Magic: The Gathering held its official debut panel for upcoming set Duskmourn: House of Horror on Saturday, August 31 at PAX West. The panel revealed the second large group of Duskmourn cards, after an initial preview in June at MagicCon: Amsterdam.
Valgavoth, Terror Eater
The panel led off with a look at Valgavoth, Terror Eater, representing Duskmourn’s main villain.
The Team
Next up, the panel revealed cards for the rescue team sent into Duskmourn to retrieve the lost Nashi. The Wandering Rescuer had been seen previously in June, while Tyvar’s card was held back for a preview by Magic Story author Seanan McGuire.
The new cards include ninjutsu planeswalker Kaito, Bane of Nightmares and legendary creatures Zimone, All-Questioning and Winter, Misanthropic Guide.
Eerie
The eerie ability word triggers whenever a player has an enchantment enter or fully unlocks a Room. Scrabbling Skullcrab combines the new ability word with Magic’s tradition of Crabs milling cards.
Rooms
And what are Rooms? Rooms are “split permanents”, enchantments that may be cast as either side. That side enters, while the other is inactive, hidden behind a locked door. As a sorcery, the Room’s controller may pay the other half’s mana cost to “unlock the door” and gain both effects.
Before and during the panel, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) revealed the first Room, Dollmaker’s Shop // Porcelain Gallery.
Enchantment Creatures: Fears
Duskmourn contains a Fear cycle of enchantment creatures with subtype Nightmare. Fear of Immobility reflects the common fear of being unable to move, while Fear of Lost Teeth plays upon fears of dentists.
Enchantment Creatures: Glimmers
The enchantment theme of Duskmourn continues with the Glimmer subtype, seen on a cycle of enchantment creatures that return to the battlefield as noncreature enchantments after dying. Enduring Innocence and Enduring Curiosity join the previously seen Enduring Tenacity.
New Mechanic: Impending
The impending mechanic plays upon the feeling of doom drawing ever nearer. Impending appears on a cycle of Avatar Horrors linked by the name “Overlord”, with Overlord of the Mistmoors joining the previously seen Overlord of the Hauntwoods.
New Mechanic: Manifest Dread
Manifest dread puts a new spin on the manifest mechanic. When a player manifests dread, that player looks at the top two cards of their library, choosing one to manifest as a 2/2 creature and putting the other into the graveyard. If the manifested card is a creature card, that player may turn it face up anytime for its mana cost.
Manifest seems to be spread widely across the set, appearing on white uncommon Unwanted Remake, Rakdos (black-red) uncommon Disturbing Mirth, and green mythic rare Hauntwoods Shrieker.
Returning Ability Word: Delirium
The delirium ability word, previously seen on the Gothic horror plane of Innistrad, returns with the more modern horror plane of Duskmourn. Delirium powers up a card if its caster or controller has four or more card types in their graveyard.
The new preview with delirium, Demonic Counsel, reflects a moment in Duskmourn’s past when the demonic Valgavoth convinced the teenage misfit Marina Vendrell to grant him sacrifices and let him take over her entire plane.
New Ability Word: Survival
The survivor ability word appears on creatures and triggers at the beginning of a player’s second main phase, after combat, if the creature is tapped. Notably, the tapping does not have to be a result of attacking in combat. The preview Veteran Survivor uses survival to tell a story of living through battles and eventually becoming strong and seemingly untouchable.
Commander Decks
Next, the panel previewed the four “face card” commanders of the Duskmourn Commander preconstructed decks:
- Aminatou, Veil Piercer, who leads the Miracle Worker deck
- Winter, Cynical Opportunist, who leads the Death Toll deck
- Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls, who leads the Endless Punishment deck
- Zimone, Mystery Unraveler, who leads the Jump Scare! deck
Archenemy Schemes
Duskmourn Commander marks the return of the Archenemy format, in which three players take on one Archenemy player who has a special deck of Schemes to power them up. The panel previewed two such Schemes, both in borderless frames: I Am Duskmourn and My Champion Stands Supreme.
Booster Fun
Next, the panel explored the various versions of Booster Fun linked with Duskmourn.
Japan Showcase
The Japan Showcase, first in a recurring series, reflects the look and feel of hobby shops in Japan. These Collector Booster-exclusive cards will appear in traditional foil and new fractured foil treatments. Japanese-language Collector Boosters will have exclusively Japanese-language Japan Showcase cards, while English-language Collector Boosters will offer the chance to receive Japan Showcase cards in both English and Japanese.
Double Exposure
The Double Exposure card treatment, available in regular and textured versions, pays tribute to the bold colors and striking looks of horror photography. The panel used the Double Exposure treatment to preview a new card, The Jolly Balloon Man, that is Magic’s take on the evil clown trope.
Paranormal Frame
The Paranormal Frame treatment appears on instants and sorceries. Paranormal Frames reflect the aesthetics of 1980s technology, simultaneously dated in the real world and tremendously advanced in Magic terms. Two previews, the instant Peer Past the Veil and the sorcery Split Up, debuted in their Paranormal Frames.
Mirror Monster
The Mirror Monster alternate artworks show their creatures reflected in the eyes and tools of their intended victims. Razorkin Needlehead, a damage-dealing Human Assassin, was previewed using its Mirror Monster artwork.
Special Guests
Duskmourn continues the Special Guests series with ten reprints. Notable among them is a newly revealed version of Damnation with art by Masahiro Ito, a Japanese video game artist most famous for his work on the first three Silent Hill games.
Lurking Evil
The Lurking Evil alternate art cards add a monster to the regular card art, creating the “Did you see that?” feeling in the MTG collector. The panel used Lurking Evil to reveal Norin, Swift Survivalist, a new card featuring the character Norin the Wary, who first appeared as the speaker of the flavor text on Jade Statue in Magic: The Gathering’s very first set, Limited Edition Alpha.
Borderless Room Cards
The borderless treatment extends to Rooms in Duskmourn, with Dollmaker’s Shop // Porcelain Gallery making a return.
Nightmare Bundle
The Duskmourn Nightmare Bundle product had more details revealed, including six new artworks for existing cards appearing in Duskmourn Commander. Three cards, Crypt Ghast, Exhume, and Damn, have art by Tim Jacobus, familiar to many horror fans as the illustrator of the 1990s Goosebumps book covers. Three more cards, Living Death, Goryo’s Vengeance, and Archon of Cruelty, evoke the style of horror movie posters.
Tyvar, the Pummeler
Finally, also at PAX West, Magic Story author and unabashed Tyvar Kell fan Seanan McGuire, who wrote the Duskmourn stories under her horror name Mira Grant, previewed Tyvar’s legendary creature in the set, Tyvar, the Pummeler, in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Tyvar, the Pummeler is a 3/3 Legendary Creature – Elf Warrior and costs 1GG to cast. The mythic rare has two abilities:
- “Tap another untapped creature you control: Tyvar, the Pummeler gains indestructible until end of turn. Tap it.”
- “3GG: Creatures you control get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control.”
Preview Season Has Begun
The PAX West panel marks the start of Duskmourn’s preview season. Duskmourn goes on full release on September 27, 2024. View our official preview gallery, and check out the full list of key dates for Duskmourn below.
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