September brings with it all of the chill of the spooky season and all of the thrill of the new horror-themed Magic: The Gathering set, MTG Duskmourn.
There's no doubt that part of what established MTG as one of the best card games was its epic high fantasy setting, but recent sets have been really breaking that mold. Now, in a total left turn from the cutesy vibes of Bloomburrow , Magic's next set explores everything that goes bump in the night through the nostalgia-laden lens of '80s and '90s horror cinema.
If you reckon you're brave enough to step into Duskmourn, you'll want to be prepared. Thankfully, I've got the full lowdown on everything we know about MTG Duskmourn so far including the set's story, release date, mechanics, and products. What's more, I'll also help make this release a little less scary on your wallet by hunting down the best MTG Duskmourn deals.
What is MTG Duskmourn?
The fourth Magic: The Gathering expansion set of 2024
Heavily inspired by horror cinema classics
Commander precons and a selection of booster-based products
As explained by the set's art director , Duskmourn: House of Horror draws from a wealth of inspirations across the horror canon. From old school Giallo flicks to campy slashers, MTG Duskmourn manages to seamlessly squeeze together tonnes of references and easter eggs that are all but guaranteed to please hardcore horror buffs.
MTG Duskmourn isn't just trying to look creepy though; the set introduces plenty of flavorful, fun, and competitively viable cards too. With new mechanics, new card subtypes, and a returning old favorite game mode, MTG Duskmourn promises to be a thrilling release in more ways than one.
MTG Duskmourn release date
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)
We got our first look at Duskmourn: House of Horror back in June and like any great horror experience, the set has really been building up the suspense since then. Helping you step into October with maximum scares, MTG Duskmourn's tabletop release will hit September 27. Prior to that though, you'll be able to get a taste of some of the world of Duskmourn through prerelease events and on MTG Arena.
Here's the exact schedule:
Prerelease: September 20 - 26 MTG Arena release: September 24 Tabletop release: September 27 MTG Duskmourn Nightmare bundle release: October 18
MTG Duskmourn products
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)
Four Commander precons
Play Boosters (available as single packs, in bundles, or boxes)
Collector Booster (available as single packs, in bundles, or boxes)
Commander decks (x4)
These 100-card preconstructed Commander decks are ideal for beginners that recently learned how to play MTG Commander . However, they're also well suited for more established Commander players who'd like a deck to upgrade and customize according to their playstyle and budget.
This Esper (black-blue-white) deck is stacked with enchantments, including those of the new Room subtype. In order to accommodate you unlocking every Room in your deck, the face Commander, Aminatou, Veil Piercer offers a massive cost reduction on enchantments.
Death Toll is a 'graveyard matters', Golgari (green-black) deck that encourages you to pack your graveyard full of cards and reap the benefits of it thanks to new effects like Delirium.
In a pretty genius play on the concept of a Jump Scare, this Simic (blue-green) deck heavily ultilizes Duskmourn's new 'manifest dread' mechanic, allowing you to flip your manifested creatures and sick them on your unprepared opponents.
This Rakdos (red-black) deck is perfect for embracing your inner villain as it follows a group slug archetype – lashing out at all of your opponents and benefiting from their pain. I'm already practicing my evil laugh.
If you can't decide which MTG Duskmourn Commander to pick up, there is always the option of buying all four. In fact, you'll even score a slight discount by choosing to get the precons in one big bundle.
Play boosters
Play boosters are adapted from the discontinued Draft booster and Set booster formats. They aim to serve players in the process of building their card collections and playing Limited formats like Draft or Sealed. You'll receive 14 cards in Play booster, the majority of which are of Common rarity.
Keeping it nice and simple, this is just one 14-card Play booster. This is the best pick for those who want to dip their toe into MTG Duskmourn for cheap.
If you're planning a Draft night with your pals or just want to get your hands on heaps of MTG Duskmourn cards, the play booster box is the way to go. With 36 play booster packs inside, you can get them for as little as $4.25 each.
Offering a welcome middle ground between the single play boosters and the play booster box is the MTG Duskmourn bundle. In here, you get 9 play boosters and some sweet little accessories.
