Murders at Karlov Manor/Puzzles
Across Murders at Karlov Manor cards and products, players can uncover clues to something bigger — with a final reward for the most assiduous of sleuths out there. Each product in the set contains a puzzle to be solved; some puzzle components are only found within the physical products, but others encourage players to continue the discovery online with web-based puzzles added regularly throughout the season.
Description
| “ | Welcome aboard, agent, and thank you for agreeing to help on such short notice. We have received high praise regarding your consulting detective work, and at present we need all the minds we can get. Perhaps you’ve heard, but a string of high-profile murders across the city has the Agency extremely backed up on its unsolved case files, and some of them are . . . intriguing. Could be nothing, could be something, but we cannot know for sure until you take a look. |
” |
—Ezrim, Ravnican Agency of Magicological Investigations Chief | ||
There is one overarching puzzle — across all products and online — that gives players who crave a true challenge the opportunity to solve a greater mystery; however, there are still 12 individual puzzles that are self-contained and are just as satisfying cases to crack.[1] Once the final puzzle has been solved, it unlocks information about the future of Magic. As soon as any person anywhere in the world submits the correct solution to the final puzzle to the dedicated website, a bonus Magic Story epilogue will be released that points to the future of the game.[2][3]
The project was overseen by Mark Gottlieb and Mark Rosewater was also on the puzzle building team.[4]
Pre-ARG puzzles
Prior to the release of the set, Wizards of the Coast started to provide some clues to participants via their social media channels (Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok). These puzzles were completed in the lead up to the set's pre-release on February 2nd and aren't considered part of the main ARG.
Puzzle #1
List of clues
| Clue | Message | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hey little guy, what'cha got there? #MTGKarlov 🐾 | 2024-01-08[5] | Illustration for Tunnel Tipster with a map fragment superimposed into the Molefolk's hand. |
|
Key clues can be found in places often overlooked. #MTGKarlov 🐾➕ 1️⃣ | 2024-01-10[6] | Illustration for Jaded Analyst with a map fragment superimposed into the human's dossier. |
|
So many clues to keep track of, and so little time to solve them. #MTGKarlov 🐾🐾 | 2024-01-12[7] | Illustration for Case File Auditor with a map fragment superimposed onto the human's scroll. |
| File:MKM Clue map fragment4.mp4 | Hint: watch this all the way through, our little friend may have found another clue. #MTGKarlov 🐾 | 2024-01-15[8] | The end of a video depicts a map fragment hanging as decoration in the background of the illustration for Case of the Filched Falcon. |
| File:MKM Clue map fragment5.mp4 | To a great mind, nothing is little! #MTGKarlov 🐾🐾🐾 | 2024-01-18[9] | Video depicting a map fragment in amongst Alquist Proft's notes on the main story case. |
| Maybe the number of episodes is a clue? 👀 Read the latest #MTGKarlov episode "Roots of Decay" here: |
2024-01-19[10] | Tweet promoting the final chapter of the main story. | |
|
Until you have all the clues, it's difficult to see the whole picture. #MTGKarlov ✅ | 2024-01-20[11] | Key art depicting a map fragment alongside a portrait of Teysa Karlov. |
|
Oh look! Our Tunnel Tipster friend has made one last discovery. Can you connect the dots? #MTGKarlov The strings are NOW in place! #MTGKarlov |
2024-01-20[12] | Cards containing clues pinned up on a corkboard with string connecting them. In order, starting at the Tunnel Tipster card preview:
|
Map fragments
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Map fragment #1.
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Map fragment #2.
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Map fragment #3.
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Map fragment #4.
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Map fragment #5.
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Map fragment #6.
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The completed map.
Solutions
Each clue on the cork-board corresponded to a set of coordinates on the completed map.
| Coordinate | Character | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| D8 | 4 | In D&D terminology, an eight-sided dice is truncated as "D8". |
| K9 | 7 | Pack Leader has the Dog subtype. Dogs are a type of Caninae and a popular homophone of canine is "K9". |
| M8 | 5 | A game of chess ends when the opponent's king is in check, and there is no legal way to get it out of check (checkmate). The prefix "check" can be removed from the clue as a king can be in check without being in checkmate, leaving just "mate". M8 can be used as a homophone of "mate". |
| B10 | q | The illustration initials refer to artist Yeong-Hao Han. "PRW2" is the expansion code used by Scryfall to catalogue the Ravnica Weekend promotional lands from the Ravnica Allegiance release. The only  card in that collection illustrated by Yeong-Hao Han was Island, which has the collector number "B10".
