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Good Morning Boils and Ghouls and Creepy Crawlies in-between. If you're a fan of Magic the Gathering, you'll know that Duskmourn House of Horrors is just around the corner, waiting to jumpscare you... to death!
This set is chock-o-block full of spookies, scaries, and cards that will haunt us for the rest of our days. Maybe you'll see these cards in the prerelease, or at a draft night. They'll definitely be in standard, and they could easily squirm their way into modern, pioneer, or commander.
The important thing to note though is to not. show. fear.
Wherever you see them (out of the corner of your eye no doubt,) a living good survivor knows that being prepared for anything is only half the battle. The other half is knowing your enemy, and the other other half is keeping up with your cardio. Even then you'll still need a whole lot of luck to make it through the night.
So
Would you like to play a game?
Overlord of the Boilerbilges, and all of the Overlords in fact, remind us of a fairer version of the evoke cycle from Modern Horizons 2 (Grief, Fury, and the ones that aren't banned yet.) This cycle of Overlords all have splashy cheaper abilities, and the potential to be huge repeatable threats further into the game, which makes for threat that needs answering before it snowballs out of control. 4 damage anywhere is pretty strong, either as spot removal or a haymaker of a finisher, and so of the Overlords we think Boilerbilges is the boi to bilge beat.
Central Elevator/Promising Stairs showcase the new enchantment subtype Room, where you can cast either side of the card and then later pay the casting cost of the other side to unlock that one too. One of the things we love about this mechanic is how much it feels like an adventure card, but for Promising Stairs specifically, we have a new wincon that smells like Maze's End. This endgame feels really easy to accomplish, especially with the removal/guarding some of the cheaper rooms have as abilities, but only time will tell.
Additionally, EDH called and said Abaddon the Despoiler wants all these rooms, since both sides' mana values get counted when his cascade ability triggers. That's nasty.
Speaking of nasty, the ten color pair duel cycle dubbed "unlucky lands" feel like a slam dunk for a ton of formats. Sure, you have to lose 7 life to turn them into Alpha duels, but your opponent will do that for you. Some decks love paying life, and can get these turned on in a turn or two. Whichever way you slice (and dice) it, cards that get better as the game goes on are generally pretty strong, and we have a hunch that even as a basic landcycle, these guys will be showing up plenty in the months to come.
Speaking of showing up, the leyline mechanic returns in a cycle, featuring the new Leyline of Resonance who puts your spellslingers deck on a whole new frequency. As long as you're targeting a single creature (things we love to do in Bloomburrow and Thunder Junction,) you can double up your triggers all the live-long day. Some folks are already brewing this with Heartfire Hero, Turn Inside Out and Burn Together for a Turn 2 KO, and we think they have the right idea.
Gah, what's Overlord of the Hauntwoods doing there?! Maybe someone cast it for its impending cost... We think this is going to add a ton of spice to any deck that gives a hoot about the domain mechanic, what with these everywhere lands inspired by Omo, Queen of Vesuva. That sounds like a fringe case, sure but extra landfall triggers, even more mana, and a big beastly beater come a whole lot closer to universal utility for many players in Magic's multiple formats.
Look how happy The Jolly Balloon Man is, doing his world famous Kiki-Jiki impression! Yes, for three mana you can have copies of all your favorite Enters and Leaves and Dies triggers, all on a stick in the sewer. Wouldn't you like to POP off with extra Vein Ripper, Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Trumpeting Carnosaur triggers? We think IT would be pretty neat!
Toys is a subtheme of Duskmourn and while there are plenty that deserve mention here, Marvin is our favorite (even if ventriloquist dummies don't have strings smh.) Marvin is essentially a Roaming Throne for activated abilities, giving you either infinite extra mana with a Pila-Pila and a Palladium Myr, or a laserbeam if you've got a Walking Ballista and a Phyrexian Devourer on the field. We're sure it has applications outside of eternal formats, but you can't blame us for being obsessed with those killer combos.
Turn Inside Out is gore-geous in its simplicity. We love these pauper all-stars that have real world ramifications in Standard and beyond (formats with big trophies that you can bash skulls in with.) As mentioned before, its part of a combo that'll rock Standard in two weeks, but we think it'll be a juicy tool for decks that want to two-for one someone, and then replace their chump with a secret, worse creature (worse for your opponent, not worse for you.)
"Pandemonium" we hear you cry, "there are no ninjas in Duskmourn, how could this card be good?"
"Well," we hiss in unison, "Kaito is a ninja, and he can pump himself. Plus, he's kind of a dimir Pulse of the Forge if you think about it. And on top of all that, he's great at deck thinning and can shut down your opponents' craziest threats with solid consistency. Yes. Perfect."
A writhing mass of pandemonium employees chitter delightedly and scuttle just out of sight.
There are so many exciting cards coming out in Duskmourn that we could hardly list them all, but let's close out strong with The Wandering Rescuer. She's a conditional hexproof blanket, who can help her teammates meet the condition with the tapping from her handy convoke. On top of that, it combos with your survivors with survival, and helps you swing out for the kill with confidence and a smile. What are some of your favorite cards from the upcoming tour de terror Duskmourn: House of Horrrors? What are your contingency plans for the nightmares about to hit your favorite format? Tell us, if you dare!
The prerelease for Duskmourn: House of Horrors begins next Friday, September 20th at Pandemonium Books and Games. Sign up now for your prerelease seat here, or preorder your Duskmourn Commander Decks and Booster Boxes here.
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Ben Doane has been a member of the Pandemonium Team since 2019, and has been playing wargames, rpgs, and tcgs since 2004 and earlier. When not blogging, Ben runs the wargames and mailing departments, and also puts together the store's newsletters. Her current favorite game is Warhammer Fantasy Battles 6th Edition.