Pioneer Set Review: Duskmourn

Duskmourn brings the aesthetics and atmosphere of classic horror films from the 80s and 90s to Magic: The Gathering cards - and with the preview season coming to an end, we begin our set reviews for the main competitive formats!

In this article, we cover Pioneer, a format that recently saw the banning of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Amalia Benavides Aguirre, and whose Metagame continues to stabilize in the face of these changes, with new best decks at the top and strategies designed to try to combat it.

Turning your creatures into half Brimaz, King of Oreskos could give Dollmaker’s Shop // Porcelain Gallery space in some lists, possibly in the sideboard of go-wide Aggro or in Token decks with Caretaker’s Talent.

Like the card above, Enduring Innocence has some advantages and interactions in go-wide Aggro or Token lists to be a source of card advantage, perhaps as effective as Tocasia’s Welcome in some lists, while competing with Wedding Announcement in others.

Exorcise deserves an honorable mention for Metagames where we need more versatility in exile effects. Destroy Evil is much better in the current Metagame, but that may change as new cards are released.

Leyline of Hope will certainly generate some hype for Angels players and may bring new lifegain strategies into the spotlight, especially given the recent results of Rakdos Prowess.

I don't think this strategy is widely viable without extra copies of Lunarch Veteran, but we could be surprised by a deck using the same shell that made Abzan Amalia extremely popular, but without the combo that made it problematic.

Overlord of the Mistmoors is part of a cycle of enchantment creatures that we can use for a lower cost and sacrifice with Enigmatic Incarnation to fetch huge creatures.

For four mana, you get two bodies on the board and can use it to fetch a creature with a mana value 8. Ashen Rider and Cityscape Leveler are the best options today, but we can also fetch it with a creature with a mana value 6 to get more bodies on the board.

Reluctant Role Model is a great addition to Humans, where it interacts with the +1/+1 counters on Luminarch Aspirant and Thalia’s Lieutenant while also granting evasion and Lifelink to one creature per turn. It’s a bit more conditional than Luminarch Aspirant, but it has features that could make it a staple.

Aura decks have disappeared from Pioneer recently and suffer from the lack of consistency of having fewer creatures with Hexproof in Pioneer, but Sheltered by Ghosts is a good addition to the archetype and perhaps to Boros Heroic since it can remove a permanent from the game, grant Lifelink and also built-in protection with Ward 2.

A potential staple, although a bit slow for Boros Heroic, it should appear first in the Sideboards.

Split Up is the best Aggro mirror sweeper that has ever existed in the format, and we can imagine situations where we survive an opponent's attack in the race, use this card before combat and advance our positive Tempo on the board quite a bit, or also where we make an attack, the opponent chooses not to block expecting to deal more damage in the next turn, and we break their board with this card.

Both situations are conditional and there are no guarantees of happening, but Split Up has potential.

Unwanted Remake competes with Portable Hole in the white removal space, and I am inclined to believe that it can benefit from the current Metagame as it deals with any creature at Instant-Speed.

Manifest Dread is an important drawback against most decks in the format today, and especially in Aggro. But I'd rather deal with an unknown 2/2 than a Slickshot Show-Off on the way back. It's important to remember, though, that it triggers Heartfire Hero.

Don't underestimate what The Wandering Rescuer can do with Boros Convoke: give another "go big" to a naturally go wide game plan while protecting your Instant-Speed ​​creatures from removal. I don't know if there's room in Convoke for 12 creatures you don't cast early, but it opens up new possibilities.

Abhorrent Oculus is competing with Treasure Cruise in Izzet Phoenix and other blue Tempo decks that can feed the graveyard fast. While it creates a very impactful threat in attrition games, it's difficult to compete with the closest Magic has ever had of Ancestral Recall.

Enduring Curiosity may find a place in Tempo lists like Azorius Spirits, but it appears that Wedding Announcement and Tocasia’s Welcome are cheaper and more efficient options in terms of generating card advantage since they don’t rely on combat damage. Still, forcing a 2-for-1 to deal with Curiosity and the fact that it can be played at Instant-Speed ​​as a creature may favor its use.

After Rakdos Prowess, we shouldn’t underestimate the potential of cheap cantrips with additional effects that matter in combat. Izzet Prowess isn’t as relevant in the format today, but it could emerge as the Metagame adapts.

Fear of Impostors is another Spell Queller variant for Pioneer, but I'm skeptical that Manifest Dread gives the opponent the chance to find something even better than the countered card. Its creature type is irrelevant in the current Metagame.

