Draft Deck Meta

Murders at Karlov Manor Draft Deck Metagame

Draft deck metagame only consists of decks with the maximum number of wins (3 wins in Traditional and 7 wins in Quick and Premier drafts).
Select an archetype to see the popular cards used in winning decks of that group.

Golgari card breakdown - 156 decks, 6.84% of meta

Creatures

2.5 Both modes seem fairly acceptable here, and I think the design is actually really interesting. Most of the time on turn 3 you’re probably just going to want to play it as a 3-mana 3/3 that enters tapped, but sometimes you’re in a spot where you really need to be able to block, and you can play it Disguised when that’s the case, and draining 3 life from your opponent is a pretty real effect. 1.8 1x in 25%

3 We see this card a lot lately, and it’s always pretty nice. Goes after a card in your opponents hand while adding to the board, and then you can sacrifice it or otherwise utilize it for other purposes, sometimes it even feels like you’re getting a 2-for-1. 3.1 1x in 27%

2.5 5 mana for three 1/1s isn't great, but you can attack with all three tokens the next turn and really give your opponent a headache. At that point, you are definitely getting your mana's worth. 3.2 1x in 28%

3 This is best in a heavy green deck, but even outside of that, it helps you ramp your mana and will be a reasonable size. 3.8 1x in 28%

2.5 A 5-mana 5/5 is pretty beefy, and this one has some Disenchant upside. Feels like most Green decks will want one of these. 2.5 1x in 29%

2.5 A one mana 1/1 Menace feels pretty nice on turn one, and this is likely to give you some card selection and graveyard synergy throughout the game. Seems like nice value for one mana. 2.8 1x in 30%

5 This reminds me of Ishkanah, and that’s good company to keep. In black green, this will be a 6 mana 5/4 with Menace thar makes two 2/1s with Menace and reach more often than it isn't, and on rate alone that's a bomb. Throw in the ability to make more spiders every time it attacks, and the ability to give up tokens for value, and this might just be the biggest bomb in the set. 4.7 1x in 30%

2.5 You're not usually going to be able to unlock this cards full power on turn two, and while a ⅓ with reach isn't a disaster for two mana, it isn't remotely close to good either. The good news is that the ETB is useful pretty much all game long. 2.6 1x in 30%

3 A two mana 2/2 isn’t what it used to be, but that’s the fail case here, and this has the upside of fixing your mana. Note, by the way, that it can grab this format’s dual lands, should you pick one up. 3.8 1x in 31%

4 A two mana 1/1 that can tap for green is already a C-level card, and this has legitimate potential to grow throughout the game, which means it can stay more relevant than most mana dorks. Of course, if you draw it late it isn’t the most impressive thing ever, but playing this on turn two and playing a couple of Disguise creatures seems like a super common play pattern. This Common looks quite good. 4 1x in 32%

2.5 It's never going to feel like you’re getting great value with the Stalker, whether you disguise it first or otherwise. But it probably won't feel bad either. 2 1x in 33%

3.5 These days, they give us lots of Common one drops that do a whole bunch of little things, and almost all of them have been impressive in Limited – I think this is another one of those. A one mana 1/1 with Surveil 2 is probably playable to begin with, especially if you’re a graveyard deck. Add to that the ability to put a counter on something, and this card just feels like it will do a ton of work. 2.4 1x in 34%

2.5 There are lots of tokens in this set for sure, but destroying most of them isn't typically worth a card, and this won't have a target that often on turn two. The stat-line isn't really above rate these days either. 3 1x in 37%

2.5 This fixes your mana well and sets up Collect Evidence 6 in the early game, and in the late game it's a passable creature. 3 1x in 45%
Instant, Sorcery

3 This deals with anything, but is dangerous enough to play in the early game that it isn't incredible. 3.3 1x in 13%

3 This trick gives +1/+1 as a floor, and it can give a way bigger boost than that. We've seen this card before without the Reach, and it's always a good trick. 2.5 1x in 14%

4 So, this is effectively an X draw spell, except you get to steal your opponents stuff instead. I wouldn’t count on milling your opponent out with it, but there is a chance of it. Because it’s an Instant you can exile a bunch of stuff and then start playing it on your turn. Obviously it doesn’t add to the board and its expensive to really get there with it, but I think it’s powerful enough to be a 4.0 4.2 1x in 14%

