Summary
There’s a mystery afoot inMagic: The Gathering’sMurders at Karlo Manor, and it’s up to you to get to the bottom of it. The only way you may do so is by following the trail laid out in the three-colored Commander deck, Deep Clue Sea.
The best way to solve any case is by digging up clues, and that’s what this preconstructed deck does best. With tons of ways to investigate, manipulate Clue Tokens, and generate a ton of value turn after turn, this deck is a powerhouse that you don’t want to miss.
10On The Trail
The Game’s Afoot
Drawing cards and playing lands have never felt better than with On the Trail. Every time you draw your second card each turn, you get to put a land from your hand directly into play tapped.
Because of the stipulation of it being your second card each turn, you can only do it once per turn, but if you have enough Clue tokens and mana, you can do it on each of your opponent’s turns as well. While it might not seem like much, being able to burn through a bunch of lands from the top of your deck before it makes it back to your turn can be a huge boon
9Academy Manufactor
Clues, Foods, And Treasures. Oh My!
Even if this deck is all about pumping out as many Clue tokens as possible, you can still make use of a few different ones. That’s where Academy Manufactor comes in to spread the love a bit.
Anytime you make either a Clue, Food, or Treasure token for any reason,you get to make all three instead. This provides some incredible value, especially in a deck like Deep Clue Sea, where you can easily generate multiple Clue tokens over a single turn. Use any card that multiplies the number of tokens you generate, like Doubling Season, and you’ll have more tokens than you know what to do with in no time.
8Adrix And Nev, Twincasters
Twice As Nice
Speaking of token multipliers, the Deep Clue Sea deck brings with it one of the few creatures that gives you more tokens for your board. Any time you make one or more tokens of any kind, creature, artifact, whatever, Adrix and Nex, Twincasters create twice that many tokens.
These two also have ward two, making it that much harder to deal with. You’re going to want to protect this card, as so much of the deck revolves around having an excess number of Clue tokens to draw cards off of or manipulate for extra value.
7Farewell
See Ya
It might feel a bit cheap to include one of thebest mass removal spells Magic has ever seenin this list, but it is hard to ignore one of the best cards in the game simply because it is a little too powerful at times.
Farewell’s versatility is often what leads it to feel overpowered, since it can deal with multiple threats at a single time, both on the battlefield and in the graveyard. The only relevant card type that it can’t exile are planeswalkers, and generally, there are other ways to deal with them.
6Tangletrove Kelp
Smack Your Opponents With Facts
You know all those Clue tokens you’ve been generating? What if there was a way to beat face with them? Tangletrove Kelp is a new card for the deck that takes all your Clues and turns them into 6/6 Plant tokens that are still clues at the start of each combat.
That’s not just your combat, but each combat, meaning you can swing out with your creatures in play, drop Tangletrove Kelp, and then have an army of Clue to protect yourself with.
5Tireless Tracker
This Land Is Filled With Clues
Unless you’re playing a deck with a lot of landfall triggers or a specific lands-based deck, playing a land can be a fairly mundane action in Magic. Tireless Tracker takes your land drops and turns them into Clue tokens with its landfall trigger, effectively making each land a potential card to draw.
Tying Clue generation to a passive action like playing lands can immensely help your early game, both in giving you a creature that gets stronger over time thanks to Tireless Tracker’s second ability, and one that helps you dig for more lands by drawing even more cards.
4Merchant Of Truth
Solve The Case
A fascinating new creature exclusive to the Deep Clue Sea deck, Merchant of Truth not only grants you a way to generate Clue tokens, but then turns them into a gigantic threat. When a nontoken creature you control dies, Merchant of Truth investigates, making a Clue token.
The power comes from Merchant of Truth’s second ability, which gives your Clues exalted, a powerful effect that gives a creature +1/+1 when they attack alone. If you have 10 Clues out, and you attack with Merchant of Truth, you’ll be swinging in with a 12/15 creature, giving it a substantial upgrade.
3Alandra, Sky Dreamer
Drakes Galore
Since you’re going to be drawing extra cards each turn, you might as well get a few extra benefits from it. Alandra, Sky Dreamer creates a 2/2 flying Drake token any timeyou draw your second card each turn, turning those Clue tokens into creatures turn after turn.
The much rarer but more impactful second ability triggers once you draw your fifth card in a turn. This ability gives Alandra and all your Drakes +X/+X for the turn, with X equal to the number of cards in your hand, likely at least five but can easily be much higher, turning your card draw effects into a powerful combat trick.
2Bennie Bracks, Zoologist
Getting The Zoo Back Together
One of the more unique creatures in this preconstructed deck, Bennie Bracks, Zoologist is an incredibly reliable, consistent card draw turn after turn. At the start of each end step, if you’ve made a token of any type, you get to draw a card.
When paired with the next card on this list, the main commander that comes with the deck, you’re guaranteed to be making a token each turn, and with Bennie out, drawing a card as well. Not to mention all the other ways the Deep Clue Sea deck has to generate tokens, you’ll be drawing cards on every turn since Bennie’s ability triggers at each end step.
1Morska, Undersea Sleuth
Leave No Ocean Unturned
The main commander of the Deep Clue Sea Commander deck, Morska, Undersea Sleuth lets you make the most of your Clue tokens by providing a constant stream of Clues turn after turn, and then growing to monstrous strength with each Clue you crack.
On your upkeep, you make a Clue token automatically, effectively just giving you a free extra card each turn. Then, when you do draw your second card on each turn, Morska gets two +1/+1 counters on it. All you need is a way to make them unblockable, and you’ll be sending tons of commander damage through to your opponents.
