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The game is afoot inMagic: The Gathering’surban plane of Ravnica. Several high-ranking members of Ravnica’s guilds have been murdered at a party celebrating victory against the Phyrexians, and the recently founded Agency of Magicological Investigations is on the scene to investigate. But some of the attendees are not what they seem…
In the theme of detectives and murder mysteries, the Investigate keyword returns to help the detectives track down the killers. But no good murder mystery should be solved with a simple investigation, so several creatures are equipped with the brand-new disguise ability.
What Is Disguise?
Disguise is a keyword that allows you to pay three generic mana toplay permanents face-down as 2/2 colorless creatures with ward 2, and turn them face-up at any time priority passes to you by paying their disguise cost.
Most permanents with disguise are creatures, but the ability can also appear on artifacts, enchantments, and lands, allowing you to play these cards as creatures and reveal their true nature later.Many disguised creatures also have an effect when they’re turned face-up, such as returning an opponent’s permanents to their hand or redirecting the target of a spell or ability.
Turning a disguised creature face-up is a special action, meaning it doesn’t use the stack and can’t be responded to. Any triggers that happen as a result of the change, however, can be responded to normally.
Disguise functions almost identically to morph, with the addition of ward 2. Therefore, if you’re playing with both disguise and morph cards in your deck, you and your opponent need to be able to distinguish between the two.
Fortunately, Wizards of the Coast includedA Mysterious Creature overlay cardsin Murders at Karlov Manor booster packs to place on the back of your disguised and cloaked cardsto remind each player about the ward and disguise abilities.
Disguised permanents are 2/2 creatures with ward 2. They’recolorless, nameless, typeless, and have a mana cost of zero. These disguised creatures do not count as tokens.
Any permanent with disguisecan instead be cast for its disguise cost any time it can normally be cast. So, if you have the option to cast a card with the disguise ability from the top of your deck, from exile, from your graveyard, or even from your command zone, you can pay the disguise cost to put it into play face-down.
What is Cloak?
Cloak is another keyword whichfunctions similarly to disguise, except that it can affect any card, andcloaked creatures can be turned face up by paying their normal mana cost. Cloaked noncreatures cannot be turned face up this way. The only way to turn noncreature permanents over, or to cast cloaked instants and sorceries, is using an ability like the one found on Etrata, Deadly Fugitive.
Most effects that utilize cloak put either the top card of a player’s library or a card from their hand face down, but Unexplained Absence can use it as a type of removal similar to Chaos Warp, and Expose the Culprit allows you to cloak any number of creatures you control and shuffle them, obscuring them from your opponents.
How To Use Disguise?
Disguise is a versatile ability that players may find reminiscent of ninjutsu. Many creatures with disguise have higher power than 2, which means thatif they aren’t blocked you’re able to turn them face-up for more damagethan your opponent expected. Others, such as Pyrotechnic Performer, have abilities that trigger when they’re turned face-up, allowing them to beused similar to instant spells.
Noncreature permanents with disguise can be played as 2/2 creatures for 3 generic mana, and have an opportunity to attack and block until they’re turned face up. Then you can turn them face up to negate damage or removal.
For example, if your opponent attacks and you block with a face down Concealed Weapon, after declaring blockers you canpay the disguise cost to turn it face up, remove it from combat, and equip itto another creature. Or if your opponent uses Rumbling Rockslide to destroy your 2/2 before it can turn into a much larger creature, imagine their surprise when you flip it over and reveal a Branch of Vitu-Ghazi.
Disguise works hand-in-hand with cloak, another ability introduced in Murders at Karlov Manor. Cloak allows you to place any card face-down on the battlefield, obscuring your disguise creatures by mixing in basic lands, instants and sorceries, and even other creatures without the disguise ability.
Face down creatures with disguise can be turned face up by paying their disguise cost, regardless of how they came into play face down. So cloaked creatures with disguise andeven Missy’s Cybermencan be turned face up when you need them!
Expose the Culprit goes even further by turning any number of your creatures face down, allowing you to getmultiple turned face up effects from a single creature.
What Color Is Disguise?
Disguise isn’t limited to any one color, althoughit’s a little more common in Red and Green. There are five white cards with Disguise, four blue, four black, seven red, seven green, one colorless, and one land.
There is also a full cycle of dual-colored cards, one each for Azorius (white and blue), Dimir (blue and black), Rakdos (black and red), Gruul (red and green), Selesnya (green and white), Orzhov (white and black), Izzet (blue and red), Golgari (black and green), Boros (red and white), and Simic (green and blue).
