I grew up in libraries, and after I outgrew the children’s section I started sneaking into the adult side of the stacks. There were many fascinations there - but none as fascinating as the paperback spinners containing books with monstrous covers and titles that screamed at my eyes to come and see what was inside. That was the start of my lifelong enjoyment of horror novels, and Duskmourn hammers that nostalgia button hard, with card names and art that can’t help but make me wonder: what bizarre and messed up thing will this card do now?

There’s only one way to find out, of course. Forward!

Mechanics and Themes

Enchantments

[Fear of Lost Teeth] [Shardmage’s Rescue] [Glimmer Token]

Let’s start by stripping away all the horrific glamour to reveal what really makes DSK tick. The answer? Enchantments! DSK relies heavily on this card type, with everything from a new enchantment subtype to a new enchantment mechanic to a new enchantment token. These will be explored further below, but before we go too far off the beaten path let’s look at the more traditional ways DSK plays with enchantments.

The first is enchantment creatures. There’s a bunch, including a frightening set of phobias such as Fear of Lost Teeth. Some cards also produce Glimmer creature tokens, which are tiny 1/1s with the upside of being enchantments. There are also enchantments that have spell effects that are more typically found on instants and sorceries; one example is Shardmage’s Rescue and its protection effect. Suffice it to say that enchantments are plentiful in DSK, and you’ll see how they seep into other mechanics below.

Rooms

[Meat Locker // Drowned Diner] [Painter’s Studio // Defaced Gallery]

Here’s the new enchantment subtype, and it’s a doozy: the first split card permanent. When you first play a Room, you cast either of its sides. The door on that side becomes “unlocked”, with its text active, while the door on the other side remains locked, with its text inactive. You can then unlock the locked door of the Room at sorcery speed by paying its mana cost.

Some Rooms such as Meat Locker // Drowner Diner have effects that trigger once, as soon as the door is opened; others, such as the right side of Painter’s Studio // Defaced Gallery, have a persistent ability that will last turn after turn after turn. But if you boil Rooms down to their fundamentals, then what they are is simply two cards in one - and that sort of innate card advantage should not be underestimated.

Eerie

[Optimistic Scavenger] [Erratic Apparition]

This keyword will probably feel extremely familiar to anyone who played Theros with its Constellation keyword. Eerie is nearly the same, triggering when an enchantment enters the battlefield under your control. The difference here is that Eerie also triggers when you fully unlock a Room (meaning both doors of the Room are unlocked). What’s the payoff? It varies, ranging from Erratic Apparition’s self-buff (which is very strong for a flying creature with vigilance) to Optimistic Scavenger’s ability to permanently strengthen any of your creatures. It’s not a subtle mechanic - but play the right combination of Eerie cards and enchantments, and your opponent may find it an overwhelming one.

Impending

[Overlord of the Floodpits] [Overlord of the Balemurk]

This mechanic is only found on a cycle of five mono-colored mythic rares, but you’ll be delighted to see it in action on your side (and maybe a little less delighted to see your opponent play one of these). Cards with Impending X are all enchantment creatures that you can cast for their cheaper Impending cost. This nets you their “enters” ability - with the downside that the card also enters with X time counters. Your card will lose its creature type while it has a time counter, with those time counters removed one at a time at the end of each of your turns.

What do you get out of all this complication? The ability to cast Overlord of the Floodpits or Overlord of the Balemurk early, gaining you the benefits of their “enter the battlefield” abilities. Then all you have to do is wait out a few turns, and once their time counters are gone you can start swinging in and repeatedly reap the benefits of their text boxes, again and again and again.

Delirium

[Hand That Feeds] [Let’s Play a Game]

This returning keyword definitely feels thematically appropriate for DSK, considering the plane’s bizarre creatures and art. Delirium also works better in a set disproportionately full of enchantments, as enchantments are typically one of the more difficult card types to dump into your graveyard in Limited. The rewards for getting four different card types in your graveyard vary greatly, from the self-buff of Hand That Feeds to Let’s Play a Game’s modal explosion. The unifying idea is that you’ll want ways to dump cards into your graveyard quickly, so look for self-discard or self-mill.

