Modern Set Review: Duskmourn

Duskmourn has finally arrived. Or rather, it's about to arrive. With prereleases starting on September 20, the new Magic set brings the classic horrors of the 80s and 90s movies to the game's universe.

Aesthetic and identity issues aside, the expansion brought some innovative mechanics and also messed with very popular abilities, such as Delirium. Therefore, we start our review season with our analysis for Modern.

Dollmaker’s Shop // Porcelain Gallery has some interactions with Ocelot Pride, but it seems too win more to be relevant in Modern and one of its sides is impractical for Boros Energy.

Ghostly Dancers is over-costed for the format, but its ability is a good way to establish a clock with Enchantress, which already has a habit of using Utopia Sprawl to ramp.

Leyline of Hope also seems like a win more for both Guide of Souls lists and Soul Sisters and/or Heliod Company, but I can imagine circumstances where trying to accelerate this process has advantages.

Auras disappeared from Modern a few years ago, but Sheltered by Ghosts covers one of the deck's main weaknesses by interacting with the opponent's board while enchanting the creature and giving it a power boost and Lifelink. Potential staple if Slippery Bogle ever returns to the Metagame.

Path to Exile and Solitude are better. We could consider Unwanted Remake if it exiled the creature, or if it destroyed other permanents.

Abhorrent Oculus has been compared a lot to Murktide Regent, and the Modern Horizons 2 card is better in a vacuum and when we cast it with plenty of spells in the graveyard, but the new 5/5 Flying for three mana has less restrictive conditions to keep a good body and still puts more permanents on the board every opposing turn.

I wouldn't be surprised if decks like Dimir Shadow, Dimir Frog, or even other archetypes use it to their advantage, or if we start seeing Unearth in the format to bring it back, but six cards is still a lot in the graveyard even in lists with Psychic Frog.

If Enchantress wants a splash of blue for some reason, it now has another Mesa Enchantress for that color. It doesn't seem necessary and is potentially too weak, but an interesting addition nonetheless.

Fear of Impostors could be the next multi-format staple, or the worst attempt at Spell Queller ever. I'm very inclined to think it has as much potential as cards like Tishana's Tidebinder in what it sets out to do. Sure, a 2/2 on the board in exchange for a countered spell is still a problem in certain archetypes, but it's better to deal with that 2/2 than The One Ring or any other bomb in the format today while it also dodges the Cascade costs.

Floodpits Drowner joins the other Merfolks as an efficient answer to Through the Breach, since it can tap Emrakul, the Aeons’ Torn and, on the next turn, shuffle it back into its owner's library after combat.

There are a number of possibilities with this card in the format, but it competes with Merfolk Trickster in that slot and may, at times, lose that contest because removing abilities matters against other creatures.

It’s very difficult to evaluate this type of card for Modern because there are always possibilities that are under the radar, so we left it as an honorable mention.

Come Back Wrong would be hilarious if Grief was still in Modern. Without it, there are still situations where we can use the card to “steal” ETBs from our opponent’s creatures - especially from bombs like Atraxa, Grand Unifier.

Triggering Delirium is a simple task in a format with Urza’s Saga and Mishra’s Bauble, so Demonic Counsel can be seen as a Demonic Tutor in many circumstances - except that it’s much worse than Traverse the Ulvenwald when we don’t have Delirium active.

Expectations for Diabolic Intent were high when the card came out in The Brothers’ War, and it ended up having no impact whatsoever in Modern. Unfortunately, Demonic Counsel may suffer the same fate.

Nowhere to Run is a hate card against Hexproof and Ward that also doubles as cheap removal. It shouldn’t be a staple, but it’s an important addition to keep creatures like a potential Geist of Saint Traft on steroids from taking over the Metagame in the future.

Valgavoth, Terror Eater is closest to Vein Ripper than Atraxa, Grand Unifier and competes with Griselbrand in the “demon with Lifelink and absurd abilities” slot. It protects itself better, but there are also Eldrazi titans that do the same, so I don’t see potential for it in the future.

Despite the poor taste of naming a card after it, Fear of Missing Out has a lot of potential because not only is it the cheapest extra combat effect in Magic history, but it’s also easy to trigger.

I don’t know where it could fit. Maybe a more aggressive version of Jund Saga, or even a potential return of Prowess decks with Dragon’s Rage Channeler, but its ability is too strong not to try in Modern.

I'm always very skeptical of Leylines when they have absurd properties. At best, Leyline of Resonance comes into play on turn one and turns all your spells into a double effect. It single-handedly increases the clock of Prowess and even Infect in a way that no other card does permanently.