Collector boosters
Collector boosters are 15-card boosters that boast foiled Common, Uncommon, and Rare cards, with the chance of even producing Mythic Rares. Here is also where you're most likely to find special Booster Fun alternate art treatments. There are even some treatments that are exclusive to Collector boosters. There's a helpful explanation of what exactly is in each booster type if you need more guidance.
This is the most affordable option for experiencing a MTG Duskmourn collector booster. If you adore the striking art treatments in this set and you're feeling lucky, this could be a good buy for you.
To really maximize your chances of pulling the most in-demand cards (and try save some money while doing so) you'll want to chuck a collector booster box in your basket.
Not only is this bundle's CRT-style box some of the coolest MTG packaging I've ever seen but it also offers players a good selection of products across the set including promo cards, collector boosters, and play boosters.
MTG Duskmourn story
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)
MTG Duskmourn is set on the titular plane of Duskmourn. Previously a peaceful world, Duskmourn has been transformed into a twisted, unending mansion presided over by the demon moth Valgavoth. In the aftermath of the Phyrexian invasion, the boundaries separating Duskmourn from other planes began to erode. As a result, Valgavoth began opening doors across the multiverse into which he could lure unsuspecting victims.
One of these victims was Nashi, from the plane Kamigawa (first seen in MTG Kaladesh), who became trapped in Duskmourn after being drawn in by an echo of his late mother, Tamiyo. Upon learning of Nashi's disappearance, (desparked) Planeswalkers from across the multiverse including Kaito Shizuki, The Wanderer, Tyvar Kell, Niko Aris, and Zimone Wola join forces to rescue him from the horrors of the plane.
I'm not going to drop too many more spoilers as I recommend checking out snippets of the Magic Story yourself. The set's plot is delivered in a selection of short stories by award-winning author Mira Grant, so it's a real joy to read through. As always, you can catch up on the full storyline for MTG Duskmourn (and the Omenpaths Arc as a whole) on the official site . For an especially spine chilling experience, you can enjoy these stories in a podcast format, complete with suitably creepy sound design.
MTG Duskmourn mechanics
(Image credit: Wizards of the Coast)
Before diving into Duskmourn, it's helpful to familiarize yourself with keywords and mechanics which you might not have come across before. This could be either because they're new additions to Magic or because they're being reintroduced to the game for the first time in a while. This rundown should prepare you for surviving the haunted halls of Duskmourn:
Archenemy MTG Duskmourn marks the return of Archenemy. This fun variant of the Commander format has elements in common with other co-operative Magic: The Gathering game modes like Twin-Headed Giant. However, in Archenemy, the player count across teams is deliberately uneven as one player takes on the role of the Archenemy and up to three other players join together to defeat them.
While the collaborating players have their own decks and life totals, they do share a collective turn. To level the playing field, this solo player is given an increased life total and a deck of scheme cards which give the Archenemy a competitive advantage against their opponents.
Survival This ability keyword aligns with the new Survivor creature type. At the beginning of your second main phase, if your Survivor creature is tapped, your effect is activated. These Survival effects have a range of outcomes from card draw (as seen in Glimmer Seeker) to life gain (seen in Cautious Survivor).
Manifest Dread A player who's prompted to manifest dread looks at the top two cards of their library and then places one in their graveyard and the other face-down as a 2/2 colorless creature. If this card is a creature, it can be turned face up at any time for its mana cost.
Room cards These uniquely-formatted enchantment cards consist of two halves known as doors. You choose which door you'd like to unlock as you cast the Room and then you can, at sorcery speed, pay the mana cost of the other door to unlock that as well. A Room is fully unlocked when both doors have been cast.
Eerie Eerie cards prompt a target player to mill two cards whenever an enchantment you control enters the battlefield and whenever you fully unlock a Room.
Impending Impending is a cost-reduction effect which allows the player to cast a creature for a lessened mana cost on the condition that it comes out onto the battlefield with a number of time counters on it. At the beginning of your end step, a time counter is removed. While time counters are still on it, the card isn't a creature.
Delirium Delirium is a returning ability keyword which first appeared in Shadows Over Innistrad . Similar to Threshold, your access to Delirium abilities is dependent on the state of your graveyard. In order to trigger these effects, you'll need to have four or more card types present in your graveyard.
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