Duskmourn Set Review - Minotaur

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

Shivers, Quakes, & Milkshakes

Hello, and welcome to Duskmourn! We all thought Innistrad had some haunted houses, but this is ridiculous. We have the manifestation of fears, killer clowns, roller coasters, and ghostbusting gear! If you travel down the wrong hallway, you might find yourself in a Saw trap or in the care of a Beastie or Glimmer.

I'll be honest, I don't really gel with this set: the 1980s anachronisms and references just doesn't look like it belongs in MTG universes. That said, I'm willing to look past some out of place art if the cards are interesting, and I think Duskmourn delivers in that regard.

As always, this review is targeted toward the formats of Pioneer and EDH, but by all means, you're welcome to apply my thoughts to other formats.

Without further ado, let's go Room by Room and survive this eerie world with the manifested dread impending upon us as we delve into the world of Duskmourn.

Black

Demonic Counsel

Demonic Counsel is an interesting tutor, as it will only search for Demons until we get Delirium. To make us of this in Commander, we need to run at least one Demon. This will mean we always have something to search for if we don't have Delirium's conditions met. Normally I run Changeling Outcast and Taurean Mauler in my decks; however, I don't think I would ever want to tutor them, so instead, I've dug up a few Demons I think can be useful to Minotaur strategies.

Meathook Massacre II

The sequel of a multi-format all-star has a lot to live up to, and I think it brings some interesting things to the table. The old Meathook Massacre was a board wipe with a Blood Artist-type of effect. Our new one works on a similar level but in a way that is complimentary. It instead forces cards to be sacrificed, and then for life spent we can bring dead creatures to our side.

For Minotaurs, I see this as a potential method of stabilizing ourselves. Whenever a Minotaur dies, we can bring it back immediately for a measly amount of life (with a finality counter, though). Meanwhile, our opponents are going to be less willing to block on attacks. This is because when their creatures die, unless they pay life, we will resurrect and gain control of their dead creatures. Either scenario is what we want. We get their stuff, or they die faster.

Finally, the enters effect of Meathook II can be mitigated with Sethron's tokens. Or potentially you can lean in on the sacrifice effect as there is a sacrifice subtheme with some Minotaur cards.

Nowhere to Run

This is very interesting for Pioneer, namely that it's a double whammy for removal.

The first is that it can kill or severely weaken a creature with -3/-3. This is a very effective combat trick, as it gets past indestructible effect and can help us trade with bigger cards, like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.

Second, it then entirely nullifies hexproof and ward. This then allows us to interact with cards that would otherwise be untouchable from interaction, or shut down certain combat tricks.

Lotus Field seems like the most obvious card to be impacted, but cards like Sylvan Caryatid, Graveyard Trespasser, Coppercoat Vanguard, and potentially the new Wanderer also come to mind.

Unstoppable Slasher

I'll be perfectly honest in saying that this card is pretty slow, but I'm excited to play with it, as it reminds me of Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire. They both have the same mana cost, stats, deathtouch, and will have a powerful effect if they hit an opponents face.

The difference is that Slasher just keeps coming back. This Assassin will be an annoying obstacle that will keep life gain decks in check and reduce the overall amount of damage we need to have to kill someone, and if someone really wants it gone, it's going to cost at least two removal spells or a creature and a removal spell, which I think is good from a card advantage stand point.

I think this is too slow for Pioneer or other 1v1 formats, but I think it has a decent chance in Commander, based on my experience with Varragoth.

Red

Chainsaw

Rip & Tear until it is done! Honestly I kind of love this card. Not only is this removal like a Lightning Strike, but it powers up as the game progresses.

For each creature that dies, Chainsaw revs harder, meaning just by it existing, our opponents will be discouraged from blocking, so creatures don't trade, and any removal spells they have only make it stronger.

It honestly won't take much of this to turn any Minotaur into a threat in Pioneer and especially in Commander, although I believe that, due to its wording, if multiple creatures die simultaneously, only one counter is produced, meaning it doesn't receive much value after a board wipe, sadly.

Enduring Courage

Oh boy, I sure do love a haste-enabler that also powers up any Minotaurs that enter the battlefield.

The fact that this effect sticks around after the Glimmer dies makes this better than Anger. There are a lot of ways to remove Anger from the graveyard, but it's a lot harder to remove an enchantment.

I think I'm most interested in running this in Commander, but I think there is an argument to run at least one in a Pioneer list to add in some haste redundancy alongside Kragma Warcaller.

