Away From Keyboard – Magic: The Gathering – Duskmourn: House of Horror
Feature
Just in time for Halloween
After the cute little woodland creatures from the Bloomburrow set, the team at Wizards of the Coast have gone in the almost complete opposite direction for the latest set Duskmourn: House of Horror. Gone are the tiny mice and otters that we would have loved to have as a bet, and they are replaced by spectral and nightmarish creatures that would be right at home in a horror movie. With Halloween soon upon us, the timing is perfect with the Duskmourn set setting a spooky tone.
We at Hooked Gamers were invited to the pre-release event at Fortress Melbourne, where we were met with all sorts of ghoulish characters. Luckily they were only there to kill us on the Magic: The Gathering battlefield. The pre-release event was a wonderful opportunity to check out some of the horrifically beautiful artwork and try out some of the new mechanics in the Duskmourn set.
Set mechanics
As you'd expect, the House of Horrors features new mechanics that feature a more sinister tone.
Rooms
Room is a new enchantment subtype, with each room card having two halves, with each called a door. When cast onto the battlefield, players pick one door to unlock (each side requiring a different mana cost). Of course, players can only use this side of the card. That is until they pay the mana cost to unlock the door, giving players access to both Rooms.
Manifest Dread
When you're instructed to manifest dread, players can look at the top two cards of your library. Players can then manifest one of them and put the other into their graveyard. Manifesting means that you put that card onto the battlefield face down. It's a colorless 2/2 creature with no name, no creature types, no abilities, and no mana cost. This creature can be used in any way a normal creature would be used within a game. The bonus of Manifest Dread is that if the hidden card is a creature, it can be turned face up at any time for its mana cost.
Survival
The main goal in the House of Horrors is survival. In this set Survival is a triggered ability that takes place during a player’s second main phase if the creature is tapped. It doesn’t matter how the card becomes tapped.
Eerie
Eerie combines well with the Room cards, as the Eerie abilities are triggered abilities that trigger whenever an enchantment you control enters and whenever you fully unlock a Room. The first trigger condition means an eerie ability can potentially trigger twice thanks to a single Room card, once when it enters and again when it becomes fully unlocked.
Impending
Impending is a new keyword found on the Overlords that lets you cast them ahead of schedule, usually at a lower mana cost. However, if players choose to cast a spell for its impending cost, it will enter with a number of time counters on it
The Cards
Planeswalkers
Although there are several Planeswalkers that appear in the Commander decks, only one Planeswalker appears in the regular (and pre-release) deck, and that is Kaito, Bane of Nightmares (one blue, one black, two other mana).
Lands
As you would expect from Duskmourn: House of Horror, many of the lands have a dark and threatening visual style. The cards are hauntingly beautiful, setting the scene wonderfully in bordered, borderless and colourless designs.
Product Types
Commander Decks (100 cards) - four variations
● Miracle Worker (White, Blue, Black)
● Death Toll (Black, Green)
● Jump Scare (Green, Blue)
● Endless Punishment (Black, Red)
Play Boosters (14 cards)
Collector Boosters (15 cards)
Bundle
Nightmare Bundle
For more details about Magic: The Gathering - Duskmourn: House of Horror, visit the official website. And, as always, follow us on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.