5 MTG Decks for Day 1 of Murders at Karlov Manor

It was Azorius in the ballroom with the wrench!

Murders at Karlov Manor is another banger of a Ravnica set. Wizards of the Coast simply cannot miss when it comes to Ravnica. Lightning Helix, speculative cards that have opinions ranging from unplayable to pre-emptive bans, another Niv Mizzet, and a cycle of Lands that at any other time would be just Standard defining. I’m incredibly excited about this set, and already created 60 decks in 72 hours. Yeah, ADHD go brrrr.

Before we dig into lessons learned from this process and my top choices to play upon Murders at Karlov Manor’s release, here’s a link to all of the decks built, both for Standard and Pioneer:ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT50+ MTG Decks for Murders at Karlov ManorI’ve got 50+ Magic decks, but an Inspiring Vantage ain’t in one.Yoman51/25/2024

Now for the lessons learned. The number one lesson learned is that a three-year Standard is an entirely different beast. So many archetypes go from “almost” to solid. There’s such good mana available that these new Surviel Lands probably don’t even enter the conversation for most decks:

Market Price: $11.22

Market Price: $10.58

These cards powercreep the Temple cycle twice over and still aren’t good enough for most decks in Standard. Between the plentiful untapped Lands, the Creature Lands, and the Trilands from Streets of New Capenna, there’s almost no need for tapped lands that merely Surveil. The other big lesson is that interaction is at a peak in just about every color.

We have some of the most potent interactive spells of all time in this set, and Standard already had cards like Leyline Binding, Make Disappear, Go for the Throat, and Witchstalker Frenzy. Everyone in Standard will be able to interact with you, and it’s on you to build around and play around the interaction in the format. There are combo cards here that reach back to Pioneer and beyond, and Mason Clark already wrote about how Chalk Outline enables a Pioneer combo deck here:ARTICLE SPOTLIGHTTop 4 Most Exciting Cards From Murders at Karlov ManorWe’re thrilled to welcome Mason (Esports) Clark to the TCGplayer family! This week, Mason digs into the most exciting cards from Murders at Karlov Manor.Mason Clark2/1/2024

Reenact the Crime is a card I think many people see as overhyped, but I’m confident this is one of the most messed up cards in the last few years. I think this card is particularly powerful with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Underworld Cookbook, but thankfully neither of those cards is legal in Standard. Lastly, we got a bunch of cool enabler cards:

What I like about the enablers and build-arounds in Murders at Karlov Manor is how well they play “normal” games of Magic. Many of these cards have a perfectly fine baseline, even if you aren’t pulling off any shenanigans. Ill-Timed Explosion, in particular, is great because it can enable reanimator or control decks while having an incredible level of modality. Warleader’s Call plays well before or after your tokens. The fail rate on these cards has just gone down in such a fun way, and I really enjoy all of these new effects.

Narrowing down a top five for my decks was challenging for Murders at Karlov Manor, not because there aren’t a lot of good ideas, but because many of these are first iterations, rough drafts that are far from the final form of these builds. Because Pioneer and Standard have such broad card pools now, there’s a lot of room for tuning and refinement. With that in mind, here are the most promising five decks I have for week one as we dive in and separate the truly good from the overhyped.

Izzet Crime Creativity (Pioneer)

Pioneer

Izzet Crime Creativity

Market Price:$233.91

Maindeck, 60 cards

Sortsort deckCreature (4)

• 4Torrential Gearhulk

Sorcery (4)

• 4Indomitable Creativity

Instant (22)

• 2Spikefield Hazard
• 4Reenact the Crime
• 2Prismari Command
• 4Fiery Impulse
• 2Divide by Zero
• 2Lightning Axe
• 2Otherworldly Gaze
• 4Magma Opus

Enchantment (6)

• 4Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
• 2Shark Typhoon

Land (24)

• 1Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 4Shivan Reef
• 1Mountain
• 4Stormcarved Coast
• 1Den of the Bugbear
• 1Island
• 1Mirrex
• 4Riverglide Pathway
• 1Hall of Storm Giants
• 2Spirebluff Canal
• 4Steam Vents

Sideboard (2)

• 1Mascot Exhibition
• 1Environmental Sciencesn/a

Market Price: $18.09

A ton of people are really excited about this archetype with the printing of Deduce, a cantrip that leaves behind a token for you and still plays into the control nature of this deck’s secondary plan. However, I’m a lot more excited about a different new printing. We are already a Magma Opus and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker strategy, and both cards are strong enablers for Reenact the Crime. This gives the deck a lot of redundancy and a backup plan, especially if the opposing deck enables Reenact the Crime incidentally via Smuggler’s Copter or their own Fables.

