Nothing like the smell of a new set! You smell them, right? I think Duskmourn: House of Horror has some fun, new mechanics, and I’m going to provide some ratings and tips to help you win the early drafts & prereleases!
I’m going to keep the same format j2sjosh had established, now that he’s safely in my basement.
5.0: Disgustingly powerful and basically unbeatable. Either answer it the turn it comes down or just pack up your cards. (Gruff Triplets, Virtue of Persistence, The Eternal Wanderer)
4.5: Incredible bomb that still gives your opponent a slim chance. (Virtue of Loyalty, Imodane's Recruiter, Realm-Scorcher Hellkite)
4.0: Great rare or the absolute best uncommons and removal. (Faunsbane Troll, Gumdrop Poisoner, Talion’s Messenger)
3.5: Great role filler or removal that you never cut. (Candy Grapple, Hearth Elemental, Torch the Tower)
3.0: Good playable that I’m basically never cutting. (Shrouded Shepherd, Spellscorn Coven, Sharae of Numbing Depths)
2.5: Decent playable and the bar I hope nearly every card in my deck to reach. (Evolving Wilds, Archon's Glory, Flick a Coin)
2.0: Mediocre filler that normally is your 20-23rd card(s). (Mintstrosity, Ice Out, Grabby Giant)
1.5: Replaceable, overall bad filler. Could also be decent sideboard cards. (Titanic Growth, Scarecrow Guide, Territorial Witchstalker)
1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Dark Tutelage, Kindled Heroism, Impact Tremors)
0.5: Very unhappy to main deck this, but maybe it has fringe sideboard applications. Cards that “could” be situationally decent, but bad in most situations. (Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Mana Flare)
0.0: Unplayable in every possible situation. They rarely print cards this bad these days. (Hew the Entwood, One with Nothing)
Acrobatic Cheerleader
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Even on turn two, there’s no guarantee this cheerleader’s going to fly, especially on the draw. It will most often just be a ”Grizzly in a skirt.
Cult Healer
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A 3/3 for 3 that sometimes lifelinks is fine if your curve needs three drops.
Dazzling Theater // Prop Room
Rating: 0.5 // 5.0
The convoke side will rarely help cast anything meaningful, and the untap side will only be relevant in niche scenarios.
Dollmaker’s Shop // Porcelain Gallery
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This creepy doll shop of horrors has a low floor and a very high ceiling. The card can be irrelevant on defense or when you have few creatures, but can easily win games where you can attack. The second door becomes pretty crazy once you hit 4+ creatures, and can easily win games on its own.
Emerge from the Cocoon
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
While there are some good options to pair with this card, like ”Altanak,, five mana is a steep cost for a potentially dead card.
Enduring Innocence
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
As a creature, this isn’t all that exciting, but the fact that it comes back as an enchantment means that you don’t have to worry about it dying in combat or being picked off by removal. This seems incredibly annoying to play against, and will give the owner an incremental advantage the longer the game goes.
Ethereal Armor
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This can easily take over a game, and helps trigger both Eerie, and Survival. You do however run the risk of getting 2-for-1’d by a removal spell.
Exorcise
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This should hit most of the threats you are concerned about, including enchantment creatures or problematic Rooms.
Fear of Abduction
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Six mana is a bit expensive for what white wants to be doing this set, but the effect and stats are both very powerful. You do run the risk of not being able to cast this at times, but it shouldn’t come up too often.
Fear of Immobility
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
The design of the card is to be a top end finisher for white, but the stats for five mana leave a lot to be desired. You can get a bonus Survival trigger by tapping your own creature, so that’s neat I guess.
Fear of Surveillance
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
Surveil is more powerful than normal during this set, and white wants to have two drops.
Friendly Ghost
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This can help you get an early Survive trigger, but the stats left over aren’t all that friendly.
Ghostly Dancers
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
If you get one Eerie trigger from this, the card feels great. If you get 2+ triggers, this card will likely win you the game.
Glimmer Seeker
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
There aren’t that many non-rare glimmer creatures to trigger the card draw on its first attack. , Though possible, surviving combat for a couple attacks is a tall order for a 3/3 on turns four and five.
Grand Entryway // Elegant Rotunda
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Both sides are underwhelming, but the flexibility and synergies for the card do a lot of heavy lifting for its overall rating here.
Hardened Escort
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
A card designed to help escort Survive creatures through combat. The stats leave a lot to be desired, and the card is pretty useless on its own.
