Case of the Locked Hothouse
– Murders at Karlov Manor
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2024
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.00
Casual: 4.50
Limited: 3.75
Multiplayer: 3.50
Commander [EDH]: 4.00
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
This is a reference to “locked room” mysteries like Agatha Christie’s famous novel Murder on the Orient Express, which perhaps makes it ironic that its effects involve expanding literal and metaphorical horizons. In fact, the card’s effects push it towards its own final effects – you don’t always see that on any kind of card, and I think it’ll help this particular Case make an impact. Seven lands does seem like a lot, but even if you don’t manage to reach the solving condition, it comes at a good time in the game to accelerate a dangerous part of the gameplan (comparable with Courser of Kruphix). And if it does become fully active late in the game, that’s sometimes when it’s most needed. I suspect this card will be attractive in Standard, if nothing else; it also offers some redundancy in formats which have the variants with fewer conditions.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 4
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4
Our first Case of the set isn’t terribly complicated, so let’s start by explaining them. They’re a bit like Sagas in that they have things that happen in “order”: a starting effect, a check during your end step to trigger unlocking a second effect, and then the other (stronger) effect. They’re not too tricky, and the payoffs can be pretty potent.
Case of the Locked Hothouse starts like a four-mana Exploration that gets pretty decent; the ability to cast cards and play lands from the top of your library is quite good, and it’s a good way to push an advantage harder. That said, on curve, this will need to be out for at least a turn before you solve it, and you’ll need to wait another turn (usually) to start getting the benefit. This does look better with green’s flash tricks, and green’s innate acceleration can put this online faster while helping itself get there.
I think this is probably a better spell than it looks; it doesn’t look very solid, but I think even a bad Exploration that has a strong upside is promising enough. It’s a bag of tricks that green does well, and this even has a nicely splashable color demand. I think it’s solid; it won’t be a format all-star, but it’ll do the job.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 4.5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 4
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