Duskmourn: House of Horror is set for its full release tomorrow, just as the leaves turn orange for spooky season. Appropriately enough, this will also mark a new season of Limited Magic. Soon, Duskmourn Draft and Sealed events will be dominating your LGS. If you’re planning to take part in these events, it’s good to go in with a battle plan. To that end, we’ve put together a list of the very best Limited cards in Duskmourn.
A few notes before we begin. These picks are based on early format data from 17Lands, a website that aggregates win and pick rates for specific cards in Limited. We’ve grabbed the best common, uncommon, and rare in each color here. There are no multicolor commons, so we’ve made do there. Mythics have been excluded on the grounds that they don’t come up often, and when they do they’re typically easy picks. With all of that said, let’s get into the list!
White
White is one of the best colors in general for Duskmourn Limited, with plenty of cards worthy of first pick status. The color has plenty of removal, which is always a plus, starting with Trapped in the Screen at common. This card made our list of the best Sealed commons in Duskmourn, and it’s really no surprise. Oblivion Ring effects have always been solid in Limited, and this one has the added benefit of taxing your opponent even if they can remove it. This card has a Games Played Win rate (GP WR) of 57.4%, which is as good as it gets for a white common in Duskmourn.
At uncommon, Optimistic Scavenger is putting a surprising shift in. With a 58.8% GP WR, this little one drop is performing far better than many expected. With all the enchantments, and especially enchantment creatures, in the set this can put a lot of power into play easily. It’s worth noting that the ability isn’t once per turn, either, which is a rare thing these days. Whether it’s scaling itself up or loading counters onto something with keywords, it’s hard to go far wrong with Scavenger.
Finally, white also has the card with the highest GP WR in the entire set. Ghostly Dancers sits at 60.2% at time of writing, which puts it above a lot of terrifying bombs. Its secret? Versatility. Unlocking an expensive door on a Room can be a huge tempo play, especially since you’ll get a 3/1 flier in the bargain too. Recurring an enchantment is also great in this format, even if you don’t have a Room out. At worst, this can come down as a fairly-statted flier and threaten to develop more creatures. Never pass this one up.
Blue
Blue is probably the weakest color overall for Duskmourn Limited, but there are still some great picks in here. Glimmerburst is a card that’s being eyed up for Standard right now, and it’s proving powerful in Limited too. Drawing two and putting a body in play for four is a great deal. The body is an enchantment too, which lets you hit your powerful Eerie triggers. The card has a 56.8% GP WR, which is nice for a common.
At uncommon, Unnerving Grasp does a very good Man-o’-War impression. Putting a creature in play while bouncing one of your opponent’s is a great deal, especially if you can hit something on the pricier side. Manifesting Dread has proven to be a very powerful action in Limited too, since you can sculpt your graveyard and even set up a future play by putting a key creature face down. It’s not hard removal, but with a 57.8% GP WR Grasp can still very much swing games.
Blue’s best Limited rare for Duskmourn is, unsurprisingly, Enduring Curiosity. A 4/3 with Flash for four mana is honestly pretty good as-is, but this card can also draw you multiple cards per combat step with the right setup. It’s resilient to removal thanks to the ‘return as an enchantment’ effect, and it can allow for some surprising plays on both players’ turns. With a 58.2% GP WR this is the the best blue card in Duskmourn Limited, and an easy first pick.
Black
When it comes to Limited win rates black is pretty top-heavy in Duskmourn, in that a lot of its best cards sit at higher rarities. There’s still plenty to enjoy here in your average Draft, however. At common, Winter’s Intervention is a solid piece of removal. It’s great for dealing with early threats and shoring up your life against Aggro. At a 54.8% GP WR, it’s not setting the world on fire, but it’s still more than worth playing if you see it in a slow pack.
Things get more exciting at uncommon. Osseous Sticktwister is a fantastic two-drop, capable of padding your life early and burning your opponent out later on. Delirium is a lot easier to hit in Limited than you might think, and this card also contributes to it by being an artifact and a creature while it’s in the yard. A 55.5% GP WR is a testament to this card’s power. You’ll always want it in your opening hand, and you’ll curse when your opponent has it in theirs.