Manifest Dread

[Killer’s Mask] [Break Down the Door]

Veterans of Fate Reforged will remember Manifest: a fun mechanic that lets you deploy a card face down as a 2/2. If it’s a creature, you can turn it face up at any time for its mana cost. Manifest Dread is a slightly creepier variation. When you Manifest Dread, you always look at the top two cards of your library. Then you manifest one of them face down and throw the other into your graveyard. This gives you some powerful card selection, increasing the chance that the hidden card actually is a creature. You’ll find Manifest Dread on everything from equipment such as Killer’s Mask (which is functionally a three mana 2/2 with menace) to instants such as Break Down the Door, so expect to see many mysterious beings lurking about the battlefield.

Survival

[Cautious Survivor] [Veteran Survivor]

Every horror story needs a group of people in way over their heads, just doing their best to survive. In DSK these unfortunate souls are represented by the Survival keyword, which triggers during your second main phase - as long as the associated creature is tapped. Typically this means that the creature has survived a combat phase, but less typically - and more intriguingly - there may be other, safer ways to tap down your creatures. What do you get in return? Perhaps it’s a little life from Cautious Survivor; perhaps it’s a graveyard exile effect and a potential boost in power for Veteran Survivor. Whatever the reward, remember that survival requires effort, but the payoff may be well worth it.

Archetypes

Ten color pairs, with two signature uncommons each. Let’s go!

White / Blue: Eerie ( Aggro )

[Optimistic Scavenger] [Gremlin Tamer] [Inquisitive Glimmer] [Fear of Isolation]

“Aggro” may be a slightly inaccurate description of White/Blue’s strategy in DSK. But look at Inquisitive Glimmer and Gremlin Tamer together, and you’ll see a deck that comes pretty close: dump your Enchantments out for cheap and get incremental value that will (hopefully) overwhelm your opponent. Playing a little ahead of curve may not be enough however, so you’ll want to look for additional value. Eerie cards such as Optimistic Scavenger (conditionally) make your forces stronger with each enchantment you play, while Fear of Isolation has a ton of beneficial characteristics - cheap, evasive, triggers Eerie, and lets you replay permanents with “enters the battlefield” effects - that makes it a slam dunk inclusion for any deck in this archetype.

White / Black: Reanimation

[Splitskin Doll] [Rite of the Moth] [Shroudstomper] [Defiled Crypt // Cadaver Lab]

A reanimation strategy is by necessity a long-term strategy; after all, it takes time to fill your graveyard, and you’ll have to deal with your opponent’s threats while doing so. That being said, if you mill yourself early then Rite of the Moth can result in some absolutely bonkers blowouts when reanimating expensive creatures such as Shroudstomper. There are many other reanimation effects in DSK; the trick is throwing the right things into the graveyard, a task made easier by the Manifest Dread mechanic as well as cheap looting effects such as the one on Splitskin Doll. And it may be wise to include a backup plan, such as the value engine created by [Defiled Crypt // Cadaver Lab] that can churn out a steady stream of Horror tokens as creatures dance in and out of your graveyard.

Blue / Black: Eerie ( Grind )

[Meat Locker // Drowned Diner] [Fear of Infinity] [Skullsnap Nuisance] [Balemurk Leech]

The contrast between White/Blue’s signature uncommons and Blue/Black’s signature uncommons makes the difference between the strategies clear: Blue/Black is in it for the long game. Both Fear of Infinity and Skullsnap Nuisance are small evasive fliers that also provide defensive potential and have text boxes suited for the long game. There are multiple other ways to pester your opponent, from Balemurk Leech and its steady pings of damage, to Meat Locker // Drowned Diner with its one-two punch of (probably) first freezing an opponent’s threat before drawing you a bunch of cards. All this put together adds up to a slow and steady accumulation of annoyances… that may just annoy your opponent to death.

