Magic: The Gatheringhas explored horror before. One of its golden child settings is Innistrad, a gothic world of Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Spirits, and last year we went back to New Phyrexia for the body horror-centric Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Demons, horrors, and terror have been baked into Magic since its very first set 31 years ago.
While Magic is no stranger to horror, it’s possibly gone a bit too far with its newest set, Duskmourn: House of Horror. After the slam dunk that was Bloomburrow, was going this brutal really the best idea?
Duskmournis inspired by modern horror media, from the ‘80s to the modern day. Its world-spanning haunted house is full of ‘80s fashion and sly nods to everything from Evil Dead to Saw, and its art is equally as gruesome. The nightmare cards, like Fear of Lost Teeth and Fear of Isolation, have some of the creepiest, most overtly horrific Magic art we’ve seen in a long time, putting them on-par with old classics like Surgical Extraction and Sensory Deprivation.
Personally, I’m digging the previews for Duskmourn a lot more than I thought I would when it was first revealed. Backed up by an excellent story, the set’s mechanics give it a unique feel and the cards we’ve seen all look like a lot of fun. That being said, it’s hard not to look at where we’ve just been and wonder if this was the best time to roll out Valgavoth and his house of horrors.
Just a few weeks ago we saw Magic enjoying one of its most well-received sets in years withBloomburrow. A pastoral world of woodland creatures, its cute art, wholesome vibes, and creature type-centric gameplay was a breath of fresh air for the game. We’d just come off of a stint of rough sets with the underwhelming Karlov Manor giving way to the marginally better Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and it reminded a lot of people what Wizards can do when it really leans in to its worldbuilding talents.
Regardless of your stance on horror (I love it, and love what Duskmourn is doing), having cards of flying demons made of bloodied human teeth is pushing the lines of what Magic can get away with these days. Even established players, like theCommander Advisory Group’s Shivam Bhatt, have noted just how severe Duskmourn is, saying “I will want to play for their text and design and the art will act as an impenetrable barrier preventing me from doing so”.
Is Duskmourn Going To Turn New Players Away?
But it’s not the established players I’m worried about. We’ve all been through Innistrad and Phyrexia and know what Magic can do when it wants to be grotesque. It’s the new players Bloomburrow brought in that worry me.
Bloomburrow was a huge pull for newbies.Its animal themes are easily understood by those casually spectating, and the cute critters made it easier than ever to get stuck in with it. Anecdotally, I’ve never seen as many new people at my game shop as I have when Bloomburrow was being played, and tons of people have been whipping out their first Commander decks made from Bloomburrow cards.
I hope TikTok creator Ezeekat stays as excited as Magic throughout Duskmourn as he is for Bloomburrow.
The same can’t be said for Duskmourn characters like Valgavoth, or Winter, or a Razorkin. To get to the ‘resonant’ points Wizards often points at as key to a set’s success, you need to trawl through piles and piles of disturbing imagery. New players already put off by the idea of a ‘horror set’ aren’t going to do that, they’re either going to stop playing or just stick with Bloomburrow.
It’s not that Duskmourn shouldn’t exist, or that Magic can’t have dark imagery and scary subject matter. Far from it – the different themes and tones of each setting is part of why I love the Magic multiverse so much. The fact we have a game where Bloomburrow and Duskmourn can exist side-by-side is fantastic.
But the flipside of that is Wizards needs to be careful, as each new setting and theme will always alienate somebody. I liked the murder mystery themes of Karlov Manor, lots of people hated it. Lots lovedthe return trip to Ixalanwe had last year, but I didn’t gel with it. Horror isn’t the problem, intensity and contrast is.
Going from a set like Bloomburrow to one of the most starkly scary sets we’ve seen in a long time isn’t just whiplash, it’s a complete subversion of everything a new player would’ve enjoyed from that set.
To throw Duskmourn at them now feels like an unnecessarily tough ask when Magic can go anywhere and be anything. Follow up the breakout hit release of the war with something more in line with Magic’s usual offerings, not something so much darker than what even long-time fans are used to.
Theros feels like the perfect way to follow up Bloomburrow, while also easing people into the darker themes of its underworld and nightmare creatures.
Of course, there are going to be people who both enjoy the cuddly quaintness of Bloomburrow and the terror of Duskmourn – I’m one of them. I just worry about those who came in off the back of cute bunnies only to be immediately faced with whatever the hell Overlord of the Mistmoors is.
Magic: The Gathering
Created by Richard Garfield in 1993, Magic: The Gathering (MTG) has become one of the biggest tabletop collectible card games in the world. Taking on the role of a Planeswalker, players build decks of cards and do battle with other players. In excess of 100 additional sets have added new cards to the library, while the brand has expanded into video games, comics, and more.
