Massacre Girl, Known Killer – Murders at Karlov Manor
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.13
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 5.00
Multiplayer: 4.13
Commander [EDH]: 4.38
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
“Known Killer” is quite a title for anybody to have, and that may not even be the most eye-catching thing about Massacre Girl’s new card. I never thought they would do a kindred support card for the toughness-reducing removal cards, but it actually sounds like kind of a fun idea. It implies a deck that has a good base (lots of removal), with some good matchups and some amusing weaknesses to planeswalkers and Giant Growth. She obviously has wither so she’ll work in draft and other smaller formats, which is quite a choice, given that there are more kinds of counters to keep track of in the sets since Phyrexia: All Will Be One than in the two years before that. Considering that mechanic first appeared in Shadowmoor, I can’t help but wonder if it’s a subtle hint at what Lorwyn is going to be like when we visit next year . . .
Constructed: 4
Casual: 5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Massacre Girl’s certainly been bad, hasn’t she. Maybe not in the context of Murders at Karlov Manor, but when you’re known for your proclivity towards violence, your reputation precedes you.
That said, Massacre Girl’s second card is a very interesting one, not least of which is that it marks a surprising change in design philosophy. As a general rule, Wizards avoided putting +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters together in the same Standard-legal set, since they tend to make for some interesting interactions. Massacre Girl, Known Killer marks the return of wither to Standard legality for the first time since Shadowmoor…a set that dates back to 2008. It’s only as a one-off, but seeing wither back is interesting.
As for Massacre Girl herself…dare I say, she’s pretty good. Giving your entire board wither means that each block will sting, and her card-draw trigger is both good with the in-baked wither and the various toughness-reducing effects black has access to. She’s also an evasive 4/4 who packs the wither she spreads around, and that gives her use as both a clock and as an enabler.
I think Massacre Girl 2.0 is going to be a pretty solid card…maybe not in Legacy, but she has acceptable Modern prospects and can do rather nicely in Standard and Pioneer. She has a lot of synergy just on her own, and once bodies start dropping, the cards start flying. For four mana, you could definitely do a lot worse.
Constructed: 4.25
Casual: 5
Limited: 5 (I think she’s mythic for a reason)
Multiplayer: 4.25
Commander [EDH]: 4.75 (a mostly self-sufficient draw engine on top of a threat multiplier is a good place to be)
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