Blue / Red: Rooms ( Control )

[Ghostly Keybearer] [Intruding Soulrager] [Smoky Lounge // Misty Salon] [Rampaging Soulrager]

Well, here’s a completely new archetype: Rooms. Both halves of Smoky Lounge // Misty Salon are designed to encourage you to stuff your deck full of Rooms - a mix of mana acceleration and a flying threat that’s stronger if you have more doors unlocked. That’s the beauty of Rooms: they have built-in value because they’re really two cards in one. The key is to make sure both halves of a Room actually have value for your deck, and to find some way to survive long enough to pay the big mana required to fully unlock your Rooms. There are a variety of cards that will give you additional value with Rooms. Intruding Soulrager is a two drop that can also give you nice value by disposing of any of your Rooms that have outlived their usefulness, while Ghostly Keybearer represents big value by potentially allowing you to unlock a door for free. Alternatively, just stuff your deck with Rampaging Soulragers, let them play defense until you’ve unlocked two doors, and then swing in for big damage.

Black / Red: Sacrifice

[Popular Egotist] [Disturbing Mirth] [Sawblade Skinripper] [Clockwork Percussionist]

We’ve seen sacrifice as a Black/Red Limited archetype before. The variation in DSK is that the sacrifice cards allow you to sacrifice your own enchantments as well. Disturbing Mirth acts as both an enabler and a payoff: chain them together and you’ll have a steady parade of card draw and Manifest Dread creatures. You can also use Sawblade Skinripper as a sacrifice outlet that pays you off with a growing threat that also pings away at hapless targets (including your opponent). Past that, you’ll want to stuff your deck with both sacrifice enablers and payoffs. Clockwork Percussionist fulfills the payoff role; Popular Egotist is even better as it fulfills both roles. Find the most efficient and value-filled way to blow up your own creatures and enchantments, and you’ll find a way to win.

Black / Green: Delirium ( Grind )

[Commune with Evil] [Broodspinner] [Drag to the Roots] [Spineseeker Centipede]

It’ll often take a while to achieve Delirium, and that time expenditure is not free. But a two drop like Broodspinner certainly eases the process, dumping things into your graveyard as soon as turn 2. Reaching Delirium isn’t enough to win, however; you also need worthwhile Delirium payoffs. That’s something both Broodspinner and Drag to the Roots have, and although they’re very different they both fit well into a grindy strategy. Look for other cards that push your deck towards the later turns - everything from Spineseeker Centipede, which grabs you a land and eventually grows into a creature with reasonable stats; to Commune with Evil, which gains you life *and* gives you some nice card selection *and* potentially single-handedly gives you Delirium. The road to success in Black/Green may be long, but the final destination is well worth it.

Red / White: Small Creatures ( Aggro )

[Ragged Playmate] [Arabella, Abandoned Doll] [Midnight Mayhem] [Orphans of the Wheat]

The problem with small creatures is that, well, they’re small. That’s why small creature aggro decks often need an additional way to push through damage, and that’s something Arabella, Abandoned Doll gives you (along with some nice lifegain to ensure you stay on top in any race). Midnight Mayhem pushes through a little damage in a different way with three small 1/1s that temporarily gain some nice keywords - and note that there are other Gremlins in DSK that may benefit from this sorcery. Now, you may (surprisingly) discover that some opponents will be able to stymie your horde. That’s why it’s important to have backup plans - everything from Orphans of the Wheat and its ability to grow very big, to Ragged Playmate and its ability to make a creature very evasive. In fact, put the two together and what you’ll find is a way to fatally punish any opponent who underestimates the power of your strategy. 

Red / Green: Delirium ( Aggro )

[Violent Urge] [Beastie Beatdown] [Wildfire Wickerfolk] [Patchwork Beastie]

An aggressive Delirium deck feels like a contradiction; after all, it takes time to get four card types into your graveyard. Wildfire Wickerfolk shows how it’s possible: a 3/2 with haste for two mana is a reasonably aggressive creature, and once you achieve Delirium it becomes even stronger. Beastie Beatdown is similar in that it acts as a decent removal spell early and becomes incredible late. Other cards that fit this criteria include Patchwork Beastie, which also has the side benefit of hastening the onset of Delirium; and Violent Urge, which enables you to win combat early and win the game late.

