As announced, Crimes at Karlov Manor, the latest expansion of Magic The Gathering has been available to the public for several weeks: the international release of the set dates back to February 9th, so fans have already had the opportunity to dissect every detail, synergy and mechanics.
So let's enjoy an intriguing “behind the scenes” of the latest Magic release, told by an exceptional figure who played a fundamental role in its development. In fact, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Turian, Product Architect at Wizards of The Coast. Turian has experienced Magic from both sides of the fence, first as a professional player on the 1997 and 2004 Magic Pro Tours and then for twenty years – from 2004 to today – as a TCG designer. A real well of wisdom regarding Magic, in short. Here's what he told us about Crimes at Karlov Manor!
A similar, but different Ravnica
Everyeye.it: The set marks the return of the Planeswalkers to Ravnica, but this time it combines the features of gothic fantasy typical of the Guild Plane with a true thriller story. How did you manage to combine these two very different elements?
Mike Turian: Crimes at Karlov Manor is our first set with a murder mystery theme, that is, focused on the resolution of a murder – or rather, several murders. As we were exploring the worlds that could serve as the backdrop to the story, one thing that was clear right from the start was that revisiting a Plan already known to fans would bring benefits to both the story we were developing and the set itself. In short, returning to Ravnica allowed us to include familiar characters in the plot of Crimes at Karlov Manor: these are figures much loved by players and immediately recognisable, endowed with great charisma.
At the same time, making these figures the protagonists allowed us to build on their backstory and enhance their story arcs. Another reason that made us lean towards Ravnica is that the world of the Guilds is a deeply urbanized and city setting, which mimics the structure of a real metropolis: such a place was perfect for a murder mystery adventure. Then there are some Guilds, like Dimir, who find their perfect place in a thriller plot like this.
Everyeye.it: “Disguise” is a mechanic that allows you to play some cards face down, paying a cost equal to three mana of any color: the creature thus positioned is a 2/2 with Aegis (2), and can be revealed by paying the mana cost associated with Disguise. What distinguishes this mechanic from other keywords of the past, such as “Metamorphosis”?
Mike Turian: For Crimes at Karlov Manor, the design team's idea from the beginning was to develop mechanics that captured the essence of the thriller, and for this we created keywords such as “Cases” and “Disguise”. The vision team behind the set tested several variations of familiar mechanics, along with many completely new possibilities and ideas.
In the case of “Disguise,” we discovered very quickly that simply adding Aegis (2) to a pre-existing ability like “Metamorphosis” created a powerful, innovative mechanic and good gameplay, so we went with that. Aegis, for those who don't know, means that every time a creature is hit by an opponent's spell or ability it is countered unless the enemy pays a mana cost equal to the value shown in parentheses next to the mechanic. In this case, the disguised creatures have Aegis (2), so your enemies will have to pay two mana for their effects to hit the face-down monster.
Everyeye.it: the detective story tone of the new Magic set is also found in the gameplay thanks to the “Cases” mechanic. Is this a keyword that you introduced immediately in Crimes at Karlov Manor or did it require development by trial and error?
Mike Turian: The “Cases” represent great innovation for our latest expansion, especially in terms of flavor, i.e. adherence of the gaming sector to the narrative one. While they may seem like an almost obvious inclusion in the set, they required a lot of work to work as we hoped. In fact, we had tested “Cases” in several other releases we developed before Crimes at Karlov Manor. However, every time we prototyped it, it was never as streamlined and functional as we wanted, nor was it strong enough or provided enough space for designing new cards.
When we returned to Ravnica, the “Cases” found their natural place in a detective-inspired expansion. Furthermore, they are very similar cards to the “Sagas”, which we have already seen in previous Magic sets, but they have both a static effect, which can be activated when the card comes into play, and a more powerful secondary effect, which is unlocked when whoever played the Chance reaches the requirements set out in the text of the card.
The competitive potential of Crimes at Karlov Manor
Everyeye.it: together with “Disguise” and “Cases”, another mechanic of Crimes at Karlov Manor is “Investigate”, which allows you to create Clue Tokens, i.e. colorless artifact tokens whose effect requires you to pay two mana to draw a card. What was your design philosophy regarding this mechanic?
