Welcome to Duskmourn! An entire plane full of terrifying creatures and nightmarish horrors pulled directly from your mind and only the smallest glimmer of hope. While the Phyrexians have been called the multiverse's bogymen so much that Ashiok found it fit to kick it with Elesh Norn, Duskmourn is truly fear made manifest.Valgavoth, Terror Eater himself has asked us to spread the word on some devilish combos using the denizens of Duskmourn to spread his terror to a Commander pod near you!
Grievous Wound
One of the best arts in the set also comes with a two card combo that takes out one of your opponents in an instant when you combine it with the awesome cards in black that cause a player to lose life equal to the life they've lost this turn. The Bloodletter of Aclazotz line of cards like Wound Reflection and Archfiend of Despair will all lead your the grievously wounded opponent being down for the count at the end step once they stub their toe. The only downfall to this card is that it's somehow NOT a curse, so sorry Lynde fans but rejoice Ghenfans!
Enduring Tenacity
Yeaaaah so you know how one of the quintessential examples of the Rule 0 conversation is mentioning if your deck has two-card combos like Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood? Well if you didn't know, you do now, and this brand spankin new Enduring Tenacity card is the newest and potentially the most powerful version of Sanguine Bond and therefore works with all of the same combos as its progenitor. So if this sparkly spooky snake catches your eye, look towards cards that gain you huge bursts of life like Beacon of Immortality, Revival // Revenge, or Shard of the Nightbringer to sneakily secure that win.
Curator Beastie
Move over Rin and Seri, Inseparable because there's never been a bond quite like the one between Curator Beastie and Lesser Masticore. Place any single sacrifice outlet on the field with these two, and you have no less than four infinite triggers to use however you want. Depending on which sacrifice outlet you use, you'll have your choice of infinite Mill, Damage, Mana, or even +1/+1 Counters. But let's be honest here, nothing is better than swinging in with infinitely huge Atogs.
Walk In Closet // Forgotten Cellar
Many of the Rooms in this ancient house of evil are repeat versions of older cards but with the added edition of another card stapled onto it. Which is awesome for those of us looking to get multiple good cards out of one. This is exactly the case for Walk-In Closet // Forgotten Cellar which takes the place of similar land-from-the-yard cards like Ramunap Excavator, Conduit of Worlds and of course Crucible of Worlds for the same price + another half for later. It's free real-estate. Add any amount of the many cards in green that allow for multiple land plays per turn with Glacial Chasm then you'll end up with a way to prevent any and all damage towards you without any loss of life on your end.
Popular Egotist
The meanest mean girl in the entire plane of Duskmourn, ends up being one of the strongest cards in the multiverse too. Whenever you sacrifice a (read: Any) permanent, target opponent loses 1 life and you gain one life is an incredibly POWERFUL ability. that is honestly as Mono Black as Mono Black gets but this is the first time I think we're seeing the entire act of you sacrificing Anything to deal damage straight to your opponent since Mayhem Devil. As soon as Warren Soultrader is around, don't trust the Egotist, because she'll be pushing you down along with Gravecrawler and Forsaken Miner to ensure victory!
Funeral Room // Awakening Hall
The second room on this list that ends up being a another staple in the Commanders Herald Carnival of Combos with a secondary card attached to it is Funeral Room // Awakening Hall. This card has been seen before, which means that we get to use it in all the same places as those old faithful's while also having our very own Agadeem's Awakening for later game. For a cool use-case, we have Yawgmoth plus Nest of Scarabs for a neat scare that your opponents won't see until its too late.
Shriekwood Devourer
Move slightly over the the left Klauth because this tree is here to rival you on the Gruul courts. This one's on me y'all, because Valgavoth clearly went through my nightmares and gave green another way to combo into infinite attacks as soon as a giant goofy creature comes into play. Aggravated Assault and Hellkite Charger are the go-tos for places to dump your freshly untapped lands but now you can do this in as well which is, again, little more than a nightmare for me.
Unstoppable Slasher
The Hash-Slinging-Slasher was not the horror motif I was expecting to see but I'm here for it and turns out, so is Hex Parasite! This card is an interesting one, as it will basically keep on coming back as long as it doesn't have any counters on it, rather similar to the Lesser Masticore from before. So the best thing to do is find a way to remove those rather specific counters and of course a small pinch of sacoutlets and go to town with your choice of infinite. The best way we've seen to remove the stun counters would be Hex Parasite and Solemnity so be sure to have some life gain or limitless to pay the needed costs; two of the cards mentioned previously will do the trick.
Leyline of Transformation
Have you ever felt that typal decks were just, too restrictive? That perhaps Merfolk, Tyranids and Cats just didn't have enough synergy? Well look no further than the Leyline of Transformation, which can suddenly open up all of your typal strategies to just about every other creature combo in the game leading to a true melting pot of abilities. Need just a couple extra hundred turns in your fish/elf/beardeck? Well check out the brand new anything-but-a-human named Sage of Hours. Did you feel like John Wickington decks just didn't have enough ways to finish the game? Now every nail he would have made is now a rat, which means you make another snail, but that snail is actually a rat so you still end up needing to make a snail and - you get me. Combine this endless whorl with a Phyrexian Altar and now you have access to all the mana you need for activating Wick's domain expanse and taking out the table. This leyline is quite special in that it keeps the creature's original types while adding a second one of your choosing, which opens up your deck to many abilities some may considerto be unnatural.
The Jolly Balloon Man
Now one look at this art should evoke two things. One, that this set is SPOOKY, and very much going for that creepy grotesque vibe that we have not seen even on planes like Innistrad. Second, that this card is absolutely bonkers broken. What can't you do with a creature that, for only you can create a flying token with haste of another creature you control that you can activate any number of times in a turn? Did I mention this goofy clown has haste as well? Seriously, grab your nearest Mana Echoes from the store and get every white flicker creature as a buy-one-get-one with it because Felidar Guardian, Restoration Angel and Icewind Stalwart work exactly how you think they would because The Jolly Balloon Man has haste himself by the way. Splash some / in there for Intruder Alarm or Retreat to Coralhelm and Dryad Arbor. We all float down here with the Balloon Man!
Marvin, Murderous Mimic
We finally end this list on who I believe to be the number one combo piece from Duskmourn and Valgavoth's cruelest minion. Marvin has the activated abilities of every creature you control, and himself is a colorless creature and can therefore go into any deck. Marvin could just about anything you want, from a pseudo haste enabler for your activated abilities to a pseudo ability doubler too, Marvin fills the role of being the ham-sandwich to multitudes of win-cons throughout the format that we haven't even seen yet. Some ideas we have so far are Marvin plus Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion or Deathbringer Thoctar for tons of damage, and exiled library, and near Infinite +1/+1 counters on Marvin. Pili-Pala and Walking Ballista lead to a tried and true kill move and, shockingly enough, we've found a way to break Splinter Twin with Marvin as well. Remember that giving creatures an activated ability with equipment or an instant like Retraction Helix and the like will also give Marvin those abilities too! Use the different kind of Karn's or Tezzerets to turn a mana rock into a creature and let Marvin deliver you wins.
There we have it, a large portion of the known Combos for Duskmourn. Hopefully you'll use this knowledge only for the good of the multiverse and keep Valgavoth at bay. Or use these to feed him until he welcomes you into the fold, whichever your choice. For the House always Wins either way.
