Murders at Karlov Manor is coming up on us awfully fast, and there are some really cool themes going on. Unsurprisingly, one of these themes focuses on the Investigate mechanic. When trying to solve cases in a murder-mystery environment, it makes perfect sense that a lot of the cards in the set would lead to specific Clues about the murder(s) in question.
From a new functional reprint (outside of Creature type) of Thraben Inspector
Thraben InspectorWhen this creature enters, investigate. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "{2}, Sacrifice this token: Draw a card.") to a unique Creature that can do a solid Sphinx’s Revelation
Sphinx’s RevelationYou gain X life and draw X cards. impression, some of the spoilers showcased thus far make Clues a priority. Today, we’re going to focus on an excellent newly spoiled Commander that takes Clue generation to the next level. This card is none other than Teysa, Opulent Oligarch.
Teysa has the ability to generate a ton of Clues in multiplayer games every turn cycle, while also rewarding you for sacrificing those Clues. Let’s take a closer look at the powerful legend and how best to maximize the resources it generates.
Maximizing Clue Production in Multiplayer Games
Teysa is a rather efficient Commander that has the ability to provide something Orzhov Commander decks sometimes lack: card advantage. On your end step, you get to generate a Clue token for each opponent who lost life this turn. In a multiplayer game, this can get out of control rather quickly. The key is to make use of cards that can repeatedly drain EACH opponent. Fortunately, there are a number of synergistic cards to pair with Teysa.
One of the absolute easiest ways to make sure that each opponent loses life, even the turn you cast Teysa, is with Extort cards. Blind Obedience and even Tithe Drinker provide efficient ways to drain every opponent of life at once. For instance, with access to four mana and either of these cards in play, you can cast Teysa, pay one mana for Extort, and on your end step, you will end up with a Clue token for each opponent in your Commander game.
There are also a handful of cards that can convert those Clues into a way to force each opponent to lose life. Cards like Lobelia, Defender of Bag End let you sacrifice Clues to drain each opponent, thereby netting you even more Clues thanks to Teysa. Mirkwood Bats is especially strong here, as you get to make each opponent lose life whether you are generating Clues, sacrificing them, or creating Spirit tokens.
Each time you sacrifice one of these Clues, you end up with a 1/1 Spirit token with Flying. This ability does only trigger once each turn, but in a multiplayer game, you may be able to crack a Clue on each opponent’s turn, thereby netting additional tokens. What’s nice is that, even if you run out of Extort cards or cards like Mirkwood Bats to make things easy, if your opponents don’t have Fliers, the Spirits Teysa creates can simply attack your opponents, forcing them to lose life that way.
Read More: Murders at Karlov Manor Debut Reveals Four New MTG Mechanics
Converting Clues into Important Resources
The one downside with Clues, however, is cracking them in the traditional fashion can be a bit slow. Given how many Clue tokens Teysa is capable of creating over the course of the game, it’s nice to have a way to make sure that your Clue generation reaps you rewards beyond just inefficient card advantage. Perhaps the strongest card in tandem with Teysa’s Clue production is Academy Manufactor
Academy ManufactorIf you would create a Clue, Food, or Treasure token, instead create one of each.. For each Clue token you make, you also net that many Food tokens and Treasure tokens.
The Treasure tokens are especially important, as they provide extra mana to either crack Clues or cast cards you draw off of them. Add Mirkwood Bats or Marionette Master
Marionette MasterFabricate 3 (When this creature enters, put three +1/+1 counters on it or create three 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature tokens.)
Whenever an artifact you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, target opponent loses life equal to this creature's power. into the mix, and your opponents will start losing life rapidly.
It’s also important to be able to make use of your excess Clue tokens in a way that doesn’t require extra mana input. For instance, to help cast bigger spells, Inspiring Statuary plays a nice role in allowing you to use your extra Clues to build a bigger board. Thorough Investigation allows you to go to Venture into the Dungeon whenever you sacrifice a Clue, which works nicely in conjunction with cards like Krark-Clan Ironworks
Krark-Clan IronworksSacrifice an artifact: Add {C}{C}. or Tamiyo’s Journal that allow you to sacrifice Clues without spending mana to crack them.
Speaking of which, Tamiyo’s Journal allows you to take three Clue tokens and essentially exchange them for any card in your deck. This is an excellent luxury to have access to, especially given how impactful specific cards like Academy Manufactor can be on the game. You can even use it to set up multi-card combos, such as the infinite card draw and colorless mana combo achieved with Manufactor, Krark-Clan IronworksKrark-Clan IronworksSacrifice an artifact: Add {C}{C}., and the soon to be released Nuka-Cola Vending Machine.
Read More: Murders at Karlov Manor Reveals 25 New MTG Spoilers!
Absurd Token Generation
If you really want to kick things into high gear, you can also use cards that double the number of tokens you create. For example, Anointed Procession
Anointed ProcessionIf an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates twice that many of those tokens instead. lets you create double the number of Clue tokens and Spirit tokens from Teysa. In a four-player Commander game, that means you can generate up to six Clues on each of your end steps, which can really get out of hand.
Mondrak, Glory Dominus works the same way, except you can also use those tokens to give Mondrak Indestructible at will, making it rather difficult to remove. Given the massive number of Clue tokens you can create, even cards like All that Glitters
All that GlittersEnchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment you control. become appealing. Getting to make one of the Flying tokens created by Teysa into a massive threat on its own is nice.
In a multiplayer EDH setting, the world really is your oyster with Teysa in the Command Zone. Murders at Karlov Manor looks like a super cool set, and we are just getting started!
Read More: Wizards of the Coast Cancels Karlov Manor Early Access Event!