These are cards that might cut either in tuning or sideboarding. Galvanize is a strong removal option that can take out Sheoldred, the Apocalypse without resorting to situational cards, and Ill-Timed Explosion is a solid board wipe with spells going this far up the curve. Intrude on the Mind is the least likely to cut, but it’s an extremely strong option alongside Torrential Gearhulk and could be a sideboard plan to allow you to trim on the combo elements for more attrition-focused matchups. 

Mono-Green Aggro (Standard)

Standard

Mono-Green Aggro

Market Price:$98.84

Maindeck, 60 cards

Sortsort deckCreature (22)

• 4Bloated Contaminator
• 2Polukranos Reborn
• 4Flourishing Bloom-Kin
• 4Sharp-Eyed Rookie
• 4Ulvenwald Oddity
• 4Evolving Adaptive

Planeswalker (4)

• 4Nissa, Ascended Animist

Sorcery (8)

• 4Bushwhack
• 4Invoke the Ancients

Instant (4)

• 4Archdruid’s Charm

Land (22)

• 1Boseiju, Who Endures
• 20Forest
• 1Argoth, Sanctum of Nature

Mono-Green Aggro is often a deck with great bodies, a great curve, and an inability to actually stand up to any real Standard metagame. As we get into three years of triple-Green costed spells, it looks like Mono-Green will finally have all the tools it needs.

Mono-Green traditionally struggles when it can’t simply outmuscle the opponent’s board. Cards like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse have traditionally stonewalled this deck and made cards such as Invoke the Ancients (a completely absurd card on rate) look outright unplayable. Bushwhack was okay, as a fight spell is mediocre, but doubling as a land made it palatable. Archdruid’s Charm is a ramp spell, a disenchant for Leyline Binding and company, and most importantly a punch spell. Bumping up one of your 4/5’s to five power and then clearing out Sheoldred without losing your creature is a massive upgrade. Absolutely insane card that probably reaches beyond Mono-Green or maybe even beyond Standard.

The other thing Mono-Green has going for it is properly scaling two drops. Flourishing Bloom-Kin is going to be a gigantic threat for a mere two mana, and Sharp-Eyed Rookie is a powerhouse two-drop that grows larger and provides card advantage at no cost. The Clue tokens may cost you mana later, but it’s crucial that you can develop first, and then if you need to later, you can spend mana to recoup the cards. Invoke the Ancients and Nissa, Ascended Animist are multi-threat cards that scale incredibly well with game time, and for the first time in a while, Mono-Green isn’t simply on a clock in every game. This deck will play very well into turn ten and beyond, and two removal spells and a Sheoldred won’t be enough anymore.

The sideboard section for this deck is shorter, but it’s also mono-colored. Axebane Ferox is practically hexproof until turn six or later, but it’s not a massive threat and lacks evasion. I gave Ulvenwald Oddity the nod for its trample and the ability to sink mana in later turns. Pick Your Poison is an unreal sideboard card and multi-format staple. Taking out Raffine, Scheming Seer, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Leyline Binding, Subterranean Schooner, and more for a mere one mana is a soul-crushing tempo advantage. I cannot stress enough how far ahead you get when you answer your opponent’s key cards for a measley one mana.

Dimir Turbo Crime (Standard)

Standard

Dimir Turbo Crime

Market Price:$415.74

Maindeck, 60 cards

Sortsort deckCreature (12)

• 4Rona, Herald of Invasion
• 4Conspiracy Unraveler
• 4Etali, Primal Conqueror

Planeswalker (4)

• 4Kaito Shizuki

Sorcery (8)

• 4Beseech the Mirror
• 4Breach the Multiverse

Instant (4)

• 4Reenact the Crime

Artifact (8)

• 4Collector’s Vault
• 2Portal to Phyrexia
• 2Matzalantli, the Great Doorn/a

Land (24)

• 2Island
• 4Undercity Sewers
• 1Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2Swamp
• 4Underground River
• 2Restless Reef
• 4Darkslick Shores
• 4Shipwreck Marsh
• 1Otawara, Soaring City

Market Price: $15.52

This was the leanest, meanest Reenact the Crime deck I could concoct in Standard so far.

We want to Reenact the Crime on turn four as often as possible. Beseech the Mirror can cleanly tutor up and cast Reenact the Crime for extreme redundancy, and the best enablers for both Reenact the Crime and Beseech the Mirror are Kaito Shizuki (and the trusty Ninja token), Collector’s Vault, and Matzlantli, the Great Door. Discarding for zero (or net zero) mana while also providing Bargain fodder is a narrow set of enablers but Standard does have the tools to pull it off.

