Duskmourn Set Review - Allied and Shards

Mike Carrozza • September 18, 2024

Set Review
Sawblade Skinripper by Zezhou Chen

White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Artifacts & Lands | Allied & Shards | Enemy & Wedges | cEDH | Reprints | Pauper/Budget

SPOOKY TIME IS UPON US!

Duskmourn is my single most anticipated set of the year. I'm a massive horror fan, and though I don't care for paranormal and I'm more into slashers, Duskmourn captures a lot of the tension I look for in a horror flick.

I love the aesthetic, I loved the stories, I am so thrilled about this set. Allow me to gush and critique the offerings in allied colours and shards; Azorius, Dimir, Gruul, Rakdos, Selesnya, Bant, Esper, Grixis, Jund, and Naya are on the table... but I'll be greedy and snag the four- and five-colored cards, too, if any. 

Mythics

Aminatou, Veil Piercer

They've desparked my girl! That's alright, this version of Aminatou is interesting as hell.

Beginning the review with a face legend of the Commander precon decks, Aminatou's first creature card is a buff baby that rewards epiphanies.

Each enchantment card in your hand having miracle is quite fun, but it requires you to remember not to draw cards directly to your hand, at least for the first card you draw. The real attraction is that freaking mana reduction; holy hell, that's huge!

Care for a three-mana Mind's Dilation to start the turn? Not to mention miracle circumvents timing restrictions, so you'll want to be that jerk with a Smothering Tithe ready to go along with your Rhystic Study or whatever draw engine of choice.

I think what makes this extra good is the upkeep surveil. Setting yourself up perfectly for a miracle is almost like it's no miracle at all!

Does Aminatou have much to do in other decks?

In the 99, Aminatou, Veil Piercer will be at home in enchantress decks in her colors, so if you've got a five-color enchantment deck, like Go-Shintai of Life's Origin or your "not-that-kind-of" Atraxa, Praetors' Voice deck that's actually an enchantment deck, you'll try to find room for this powerful child.

While it's not really super impressive in most shells, there might be something here for reanimation shells that want to fuel the 'yard while keeping the creature count high. However, despite all this, Aminatou is a star that belongs at the helm of a deck. 

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

Somebody smarter than me will write a 4000-word essay on Kaito, and all I'll have to say is "buddy, this guy rips." 

Kaito is strong. A planeswalker with ninjutsu who's like the new Gideon in that he's a creature during your turn? That's intriguing to say the least. A 3/4 with hexproof that you can uptick immediately to anthem all your Ninjas (including himself) is pretty great for a Ninja deck, but this should have Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow decks salivating.

The 0 loyalty ability allows you to set up with the surveil or cash in on the draw when each opponent loses life from Yuriko's trigger. That's three more cards for doing what you're already doing.

The -2 shouldn't be slept on either. Getting rid of a defender when your deck absolutely needs to get through is so good, but locking it down for two of your turns is divine. 

Does Kaito have a home in other decks? Certainly, beyond Ninja decks, Superfriends decks will want to snap this up.

Planeswalkers in Superfriends decks are always fighting for their position in them, but as someone who runs Aminatou, the Fate Shifter Superfriends (I'm sorry!), I think Kaito's got a great shot at making himself at home.

I'll also suggest any aristocrats shell that loves the likes of Zulaport Cutthroat or a passive mass drain effect should keep an eye on Kaito, Bane of Nightmares for that second ability.

Those decks tend to love a graveyard, and surveil 2 and draw three can easily spell draw five with some gravy on it. Buddy, this guy rips. 

The Lord of Pain

Anybody who's read me long enough knows that, as much as I want to be a nice person, the Cult of Rakdos demands that I build like a real asshole.

A five-mana 5/5 with menace and "your opponents can't gain life" isn't what's moving the needle for me here.

Turning each players' first spells on each turn into damage to another player means this game can grind to a halt or it can move fast. This reminds me of Kaervek the Merciless, but since it's restricted to players and sort of once a turn, it won't feel as oppressive.

This makes me want to rebuild my old Mathas, Fiend Seeker deck where everything wasn't necessarily a Curse, but felt like one. Strip the white away and get in the command zone, The Lord of Pain, it's your time to shine. 

