The next MTG set hitting shelves is a murder/mystery-themed set, Murders at Karlov Manor. It takes place on the fan-favorite plane of Ravnica and has four commander decks coming with it. Today, I’ll be discussing the “Blame Game” precon. Let’s start with some basic info.
Murders at Karlov Manor is set to come out on February 9, 2024, and has four preconstructed commander decks. Blame Game is a Red and White (Boros) deck themed around goading opposing creatures and identifying suspects.
Below, you’ll find the primary and secondary commanders for the deck, a breakdown of the deck’s themes, and the deck list. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Updated: 1/26/24
Deck Strategy
According to the packaging, this deck wants to goad creatures and identify suspects. The goading is pretty established and straightforward. Nevertheless, I’ll show you how it works here. The other portion, identifying suspects, was a bit cryptic and had no apparent in-game counterpart – Until the release of the commanders.
Primary and Secondary Commanders
If you head over to the Scryfall page for Nelly Borca, you can find an Oracle text elaborating on how “suspecting” a create works. It says, “A suspected creature has menace and can’t block.” If you can get Nelly attacking and suspecting a few creatures, adding menace will make other player’s lives hard. And that’s only half the text.
I first guessed that identifying suspects would be one of the “My Will Be Done” (Szarekh, the Silent King) or “Mark of Chaos Ascendant” (Abaddon the Despoiler), like “flavor abilities.” And it would probably penalize your opponents for attacking you, further incentivizing them to attack one another.
While I wasn’t quite right with my guess, the card does reward opponents (and you) with a card when they attack someone other than you. Also, notice that it doesn’t say “goaded” creature. So, anytime Nelly is in play, and your opponents damage one another in combat, you and said player gets to draw. Pretty sweet!
To me, this ups the possible power level of the precon up. Because now you’re dipping into a group hug theme, where you’re fueling opposing strategies and forcing them to use those extra resources against one another instead of you. Now, let’s move on to how the deck might goad things.
Goad Creatures / Force Combat
Goading your opponent’s creatures does two things. First, it forces them to attack when they’d rather not. And secondly, it means that they won’t be able to attack you in most cases. Not only does this keep your life total high, but it also has other players chipping each other down.
There is also a highly disruptive element to the mechanic. For example, players often have difficulty leaving up the blockers and often have utility creatures or commanders die in combat. In other words, it can create a lot of chaos. Cards like Frontier Warmonger, Brash Taunter, and Duelist’s Heritage can create some very unfavorable situations for others.
Put Up The Defences
If you’re forcing creatures to turn sideways, pumping them up, and giving them extra abilities, you want to be sure they’re not attacking you. Goad has some built-in protection here, but still. I’m not surprised the precon takes full advantage of the pillow fort-style cards shown above.
Best Reprints
These days commander precons have around $95 worth of reprint value. Most of the time, a select few cards make up a pretty good chunk of that. However, this deck was pretty light in terms of reprint value. Here are the pricer/better reprints.
- Loran of the Third Path – $9
- Smuggler’s Share – $7.50
- Ghostly Prison $4
- Brash Taunter – 3.50
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight – $2.65
Blame Game Deck List
Here’s your look at the recently spoiled deck list for the precon.
Related: Deep Clue Sea Precon – Deck List, Card Predictions, & Possible Reprints
Blame Game
End Step
New commander precons are always exciting, and these are no different. I’m most excited about the Deadly Disguise deck, but this one is the runner-up. I’m stoked to play a new version of Feather! And I’m a sucker for pillow-fort cards. So, I’ll be picking this one up for sure.