Fear of Missing Out

Fear of Missing Out is a weird card to me. It's cheap with decent stats and it rummages, which is nice for discard Minotaurs. This can help survive early aggression, as Minotaurs lack many playable cheap creatures. But at the end of the day its base line is no stronger than a Deathbellow Raider, so it's better than an Immersturm Raider, stat-wise, but it has competition among Minotaurs.

However, there is the fact that this card is still relevant in the late game. Once we achieve Delirium, Fear of Missing Out will create extra combat steps. However, only one creature untaps, which is disappointing. This also only benefits corner case scenarios with Moraug.

This has a better chance of being played in Commander, as in Pioneer I don't think we have enough time to get Delirium online consistently.

Grab the Prize

Look out, Tormenting Voice, you've just been outclassed!

Grab the Prize actually poses a difficult questions: is this better than Thrill of Possibility? Does the chip damage from discarding a nonland card make it better than Thrill's instant speed?

I'm not entirely sure myself, but I think instant speed is just marginally better, as it allows for better play patterns. I think this would need to do three or four damage before Thrill is surpassed, but that's just me. Only true testing can say for certain.

Razorkin Needlehead

After witnessing how good Sheoldred is, Razorkin looks very interesting to punish people sooner as it damages half as much while costing half as much. I am both terrified and enthralled by the torment this little fella will cause.

I think this will be a fine addition to Pioneer and Commander Minotaur lists. The chip damage can add up quick, and in Pioneer we can have multiple on the field at the same time to really punish players drawing cards lands.

Zo-Zu might punish lands, but Razorkin punishes everyone.

Trial of Agony

In Pioneer this looks like some really good way to break through our opponents' defences.

Normally, letting our opponent choose the effects is bad, as they will choose the option that is best for them. However, the fact that we choose which two creatures makes up for that. We get to give them a choice that will get rid of two potential blockers. One will die to damage and the other won't be able to block, and removing two creatures from blocking for a single red mana is just really efficient, and I think it's going to do a lot of work for Minotaurs so we can punch in for lethal.

Ledger Shredder or Arclight Phoenix? Giada or Righteous Valkyrie? Knight-Errant of Eos or Warden of the Inner Sky? The choice is clear, but neither are blocking.

Colorless

Ghost Vacuum

I really like this as a cheap and repeatable method of spot removing cards in the graveyard. Given the prevalence of Arclight Phoenix and Cauldron Familiar in Pioneer, Minotaurs need effective ways to combat these decks, and while cards like Soul-Guide Lantern exist, I believe the Vacuum will be a better card in Minotaur lists.

This is because the second ability of the Vacuum creates 1/1 Spirit versions of the cards exiled. This means that if there are no good targets in our opponents' graveyards, we can opt to target our own Minotaurs. This way we get to return our dead Minotaurs, but with the added benefit of them now having flying counters and they get all the Minotaur lord buffs.

Lands

Blazemire Verge

This is a really interesting new land, as it has the benefit of entering untapped. However, it can only tap for black mans, and only if we control a Swamp or Mountain, can it then tap for red mana.

To me this outclasses Dragonskull Summit in Pioneer as I will always have mana the turn it enters, yet the pain lands, such as Sulfurous Springs, are still better. I find it better to take a damage so we always generate the exact mana we need.

With Minotaurs in Pioneer, more often then not we need red mana for our first turn and not black mana. This is unless we create our deck to favour opening hand attack spells, like Duress, Thoughtseize, or removal, like Fatal Push.

Still, I think Blazemire starting with only black mana is going to cause more problems for us, than fix them. But over all I'm impressed with this new land.

Razortrap Gorge

I don't hate this new cycle of lands, but I also don't have any good things to say about them.

Requiring to have less than 13 life to enter untapped is never happening in Commander.

In Pioneer Minotaurs often have a high enough life total, due to us being aggressive, so I think, more often than not, this is just going to be a tapped land, which is slow and frankly not going to be playable over any other dual land in the game.

Thresholds Out of Darkness

Well, we did it! We found the exit door of this house of nightmares. I think there is some really interesting aspects of this set, mechanically and aesthetically, but also aspects I really didn't care for. That being said, overall I had a better impression of this set than I expected to. It's just a shame there weren't any new Minotaurs to comment on.

But hopefully in a few months we will get a solid Foundation to build upon.

Until then, be sure to check out the other set reviews found on the Commander's Herald news sheets for other perspectives on this new set.