There are a ton of great black Limited rares and mythics in this set. Cards like Unstoppable Slasher, Valgavoth, and Overlord of the Balemurk can all carry a Draft by themselves. Even better than those cards, however, is Unholy Annex/Ritual Chamber. Both sides of this card are solid by themselves, but when you put them together it’s extremely difficult to beat. A 6/6 flier that drains your opponent for two and draws you a card every turn is the end result here. Sure it costs eight mana, but you can spread that over two installments. With a 59.5% GP WR, this is the third best card in Duskmourn for Limited.
Red
It may not be the most powerful color in Duskmourn Limited overall, but red does have some very powerful cards at low rarities. Starting at common Clockwork Percussionist is one of the most pushed one drops we’ve ever seen, and not just for Aggro. Sure a one mana 1/1 Haste is great in faster decks, but the ‘Impulse draw’ on death gives it value pretty much everywhere. It’s even an artifact, which helps out Delirium decks. At a 58.1% GP WR, this is the best Limited common in the set by a fair margin.
At uncommon, Razorkin Hordecaller is another stellar Limited piece. A 4/4 for five with Haste is playable as-is in a lot of lists. Throw in token generation that can get going the turn Hordecaller enters, and you have a card that can get out of hand fast. It can even generate tokens without getting involved in combat itself, which is a major upside. A 58.4% GP WR feels well-warranted here.
Red’s best rare is an interesting one. Fear of Missing Out certainly looks solid, as a 2/3 for two that loots on entry. It’s an enchantment too, which matters for both Eerie and Delirium. What really puts it over the top is that last ability, however. Getting another swing with your best creature can be devastating, and Delirium is surprisingly easy to hit as we’ve discussed. It’s not as flashy as some of the offerings in other colors, but with a GP WR of 58.5% FOMO is well worth a first pick in Duskmourn Limited.
Green
Green is probably the best color in Duskmourn Limited overall. Most of the cards here are solid, and many are truly exceptional. To start with a solid one, Manifest Dread is the best green common, with a 57.1% GP WR. This is a two mana 2/2 with considerable upside since it adds two cards to your graveyard, one being a sorcery. This is great for Delirium, which is a very playable archetype in this format. The card is fine early, and can even set up later plays if you hit a good creature.
You’ll notice a theme as we go through the green cards here. At the uncommon slot we have Under the Skin, another sorcery that lets you Manifest Dread. For the extra mana and rarity you also get to recur any permanent from your graveyard. This is very close to a better Eternal Witness, which is a Limited and Constructed all-timer. All the upsides of Manifest Dread apply here, with the huge bonus of getting your best card back for another go. At a 58.6% GP WR, this one punches above its rarity weight.
The best green rare for Duskmourn Limited may be one of the toughest cards to deal with in the whole set. Valgavoth’s Onslaught is yet another sorcery that Manifests Dread, but this time you can do so multiple times. The floor on this is a three mana 3/3, but it scales up incredibly well. Five mana for two 4/4s is great, and seven mana for three 5/5s is insane. You also get a lot of extra card selection as you scale up the X value, which again helps with Delirium. The 59.2% GP WR on this isn’t surprising at all, and you’d be a fool not to first pick this when you see it.
Multicolor
Multicolor cards are always weird to evaluate, since they’re less common and harder to slot into decks. That said, there are some great ones going in Duskmourn. Arabella, Abandoned Doll actually hits above its rarity here, being the best multicolor card in the set based on 17Lands data. Her ability creates significant life swings every turn in aggressive decks, which are easy to build in this format. She’s also an artifact, which is relevant for Delirium. For a humble uncommon, Arabella has a staggering GP WR of 59.2%. The same as Valgavoth’s Onslaught, for those keeping track.
The next best multicolor uncommon in the set is also in Boros colors. Midnight Mayhem gives you a board in a box, then pours a hot mug of keyword soup all over it. The Gremlins it creates are hard to block, gain you life, and synergize beautifully with Arabella, who we just discussed. This can be a huge swing card early in a game, and it’s a very real reason to go Boros if you can. The 58.7% GP WR here just confirms that.
Finally, the best multicolor rare in the set is The Swarmweaver. Like a combination of the two cards above, The Swarmweaver builds you a board and buffs it up later. Honestly, four mana for a 2/3 and two 1/1 fliers is good enough. If you get the bonus later so be it, but this card is solid without it. You gain a ton of attacking and blocking options when this hits the table, and even more if you hit Delirium. A GP WR of 59.0% is well-deserved for this card, and you should first pick it when you can in Duskmourn Limited.
Read More: Duskmourn’s Big Bad Could Be A Real Player In Older MTG Formats
