Get ready to face your fears in Duskmourne: House of Horror, the latest set to shake up the Magic: The Gathering Arena landscape. This chilling expansion introduces four terrifying new mechanics that will put your skills to the test. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down these 4 new MTG mechanics and provide expert tips to help you master them on MTG Arena. Let’s dive into the darkness and discover the secrets of Duskmourne.
Rooms
Split cards like Fire // Ice have popped up here and there since being introduced in Invasion, however, this will be the first implementation of a split card that is a permanent. While the Room mechanic does operate like a traditional split card when cast, in that you choose which half of the card you are casting, once it’s on the battlefield, you can unlock/activate the second half of the card at sorcery speed for the indicated mana cost.
A similar comparison would be the Class card types introduced in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, like Cleric Class. An incremental mana investment, with a strong end result when the loan is paid in full (unlike student loans).
Eerie
Eerie seems easy enough to enable, triggering when an enchantment enters the battlefield under your control or when you Unlock a new room. Given the amount of enchantments and enchantment creature types in the set, especially within the Esper colors (Orzhov, Azorius, and Dimir), which are more or less enchantments matter guilds.
They pair extremely well with the aforementioned Room mechanic, as you get two triggers from one room card (once upon the initial cast, and a second trigger after unlocking the second half). I’m fairly certain Scrabbling Skullcrab will make Ruin Crab proud this format.
Manifest Dread
Like most modern day mechanics, it’s taking an old mechanic and making it stronger. The previous Manifest mechanic from Fate Reforged (Orphans of the Wheat, or Coordinated Clobbering, that can help you survive.
Impending
Impending is a spin-off of the existing suspend mechanic, with a one big difference. Instead of being Suspended in the exiled zone with time counters, when casting with the Impending cost, the card will enter the battlefield with time counters, becoming a creature when the last time counter is removed. Impending creatures do something when it enters or attacks, and because it will be an enchantment on the battlefield, you can interact with the card, before it turns into the creature. The mechanic is only present on the mythic rare “Overlord” cycle, so it won’t come up that often.
