Karlov Manor Picks for Modern

Happy Wednesday, all! Today on Modern Times, we dive into the most impactful cards for Modern printed in Murders at Karlov Manor!

As I’ve touched upon in previous articles, Modern-playable cards in Standard sets have been decreasing in density for the past couple years, and Karlov Manor is no exception to this trend. So some of these picks might look weaker on the surface level, but stick with me, and we’ll dig into their potential all the same!

Leyline of the Guildpact

I’ll start with the least ambiguous, and least contentious, pick: Leyline of the Guildpact. I really like this card. Pregame actions nested in cards like the Leyline cycles of old, Gemstone Caverns, Serum Powder, and the Chancellor cycle from New Phyrexia are some of my favorite cards in the game–with Gemstone Caverns being on the top of that list. 

Maybe it’s because I like the idea of being rewarded for being lucky or keeping a fringe hand because it has one of these pregame action cards available in them to give you that first mover advantage, even if you aren’t on the play. I remember playing Leyline of Singularity way back in the day as my answer to Splinter Twin decks. Devoid of enchantment removal, Leyline of Singularity shut down Splinter Twin by making all copies of Pestermite or Deceiver Exarch legendary. 

Leyline of the Guildpact is really interesting; unlike most Leylines that act as sideboard staples (Leyline of the Void, and Leyline of Sanctity come to mind), there’s a strong argument that Leyline of the Guildpact is a mainboard staple in some decks. Domain Zoo comes to mind as the strongest contender. As a deck that runs five colors with many nonland cards leveraging the Domain mechanic for immense value like Tribal Flames, Nishoba Brawler, Leyline Binding, and Scion of Draco, getting all five land types in play becomes the most arduous part of the deck’s gameplan to be at full effectiveness. Leyline of the Guildpact gives you “complete Domain” (so to speak) before you even play your first land of the game, making Scion of Draco playable as early as turn two, and Wild Nacatl a 3/3 on turn one. 

The drawback? To have this card work at full effectiveness, it needs to be in your opening hand. Full stop. If it’s not, the entire paragraph above becomes null and void. That’s the inherent risk one runs going this route with Domain Zoo. You not only need four copies of the card to make it work (representing a high opportunity cost compared to what those four slots could otherwise be used for), but one of those four cards needs to be in your opening hand. I would imagine most Domain Zoo players would prefer to just go the more consistent Fetchland and Triland route to get Domain online. 

Beyond the fragile explosiveness that Leyline of the Guildpact offers potentially to Domain players, it’s a five-color permanent that in theory can be pitched to pay for all the Evoke costs associated with Subtlety, Endurance, Solitude, and Grief (but not Fury, wink wink). It’s tough for me to imagine a shell, however, where that utility would be useful on top of its static ability. Maybe 4-or-5-color Elementals? Tough to say. 

A final “added” benefit of this card is that it gets around Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon by allowing all your nonbasic lands that have been turned into Mountains to now be every other land type too. But again, there are more effective ways to circumvent Moon effects (Boseiju, Who Endures, most notably) than hoping to rip a Leyline in your opening hand in games two or three of a matchup. 

Overall, I see this card having fair potential. The more interesting effect is the static ability that makes all your nonland permanents every color. To me, there’s a lot of untapped potential in that ability that is under-discussed, although it’s easier for me to imagine how to break that ability in Commander or Legacy than in Modern, so for the time being, we’ll table that discussion. Although, who knows… With recent results from rolling in from RC Denver, the ceiling for this card may still be ever-increasing. Let’s see where the dust settles!

Leyline of the Guildpact	CardKingdom $19.99	TCGPlayer $22.00
Leyline of the Guildpact (Extended Art)	CardKingdom $21.99	TCGPlayer $28.48

Surveil Lands

One’s interest must always pique at the prospect of new fetchable lands. The question then becomes: are these fetchable lands worth it compared to Shocklands or Triomes? Well, we’ve seen fetchable snow lands in Kaldheim, and fetchable artifact lands in Modern Horizons, and aside from a few niche cases in very fringe decks in the format, these fetchable alternatives haven’t seen much play. The last time I remember a fetchable land that wasn’t a Shock or Triome being impactful in Modern was Mystic Sanctuary, which was so impactful that it was promptly banned (this was the same banned list that nixed Field of the Dead and Tibalt's Trickery, too–oh, the memories). 

$6.29$6.99

$4.48$6.99

In the latest cycle of fetchable lands for constructed play, we have the Surveil lands. All ten are available in this set, covering every two-color combination in Magic’s color pie. Surveil is a great mechanic, and one that is used in Modern predominantly in Murktide Regent decks that run Consider and Dragon's Rage Channeler. Beyond these two cards in this one archetype, however, the utility of Surveil goes down immensely across other decks in the meta. Fetching into a Thundering Falls on your opponent’s end step, Surveilling, and then beginning your next turn not only puts a land and potentially one other card in your graveyard to get Dragon’s Rage Channeler closer to hitting its boost, it also adds two cards that can be Delved away to pay for Murktide Regent. This is all fine, and the synergies are quite clear-cut, but it’s difficult to imagine Surveil being heavily utilized in any other meta deck in the format that makes the potential of these lands higher than just archetype convenience for a deck or two. (Living End is another prime example of an archetype tinkering with Thundering Falls and Hedge Maze as one-ofs to plant more creatures in the yard. But again, it’s tough to say how high the adoption rate will be as of yet). 

