughness it’s hard for the opponent to trade in combat.

bruce1235566: 2.5

A 3-mana 3/3 that enters tapped is slow, but creatures in this set are generally small, so on curve it has a chance to get in a kick or two, and a turn later on defense it can hold off plenty of disguised creatures.

bruce1235566: 4.0

Indestructible makes it hard to kill. Unless the opponent can make two 0/x creatures, each turn it costs both players 1 life and you draw a card. If you’re in Rakdos and can get it unsuspected so it can block, or attach equipment so it hits harder, even better. A Limited bomb with a high floor and an even higher ceiling.

bruce1235566: 2.0

A 6-mana 3/4 is a bit too expensive. Unless the opponent has no fliers, it’s a card that has a hard time standing up to block and doesn’t provide enough value when it attacks.

bruce1235566: 3.0

Usually by the time the enters-the-battlefield effect resolves, two creature cards are already in the graveyard. Trigger it just once more and it’s 1-mana removal plus a 4/4 deathtouch lifelink for you. You need to build around this card specifically to raise its ceiling.

bruce1235566: 3.0

For 2 mana you get a 2/1 menace, and in the midgame it becomes a 2-mana tutor that turns the game around or finds your own powerful card.

Jru:
One more thing to emphasize: this Case’s solve condition is “you control no suspected Skeletons”. If you control two Skeletons, one suspected and the other not, the Case can’t be solved. This is an easily misread Magic phrasing, and I’ve already seen players in multiple groups misread it as “you control an unsuspected Skeleton,” so here’s a reminder.

Kill the suspect and the case is solved XD

bruce1235566: 2.5

A Mind Rot with an extra option. When the opponent has many cards in hand you can discard one powerful card, and in the late game when the opponent has only 2 or 3 cards left you can choose to discard two. A card that midrange and control decks will want to play.

bruce1235566: 3.0

Having a suspected creature attack lets you loot an extra card, and even when you fall behind it won’t force you to suspect your creature. A very good three-mana creature.

bruce1235566: 4.0

A sweeper for slow decks, helping you turn things around when behind. The additional effect feels more designed for constructed, but it’s still nice to learn what else is in the opponent’s deck and hand, and if the opponent has basic lands in the graveyard it can remove them all too.

That isn’t necessarily good, though, since it makes the opponent much less likely to draw dead cards, unless the opponent is color-screwed or land-screwed.

bruce1235566: 2.5

An early tempo removal spell, and in the late game it can still kill the creature with the greatest power, but the opponent may have a choice, or their greatest-power creature may not be their best one, so its strength depends on the situation.

bruce1235566: 1.0

Mills yourself to make collect evidence easier to trigger, but the body is too weak and has no evasion. If you want to collect evidence, surveil cards are still safer.

Before you know it all your bombs are in the graveyard, and when you’re short on lands you also worry about milling lands.

bruce1235566: 3.5

Just sitting there it already troubles the opponent, and when a non-token creature dies you get a Clue token, so even if your creatures die you don’t lose too much.

bruce1235566: 3.5

Cast on curve on turn 3 and kill one of the 1/1s, or cast it face down for 3 and flip it for 2 to drain 6 life. Either way, it’s a card aggro decks really want to see.

bruce1235566: 4.0

A powerful midgame finisher. How big the payoff is depends on how many creatures are in your graveyard and how strong they are. Since it has flash, you can guarantee you gain at least one card when using it, and if you gain two it exceeds the value of the card.

bruce1235566: 2.5

A common 5-mana reanimation spell, but because the creature you bring back gets suspected, which is bad for defense, it’s a bit harder to use.

bruce1235566: 2.5

Only adds attack, not defense, making it easier for your small creatures to trade with the opponent’s 3- and 4-mana creatures or making evasive creatures hit harder. With Clue as a subtype, there may be some small surprising synergies.

bruce1235566: 3.5

A 2-mana 1/3 flier, very sturdy and evasive, and it has extra value after going to the graveyard. Far too good.

bruce1235566: 3.0

Simple cheap removal. It can’t be countered, which makes killing creatures with ward easier.

It’s just meant to let you kill those Disguise creatures.

bruce1235566: 3.0

Fetching 2 for 4 mana, or fetching 2 for 2 mana after combat, are both strong. A handy 2-for-1 card.

bruce1235566: 4.0

Makes it easy to get extra value after combat, whether by shrinking the opponent’s big creature or by making low-power high-toughness creatures unwilling to block. Just sitting there it already gives the opponent a headache.

bruce1235566: 3.5

Simple and easy to understand, no bomb: kill is your second dad.

bruce1235566: 2.5

A 4-mana 4/2 flier. In aggro you can cast it on curve to pressure the opponent, or cast it on turn 3 and drain 4 later, which is also nice.

bruce1235566: 4.0

A card that gets stronger the later the game goes, for slow decks. I love stealing other people’s cards to play in Limited, and it fits decks running lots of instants.

bruce1235566: 3.5

A 6-mana 5/6 that gives you a Clue. Simple and strong, and the ability below is basically a bonus. If the opponent is a slow deck, they can easily be punished by the second ability.

bruce1235566: 2.5

At 5 mana the cost is a bit too high. It fits slow games, and against too-fast opponents it’s better to take it out.

bruce1235566: 2.5

The common come-back-from-death combat trick was made an uncommon this time. It can help your Disguise creatures climb back while saving the cost of turning them face up, or reuse their enters-the-battlefield value, which is nice, but unfortunately it gives suspect, so it only helps offense, not defense.

bruce1235566: 2.0

A usable late-game mana sink, but aggro decks probably won’t have that much mana to spend.

bruce1235566: 2.5

A 4-mana 3/4 creature is sturdy, and in the late game with collect evidence it can also gain you 4 life. A plain, honest card for the Golgari archetype.

bruce1235566: 3.5

Flexible enough removal, a better Disembowel. Whether for combat or killing a creature outright, a powerful card.

Barbed Servitor is trembling.

bruce1235566: 3.0

A card that fits the black-white theme, making it easier for your small creatures to attack, and at worst it can trade for one.

bruce1235566: 2.0

A looting source for the black-white theme. Cast on curve, menace lets it drain nicely, and afterward just sitting there helps you loot.

bruce1235566: 3.0

A 4-mana -4/-4, which afterward can earn extra value with collect evidence.

bruce1235566: 2.5

Classic deathtouch granting, letting a tiny creature 2-for-1 a big one or killing the opponent’s high-toughness blocker, and it also gives you a Clue to draw a card. Lifelink is a bonus, letting you regain a bit of life or use it when your life total is under pressure in the late game.

bruce1235566: 3.0

This set is very good at making Clues, so you have a chance to cleanly exile a creature, or sacrificing a small creature to trade for a big one is also a good option.

bruce1235566: 2.0

The classic 2-mana discard guy, slightly better with exile, stopping the opponent from collecting evidence.

bruce1235566: 5.0

A 6-mana 6/5 flier. To target it, the opponent must first sacrifice a creature. A ruthless 2-for-1, and the triggered ability is strong too. The only flaw is probably the heavy color requirement.

Afterword

Hi everyone, I’m bruce1235566. I’m fortunate to have been invited by cephille to write this Limited overview. This is my first time doing a card rating overview like this, and I hope everyone likes it.

I’ll also stream a few drafts of this new set on MTGA, so if you’re bored, come take a look. My fan page is bruce1235566 Wants to Get Good at Magic, where I post notes from in-person tournaments and good decks I’ve drafted on MTGA. If you pass by, feel free to give it a like uwub