1.5 This is really cheap, and cheap tricks are often real good for their ability to punch above their weight class – and this one even gives you a clue! But…there’s a problem. It doesn’t offer anything that can help your creature survive combat. Sure, your creature can always trade thanks to this, but it’s still going to feel close enough to a 2-for-1 to sting when you have to use it that way. It does work nicely with Suspect, but I don't think that's enough. 1.8 1x in 15%

2.5 This type of trick always performs fairly well, as it does enough to make a creature punch above it’s weight class, yet it still survives. It even works well against removal, and it gets particularly interesting with creatures that have ETB abilities. Suspect won’t always feel like upside, but I think it will more often than not. 2.2 1x in 15%

3 We’ve seen Run Amok in the past, and it has a strictly worse text box because it can only target attacking creatures, and Run Amok was an absolute beating in aggro decks. I think this will be too. The stats boost + trample can just wreck combat in so many ways, and make damage lethal out of nowhere. The boost is enough to save a creature from some removal spells in a pinch too. You’re going to want to keep this card in the back of your mind any time you’re playing someone who is in Green. 2.5 1x in 18%

2 I like that this can ultimately give you a 2-for-1. I don’t like that it’s a Sorcery that doesn’t add to the board in any meaningful way. It definitely fixes your mana, and in games that go long enough that Clue is gonna feel pretty nice, but not doing anything to add to the board on turn three has been a liability in most formats of late. I kind of hope this is a format where you can do stuff like this, but I’m going to err on the side of caution. 2.2 1x in 21%

3.5 The uncounterable part actually matters in limited, because it means this can hit Disguise creatures and you don’t have to worry about Ward. Apart from that, this can trade up for stuff in general. It’s premium removal. 3.7 1x in 22%

3.5 They have really been pushing these punch effects lately. There once was a time where one mana for a straight up fight effect was a nice Limited card, but now we get a one-sided fight for the same cost! Obviously, it’s pretty darn good. You do need to have a sizable enough creature around to make it do its thing the best, and you have to pick your spots because removal is an utter blowout, but we’re still talking about a one mana removal spell…this’ll feel like a Green Swords to Plowshares pretty often. 3.9 1x in 25%

2.5 Paying two for this is very doable, and when you do that it feels great. You probably don't want more than one, though. 1.8 1x in 29%

3.5 If you aren't collecting evidence, this is pretty darn clunky. And clunky is dangerous on a removal spell like this, since your opponent interacting can 2-for-1 you. Still, if you choose your spot carefully, this is likely to kill most opposing stuff, and the stats boost might also really improve your attacks. Combine that with the Evidence upside and I think this manages to just sneak into “premium removal” range. 3.7 1x in 31%

3.5 Uncounterability actually matters in this set because of all the Disguise creatures with Ward. –X/-X is never going to feel super efficient, but it’s an instant and it scales all game, so I think it’s premium. 3.2 1x in 34%

3.5 Murder is still a pretty good Magic card in Limited. The double black can be a pain, but this is still premium. 3.4 1x in 35%

3.5 This looks like a great common. Edicts tend to be at their best when your opponent has the fewest creatures. That usually means the early game. But thanks to collevt evidence here, this stays pretty good by the mid to late game, as getting rid of your opponents highest power creature will also mean their best creature loke 80 percent of the time. 3.4 1x in 44%
Enchantment, Artifact

2 This is a neat design, but it seems a little too finicky to be great in Limited. You need a few things to line up correctly for this to do its thing: First, you need a board state. Probably the smallest thing it asks you for, but…if you don’t have a couple of creatures in play, this isn’t going to feel very good. After that, you need your creatures to die – something you can certainly manufacture. And third, you need stuff in your graveyard. Now, all of that is fairly doable, at least individually, but you need them all to line up with the right timing for Illicit Masquerade to work. It is nice it has Flash, which makes it easier for you to find that timing, but I think there are going to be too many situations where the Masquerade either does nothing, or is too slow at doing something. 2.1 1x in 2%

1 We usually see this card draw effect at or even 3 mana, so paying five for it, and at Sorcery speed is rough. It does load your graveyard to set up Collect Evidence, which it itself has, but I’m not that impressed with the activated ability either. Giving your opponent three options on this kind of effect oftens amounts to them being able to choose one that just doesn’t do anything. Speaking of not doing anything, that’s what this card does when it comes to the board, so I think this is kind of a liability. 1.3 1x in 2%