$7.31$6.99

$9.34$7.99

At this point, you might be calling me out. “Corey, these lands are preordering at $4 to $5 each! Clearly there’s some demand, right?” There is, absolutely… In Pioneer. While some of these Surveil lands, namely Thundering Falls and Undercity Sewers, may have potential to see play at as one- or two-ofs, these lands will be most impactful in Pioneer where decks like Dimir Surveil have much, much more potency. All the same, there’s potential for these lands to be sleeper hits as Modern evolves, and with MH3 looming on the horizon, perhaps picking up a few playsets once they bottom out a couple weeks past post-release will offer potential for a low-risk, medium-return reward. Time will only tell.

Commercial District	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $3.98
Elegant Parlor	CardKingdom $4.99	TCGPlayer $4.50
Hedge Maze	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $6.29
Lush Portico	CardKingdom $4.49	TCGPlayer $3.09
Meticulous Archive	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $7.31
Raucous Theater	CardKingdom $6.99	TCGPlayer $4.48
Shadowy Backstreet	CardKingdom $5.99	TCGPlayer $4.37
Thundering Falls	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $9.34
Undercity Sewers	CardKingdom $9.99	TCGPlayer $10.69
Underground Mortuary	CardKingdom $7.99	TCGPlayer $8.01

Case of the Crimson Pulse

Cases are the next iteration of enchantment innovation in the game of Magic. Unlike Sagas, which accrue value turn-over-turn, only to be sacrificed, Cases (much like battles) offer (usually) immediate value upon being played. Then they need to be “solved” (usually by meeting some condition) to offer a “better” ability of some variety. Many Cases feel like they lie mechanically between battles and Sagas, which make them interesting prospects from a gameplay standpoint. 

There are many reasons battles never took off in Modern (see an earlier article of mine discussing this), but typically their utility boiled down to a simple cost-benefit analysis:  does playing this battle offer immediate value? If not, don’t play it. If yes, does devoting resources into defeating the battle yield something of higher value than the initial effect the battle gives me off of entering? If not, don’t play. There are very few battles where you can say “yes” to both of those conditions. And even then, they don’t have an obvious home in the format. Sagas are a little different, but realistically, Urza's Saga sees the most play of any Saga in Modern by a lot, with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker in second. 

So where do Cases fit into this? Similar to battles, Cases need to offer some value that immediately impacts the game at the very least. Secondly, they have to be worth solving (or having a deck where meeting the “solve” conditions are easy), and offer an ability that’s worth solving the case for. Enter: Case of the Crimson Pulse. My favorite Case in the set. 

For three mana, this Case enters the battlefield and enables you to discard a card and draw two cards. This is on par with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker’s second ability, which is terrific value right off the bat. So what is the condition for solving the Case? Being Hellbent–or having zero cards in hand. Finally! We have a reason to play One with Nothing, folks! 

Okay, okay. Let’s be serious. Being without a hand in Modern is not difficult to do, especially with Scam mechanics running awry in the format. Again, one condition for Cases being worthy of consideration is the ease of solving without having to warp your deck to do so. This Case meets that criterion flawlessly. 

In Rakdos builds, this Case can be solved pretty quickly. Beyond this, its ability once it’s solved is extremely good–while you have to discard your hand at the beginning of your upkeep, you draw two cards. Effectively, you end up drawing three cards every turn once this case is solved at the cost of the cards you held in your hand from the previous turn. The benefits will almost always outweigh the costs for most decks that could capitalize on this mechanic. Part of me wants to re-brew Hollow One with this card running as an engine piece or toy around with cards that have the Madness mechanic where discarding them every turn once the case is solved is akin to casting them at a reduced cost anyway. 

So is this card worth the pickup even if its potential is purely speculatory? I’d say so. It’s barely over a dollar at the time of release, so picking up a playset is cheap and easy. It offers at the very least some nice redundancy with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, and has a lot of interesting potential beyond that. Definitely one of my favorite cards in the set. 

Case of the Crimson Pulse

CardKingdom $2.99

TCGPlayer $1.11

Going Forward

My initial reaction to Karlov Manor in general has been lukewarm. It’s a fine set with some nice pieces for Commander, Standard, and especially for Pioneer. Modern on the other hand doesn’t feel like it gains a ton compared to previous sets like The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, or Wilds of Eldraine. Beyond the cards mentioned today, there are some other pieces with decent potential as well, including Fugitive Codebreaker and Archdruid's Charm. 

Having said that, the potential is there for other cards, (Delney, Streetwise Lookout, for example) to be game-changing if the meta shifts more favorably toward mono-white decks. In theory, Delney does double all Soul Warden triggers (or similar “Soul Sisters”), which can lead to some pretty out-of-hand games. However, Modern is rife with spot removal in the absence of Fury’s mass-removal presence in the format making cards like Delney, and other fringe options from Karlov Manor difficult to neatly slot into the format. 

Overall, Karlov Manor is incredibly flavorful, innovative, and a fun experience to draft and play, so don’t let its low potential in Modern steer you away from financial investment, and fun! 

Further Reading:

Top Picks for Karlov Manor

New Cards for Commander From Karlov Manor

Does Magic: the Gathering Have a Waifu Tax?