How do we really crack this? Is there a way to force players to cast spells on every turn? Is that just in blue? Is there a strange Vial-Smasher, the Fierce deck in Grixis that puts Hive Mind into overdrive?

Is this a new Rakdos, Lord of Riots staple? I'll test this in my Rakdos, the Muscle deck where I've found slots for Shadow of Mortality and Dargo, the Shipwrecker. Games will go zoom. 

This is going to be the deck I build to break out at the end of the night for a quick one. Might be my fave legend of the set. 

The Master of Keys

This art is some of the coolest art I've seen in a minute. The art alone tells me The Master of Keys belongs at the head of a deck. This guy's an absolute unit.

For three mana, you can slam this guy down if you've already got a full graveyard with enchantments you want to escape into play. For four mana, you've got a flying 4/4 that mills two; not bad.

Five mana, mill four, 5/5. What about ten mana? That's seven into X, so a 10/10 mills 14? Empty most of your library into the 'yard and cast an Awakening Hall; there's gotta be a win in there somewhere!

What's interesting is that enchantments are some of the toughest permanents to remove, so unlike Underworld Breach loops that send the same card to your graveyard to combo off, enchantments being escaped out thanks to The Master of Keys are probably going to sit pretty and stick around.

Unless, of course, we're talking Seal of Cleansing, Seal of Removal, and Seal of Doom. If there are any interesting other ones to be had, pack a Faith Healer to keep bringing back the enchantments even if they don't self-sacrifice.

It's pretty clear that Esper enchantress is the home for this card. It's also its own special flavor of Esper enchantress, so I can really picture The Master of Keys leading a deck.

Where else does The Master go? That self-mill scales really nicely, and I think a decent reanimator shell, like The Ever-Changing 'Dane decks, might get into this for the graveyard filling and find some gravy in the enchantment escaping. 

Niko, Light of Hope

Shards are back! And they remain a Niko-exclusive thing. That's pretty sweet, but also, god I love Shards! Enchantment tokens that Opt for two mana? Move over, Clue tokens. 

Niko is such an interesting design. At its base, Niko enters with two Shards, and their ability to lets you get another delayed entering trigger from your creatures while letting you swing with the Shards 0r double up on abilities.

Cavalier of Dawn and Cavalier of Gales are the first place I went to with Niko. Get another enter, but if the tokens die, you get a little more value. 

Pair this with Niko Aris to get more Shards to turn into stuff. Conjurer's Closet and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling to have Niko bless the field with Shards.

Have Niko exile a Solemn Simulacrum and the Shards can attack or block with a little more value, drawing a card without paying the Shard cost. 

Finding a balance between enter and death triggers in Azorius presents a challenge, but I am absolutely about it.

I mean, sure, you can have Shards become Agent of Treachery and draw hella cards at your end step if you've already snagged a few of your opponents' permanents, but there's gotta be more Sad Robots out there that do something coming in and going out, so how do we break this?

Why, entering triggers, attack triggers, and combat damage of course:

There are plenty of creatures that it'd be amazing to have many of. That's just those that take the combat step in account. Oh, so does Loyal Drake.

Niko is going to be a commander that many tinker with and only die-hards keep up. I don't see a great place for Niko in the 99. I'd try them out in my The Ever-Changing 'Dane list, but the nonlegendary clause on them makes it tough to consider.

If you've got a dedicated blink deck with room to try something out, give Niko a go! Brago, King Eternal decks might be a little streamlined and not hurting for a new piece, but Niko could be a little extra blink and value. Niko could be a great Clone commander considering you can reset your Clones. 

Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

Y'all know me, I'm a simple guy: I see Rakdos colors, I love the card. 

Pack a Roiling Vortex gang, we're going slamming with a 7/7 and a full grip. Finding the right cards to trigger Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls shouldn't be hard, but keeping him around might be. At least if someone tries to remove him, you'll get a card out of the deal thanks to the ward cost.

If you've ever wanted to turn your opponents' land drops into life loss for an opponent, life gain for you,  a +1/+1 counter on your creature, and a card draw, then run this Elder Demon and Polluted Bonds together. Embrace the villainy. Be evil. Trust me, this guy makes it fun. 