At worst, you'll topdeck the enchantment and never be able to cast it on a critical turn. If it does show up in the competitive space, it will probably be with some glass cannon strategy that doesn't mind losing the game if everything goes wrong - let's call it "the Tibalt's Trickery in the set".

The Orcish Bowmasters that red has at home. A good sideboard piece in red to punish strategies that draw many cards. Razorkin Needlehead doesn't feel like an immediate staple, but it's a useful addition for specific Metagames.

The last time we had a "for the rest of the game" effect in red was with Stigma Lasher. Thank you, Amalia Benavides Aguirre, for that card.

Screaming Nemesis is decent as a three-mana 3/3 with Haste, and its ability is potentially dangerous in Burn and any other archetype that has any means of dealing damage. It even turns Unholy Heat and Galvanic Discharge into the best Lightning Bolt ever.

Potential sideboard staple, but it needs the right reasons to exist in the Metagame. I'm not sure if I'd like it in Boros Energy, but the possibility of turning Galvanic Discharge into a giant Fireball is interesting.

Untimely Malfunction is another potential Sideboard staple, but it loses much of its appeal in Modern because it doesn't deal with The One Ring, and effects like Reverberate aren't very appealing in the format.

Kona, Rescue Beastie has interactions with Springleaf Drum and Vehicles to be tapped in the first main phase and trigger its ability after combat. For four mana, using it in a vacuum seems as inefficient as casting Elvish Piper.

It's a good addition to Shifting Woodland decks, where we can copy Kona by paying the land's own mana to tap it and, in the second main phase, put Omniscience or any other bomb into play. It seems like a good alternative line for the combo, but it won't necessarily put it at the top of the format.

Fist of Suns has never seen play in Modern, and it doesn't seem like turning it into Leyline of Mutation will make the difference needed to create a five-color list that cheats on mana costs when the format already has more efficient ways to do so.

The days when a 3/3 for one mana was absurd (Wild Nacatl was once banned from Modern) are long gone, but Duskmourn brings some cards that are meant to attract players to more aggressive Delirium variants, and Patchwork Beastie certainly fits that mold.

Tyvar, the Pummeler is an Elf, protects itself, and benefits from the abundance of mana in the same way as Ezuri, Renegade Leader. I believe Ezuri or Craterhoof Behemoth are still more efficient win conditions, but it deserves an honorable mention.

The three-mana side of Walk-in Closet // Forgotten Cellar is a Crucible of Worlds as an enchantment. The second room is a neat design and nod to Yawgmoth's Will, but we've seen this design before, and it didn't go too far.

The Jolly Balloon Man is the kind of card that builds decks around itself. In Modern, it is a three-mana variant of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker that we need to pay mana to activate, ideally with a mana dork. Being found with Imperial Recruiter, it is possible to imagine new strategies with it and creatures that untap all your creatures (Village Bell-Ringer) to build a new version of “Splinter Twin at home”.

It can revitalize the famous Kiki-Chord or can be an alternative win condition in other decks, and it also has applications with Ocelot Pride and effects that double the token count, and it can reuse the MH2 elementals. Lots of potential, but no clear home yet.

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares seems a bit slow for Modern, but a 3/4 with Hexproof for three mana that reuses Orcish Bowmasters and offers clock, card advantage, or temporary removal shouldn't be underestimated. It can find space in lists with Psychic Frog.

Honorable mention. Undead Sprinter has interactions with Goblin Bombardment and Bloodghast. It may not be ideal, but it is a clock and should be treated as such.

Wildfire Wickerfolk is another card that aims to motivate players to take Delirium to a more Aggro stance. It doesn't seem ideal in a world where two mana gives you a 5/5 with extra abilities or an 8/8 with Flying, but it's worth mentioning.

Honorable mention. Ghost Vacuum is a less efficient graveyard hate than Unlicensed Hearse or Relic of Progenitus, but it can also be found by Urza's Saga and its second ability can be interesting in a Karn, the Great Creator toolbox.

Could Marvin, Murderous Mimic be the next card to break the format, or just a worse version of Agatha’s Soul Cauldron? Guess we'll have to find out.

Verge Lands are a new cycle of lands that have a specific application in Modern: providing a bit more splash. They might have a hard time in the format because they directly compete with Fetch Lands, Shock Lands, and the Canopy Lands, but they can show up in lists that don’t have access to Canopies, or that require more color consistency and can’t, because of the Metagame, risk losing life to Pain Lands.

They may not be must-have staples, but are useful enough to show up on some lists.

That's all for today!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!