Green / White: Survivors

[Defiant Survivor] [Baseball Bat] [Shrewd Storyteller] [Acrobatic Cheerleader]

It takes a lot of work to ensure that your Survival creatures make it through a combat tapped and unscathed, and it’s important that the reward be worth the effort. Shrewd Storyteller definitely has a reward that’s worth the effort: trigger its Survival ability a few times and your army will likely be able to overwhelm whatever feeble forces your opponent places before you. The trick is triggering it a few times, and in order to do that you may want to find alternative ways to tap your creatures. Baseball Bat allows you to do so safely, while also giving you the option of tapping an opponent’s creature when you’re ready to go all-out in pushing through damage. There’s a number of other ways to do so as well - everything from creature abilities to combat tricks. Combine those with Acrobatic Cheerleader or Defiant Survivor, and you’ll get some nice bonuses that may be enough to not just survive, but to win.

Green / Blue: Manifest Dread

[Threats Around Every Corner] [Growing Dread] [Oblivious Bookworm] [Paranormal Analyst]

Green/Blue is usually a value archetype, and that holds true in DSK - except in an interesting way. Growing Dread makes your Manifest Dread creatures just a little bit bigger, while Oblivious Bookworm gives you a consistent loot ability that turns into straight up card draw if you Manifest Dread or surprise your opponent by flipping one of your face down creatures. There’s other ways of grubbing up some value whenever you Manifest Dread. Threats Around Every Corner will rapidly ramp your mana base, making it easier to flip up any horrendous monsters you might have hiding; and Paranormal Analyst increases the benefits of Manifest Dread by putting the card that would normally go into your graveyard right into your hand. Note that all of these value engines take time to get going, and you should prepare to mount a defense against more aggressive decks. But do so successfully, and you’ll bring your opponent’s nightmares to life when you start flipping over massive creatures that are ravenous for your opponent’s life.

Key Commons and Uncommons

White

Creatures

Fear of Abduction: This creature is a game ending evasive threat that will also snipe your opponent’s best creature, while potentially letting you recur one of yours later.

Friendly Ghost: This is a bit of a speculative rating, but I imagine a deck that chains these commons will be able to attack and attack and attack and…

Lionheart Glimmer: This is a nice way to buff all your attackers, and keep in mind that it doesn’t need to attack to grant its bonus.

Non-Creatures

Ethereal Armor: This innocuous-looking Aura was originally printed as a common in Return to Ravnica, and trust me: there’s a reason why it’s upshifted to uncommon in DSK. Expect this card to end tons of games.

Exorcise: A conditional creature removal spell is… okay. One that can also take care of the copious amount of enchantments in the set is pretty great. Bonus points for exiling the target!

Trapped in the Screen: These kinds of enchantment removal spells can feel risky to play. But the Ward 2 helps, as does the fact that it can exile more than just creatures, as does the presence of the Eerie mechanic in the set.

Blue

Creatures

Fear of Falling: Have fun defending against this flyer.

Floodpits Drowner: Seems like a nice way to slow down the game early or lock it down late.

Tunnel Surveyor: Creatures that come with a pal are usually very good, and this one is even better since it’ll trigger all your Eerie cards.

Non-Creatures

Bottomless Pool // Locker Room: Bounce a creature early! Draw cards late! Those are both great effects for Blue, and here they both are in one single card!

Enter the Enigma: There are lots of reasons why you might want a guaranteed hit on an opponent, and this spell lets you do that for a single Blue mana while also letting you redraw a card.

Unnerving Grasp: This is an incredible tempo spell, bouncing an opponent’s pesky creature or enchantment while creating board presence for yourself.

Black

Creatures

Dashing Bloodsucker: This creature is really only good if you trigger its ability - but if you can do so semi-consistently, well, your opponent will discover that a 4/5 creature with lifelink is very hard to race.

Fanatic of the Harrowing: Weird card advantage is still card advantage. Just be careful playing this against an opponent that’s trying to reach Delirium.

Osseous Sticktwister: A two drop with lifelink is nice, and a two drop that gives you some inevitability in the late game is really nice.

Non-Creatures

Murder: Yeah, maybe this removal spell wasn’t great in Murders at Karlov Manor. But there was a lot of Ward in that set, and it’s always nice to be able to kill a creature on sight.

