I think the 10 stories here really added to the pacing and helped it out a lot. It makes me look back at LCI and just wince at how rushed that felt at times. From my reading of LCI, the core had the worst day ever as Aclazotz and the Mycotyrant both attacked at the same time. The pacing here made it work really well.

I found some of the characters a little frustrating at times. What is Kellan's purpose here? When he went with Amalia through the omenpath I thought we'd see the last of him for a bit, but he's here working as a detective. Is he hoping to gain information and skills to find his father? It just seems like an odd choice to have him seem to settle into being a detective covering events on a plane that have no relation to him. Plus he split from Amalia fast while I expected them to stick together a bit longer at least. Additionally, I found Aurelia's rashness and willingness to go to war despite the way it would collapse civilization very frustrating. I understand she's red/white, but she felt so reckless here in a way that I found striking. The general incompetency of the guilds was highlighted again in a way that made me a bit glum. I want to like them, even if they are imperfect.

More personal and petty, I found Proft a little annoying but that's his character so I think it's good that he was such a success in making me react. I'm also looking forward to seeing how him and Etrata operate together. I do think it's pretty funny that his Watson is a very skilled Dimir vampire assassin who claims her guild is dead. What better way to get information on one of the greatest detectives on the plane and have an in inside a detective agency than to place Etrata where she is. I wonder if this will lead to any big twists coming up.

I also greatly enjoyed the way they highlighted a few more less commonly seen races, like the viashino but moreso the archon.

Overall, a really enjoyable read to me with some interesting opportunities for more things to come.

This has got to be the worst set from a vorthos perspective I've seen in a long time. The story was great, but the cards are aweful! Suddenly everyone and their mother is a detective on Ravnica. Why are ALL the detectives wearing fedora's? The names of most new mechanics also don't really convey what they do in game. Finally, i just saw a Sphinx with a deerstalker. This almost feels like an unset. Am i the only one who REALLY doesn't like this set flavorwise?! Coming out of Lost Caverns, which was one of the most flavor rich sets we've seen in a good while it feels really shoddy.

I can get feeling like the hats are too silly, but the critique that everyone is detectives is very meh to me. The set is narrowing in on the Agency and the goings-on around murder investigations. That means most of the characters we look at are the criminals and the people who investigate them. No set's creatures are ever promised to be a representative cross-sample of the entire plane's population. If it were, Ravnica sets would be majority Gateless Peasants. Instead, we have like four Niv-Mizzet cards even though he is one being out of millions.

And from a Doylist perspective, the existence of Detective typal synergy means they need to create more Detectives than usual to satisfy the people who want to make Detective decks when none existed before.

Based on just the cards, it would look like the Dusk Legion is almost all vampires even though vampires are actually meant to be the elite class supported by a human underclass. But the sets are about the Dusk Legion going to battle and it's about Vampire synergy, so Vampires are emphasized. Kaldheim economics should necessitate more farmers than Berserkers, but it's Berserkers charging into battle through the Doomskars. Brother's War is about the war and the creatures represent creatures you'd summon, so it's going to focus on the giant mechs and all the soldiers and not the masses affected by the war that surely outnumber the soldiers.

I don't watch a crime procedural like CSI and say, "Why is every character a cop or forensic analyst!?" This set is about murder mysteries. Strixhaven is focused on the faculty and students at Strixhaven, even though they're a fraction of Arcavios's population. The death race set will probably have a high proportion of Pilots and Artificers even though the planes they race through probably aren't only occupied by Pilots and Artificers.

In addition to that, I would note that Ravnica started as a murder mystery story. The first Ravnica characters, Agrus, Jarad, Fonn, Feather, they were all playing detective.

Edit: And now that I'm thinking about it. The second novel was more of a Western but also built around a mystery involving murders too. Return to Ravnica was a mystery story with Jace investigating clues left behind across Tenth District. And GRN + RNA had intended a spy/noir/thriller feel with the autumnal setting as Nicol Bolas infiltrated the guilds and had his agents murder into guildmasterdom.

I agree with everything you say. I'm also no particularly bothered that we don't see certain characters (though i'm pretty pissed that Borborygmos gets short-changed AGAIN in a Ravnica set for no good reason). What i do feel is that in this set it REALLY feels like they forced the meme of 'detective' a bit to hard. Legion of Dusk are vampire conquistadors, but it didn't feel like that overwhelmed the whole set. Also, it's painfully obvious the mechanics were designed before the flavor.

To everyone who likes this set: great! good for you! But for me it still feels like a really weird fit for Ravnica (Capenna would have been a much better fit IMHO). As much as i unexpectedly loved Lost Caverns, i absolutely loath this set from a flavor standpoint. That's fine though; not everything can be for everyone.

In short, the vibe I'm getting and kind of agree with: LCI was a weirdly cool set with a lackluster story, Karlov Manor is a better story tied to a shakier set.

To go more into depth, LCI makes me miss blocks. I could have spent a year there, expounding on the lost world/hollow earth flavor and the cool mechanics like caves and crafting. Karlov Manor makes me miss small sets -- it would have been a fine entry to be aggressively themed if it only had to support like 100 cards.

This is exactly what i meant! This set would have made a great small set

Finally the epilogue: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic ... -and-omens

So Ravnica may really become the center of the Multiverse