Wizards of the Coast has provided more information about Ravnica Clue, one of the companies oddest releases of early 2024, which combines Magic: The Gathering with the popular deduction board game Clue. One thing we know for sure is that it involves packs of real MTG cards, which you open, shuffle together, and use as a deck – a bit like Jumpstart.
As for the MTG cards themselves, we know from the Ravnica Clue packaging that the game comes with 8 booster packs in total. It includes new cards for both rooms, characters, and weapons. Characters, like Senator Peacock, are legendary creatures; weapons are both Clues and Equipment; and rooms are MTG lands.
Apparently, the weapons, and only the weapons, will also appear in the main Murders at Karlov Manor set as real Standard-legal Magic cards, so you can equip creatures with a Rope, Knife, or Lead Pipe – all the classic Clue weapons.
At the GenCon 30th Anniversary panel in August, Wizards promised that when this board game arrived on the MTG release schedule, it would “take the fun of Magic and the fun of Clue” and combine them in a release that would appeal to fans of both the classic board game and the trading card game.
At the time we figured this would either be Clue with a Magic theme or Magic with a Clue theme. But Ravnica Clue is sounding more and more like it’s a straight mash-up of the two, with both Magic: The Gathering and Clue gameplay.
Blake Rasmussen gave us more details in the Murders at Karlov Manor first look on December 5 – which also showed us lots of new cards from the main set. He explains that, “You’re going to get some packs, much like Jumpstart, shuffle them together, and play a game. There will also be some Clues, like Clue, and you’re gonna have to figure out the person, place, and weapon for whodunnit.”
At first, we thought by saying ‘play a game’, Rasmussen was being carefully vague about what game you’d be playing, but no. He continues: “You’re gonna play a game of Magic and by doing certain things in the game you’re going to unlock the ability to ask questions, much like you do in the game of Clue.”
And while he makes it clear you can win the match just by playing Magic as you normally would, he adds that “If you make an accusation with the right person, place, and weapon, you will win the game that way by solving the case.”
It sounds thoroughly bizarre, mixing up games with very different genres and audiences – though obviously we don’t know everything yet. Rasmussen has promised a more in-depth explanation coming January 23.
As well as the regular cards, Ravnica Clue will include an extra incentive for Magic players, a shock land. These aren’t found in the main set, so they won’t be Standard legal, but this is a valuable reprint (each shock land is around $15-20 currently, that does provide a bonus reason to pick up the box.
For more MTG content, check out our guide to the best MTG Arena decks you can play. And for a quick history lesson, here’s every MTG set in order, from Alpha to Lost Caverns of Ixalan.