Magic: The Gathering’scity of Ravnica has been through it these past few years. A dragon used it as a stage for his ascent to godhood, killing thousands in the process. Then, the Phyrexians invaded and completely destroyed the undercity. And now, after all that, a string of murders of Ravnica’s elite has occurred, and it’s up to detectives like Alquist Proft to crack the case in the next Standard-legal set, Murders at Karlov Manor.

Wizards of the Coast has given us two cards to show off from the upcoming set. Both vamp on classic favourites, but will they have the same impact on the game? We’ll find out when Murders at Karlov Manor launches on February 9.

Archdruid’s Charm

A Green Toolbox At Instant Speed

In Magic, ‘Charms’ are usually three-cost spells that let you pick from three different effects. They look a bit costly at first, but their flexibility makes them heavy hitters. Plenty of them see lots of play – think of Rakdos Charm, Boros Charm, and Broker’s Charm to name a few – and Archdruid’s Charm has a real chance to stand up there with the best.

This card is a play on the Archmage’s Charm from Modern Horizons. It might not counter spells like its blue counterpart, but I can really see Archdruid’s Charm matching it in playability across multiple formats.

The big appeal of Archdruid’s Charm is it lets you do things at instant speed that you normally wouldn’t see. Sure, it does the usual green instant things, like having your creatures deal damage to your opponents’, and exiling artifacts and enchantments, but it’s that first ability that really appeals.

For three green, it lets you put a land onto the battlefield from your library on your opponent’s end step, then untap it. It even works as a creature tutor effect if you’re up on lands, even if it does cost three times as much as a Worldly Tutor for it. Anything else written on the card feels like a bonus when the first option can do so much.

Barbed Servitor

Stuffy Doll With Extra Steps

Four mana for an invincible 1/1 is pretty decent, and then you discover this is basically a new Stuffy Doll thanks to its damage-reflecting capabilities. Any damage it takes is turned into life loss for your opponent, which is very nice.

However, it does come with one heck of a downside: its use of one of Murders at Karlov Manor’s new mechanics, suspecting. Barbed Servitor enters the battlefield suspected, meaning it has menace and, crucially, can’t block. The only way you’re normally getting damage through to this thing is by making it a big enough threat that your opponent has to block it, or by dealing direct damage to it, which is a rigmarole for just a bit of damage.

This causes loss of life, rather than direct damage, and so things like Rankle & Torbran and Fiery Emancipation won’t affect how much your opponent loses.

Right now, it’s hard to see how this card will slot into Standard. Maybe we’ll see cards in Outlaws at Thunder Junction or Bloomburrow that turn this into a monster, because the potential is there. Right now, though? It’s good for limited, and it’s great for Commander.

A new Stuffy Doll is still a Stuffy Doll, though, which means there’s lots you can do in formats like Commander to make Barbed Servitor a threat. Blasphemous Act is the big one, turning 13 damage to it into 13 life lost for your opponent. Pariah and Pariah’s Shield are also big plays, turning all damage you’d take into damage to the Servitor instead.

You’ll be able to play with both of these cards, and a whole lot more, when Murders at Karlov Manor launches on February 9.