2 One to play and two to equip isn’t a complete disaster for +2/+0. You can use it to really give you a better attack than you would otherwise have, and the life loss effect gives you some inevitability. That said, if the card ended there I’m not sure I’d think it was worth playing very often. It just doesn’t feel like it would have enough of an impact to be worth a card, even as cheap as it is. However, by giving you the ability to sacrifice the Pipe to draw a card, you’re really mitigating against that problem. Your Equipment can be pretty bad if you run out of creatures, or if you really need something more impactful, you can just throw it away. I’m still not ultra impressed here, but I think if you’ve got lots of creatures in a black deck, playing this seems fine. 1.7 1x in 3%

1.5 I think this is the worst card in this cycle. The buffs it offers are underwhelming, especially when you’re paying 3 to equip. 1.3 1x in 3%

2.5 Solving this is inevitable in many Magic games, and once you do it’s pretty darn powerful. It even lets you get more than one card per turn! But, here’s the problem: This is an awful Enchantment that doesn’t add to the board up until that point, and that’s a pretty big liability for a 4-mana card. Extra land drops are very hard to take advantage of in Limited, especially by the turn you play this, because you just run out of lands to play. Basically, this is great in the late game and awful the rest of the game, and that makes it really hard for it to get a great grade. 3.7 1x in 4%

4 This is pretty great. Mind Control effects are incredibly strong, and even though this one weakenes the creature in most cases, you still remove an opposing creature and get a 1/1 death touch. I mean, imagine this was a 5-mana Sorcery that gives you a 1/1 death touch and destroys a creature – that’s basically what this is, and that’s amazing. The creature actually keeps any abilities it has too, so sometimes it will be better! Importantly, this can get you back ahead from behind. 4 1x in 5%

2.5 If you can solve this the value is insane, and it can certainly set that up for you. On the flip side, it also the potential to do absolutely nothing. 1.9 1x in 5%

2.5 The fact this one gives you a body up front is pretty nice, even if that body is a two mana 2/1 with menace that can’t block. In some decks it’s going to be hard to solve this, because your opponent just won’t kill this and let you turn the Case into a tutor – but if that’s the case that probably means they are taking two to turn, so it isn’t like that’s a huge fail case. Running a few sacrifice outlets is probaby the best way to solve this one. I don’t normally love tutors in Limited, but that’s because most of them don’t do anything else – this does by giving you that body, though it is a little awkward you have to get rid of that body in most cases to solve it. 4.1 1x in 8%

0.0 / 3.5 The idea here is to play cards with Collect Evidence alongside this, and if you have enough of that going on – and enough creatures in your deck – this has the potential to be a fairly absurd engine, since it effectively gives you 2 cards every time you Collect Evidence. The problem is that this does absolutely nothing up front. Still, the upside is kind of insane, and I think accessible enough in some decks for this to get a buildaround grade. 2.6 1x in 10%

2.5 A 4-mana 3/3 that makes a Clue is fine, and this will be a 4/4 Vigilance from time to time. 3.8 1x in 11%

0.0 // 3.0 You’re likely to have a few tokens around sometimes in Black-Green, but you’re really going to need to be able to get the Plant stuff going on Insidious Roots for it to be worthwhile. The good news is, Black-Green has a critical mass of “Collect Evidence” cards which will trigger Insidious Roots, but this still kind of asks a lot of you. You need a stocked graveyard, you need the things in your graveyard to be creatures, and you need to collect evidence. I think that’s doable, but still hard enough that this probably needs a build around grade. 2.6 1x in 19%

2 When you can use this correctly, it can be an absolute beating. It can work as a decent trick that leaves the buff behind, and it can blank removal. Turning off Suspect will usually be more upside than downside, too. Still, it's tricky to leave up this much mana. 1.8 1x in 19%

3 What this gives you up front is fairly acceptable, and Green decks will certainly be capable of solving this. Once you do, buffing an attacking creature every turn is going to feel pretty good. Still, it doesn’t do a ton up front. 3.3 1x in 20%

4 This is a good removal spell, even without the creatures leaving your graveyard upside, and that means even if your deck has absolutely 0 ways to remove creatures from your graveyard, this will perform well enough to be included. And, most Black decks will be able to trigger the drain life effect on this at least a couple of times a game, and once you’ve done that you’re going to feel like you’ve really gotten there. 3.3 1x in 22%
Planeswalkers

5 All three of her abilities are pretty awesome. The +2 gives you serious card selection, and also makes her loyalty high enough that she won’t be easy to take down right away. Her +1 can protect her and/or pressure your opponent, and her -2 is basically Bone Splinters. Obviously enough, the -2 and +1 synergize with her triggered ability too. The +1 makes sure you have tokens, and the -2 exiles stuff, so you’re going to get some extra value out of that -2. 4.7 1x in 1%
Lands

