Each Magic: The Gathering set has a theme to differentiate it, but it's rare to see a contrast as stark as that between the adorable birds and bunnies of Bloomburrow on one hand and the modern horror of Duskmourn on the other. This is a Magic set about a haunted mansion that fills an entire dimension that references dead teenager movies and killer clowns. It's like filing your A. A. Milne next to your Stephen King.
Mike Turian, a former professional Magic player who is now one of its developer/designers, calls the incongruity "both a coincidence and deliberate," saying that, "While we don't necessarily aim for such huge momentum swings in tonality between sets, we definitely try to hit upon multiple themes per year. This is to ensure there's a little bit of something for everyone. Cute critters to creepy horrors is certainly the extreme end of that scale but as we explore more and more settings and themes for Magic, that's bound to happen." This was the perfect time to launch Duskmourn, he explains, meaning the set could be out in time for Halloween.
Each set features special guest artists suited to its theme. David Petersen, creator of the comic book Mouse Guard, illustrated several Bloomburrow cards for instance. Among the artists on Duskmourn are Tim Jacobus, famous for his Goosebumps covers, and Masahiro Ito, monster designer and art director for the original Silent Hill games. Ito contributed art for a reprint of Damnation, an iconic card with the succinct rules text: "Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated." Which is frightening enough on its own, but now it's accompanied by Ito's rendition of Valgavoth, a moth-like demon who lords over Duskmourn and has way too many arms.
"An elder demon of enormous power that turns an entire plane into a feeding ground?" Turian says. "Definitely something Ito could help us depict. It was an honour to see such a brilliant mind at work designing the artwork for Damnation and it's a process we hope to continue into the future. Working with artists such Junji Ito and Yoshitaka Amano in recent years has made us realize that we at Wizards (as well as Magic fans) love seeing additional external influences on our artwork. We hope to work with Masahiro Ito again in the future."
In terms of mechanics, Duskmourn is all about enchantment cards like the new Rooms, which have two effects representing adjacent areas of the haunted house. You pay the cost for one, but can unlock the other by paying its cost later to open the door and let out whatever's inside.
"The concept of doors and the horror trope of 'choose your own doom' is something we latched onto fairly early in the design process," Turian says. "From a flavor perspective, doors make a lot of sense to depict 'exploring the haunted house'. Enchantments simply made the most sense when it came to representing that idea on the battlefield. Mechanically, players love flexibility in their cards. An effect they can play early while still having staying power in the late game is highly valued among more competitive players and is also a feel-good for those less competitive-minded."
The other new enchantments in Duskmourn are also a new creature type, called Glimmers: glowing animal spirits who are the only friendly thing you're likely to meet in the infinite haunted house.
"These are enchantment creatures that represent the hopes and persistence of Duskmourn's survivors," Turian says. "The horrors of the plane are balanced out well by these small sparks of hope. Glimmers offer a cycle of Enduring creatures who start as creatures with abilities and if they die, they return just as enchantments (they're no longer creatures). It's not all doom and gloom on Duskmourn!"
Magic's done horror-themed sets before, like the gothic Innistrad sets with their vampires and werewolves, and the body horror of Phyrexia. Personally I think Phyrexia is the creepiest one they've done, but Duskmourn certainly has some unsettling stuff in it, especially when it draws inspiration from real fears like having your teeth fall out. Turian's own fears include a bunch that are based on the card game he's dedicated so much of his life to.
"From a Magic perspective, my biggest nightmare is opening a sick rare in my first pack of a draft and then just being hard cut from those colors. Another common piece of nightmare fuel is sitting down for a game of Commander against three prison decks such that I never get to play a single card. As a former pro player, I've also definitely had nightmares of waking up too late for a tournament or misregistering my decklist."
Duskmourn: House of Horror is available now in both paper magic and digitally in Magic: The Gathering Arena.
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