It’s rare thatMagic: The Gatheringintroduces a brand-new card type, even in the game’s modern era, where concepts come and go like sparks from a campfire. Cases are the latest offering in this arena, a spin on Sagas that ask you to do a bit of investigative legwork before you may fully reap their benefits.
As with any new card type, the first run is always a bit experimental, leaving open the possibility for some wild power outliers in this initial set of thirteen Cases. Do any of these exist? Are Cases worth playing at all? And if so, which ones? All of these questions and more will be answered in our dossier below.
13Case Of The Shattered Pact
Five Colors Is Too Much To Ask
It may be a huge flavor win, but Case of the Shattered Pact is far from it when it comes to playability. Amassing all five colors in play is nigh-impossible in Standard and not much easier in older formats, which means this Case will simply be a worse Rampant Growth more often than not.
Even if you can solve it, Shattered Pact’s payoff is contingent on you having a decently-sized creature in play, which makes it doubly situational. Outside of Commander, the real mystery here is why you’d ever play this card.
12Case Of The Filched Falcon
A Disappointing Payoff For A Convoluted Mystery
Case of the Filched Falcon has all the makings of a great card, and it would’ve been one too, if it weren’t for that pesky activation cost on the post-solve ability. The solve condition here is extremely reasonable, particularly since it creates an artifact itself on entry, but three mana for a 4/4 flier just isn’t a good deal with so many hoops attached.
Indedicated artifact deckswith perfect curves, it can be a solid threat on turn three, but it pales in comparison to most other three drops in the modern Magic metagame.
11Case Of The Pilfered Proof
All Five Detective Fans, Rejoice!
It’s always nice to see support for under-represented creature types, but Detectives may just be a step too far down Niche Street. There just aren’t enough of them to warrant the use of a card like this, which essentially serves as a resilient Lord for the creature type.
An advantage of Pilfered Proof is the fact that its most powerful effect, the +1/+1 counter placement, is front-loaded, so you don’t even need to solve it to get value from it. That said, until Detectives become a common Magic fixture, this is unlikely to go anywhere.
10Case Of The Burning Masks
A Performance Unworthy Of The Rakdos Name
Ordinarily, removal spells with the potential for additional card advantage would be attractive prospects. Case of the Burning Masks proves that efficiency is still important even with cards like that, however, thanks in large part to its three-mana cost and clunky solve condition.
Dealing damage with three different sources can be surprisingly difficult, and if you can’t manage that then this is just a far worse Lightning Strike for three mana: a Limited consideration at best. Though the ceiling is solid, the floor has rotted and caved in on this Rakdos theater.
9Case Of The Gorgon’s Kiss
Unleash A Truly Stone-Hearted Killer
One mana for a removal spell and a 4/4 sounds like an absolutely obscene rate, enough to get even thespikiest of Spikesa little excited. And while Case of the Gorgon’s Kisscanbe just that, more often than not it’ll be something a lot more reasonable.
The removal effect, for instance, will rarely catch a target, which leaves the 4/4 creature to prop up the value here. This is a payoff likely to occur quite deep into a game, at which point the stats will be less impressive than they would be early on.
8Case Of The Trampled Garden
A Not-So-Subtle Means Of Murdering Your Opponent
This is the point on the list where cards actually start getting quite good. Case of the Trampled Garden is the rare three mana non-creature that Aggro decks may actually play, since it can single-handedly win you the game in some scenarios.
Hitting eight total power isn’t too hard to accomplish, even in Standard thanks to monsters like Anzrag. And once this Case is solved, it buffs a creature and grants it evasion every single turn, leaving no safe haven for thosecowardly Control players.
7Case Of The Uneaten Feast
A One Mana Yawgmoth’s Will? Sort Of
Case of the Uneaten Feast is an oddly nostalgic card, serving as both a Soul Sister effect and a Yawgmoth’s Will all at once. Once solved it’s actually better than Yawgmoth’s Will, a card good enough to bebanned in Legacy, since there’s no mana cost to pay as you sacrifice it.
Of course, Yawgmoth’s Will never asked you to gain five life in a single turn, but in the kind of go-wide deck that benefits from these effects that shouldn’t be a big ask. Don’t be surprised to see this card sneaking its way into older formats.
6Case Of The Locked Hothouse
Lock In Some Late-Game Value
Oracle of Mul Daya is an all-time green staple in Commander, and Case of the Locked Hothouse provides essentially the same effects, sans the 2/2 body. Sure, you need to get seven lands in play to unlock its full potential, but in Commander that’s practically the norm any time after turn four.
Once you do get seven lands, Locked Hothouse is actually way better than Oracle, since it lets you play more card types, potentially leading to multiple extra cards ‘drawn’ each turn. If you’re even tangentially interested in green in Commander, get this Case in your dossier ASAP.
5Case Of The Shifting Visage
Fill Your Graveyard, Fill Your Board
While technically a card from the Murders at Karlov Manor Commander decks and not the main set, we just didn’t have the heart to leave Case of the Shifting Visage out. It’s a solid Case, too, giving you card selection while filling your graveyard to enable its own solve condition.
Once solved, it just starts doubling your creatures: an ability which can get out of hand fast in pretty much any well-built deck. Whether you’re playing Combo or Midrange, you’ll find something to love about this Case.
4Case Of The Gateway Express
A Classic Christie Caper Recreated
If this ranking was based on flavor, then Case of the Gateway Express would be right at the top. Letting all of your creatures chip in to remove an opposing creature is a beautiful translation of Murder on the Orient Express’ big twist into Magic. More importantly, it’s also a very powerful effect mechanically.
This Case becomes an Anthem effect later on, which is great in the kind of White Weenie list you’re likely to run it in, but honestly the removal effect is probably enough to carry the card alone.
