A Murders at Karlov Manor spoiler that dropped on Jan. 17 called Pyrotechnic Performer shuts down haters of the Disguise while highlighting the mechanics potential within multiple Magic: The Gathering formats.
Viewer reactions in the MTGWeekly chat to the “new” Disguise mechanic—essentially an evolved version of Morph—weren’t positive. But a Murders at Karlov Manor (MKM) spoiler, revealed by Yahoo, may start changing players’ opinions when it comes to the Disguise mechanic.
MTG Pyrotechnic Performer explained
The Disguise mechanic in MTG is all about keeping information from your opponent(s). Wizards of the Coast took the Morph mechanic and essentially added Ward Two to it. A keyword action called Cloak was also added to the MKM set, which is an evolved version of Manifest. All three mechanics involve cards getting cast face down and at some point getting turned face up. Pyrotechnic Performer wants you to turn your face-down cards up, dealing direct damage to your opponent(s).
- Mana cost: 1R
- Type: Creature—Viashino Assassin
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 3/2
- Disguise cost: R
- Disguise: You may cast this card face down for three as a 2/2 creature with Ward two. Turn it face up at any time for its Disguise cost.
- Ability: Whenever Pyrotechnic Performer or another creature you control is turned face up, that creature deals damage equal to its power to each opponent.
Flipping Pyrotechnic Performer over turns the assassin and all creatures you own face down into a Lightning Bolt. Depending on the value of other Disguise cards within the MKM set that haven’t been spoiled yet, Pyrotechnic Performer is a potential bomb in Limited. And it might even see play in Standard, as pointed out by Reddit user DearAngelofDust. “Play it on turn three, attack with it on turn four, cast Monstrous Rage, cast Antagonize, unmorph, and dome opponent for 10 plus 10 more trample incoming,” they wrote.
Pyrotechnic Performer isn’t a Legendary, although many Commander players probably wish it was. Morph builds existed in Commander before MKM was ever a thought in the dev’s heads at WotC. And Pyrotechnic Performer is the fuel those builds need, especially when flipping over a card like Blistering Firecat.
Test out Pyrotechnic Performer at MTG Prerelease events that start on Feb. 2. A digital launch of Murders at Karlov Manor is scheduled for Feb. 6.