Jump Scare
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This card gets a bump in rating due to the fact that it’s White’s only common combat trick. You can also fly a creature like ”Patched overhead for some good damage.
Leyline of Hope
Rating: 0.0 // 5.0
Don’t do it.
Lionheart Glimmer
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This is a powerful effect for aggressive white decks, and ward makes it more difficult to be addressed.
Living Phone
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
You need this to die to get a (potential) payoff. I’d leave this toy in its toybox.
Optimistic Scavenger
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
I’m very optimistic about this guy. White has plenty of ways to trigger this, and if you’re very optimistic, he can put the counters on himself!
Orphans of the Wheat
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is one of the few ways to get “free” Survive triggers. It also can push through plenty of damage if you have the creatures to support it.
Overlord of the Mistmoors
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
Casting this on turn four gets you 4/2 of flying power, which is pretty decent by itself. Once the counters come off, this is a very large creature, that you’re happy to attack and trade with, since you will net four 2/1 flyers.
Patched Plaything
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
There are a good amount of cards in this set that will enable this as a 4/3 double strike, as well as some decent pumps/+1/+1 counters. If you get a couple of these, it’s worth putting in some of the graveyard recursion cards.
Possessed Goat
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
This is a tough card to speculate on. You can transform into the demon at instant speed, which is huge, but it still is a two for one if your opponent kills it, as you have discarded a card. It’s still likely going to be a good early game threat for aggressive decks, and while you have three mana open, it’s unlikely to be blocked during the early game.
Reluctant Role Model
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This has a pretty low floor if it doesn’t get to survive for the first attack (to likely gain flying). But if you do get any counters on him, he can give them to whomever else if he dies. There’s not a ton of negative counters, but it does work nicely with ”Patched to put it’s -1/-1 counters on an opponents creature!
Savior of the Small
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This card is a bit too situational for my liking, though it does pair nicely with ”Orphans, as it gives an easy enable, and can retrieve the orphans if they die.
Seized from Slumber
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
Strangely enough, five mana for an instant speed kill spell isn’t all that great in modern day limited. The ability to be cast for two is a very nice buff. It’s a solid overall removal spell for white, just nothing too crazy.
Shardmage’s Rescue
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is basically ”Snakeskin, with bonus synergies. This pairs extremely well with ”Ethereal and seems like a very good trick for white.
Sheltered by Ghosts
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
This is very cheap for the effect of the card. The +1/0, lifelink, and ward 2, are all small buffs, but far from negligible.
Shepherding Spirits
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
This is a rather big flyer, though the reanimate spells in the set are also somewhat expensive. I wouldn’t want this in any streamlined, two-color deck.
Split Up
Rating: 4.5 // 5.0
A three mana wrath of god, that can sometimes just ”Plague your opponent. This card seems insane.
Splitskin Doll
Rating: 2.5 // 5.0
This card decent filler if it loots, and very good if it draws.
Surgical Suite // Hospital Room
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
Both rooms are situational, but can both be very effective in their respective situations.
Toby, Beastie Befriender
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
5/5 worth of stats for three mana is solid, even with a small drawback. The pass on Toby is something to keep your eye on, because this can end games out of nowhere with a flying token army.
Trapped in the Screen
Rating: 3.0 // 5.0
The standard ”Borrowed white removal enchantment, now with ward 2! These will always be solid, and are fine early picks in a draft.
Unidentified Hovership
Rating: 3.5 // 5.0
This is another ”Trapped type of card, but it’s also a spaceship vehicle! Neat!
Unsettling Twins
Rating: 2.0 // 5.0
I think this card has potential to be decent. White wants to go wide, and Manifest Dread just seems like a powerful mechanic.
Unwanted Remake
Rating: 1.5 // 5.0
I’m not very excited to play this card, but if you are light on removal spells, or your opponent has some bomb creatures, I’m alright putting this in.
Veteran Survivor
Rating: 1.0 // 5.0
Let’s be honest, this creature’s not going to survive all that long. ”Savannah are so 1995.
The Wandering Rescuer
Rating: 4.0 // 5.0
This is a really cool card design. Even if one of your untapped creatures is targeted, you can tap it to convoke the wanderer. It’s situationally backbreaking for the opponent, and the floor is pretty high on it as well.
Top 3 White Commons:
Trapped in the Screen Seized from Slumber Grand Entryway // Elegant Rotunda
White looks like it wants to be low to the ground, with efficient removal and combat tricks, and will likely be one of the faster individual colors. Blue is coming next, stay tuned!
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