|
| B4 | 1 | The illustration has four bees, which is a homophone for "4B". |
| E10 | - (hyphen) | The tenth episode of main story for Murders at Karlov Manor is titled "Murders at Karlov Manor Episode 10: Roots of Decay". A common way to refer to stories with multiple episodes is to use a truncated episode number — "E10". |
| G6 | w (lower case) | The clue refers to the 2010 song Like a G6 by Far East Movement. |
| G8 | Y | "ZNC 130" is the set and collector code for Gruul Guildgate (Zendikar Rising Commander, #130). The card's subtype — Gate — can be broken into "G" and "ate", with "ate" being a homophone for "8". |
| C4 | L | The illustration has four waves, indicating an ocean or sea. Using "sea", this clue is a homophone for "4C". |
| F8 | C | The illustration shows the "F" in "fate" is underlined separately from "ate". Because "ate" is a homophone "8", the solution becomes "F8". |
| F16 | o (lower case) | "FNM" is shorthand for Friday Night Magic and the date is a reference to the FNM card for January 2016. On Scryfall, this card is catalogued with the set code "F16". It is also possible to use the first letter and last two digits of this clue to arrive at the same result. |
| Result: When all the characters are combined in the order of the clue cards, they produce the string "475q1-wYLCo". | ||
Mystery Files
The main ARG puzzles.
Mystery File Headquarters
For two weeks, starting with the prerelease on February 2nd, a new Mystery File will be released each day on the Mystery Files website. Mystery files are ARG puzzles that are solved using clues and information found in Murders at Karlov Manor products and on the Mystery Files website. Each Mystery File has a Crime Scene that sets the parameters for that particular puzzle. To provide players with additional help, the Mystery Files website also includes an "Ask Alquist" button. Each puzzle has three hits that can be obtained via the button. Participants can click any number of questions, in any order, at any time, or skip them entirely. There’s no penalty in the Mystery Files for using the Ask Alquist function, allowing participants to personalize the difficulty of each Mystery File.
When participants have an answer, they can enter it on Mystery File website to receive confirmation they have solved the puzzle or an indication that they have more sleuthing to do.
The first twelve Mystery Files are designed to be independent of one another. They can be solved in any order and don't have to be solved on the day of their release. The final Mystery File is a meta-puzzle requiring the answers to all of the other puzzles, in addition to some further clues, to solve.
List of unsolved clues
| Product | Clue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bundle spindown life counter | Missing the number "16" | |
| Social media | Sets of pawprints across several of the Magic: The Gathering social media channels.[13] |
|
| Card preview | Case of the Gorgon's Kiss: Two different art versions in preview, one with a green cushion, one with a red cushion. | |
| Card preview | Tap-surveil duals: When all extended arts are lined up in a certain order, a hidden message is revealed: "RNA 32 x 5 + 4" | 32 x 5 + 4 = 164, the collector number of Cult Guildmage in Ravnica Allegiance. |
| Card preview | Case of the Stashed Skeleton: The art features the same Jace puppet as Cult Guildmage. | Art also contains a Lead Pipe. |
Unsolved clues gallery
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Bundle Spindown Life Counter missing #16
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Pawprints on the MTG Twitter account.
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Pawprints on the MTG Facebook account.
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Pawprints on the MTG TikTok account.
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Pawprints on the MTG Instagram account.
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A panorama of the borderless surveil dual lands form a clue.
Mystery File #1
To be released on February 2nd, 2024.
Mystery File #2
To be released on February 3rd, 2024.
Mystery File #3
To be released on February 4th, 2024.
Mystery File #4
To be released on February 5th, 2024.
Mystery File #5
To be released on February 6th, 2024.
Mystery File #6
To be released on February 7th, 2024.
Mystery File #7
To be released on February 8th, 2024.
Mystery File #8
To be released on February 9th, 2024.
Mystery File #9
To be released on February 10th, 2024.
Mystery File #10
To be released on February 11th, 2024.
Mystery File #11
To be released on February 12th, 2024.
Mystery File #12
To be released on February 13th, 2024.
Mystery File #13
To be released on February 14th, 2024.
External links
- Mystery File Headquarters website.
References
- ↑ WPN (December 8, 2023). "Retailer First Look: Murders at Karlov Manor". Wizards Play Network.
- ↑ Murders at Karlov Manor - First Look (Video). Weekly MTG. YouTube (December 5, 2023).
- ↑ Murders At Karlov Manor Debut Aftershow. (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (January 16, 2024).
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 6, 2023). "Is there anything in particular you’re really excited to see in terms of release next year?". Blogatog. Tumblr.
- ↑ Magic: The Gathering (January 8, 2024). "Hey little guy, what'cha got there? #MTGKarlov 🐾". Twitter.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 10, 2024). "Key clues can be found in places often overlooked. #MTGKarlov 🐾➕ 1️⃣". Instagram.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 12, 2024). "So many clues to keep track of, and so little time to solve them. #MTGKarlov 🐾🐾". Facebook.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 15, 2024). "Hint: watch this all the way through, our little friend may have found another clue. #MTGKarlov 🐾". TikTok.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 18, 2024). "To a great mind, nothing is little! #MTGKarlov 🐾🐾🐾". Instagram.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 19, 2024). "Maybe the number of episodes is a clue? 👀". Twitter.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 20, 2024). "Until you have all the clues, it's difficult to see the whole picture. #MTGKarlov ✅". Twitter.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 20, 2024). "The strings are NOW in place! #MTGKarlov". Twitter.
- ↑ u/Total_Bird5493 (January 10, 2023). "[MKM ARG] Pawprints across social media". Reddit.