If you're okay with being the table's worst nightmare, you'll love Valgavoth at the helm. Is this the deck for The Rack? It's time to be a punisher! Pick up copies of "hand size matters cards", like:

Do you need players to lose life in their upkeeps? Take a look at:

Punish their card draw with:

Finally, you can punish all types of game actions with:

This all works with instant-speed ways to hit opponents, like:

and many more.

Make sure you have ways to gain life back from all the damage your opponents will be doing to you and you'll do to yourself. Exquisite Blood has never had a more perfect home. 

Jeez, should I have just made a decklist? This is lands and ramp away from being a deck tech article. Valgavoth rules!

Rares

Marina Vendrell

Don't forget your keys, folks! Marina Vendrell teaches us that doors can be locked! Who knew! Here's the basket to put all your Room cards into. I don't feel particularly drawn to this card beyond the absolutely stunning art. 

Five-color legends are always a bit of a shrug for me, though, so let's see what we can do here.

Marina's ETB looks at seven cards and puts all enchantments into your hand. Pair that with Skybind and you'll probably stack your hand with the best seven cards you can see from Marina's wandering.

If you don't build her as a Room commander, taking advantage of this might be the way since you can dump your hand completely full of enchantments and slam a Replenish .

Leyline of Anticipation slots right in to help with the game plan and having a little more to work with for the Constellation or Eerie plan. 

Retriggering some Rooms seems like it'll be good and you'll probably want a Thousand-Year Elixir type card like the more on flavor Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler so you can have Marina play with doors right away.

Using Freed from the Real and Mind Over Matter to get the most out of Marina's keys could be the way.

Nashi, Searcher in the Dark

Love me a two-mana commander. New Nashi is pretty great and is a solid candidate for a Dimir Voltron legend. A Rat Ninja Wizard! Yes! That art! Yes! Okay, I like this one.

A 2/2 menace who mills you equal to damage done while either drawing you gas or getting +1/+1 counters for the next combat, Nashi, Searcher in the Dark gives you a direction without forcing you into it.

You could build this deck with a legendary or enchantment theme or avoid those at all cost and just enjoy a thick graveyard and thick commander.

No matter what, you'll want to take advantage of the graveyard, so be sure to pack some recursion or graveyard mechanics, like flashback. Araumi of the Dead Tide and Nashi might have some overlap in building styles. 

Nashi feels like a solid inclusion in Muldrotha, the Gravetide as an early way to pressure opponents and incrementally fill the graveyard.

Similarly, Lazav, the Multifarious or Lazav, Wearer of Faces will probably find room to try Nashi out before committing the Rat Ninja Wizard full-time.

Who knew after all Nashi's gone through in the haunted house of Duskmourn that he could be pals with The Master of Keys!

Peer Past the Veil

This feels like it's in the wrong colors. Peer Past the Veil's connection to Delirium feels like it belongs in Golgari.

For those who want the full list of card types, here you go: artifact, battle, creature, enchantment, instant, kindred, land, planeswalker, sorcery.

Is this good? The ceiling is amazing, but you really need to build for it. An instant-speed personal Wheel of Fortune would be nice, but that requires seven card types.

What's the floor for you on this card? What would you be most comfortable with? I guess four-mana discard your hand and draw four at instant seems decent? 

I just have absolutely no clue what to do with this one. Is this a Kalamax, the Stormsire card? Those decks tend to be pretty instant-heavy, so having other card types might be a crapshoot, and copying a "discard your hand" effect might not be ideal. Anyway, have fun, people who feel drawn to this!

Phenomenon Investigators

Okay, X-Files reference, I see you.

Phenomenon Investigators is an oddly versatile little weirdo. Pop them into The Ever-Changing 'Dane and get a Horror token every time you use your commander's ability.

Or protect and redeploy another nonland permanent to get you a card too. This card rules. Hand size matters cards, like Body of Knowledge and Soramaro, First to Dream, get a little more beefed up, though I don't see much of this in this color combination. 

One day, we will get an Esper bounce-back-to-hand legend. I want it. I've wanted it since I read Kyle Keller's Forgotten Harvest article in 2019 about Dromar, the Banisher's bounce house on EDHREC.