Mike Turian: Drawing cards from the deck consistently has always been one of the surest ways to win in Magic. By exchanging resources such as your cards, your Artifacts and your mana, you receive additional cards from your deck in exchange: this is a very powerful effect from any point of view you analyze it. In Crimes at Karlov Manor there are combinations of cards that play on these effects and, in particular, on the Investigate keyword. Alquist Proft offers a very powerful and easy to activate combo, because it allows you to sacrifice Clues to transform them and your mana into Life Points and cards!
There are many other cards that reward you for Clue-based strategies: for example, Doctor Who Commander decks are full of tools that allow you to take advantage of these cards. Then there are spells like “Doubling Season”, which we saw in Eldraine Wilderness, and which favor the use of tokens in general.
Everyeye.it: The last two mechanics specifically designed for Ravnica detectives are “Collect Evidence” and “Suspect”. Can you tell us more about their development? Do you think they will have a dominant role in competitive play?
Mike Turian: The part of the Karlov Manor gameplay that took the most iterations to develop was “Suspicion,” because we struggled to build it properly. We had to navigate multiple designs to get to our ultimate goal, which was to give players reasons to Suspect their own creatures while also doing the same for their opponent's monsters. A creature with “Suspected” has “Threaten” (can only be blocked by two or more opposing Permanents) and can't block itself.
Precisely “Threaten” was the key to solving the design problems of the mechanic: the keyword provides a bonus to allied creatures, making it useful for players to Suspect their own monsters. On the other hand, those who are Suspected cannot Block, so the effect can also be useful when applied to the opponent. In the end, I think our team has achieved a good balance in the development of the mechanics.
Everyeye.it: And what do you think will be the strongest mechanics in the Draft format?
Mike Turian: I believe that “Disguise” and “Conceal” will have a big role in Draft, or at least they will have a greater weight in Draft than they will in Constructed. Playing a 2/2 creature for three mana would typically have no positive impact in Constructed, but in Limited formats (those where you build your deck on the fly) the ability to buy tempo or gain card advantage over the The opponent can prove to be very important, and in this case mechanics such as “Disguise” and “Conceal” are of great help.
Furthermore, I believe that these keywords will also have play in Commander: I have no difficulty in believing that some enthusiasts will look at Magic's past and find cards suitable for creating fun Commander decks based on “Disguise” and “Conceal”.
Magic: The Gathering incontra Cluedo
Everyeye.it: One of the most innovative products among those that accompanied the launch of Crimes at Karlov Manor is certainly the Ravnica: Clue Edition box, which draws inspiration from Cluedo and boardgames along its lines. How does this box fit in relation to the rest of the set?
MT: For Ravnica: Clue Edition, the game design team had the idea to combine the fun of Magic and Cluedo into one package. At Wizards of the Coast we are all huge fans of board games, and Cluedo was an important moment in our personal growth.
We were creating a detective-themed Magic set in Cluedo's 75th anniversary year, so we decided to reach out to our colleagues at Hasbro to see what possibilities there were for a collaboration. The main Crimes at Karlov Manor set already had five or six weapons that also appear in Cluedo, so it was a great starting point. Additionally, Legendary Creatures are a focus for the Commander format, one of Magic's most popular formats, so we immediately knew they could turn Cluedo characters into Magic heroes by taking advantage of these similarities. Then we thought about creating a Double Land for each room of the board game. I have to tell the truth: I'm really impressed with what the team managed to achieve. When you play Clue Edition you understand that this is a great collaboration!
Everyeye.it: To conclude, what were the inspirations, both from a narrative and gameplay point of view, that pushed you to create a set like Crimes at Karlov Manor?
Mike Turian: There are so many quotes and inspirations that guided us. If you are a fan of crime books and thrillers like me, you will find references to the classic literature of the genre, to its topoi and to all the pop culture that is linked to the world of mystery!
The team has really built something great by leveraging the strong themes of the detective story, and you can see it in the card names, their design and their illustrations. Every time I play the “Depesciaggio” spell I have a laugh, for example. Or there is “Call a Surprise Witness”, which brings with it a nice plot twist, in which the spirit of a dead man becomes a witness in the trial against his own murderer.
In this case we recall that iconic moment of many thrillers in which the doors of the courtroom open and that figure enters the scene who, with his words, can solve the entire case. I also love how “Restless Scapegoat” is literally a goat, combining the literal and metaphorical meaning of the term in one illustration – Jesper Ejsing's artwork cracks me up every time!