Get Out is an Essence Scatter that also works as a trick or answer to sweepers in Spirits and/or Flash decks with lots of ETB effects. It shouldn't be a staple, but it deserves an honorable mention.

Overlord of the Floodpits offers hand filtering and card advantage in a cheap body for both its effect and Impending . There aren't many targets for it in Enigmatic Fires, but it's also a good attrition/midrange threat for Izzet Phoenix and other blue decks.

If you're serious about running a three-mana enchantment on Izzet Phoenix, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is the card for you.

Come Back Wrong is an efficient removal to extract value from powerful ETBs like Atraxa, Grand Unifier or the Duskmourn Overlords cycle. Potential sideboard card for Rakdos Midrange and other attrition decks.

Demonic Counsel turns into Demonic Tutor the moment you enable Delirium, but the only archetype with the ability and interest to do so in Pioneer today is Abzan Greasefang, where Traverse the Ulvenwald is a better card because it fixes mana and finds Greasefang, Okiba Boss a turn earlier.

I don't know if a Bastion of Remembrance on steroids has potential in Pioneer and/or a home that makes sense for it, but Funeral Room // Awakening Hall deserves an honorable mention.

Nowhere to Run is a great answer to Hexproof and Ward in Pioneer, perhaps the most efficient and least conditional the game has ever had. It shouldn't make much of a difference in the format today, but it's another important sideboard piece for the format's long-term health.

Overlord of the Balemurk is the main card of the cycle that we don't think of specifically for Enigmatic Fires, but for Abzan Greasefang. For two mana, it can find any creature among the four at the top, including Greasefang, Okiba Boss, and if the game extends and goes to the attrition plan with Esika's Chariot and Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, it is a late-game threat with a respectable body and an absurd recursion potential.

Potential staple, probably one of the most powerful cards in Duskmourn for Pioneer.

Valgavoth, Terror Eater can occupy a space in lists that cheat on mana costs: that of dodging removals. Archetypes like Rakdos Transmogrify or Indomitable Creativity can opt for it in the Sideboard for games where Atraxa, Grand Unifier dies too easily.

I don't know if Enduring Courage has the capacity to impact Pioneer for four mana, but like the rest of the cycle, its abilities and the way it forces a 2-for-1 can guarantee it some tests.

We don't have many ways to enable Delirium in Pioneer in colors that would normally run Fear of Missing Out - but it's still the cheapest extra combat effect in the game and can be useful in decks like Atarka Red.

I've never seen as many clickbait videos pop up as I have with Leyline of Resonance. Yes, it allows second-turn kills. Yes, it's a combo card. No, it won't destroy formats, and you shouldn't play it with Heartfire Hero in mind - for every one time you complete a combo with this enchantment, there will be five times where you topdeck it and never get to cast it.

It deserves an honorable mention for its explosive potential in Prowess decks or off-the-radar combos, but I don't expect it to become a staple.

Overlord of the Boilerbilges is relatively close to Inferno Titan, even with the same mana value. It creates a very fast clock on an empty board, and its Impending cost can be used to get Atraxa, Grand Unifier into the game as early as turn four, while dealing with an opponent's threat.

It can also find a home in attrition mirrors, especially in Rakdos Midrange.

Pioneer has gained one of the best two-mana sweepers of all time, which is sure to change the Metagame. In addition to reducing the space Aggro has, the inclusion of this old Modern staple will force Prowess to play around the card more - and it can also be included in their Sideboards to deal with Humans and Convoke.

I don't think it will be the absolute answer to Prowess because Monastery Swiftspear, Emberheart Challenger and Heartfire Hero can easily grow to three or more toughness and Slickshot Show-Off breaks that threshold with Kumano Faces Kakkazan or Titan's Strength.

Razorkin Needlehead is a good hate for red decks, especially for Atarka Red, against Izzet Phoenix or other decks that draw many cards with Treasure Cruise.

Screaming Nemesis seems like a delayed answer to Abzan Amalia. Its effect is quite unique in Pioneer because even if you remove it from play, the opponent can never gain life again, which can ruin entire strategies.

A potential Sideboard staple, it deserves testing in Prowess lists, in Atarka Red and can show up in basically every red Aggro. It is also another essential safety valve against Metagames with infinite life combos.

Turn Inside Out is a three-power-for-one-mana pump that protects your creature from removals with Manifest Dread - which can bring some psychological games where we force blocks on a potentially useless card, or the opponent can underestimate the face-down card, and then we turn it into a Slickshot Show-Off or Emberheart Challenger.

