MTG Duskmourn: Everything You Need to Know About The Set

As a seasoned collector with an eye for the unusual and a heart that beats for all things horrifying, I must say the latest offering from Magic: The Gathering has sent shivers down my spine – and not just because of the chilling artworks!

In a fresh development, the latest expansion for Magic: The Gathering, titled “Duskmourn: House of Horrors,” has hit the shelves, brimming with innovative gameplay mechanics and an eerie, spooky motif.

In the enigmatic realm of Duskmourn, this collection introduces a plethora of fresh gameplay possibilities for your discovery. Both established and innovative features align perfectly with the theme, featuring keywords like Manifest Fear, Approaching, and Spooky. Here, we’ll delve into the novel mechanics and the top cards to include from the Duskmourn: House of Horror set.

New and Returning Mechanics

Manifest Dread: This new mechanic allows players to look at the top two cards of their library, play one face down as a 2/2 creature, while sending the other to the graveyard. If the face-down card is a creature, it can be flipped by paying its mana cost at any time.
Impending: Cards with impending can be cast for a reduced cost and enter the battlefield with time counters. Each turn, a counter is removed, and once all counters are gone, the card transforms into a creature. This mechanic delays the card’s effects but offers a cheaper casting option upfront.
Room Cards: Room cards are enchantments that act like split cards with two doors. Players cast one side to unlock part of a room’s effect, and can later pay to unlock the other side, granting access to both effects.
Survival: Creatures with survival trigger an effect at the beginning of the second main phase if they are still tapped after combat. This ability still resolves if the card did not enter combat, but has been tapped by other means, such as convoke.
Eerie: Eerie triggers whenever an enchantment enters the battlefield under a player’s control or when the second door of a Room is unlocked. This mechanic can be particularly useful in blink decks, giving you repeatable Eerie triggers.
Delirium: Delirium grants additional effects when four or more card types are present in the graveyard. This returning mechanic encourages players to build a graveyard deck with a wide range of card types to make the most of Delirium, making it a natural fit for decks that have a lot of self-mill.
Glimmer: Glimmers enter the battlefield as creatures but return as enchantments when they die, retaining their same effect but losing their creature type. Making them incredibly painful for your opponents to remove.

Full Art Manor Lands

Duskmourn’s haunting and constantly changing sceneries are vividly depicted in the expansive Full Art Manor Lands. Each land card presents a unique perspective of the plane’s spooky and dreamlike settings. These diverse areas encompass the Mistmoors, Floodpits, Balemurks, Boilerbilges, and Hauntwoods.

These breathtaking full-art lands have been crafted to evoke the eerie ambiance of Duskmourn, featuring contorted, unnatural landscapes symbolizing the numerous terrors within the House. You can find them in both Regular and Rare Packages (Play Boosters and Collector Boosters).

Paranormal Frame Cards

The Paranormal Frames offer a vintage-electronic ambiance to these cards through their visuals that resemble old TV static. Drawing inspiration from traditional horror motifs, the Paranormal frames echo the eerie atmosphere of the House, where your trusted technology might unexpectedly turn into your enemy. You can find the Paranormal Frames in both Play Boosters and Collector Boosters.

Double Exposure Cards

In Duskmourn: House of Horror, Double Exposure cards introduce an unsettling, photograph-inspired aesthetic to the game. By respecting classic horror motifs, these cards showcase spine-tingling superimpositions that depict both characters and their sinister adversaries in a hauntingly ethereal fashion.

In both Play Boosters and Collector Boosters, Double Exposure cards provide an exclusive artistic flipside. For collectors looking for something more, the textured foil variants of these cards (exclusive to Collector Boosters) add a eerie glint to an already ominous artwork.

Mirror Monster Cards

In the realm of Duskmourn: House of Horror, I’ve come to appreciate the Mirror Monster cards for their uncanny ability to transport me right into the heart of a horror movie scene. The art on these cards is so gripping, it seems like they’ve plucked the frames straight from a chilling film reel. Each card encapsulates nail-biting moments where the terror lurks in reflections, amplifying the suspense and sending shivers down my spine.

Utilizing cards such as Doomsday Excruciator and Hauntwood’s Shrieker, the Mirror Monster series brings about an authentic horror ambiance, infusing a touch of drama into your assortment. These can be discovered in both Play Packs and Collector Packs.

Japanese Showcase & Fracture Foils

In a delightful introduction, Duskmourn presents the Japan Showcase collection, adorned with breathtaking artwork by talented Japanese artists and illustrators. Each card serves as a tribute to the distinctive artistic flair commonly found in Japanese specialty shops.

For the fortunate few who manage to come across them, the scarcely found Fracture Foil variants add an extra layer of visual appeal, showcasing artwork by renowned artists such as Masahiro Ito from Silent Hill, whose interpretation of Damnation beautifully portrays Duskmourn’s elder demon, Valgavoth. These cards are exclusively obtainable in Collector Boosters.

Movie Poster-themed Promo Cards

Among the appealing card designs we’ve seen in Magic: The Gathering sets, we particularly admire the promo reprints with a movie poster theme. These cards have been revamped with new artwork that mimics classic movie posters from the past. The design is vibrant and reminiscent of the 70s and 80s, evoking a strong sense of nostalgia.

Three cards featuring a distinctive style reminiscent of classic horror films are Living Death, Goryo’s Vengeance, and Archon of Cruelty, each embodying the eerie ambiance associated with such cinematic masterpieces in their design.

2024-10-01 13:49