Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) Limited Archetypes Guide and Example Decks
In this guide, we go over the 10 archetypes in Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) Limited, including example decks (archetype skeletons) for you to refer to.
Hey everyone! It’s finally time to release all of that murdery fun on MTG Arena. That’s right the Murders at Karlov Manor (I have successfully navigated through preview season without accidently putting Markov Manor) is launching the same day that this article is. I’m always super hyped for a new set to draft and this one is looking promising as far as replayability is concerned.
Today we’re going to be discussing all of the limited archetypes as well as building example archetype skeletons for each.
I should probably explain archetype skeletons for those of you that are unaware what they are. They are example decks built with limitations to see what a solid, but not amazing version of that archetype would look like in a draft. Looking at ones that are totally busted doesn’t really do you much good because when those lanes are wide open, you just hop in them and go with it. We are aiming for a power level of decks that “could” trophy, but aren’t guaranteed.
As far as the limitations go, I’ve made a bit of a change since the last go around. We are dealing with Play Boosters now so I am going to be doing two Rares (no Mythics still) for each deck now. I am still going to be doing five Uncommons and not more than two of any Common. Special Guests and The List are going to be off limits as well.
I am also going to be keeping mana bases static for simplicity purposes. They will be eight of each basic land and one Escape Tunnel for every deck. This will obviously vary from draft to draft, but doesn’t really matter here.
The theme of Azorius is based around the Detective creature type. The signpost Private Eye just screams at you to be playing as many detectives as possible. There are a bunch of detective token makers and clue production as well. It’s an efficient creature deck that synergizes well together. I wanted to fit in Crimestopper Sprite, but the deck was already heavy in the three drop slot while lacking easy ways to collect that much evidence.
The theme for Orzhov is creatures with power two or less. While that is the theme, I couldn’t pass up adding Undercity Eliminator because of power level and you’ll usually have something small to sacrifice.
I went with Assemble the Players for one of the rares since you have seventeen creatures that you can cast off of it (You can cast a creature as disguise off of it). I went with Teysa, Opulent Oligarch for the other rare because if she’s going to get murdered in her own mansion, we might as well play her (or something, something synergy).
The theme of Boros is attacking with three or more creatures. That’s a nice thought and all that, but let’s be honest here, the theme is really the same one that Boros always has in limited. That’s right, play creatures and turn them sideways backed up by damage-based removal. Dog Walker is an amazing common providing three bodies all by itself.
I went with the two rares designed for this deck in Warleader's Call and Aurelia, the Law Above They are pretty self-explanatory when employing this strategy.
Selenya is the disguise deck. It is allegedly also supposed to be going wide, but those two plans seen to be going against each other since disguise tends to be mana intensive to get a single creature. With that in mind, I included Dog Walker in here without any red mana because it can do both the things this deck is trying to do while being able to flip for only white mana.
Dimir is doing one of my favorite things in limited and that is just being a good old fashioned control deck. You control the game with card advantage and removal before you find some way to win. What can I say other then win conditions are overrated if your opponent can’t win either. I guess we’ll go with flyers will get the job done here, specifically Curious Cadaver which keeps on coming back.
It wasn’t hard to figure out to toss Deadly Cover-Up into a control deck. I went with Drag the Canal for the second rare because it’s a ton of value packed into a two-mana card that only asks that something dies.
When it comes to Izzet, we must once again ask the eternal question. Izzet a spells deck again? I say thee nay! Today we are actually getting an artifact theme based around sacrificing them. We get plenty of clues to help out with that amongst other things.
Krenko, Baron of Tin Street can both give you a sacrifice outlet and a payoff for your artifacts. Forensic Gadgeteer is a great enabler that provides you extra clues while making them cheaper to sacrifice.
The Simic deck is all about collecting evidence. There are a ton of cards like Surveillance Monitor and Evidence Examiner that provide you a trigger whenever you collect evidence that turns into a value train. Undercover Crocodelf is an interesting card because it can hit the graveyard early from being Disguised or Surveil while providing you with the ability to enable Collect Evidence 6 all on its own. Topiary Panther is another easy way to get a high mana value card into your graveyard early.
The rares were actually tough to choose for this one because none of them are designed specifically for this theme. I went with Steamcore Scholar as a way to fuel the graveyard and Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy just on rate.
Rakdos is about going all in on attacking your opponent. It does this through suspect either making your creatures more difficult to block or theirs unable to. It’s a very low to the ground deck hoping to just blitz the opponent out before they have a chance to stabilize.
The theme for Golgari is accumulating value whenever a creature leaves your graveyard. It doesn’t care how it leaves, just that it leaves. The creature could remove itself such as Rubblebelt Maverick, it could be exiled to collecting evidence, or it could be returned to your hand from Macabre Reconstruction.
I went with Izoni, Center of the Web for one of the rares because it feels like a massively unfair card that just happens to synergize with what you are doing here. I went with Homicide Investigator for the other rare because you are going to be playing a grindy attrition game and that provides some much-needed card advantage.
I know you are going to be shocked by this, but Gruul is about playing large green and red creatures. It has a subtheme of disguise, but Gruul is going to Gruul. Smash, burn, smash some more.
Thanks for reading! That does it for our prerelease coverage of the Murders of Karlov Manor, but check back in a few days when I’ll be dropping my over and underacheivers article. Until then, stay classy people!
I’m always open to feedback, let me know what you loved, what you hated, or just send dog pics. You can contact me at:
Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.