2.5 If you just need the mana right away, you can play it, but this has two other really nice functions. First, it's flood insurance. The last thing you want to do in the late game is draw a land - but thud one can be a creature when that's the case. And in the mid-game, when you might need the fixing, you can turn it face up. Remember you can do weird stuff like assign this to block and turn it face up, at which point you get the mana and the creature it blocked is still considered blocked, but you don't lose the land. 1.9 1x in 6%

3 This looks like a pretty solid source of fixing. You’re not always gonna want to tap your creatures to make mana, as that can be a very real cost, but at least this can also produce colorless mana normally, it has useful typing as both an artifact and a clue, and you can of course throw it away for a card. This means all your eggs aren’t in that mana-fixing basket, so it will almost never feel terrible, while still having the upside of shoring up your mana. 2.8 1x in 12%

4.3 1x in 13%

2.5 This is another nice source of fixing, even if it does require you to jump through a few hoops. Being able to only tap a Clue or something once when you play it is nice. 2.5 1x in 14%

3 This is Evolving Wilds with upside, and that upside can allow you send in an unblockable Disguise creature. 3.7 1x in 26%
Top Rated Cards

4 4-mana for a 4/4 is still a decent stat-line, and then this has huge Diguise upside. Sure, you can’t access it until the late game, but having instant speed Overrun in the late game is going to be an absolute beating. Now, don’t expect to reach that stage of the game every time you play the Orator, but because the card has a solid fail-case and insane upside. 3.7 1x in 17%

4 This is a good removal spell, even without the creatures leaving your graveyard upside, and that means even if your deck has absolutely 0 ways to remove creatures from your graveyard, this will perform well enough to be included. And, most Black decks will be able to trigger the drain life effect on this at least a couple of times a game, and once you’ve done that you’re going to feel like you’ve really gotten there. 3.3 1x in 22%

4 A two mana 1/1 that can tap for green is already a C-level card, and this has legitimate potential to grow throughout the game, which means it can stay more relevant than most mana dorks. Of course, if you draw it late it isn’t the most impressive thing ever, but playing this on turn two and playing a couple of Disguise creatures seems like a super common play pattern. This Common looks quite good. 4 1x in 32%

4.0 This feels like it should have been a rare, and not just because he is Legendary, but because he is so complex – and also pretty awesome. So a 5-mana 5/4 does alright on the vanilla test, and then this guy has an absolutely massive text box, which lets you damage the opponent any time a creature is put into the graveyard from someone’s hand or their library. Konrad is going to provide some nice late game reach for decks. His ability is pretty cheap, and gives you a chance to do between 0 and 2 damage every time you use it. If this format also has a graveyard deck, I think he will get better, since if you can take advantage of loading your own graveyard, you’re going to like him even more. 4.5 1x in 3%

4.5 This is an awesome two drop. The ⅔ stat-line is a nice one, and if you have the mana you can also make it a 4/4 Vigilance right away – or even a 7-mana 5/5 that makes your creatures indestructible. Obviously enough, you’re usually going to pay in installments, but the fact that you can draw this early and have it be an amazing threat or draw it late and have it be an amazing threat makes it an excellent card. 4.8 1x in 1%

4.5 A a 4-mana 8/4 is probably a 3.0 or 3.5. Those are some way above rate stats. And Anzrag comes with a bunch of extra upside too! Getting extra combat phases is notoriously an effect that sounds super powerful but generally underwhelms, but attaching the effect to an 8/4 is pretty sweet. It’s kind of hard for your opponent to just take 8 to the face in most situations, but that’s what they’re going to have to do sometimes. I mean, if they can block Anzrag but not kill him, there’s really no point, since this effect will just keep happening each time they block. And this is only talking about having Anzrag around, by the way – if your board is well developed your opponent is in for even more of a problem. The ability to force stuff to block him is kind of silly, because in the late game it’s pretty likely your opponent can block him with a couple of 2/2s or something. But…still, you get that extra combat phase, which you might just be able to take advantage of. 5 1x in 1%

4.5 A three mana 2/4 with Flying and Vigilance is easily a 3.5, and this can crank out Clues a decent chunk of the time. 4.8 1x in 1%

5 All three of her abilities are pretty awesome. The +2 gives you serious card selection, and also makes her loyalty high enough that she won’t be easy to take down right away. Her +1 can protect her and/or pressure your opponent, and her -2 is basically Bone Splinters. Obviously enough, the -2 and +1 synergize with her triggered ability too. The +1 makes sure you have tokens, and the -2 exiles stuff, so you’re going to get some extra value out of that -2. 4.7 1x in 1%