Every other year, we get a new card that makes me yelp in excitement and that's what this does. There are many applications for this Detective duo, but I am tunnel visioned on a dream. 

Restricted Office // Lecture Hall

Hello, enchantress decks with these colors. I'm talking to you Estrid, the Masked and Tuvasa the Sunlit players.

You can play this card. It will maybe, potentially, replace your sorcery wrath and be added utility since it comes on a modal enchantment. You can protect your permanents from targeted removal. 

It is very niche. If you got excited looking at this, then you don't need me to tell you to put this anywhere. 

Rip, Spawn Hunter

While I am enjoying Duskmourn's creepy horror aesthetic, I do not care for the reference stuff with the humans too much. Go back to Phenomenon Investigators and read my opening line with the exasperation intended, please. 

This Ghostbusters reference of a card seems pretty stacked, though. Rip doesn't need to attack to be tapped, but with a 4/4 stat line, you won't always face down some opposition.

Speaking of Opposition, get Selesnya's version in Glare of Subdual to tap Rip when you don't want to risk him in combat. Or crew some vehicles. Or saddle some creatures. Or Springleaf Drum or Holdout Settlement. You understand where I'm going. 

You don't even need to buff up Rip because looking at the top four cards of your library means that you're pretty likely to get two creatures to hand if you build with a decent spread of powers among creatures and Vehicles.

Leinore, Autumn Sovereign decks shouldn't have a problem with this since the whole deal with Coven is different powers. Rip and Leinore could take turns leading the deck or fit perfectly in the 99. 

Undead Sprinter

A Rakdos Gravecrawler that you can cast as long as a non-Zombie you control has died this turn is pretty sweet. Pair this with Phyrexian Altar and Pawn of Ulamog or Totentanz, Swarm Piper or Oketra's Monument or God-Eternal Oketra or Elenda, the Dusk Rose or Ogre Slumlord... you get it.

Infinite casts, enters, and dies triggers. Zulaport Cutthroat and Bastion of Remembrance to wrap things up, I guess. Turns out that a new Gravecrawler is still a Gravecrawler, and it's a combo card, baby!

Juri, Master of the Revue, Judith, the Scourge Diva, and of course, my beloved Lyzolda, the Blood Witch are the first places I'd expect to see this. 

Winter, Misanthropic Guide

Look, I know people love group hug and slug and a lot of folks will try to build around Winter's Delirium, but I'm going to tell you right off the bat that I'm holding onto my Bojuka Bog when I see you put this in the command zone when we're sitting together.

I'll let Winter live, though, because thank you so much for the extra cards!

So how do you build this? Take some cues from Nekusar, the Mindrazer and play with stuff like Fate Unraveler, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and new cards like Razorkin Needlehead.

Punish for hand size with Gaze of Adamaro and if the hand size reduction comes into play, we deal with it then, but until then, lean into the slug. 

I can't picture Winter anywhere but at the helm of a deck, as is common with three-colour legends. 

Uncommons & Commons

Drag to the Roots

A two-mana kill spell for the Delirium decks out there who need to remove anything but lands!

Gremlin Tamer

Thrilled to see an Eerie token-maker. Popping this in enchantment decks to make a bunch of lil blockers is the way to go. 

Inquisitive Glimmer

An Azorius Jukai Naturalist with Room applications!

Sawblade Skinripper

A little more palatable Mayhem Devil for the folks dealing with backlash from their playgroup. 

Skullsnap Nuisance

I love Constellation, and having Eerie rips. This lil guy is a bread and butter smoother adding surveil to all your enchantments hitting the field. 

DUSKMOURN IS THE TRUTH

I really love the environment and the lore. The art rules and as a fan of reanimator and enchantments, this set is already one of my faves in recent memory.

What color combo has captured your heart?

Mike Carrozza

Mike Carrozza

Mike Carrozza is a stand-up comedian from Montreal who’s done a lot of cool things like put out an album called Cherubic and worked with Tig Notaro, Kyle Kinane, and more people to brag about. He’s also been an avid EDH player who loves making silly stuff happen. @mikecarrozza on platforms