It will compete with Titan’s Strength in Rakdos Prowess, and the choice will depend on how reactive your plays need to be since Turn Inside Out is a better trade against blockers that will remove your creature or in response to removal, while Titan’s Strength has properties more geared towards being a proactive pump spell that filters your top.

We discussed Untimely Malfunction in depth in a article where we cover the card in all competitive formats.

In Pioneer, there is no shortage of targets for two of its abilities and the third is useful in Aggro mirrors by clearing blockers out of the way, but it is also a dead card against Go-Wide and virtually useless against Angels. It competes with Abrade in Sideboard slots.

Hedge Shredder adds two devotion to green, can be crewed with Llanowar Elves and can mill lands to put them into play, including Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. It may be worth testing in Mono Green Devotion, but don't expect too much.

In a perfect world, Kona, Rescue Beastie is cast on turn three with Llanowar Elves and tapped with Smuggler's Copter to put Atraxa, Grand Unifier, Omniscience or any other bomb on the battlefield.

It will be interesting to see how far this potential can go in the long run.

If you want Leyline of Mutation, you have Leyline of the Guildpact. If you use eight Leylines to play Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, there's probably no reason to pay the alternate mana cost of your cards because you already have devotion for 6 or higher.

It has potential in Mono Green Devotion as a Leyline, but not with great expectations. It can find a home in Goodstuff stacks as well.

Overlord of the Hauntwoods enables the Domain for Herd Migration and Leyline Binding on its own, ramps, has a good body, and is notoriously impactful the moment it comes into play.

Five mana means it doesn't fetch any creatures that are widely played in Enigmatic Fires today, but it seems like a Four-Color Ramp or Niv-to-Light card to me. It could also show up in some Mono Green Devotion lists.

If we can find easy ways to enable Delirium, Patchwork Beastie is a good addition to an Aggro with this theme alongside Grim Flayer and Wildfire Wickerfolk, but it seems pretty hard to pull off this type of strategy without fetch lands.

Tyvar, the Pummeler adds two points of devotion, protects itself against removal by tapping any creature and has a mana sink ability that rewards a "go wide". In addition to the potential for Mono Green Devotion, it can be a motivator for Elves in the format, given that we don't have Ezuri, Renegade Leader on Pioneer.

Honorable mention. Arabella, Abandoned Doll can see play in Boros Convoke lists to give more range in the mirror and in games where we can't attack with all the creatures.

There are some strange combos involving The Jolly Balloon Man with Jeskai Ascendancy and two mana dorks to copy creatures and extract value from them. But if we're going to that much trouble, wouldn't it be better to focus on the more traditional versions of the deck with Sylvan Awakening?

This creature is an unknown in Pioneer. It seems very strong, its ability has a lot of potential for combos, but I don't see a place for it in Pioneer currently outside a four or more piece combo.

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares is a good threat and offers card advantage, a Tempo play or a clock boost while it is a creature on its turn. It may have a place in Rogues, but it shouldn't find much space in the current Metagame.

I've learned to never underestimate creatures that have repetitive effects on damage and that offer top-down filtering and card advantage. Nashi, Searcher in the Dark is that type of creature. It doesn't seem to have potential in the Metagame today, but a list may emerge that extracts value from it.

Honorable mention. Oblivious Bookworm is the best Merfolk Looter ever in creature form. It shouldn't have much impact outside of Limited, especially in a format with Smuggler's Copter, but it could become a Reanimator enabler in the future.

Undead Sprinter is a good recursive threat for Rakdos Sacrifice. It may not have a place today because it requires a more aggressive Tempo in a deck that already has trouble getting all the cards it wants into its slots, but it deserves an honorable mention.

Ghost Vacuum is a useful sideboard piece that seems to have more room in faster formats, where its one-mana-for-a-card trade is more relevant. In Pioneer, Unlicensed Hearse, Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void and even Soul-Guide Lantern seem like better options.

Agatha’s Soul Cauldron is probably better at everything Marvin, Murderous Mimic sets out to do, but it deserves an honorable mention for interacting with the Tree of Perdition and Voldaren Thrillseeker combo and other possible future abilities combinations.

Verge Lands seem to have less potential in Pioneer than in Modern because our manabase for two-color lists is already quite consistent, and we don't have as much room for conditional lands - Pathways already take up their space in these cases.

It may be seen more frequently in decks like Azorius Control and archetypes that use Surveil Lands because they have land types, and it may have space in archetypes with Triomes because they easily enable a second color.

That's all for today!

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

Thanks for reading!