What is the Disguise mechanic in Magic: The Gathering's Murders at Karlov Manor expansion?

Wizards of the Coast revealed a new mechanic for Magic: The Gathering’s next expansion, Murders at Karlov Manor. Known as Disguise, it is an incredible way to keep some of your more powerful creatures safe until the time is right to reveal them. Similar to the Morph mechanic of earlier days, this new ability fits the Murder Mystery theme at Karlov Manor much better. I have a feeling it is going to be incredibly popular during the current Standard meta.

However, the abilities are more or less the same. It may confuse some players who are newer to the game, and haven’t experienced this special ability yet. With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about Disguise in Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming expansion, Murders at Karlov Manor.

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Magic: The Gathering’s Murders at Karlov Manor unveils new Disguise mechanic

Disguise works identically to Morph in Magic: The Gathering, in that you pay 3 Colorless mana, to play a creature face-down. This creature has no mana cost and no mana value. However, unlike Morph, these creatures also have Ward (2) and no other abilities, other than having 2 Power and 2 Toughness. If your opponent is bringing a powerful creature out to attack in Magic: The Gathering, these Disguise creatures are a fantastic response.

Ward means that if anyone casts a spell to target this creature, they have to pay an extra 2 Colorless mana to make it happen. Anytime you have priority, you can pay the creature’s Disguise cost to flip this card over and trigger any abilities it might have.

Since the Disguise mechanic in Magic: The Gathering doesn’t utilize the stack in any way, players cannot respond to activating the power. However, they can use removal on these cards once they have priority again. That doesn’t change that nobody can stop you from flipping this card over, once you have the priority to do so.

Nothing like shocking someone and exiling all their attackers (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

A good example is Aurelia’s Vindicator - a 4/2 Angel that normally is cast for 2 Colorless, 2 White. However, it has a Disguise cost of X3W. Depending on how much you paid for X, you can exile that many target creatures from the battlefield and/or from graveyards. However, when this Angel leaves play, those cards return. It’s an incredible way to spoil someone’s fun in combat, or for a big, game-winning play with some of the best creatures.

This powerful ability allows you to keep your most potent creatures hidden until the perfect time. While we’ve only seen one of the Disguise creatures in the press preview of Magic: The Gathering’s Murders at Karlov Manor, there is no doubt there will be some incredible new options in the future.

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Murders at Karlov Manor will launch on February 9, 2024, and is the 99th expansion for Magic: The Gathering as a whole.