Nowhere to Run: A flash enchantment removal spell is good in DSK, and there’ll be (rare) times when the rest of the card’s text is surprisingly (and pleasantly) relevant.

Withering Torment: Losing two life is definitely a drawback, but the payoff of being able to blow up any creature *or* enchantment is more than worth it.

Red

Creatures

Fear of Burning Alive: A six drop that immediately burns your opponent for four is okay. But put a little work into your deck, and this creature will do much more than that.

Most Valuable Slayer: Play this creature and watch your opponent squirm as their blocking plans turn to dust.

Razorkin Hordecaller: I wish my clowns came with gremlins.

Non-Creatures

Betrayer’s Bargain: An exile removal spell is great, the cost options are great, and sacrificing your own creature or enchantment might not even be a downside.

Glassworks // Shattered Yard: One side is a removal spell, the other is a gradual win condition. Sounds good to me!

Scorching Dragonfire: I don’t think anyone knows why they reprinted a dragon-themed card in DSK, but - once again - exile-based removal is ideal in this set.

Green

Creatures

Fear of Exposure: A five mana 5/4 with trample is pretty good, and this can come down earlier than that (while also activating any Survival synergies you may have).

Under the Skin: Would you play a three mana 2/2 that also grabs something from your graveyard? Probably - and this card only gets better in a set where you’re throwing things into the graveyard and the 2/2 has the potential to become something much much scarier.

Wickerfolk Thresher: A 5/4 for four mana is a great deal, but it’s the Delirium ability that really puts this creature over the top.

Non-Creatures

Coordinated Clobbering: Normally tapping an untapped creature is a downside, but not with a removal spell that’s designed to rev up your Survival abilities.

Frantic Strength: You’ll want to be wary of any potential instant-speed removal spells - but if you dodge those, then the combination of (potentially) eating an opponent’s creature while also giving your creature a permanent buff is hard to pass up.

Monstrous Emergence: Ooh, a variation on Green’s creature-based removal! In my opinion, the change - allowing a creature in your hand to punch out an enemy - is a big upgrade.

Other Cards to Know

Mana Fixing

There’s a lot of fun mana fixing at common and uncommon in DSK. First off are a full cycle of two color “triskaidekaphobia” lands; here are two of the ten:

[Murky Sewer] [Raucous Carnival]

There’s a 50% chance that the land slot will contain one of these lands. Oh, and there are also a few colorless options, the first of which of which is wonderfully bizarre:

[Haunted Screen] [Keys to the House] [Terramorphic Expanse]

On top of all that, there’s a cycle of common land cyclers (which also play well with the Delirium and reanimation themes in the set):

[Shepherding Spirits] [Daggermaw Megalodon]

[Spectral Snatcher] [Bedhead Beastie] [Slavering Branchsnapper]

Suffice it to say that DSK has plenty of choices when it comes to fixing your mana. And, of course, Green has many many more options:

[Greenhouse // Rickety Gazebo] [Moldering Gym // Weight Room]

[Overgrown Zealot] [Spineseeker Centipede] [Threats Around Every Corner][

Creatures with Reach

The list of creatures with Reach is surprisingly thin:

Ripchain Razorkin

Anthropede

Grasping Longneck

Brood Spinner

Watch out for flyers!

Summation

Duskmourn is a complicated set with a lot of moving parts. Here’s what to keep in mind:

This is a set where the mechanics play very nicely with each other. Manifest Dread and Delirium and reanimation and sacrifice - there are natural synergies between all of these strategies that will push some decks towards grabbing powerful uncommons and rares and “splashing” a complementary archetype or two.

The mana fixing in DSK is also very strong. Combine this fact with the one above, and what you get is a gentle nudge towards 3+ color decks.

That doesn’t mean you should sleep on aggressive two color decks. There are lots of ways to buff your creatures and make combat a nightmare for your opponent. On top of that, there are multiple ways to push through damage if you ever find yourself mired in a board stall. For example, Blue has a good amount of unblockable effects, while Red has a fair number of ways to deal damage directly to your opponent.

Don’t be afraid to main deck enchantment removal or graveyard hate.

Good luck!