Conspiracy Unraveler is an absolutely wild reanimation target, provided you have the graveyard to back it up. Breach the Multiverse conveniently stocks your yard, and you already need a density of expensive payoff spells for Reenact the Crime. Add Etali, Primal Conqueror to the mix, and your turn four Reenact the Crime should either drown your opponent or outright win the game by milling them out with repeated casts of Breach the Multiverse.

Market Price: $26.68

Market Price: $26.48

There are a lot of other looters in Standard, and Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator, in particular, is strong alongside Conspiracy Unraveler to cast free spells from the graveyard. Virtue of Persistence is a hybrid interaction and payoff card, where it can adventure favorably with Conspiracy Unraveler. Ultimately there’s only so much room in the deck, though I do like all of these cards in non-Beseech versions of the build.

Boros Artifacts (Standard)

Standard

Boros Artifacts

Market Price:$127.88

Maindeck, 60 cards

Sortsort deckCreature (14)

• 4Thran Spider
• 4Krenko’s Buzzcrusher
• 4Steel Seraph
• 2Cityscape Leveler

Instant (4)

• 4Lightning Helix

Artifact (16)

• 4Fabrication Foundry
• 2The Irencrag
• 4The Mightstone and Weakstone
• 4Thousand Moons Smithyn/a
• 2Treasure Map

Land (26)

• 3Plains
• 1Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 4Battlefield Forge
• 4Sundown Pass
• 3Mountain
• 1Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 2Jetmir’s Garden
• 4Restless Bivouac
• 2The Mycosynth Gardens
• 2Mirrex

Boros Artifacts is certainly much less powerful than the previous deck, but I think there are a lot of metagame considerations that have me put Boros Artifacts in the number two slot here for Standard.

Lightning Helix is a really powerful Magic card that will shape the format’s threat base. Getting to play Lightning Helix while also dodging it entirely (except the Prototype version of Steel Seraph) is really strong when these cards already all dodged cut down and Go for the Throat. Krenko’s Buzzcrusher also gives you another good four mana value card to ramp into with Fabrication Foundry and The Irencrag. Early unanswerable threats are a recipe for success.

Because the deck itself is so straightforward, we jump straight to the additional options. There is a ton of artifact support in Red and White and a ton of great midrange cards. Getting this list optimized will take some time, but having too many good cards is a feature, not a bug. Aurelia’s Vindicator, in particular, I want to shout out because I believe it to be one of the best in the set for Standard play. Don’t sleep on it.

Boros Convoke (Standard)

Standard

Boros Convoke

Market Price:$199.44

Maindeck, 60 cards

Sortsort deckCreature (28)

• 4Warden of the Inner Sky
• 4Knight-Errant of Eos
• 4Novice Inspector
• 4Voldaren Epicure
• 2Sanguine Evangelist
• 4Resolute Reinforcements
• 2Yotian Frontliner
• 4Imodane’s Recruiter// 

Sorcery (4)

• 4Gleeful Demolition

Instant (2)

• 2Witchstalker Frenzy

Enchantment (3)

• 3Warleader’s Call

Land (23)

• 3Cavern of Souls
• 3Plains
• 2Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 4Battlefield Forge
• 3Mountain
• 1Restless Bivouac
• 4Sundown Pass
• 1Mirrex
• 2Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

Whenever we get to play a deck from the next format up, it’s always a good time. Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis in Modern, Oops All Spells! in Pioneer, Geological Appraiser in Pioneer, Treasure Cruise in Legacy. If you get to play Pioneer while your opponents are playing Standard, good luck to them.

The only thing we’re missing is Venerated Loxodon now. It’s a shame Novice Inspector isn’t a Soldier like its predecessor, but for Boros, it’s the same card. The biggest gripe in Standard for this deck is the mana, because the Fast Land cycle was never completed in Standard, so we don’t have access to Inspiring Vantage. Cavern of Souls helps out some, but we do have to settle for sketchy mana for at least another set or two.

Warleader’s Call is an incredible anthem because most anthems suffer if you can’t maintain a board, but this one can take an explosive start and still chip-shot them out after an untimely Temporary Lockdown or No Witnesses breaks up your beatdowns. Lightning Helix is a blessing and a curse. This deck also gets access to it as interaction and additional reach, but opposing decks gaining life while removing your threats is exactly the recipe to defeat Boros Convoke.

There are quite a few options for this deck, and a lot of the tuning will come down to what are the most efficient, castable ways to answer opposing answers. Will we use Case of the Crimson Pulse and Warleader’s Call to win through stalled boards and board wipes? Will we use Invasion of Gobakhan to cement an early lead and prevent a board wipe in the first place? Do we go back to playing Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and cut out the anthem effects entirely? The best part of the three-year Standard is that every single deck has too many good cards to fit, and there’s a ton of room for skill expression (and personal expression!) in not just selecting your deck but tuning it too.