5 This is an unblockable three mana 3/2 with all kinds of upside. Upside because it might actually grab you a creature you want to turn face up, and upside because it can bounce back to your hand and make a new body for itself even when you don’t have any other creatures around. 4.9 1x in 1%

5 It spits out clues like crazy and grows throughout the game, it's a massive bomb. 4.7 1x in 1%

5 Rakdos can end the game in a hurry, and most of the time when you play him he’s going to give you something before your opponent ever has a chance to remove him. The fact he only lets them sacrifice nontoken/nonlands is important, and it makes the ability significantly stronger. If they choose to give you cards instead, you’re pretty excited about that too. Rakdos is a huge, fairly efficient creature that will deliver some value even if your opponent has removal in most cases. I think that makes him a bomb. 4.8 1x in 3%

5 This huge flyer can end games quickly, and it’s Ward makes it impossible for your opponent to deal with it in a way that doesn’t cost them something significant. Not only will they lose a creature, you’ll also drain 2 life. The Ripper also turns combat into a nightmare for your opponent the turn it comes down, because you can just throw all of your creatures at your opponent, and then they have to do a bunch of math, because any creature dying drains 2, not just yours! The triple black is the biggest downside here, but you’ve got a decent shot at getting to it by the time you have six mana. 5 1x in 8%

5 A 4-mana 4/4 Menace is something you always play, and she brings some amazing upside! Wither will make life hard for your opponent, since their creatures will now lose stats even when they successfully block something. And it combos particularly well with her other ability – if a creature dies against something that has wither, it’s always going to have toughness less than 1, and that ability will trigger. In other words, any time you attack you’re putting a ton of pressure on your opponent where they have to choose between taking the damage or potentially giving you cards. 4.9 1x in 12%

5 This reminds me of Ishkanah, and that’s good company to keep. In black green, this will be a 6 mana 5/4 with Menace thar makes two 2/1s with Menace and reach more often than it isn't, and on rate alone that's a bomb. Throw in the ability to make more spiders every time it attacks, and the ability to give up tokens for value, and this might just be the biggest bomb in the set. 4.7 1x in 30%

Boros	2599 matches	315 decks
13.82% of Metagame
Orzhov	1864 matches	231 decks
10.13% of Metagame
Selesnya	1896 matches	230 decks
10.09% of Metagame
Azorius	1578 matches	189 decks
8.29% of Metagame
Golgari	1294 matches	156 decks
6.84% of Metagame
Izzet	1235 matches	155 decks
6.80% of Metagame
Rakdos	1278 matches	154 decks
6.75% of Metagame
Simic	1025 matches	126 decks
5.53% of Metagame
Dimir	857 matches	106 decks
4.65% of Metagame
Gruul	787 matches	96 decks
4.21% of Metagame
Naya	643 matches	79 decks
3.46% of Metagame
Bant	606 matches	74 decks
3.25% of Metagame
Sultai	418 matches	51 decks
2.24% of Metagame
Jeskai	395 matches	49 decks
2.15% of Metagame
Mardu	411 matches	48 decks
2.11% of Metagame
Abzan	356 matches	46 decks
2.02% of Metagame
Esper	302 matches	37 decks
1.62% of Metagame
Temur	232 matches	29 decks
1.27% of Metagame
Jund	240 matches	28 decks
1.23% of Metagame
Grixis	209 matches	25 decks
1.10% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-black)	75 matches	10 decks
0.44% of Metagame
Mono Green	80 matches	9 decks
0.39% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-blue)	49 matches	7 decks
0.31% of Metagame
Five Color	61 matches	7 decks
0.31% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-red)	52 matches	6 decks
0.26% of Metagame
Mono Black	32 matches	4 decks
0.18% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-white)	34 matches	4 decks
0.18% of Metagame
Four Color (Non-green)	25 matches	3 decks
0.13% of Metagame
Mono Red	27 matches	3 decks
0.13% of Metagame
Mono White	16 matches	2 decks
0.09% of Metagame
Mono Blue	9 matches	1 decks
0.04% of Metagame

Decks by color

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Murders at Karlov Manor Draft Deck Metagame

Golgari card breakdown - 156 decks, 6.84% of meta

Creatures

Instant, Sorcery

Enchantment, Artifact

Planeswalkers

Lands

Top Rated Cards

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