Few sets were as contested as Murders at Karlov Manor. This was Magic's first attempt at a backdrop set, leaning into the murder mystery "whodunit" trope and it was not well received at all. Not only did players not enjoy the "hat set" vibe of it all, but they didn't like the radical departure from what makes Ravnica feel like Ravnica. Additionally, it was perceived as an overall low-power release, resulting in a number of unexciting cards.

Despite this perception, though, there are still a number of cool cards to be had here. I find the set to be somewhat underrated and am excited to talk today about the many mythics the set has to offer. So, let's go ahead and rank them all!

Something I'd like to note before getting into this is that there are three mythics in this set not found in boosters. While I would normally avoid including these in these lists, these prerelease promos were also Standard legal and at least one of them was a minor player in Standard. One other was especially notable in Commander as well, so I'm giving them all a little shine in this list.

With that out of the way, let's get to the rankings!

• 23. Kylox's Voltstrider
• 22. Urgent Necropsy
• 21. Intrude on the Mind
• 20. Expedited Inheritance
• 19. Aurelia's Vindicator
• 18. Conspiracy Unraveler
• 17. Argus Kos, Spirit of Justice
• 16. Kaya, Spirits' Justice
• 15. Etrata, Deadly Fugitive
• 14. Melek, Reforged Researcher
• 13. Incinerator of the Guilty
• 12. Vannifar, Evolved Enigma
• 11. Undergrowth Recon

10. Trostani, Three Whispers

When you think of the best mythics of a set, Trostani, Three Whispers probably isn't the kind of card you think of. It's ultimately little more than a big, cheap creature that grants keywords. Nothing special, right? Well the card is priced to move, and so are the extremely powerful keywords that can really make it hard to deal with this card or any other creatures you may have. This made it a decent inclusion for the occasional Selesnya Aggro deck in Standard as well as a solid option for both Commander and Cube.

9. Tomik, Wielder of Law

Believe it or not, Tomik saw some minor play in Standard! Esper Midrange was pretty popular for a time, and the card saw some love there thanks to the deck also playing the likes of The Wandering Emperor. More importantly, though, the card offers a really great way to disincentivize players from going after your planeswalkers in games of Commander. This has given the card some pretty solid staying power as time has gone on.

8. The Pride of Hull Clade

Ever since the release of Doran, the Siege Tower in Lorwyn, players have loved finding ways to utilize toughness matters cards. So, when The Pride of Hull Clade came out, it got players all over the place excited to try it out. This was especially true for the likes of Commander where decks like Arcades, the Strategist are among the format's most popular. This has made it an absolute darling among casual players even it's never seen even the faintest hint of competitive play.

7. Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth

If there's one thing players love, it's a Sphinx's Revelation. If there's something many players love more, it's getting the Sphinx's Revelation experience turn after turn. Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth allows just that, letting you effectively cast a Sphinx's Revelation by cracking a Clue token. More importantly, this was on a much cheaper card than, say, Azor, the Lawbringer. This made Alquist Proft interesting from a Commander play experience and even gave the card a tiny bit of Standard shine in the process as well.

6. Rakdos, Patron of Chaos

Rakdos has always been somewhat hit and miss in the execution of his cards. The original Rakdos the Defiler was a little too weird and unwieldy, the RTR follow-up Rakdos, Lord of Riots was huge for Commander play, and Rakdos, the Showstopper met them halfway. While Rakdos, the Muscle offered up an interesting card, it was this version that proved to just be a generally good option for Commander players.

It offers your opponents a simple choice: sacrifice something or give me two cards. It's modest enough - only happening to one opponent during your turn - that it doesn't feel too overbearing. However, you having the choice of opponent to go after means you can make it a really tough choice for your opponents. This has made the card one of the biggest for the set in terms of Commander utility and boy is it not hard to see why.

5. Anzrag, the Quake-Mole

MOLE GOD! MOLE GOD! MOLE GOD!!!

Gruul players love a good aggressive deck and Anzrag, the Quake-Mole excels on that front. It became an instant fan favorite, leading to a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation where blocking it just means you can keep having combat phase after combat phase. It's an outstanding casual card that provides a fun and interesting way to handle a strategy that might otherwise feel a bit one-note for a format like Commander.

4. Massacre Girl, Known Killer

I don't recall if it's come up much in my mythic ranking pieces up to this point, but in the past few years Wizards has become more open to bringing back old mechanics in small doses. These cameo mechanics represent classic mechanics that may not have a shot at being a core mechanic ever again in Standard, but can maybe come back for a card or two.

Thus we ended up with wither coming back for Massacre Girl, Known Killer. This powerful mechanic, coupled with Massacre Girl's card draw ability, made the card outrageously popular in Commander spaces, something that continues to today. It even just saw a reprint in the Lorwyn Eclipsed's Blight Curse Commander precon, clinching its status as a beloved casual all-star.

3. Delney, Streetwise Lookout

Speaking of casual all-stars, let's talk about a classic casual favorite: doubling abilities! Ever since the printing of Panharmonicon, this has proven to be a staple effect for many cards, and it's made Delney, Streetwise Lookout an extremely popular card. So long as you play a deck full of small creatures with powerful effects, you can go absolutely nuts with how many triggers you can get. More importantly, Delney also makes them difficult to block, paving the way for you to clinch a solid victory in any game you play them.

2. Voja, Jaws of the Conclave

Remember how I said there was one particular prerelease mythic that was easily among the most impactful of the bunch? This is the one! Voja, Jaws of the Conclave proved to be an absolute monster in Commander on release. It rapidly climbed the EDHREC top 100 commanders list and generated no shortage of discourse on social media. Players loved it or hated it, with many noting that they took it apart after a single time playing with it.

The discussions surrounding the card were so fierce that it caused Wizards to take a step back and re-evaluate how exactly they use the ward mechanic going forward. Gavin Verhey even put out a whole video on YouTube breaking down the issue, with Voja being a central point of said video. When a card has that much impact, Commander or not, it's easily worthy of being among the top cards of a set.

1. Vein Ripper

It's really hard to overstate just how big of a card Vein Ripper ended up being out of this set. Initially it was viewed as little more than a Commander card, though a powerful one at that. Then Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor happened and Team Channel Fireball broke the Pioneer format wide open by combining this powerful vampire with Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord. Even now, it continues to make a showing in the Sultai Reanimator decks in Standard, cementing it as a major player in a variety of settings and one of the best cards of this set and 2024 as a whole.

Paige Smith

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