The time of Bloomburrow is now well and truly over. Not only has it been released for weeks now, but the final spoilers have all been unveiled. At long last, it’s time to turn our heads toward the dimly lit monster-filled future and Duskmourn: House of Horror. Kicking off this spooky adventure, Wizards has already started releasing the set’s story chapters.
As is tradition, the first chapter of Duskmourn’s story is mostly just set up for what’s to come. That’s not to say that this chapter is devoid of interesting details, however. In a whirlwind tour across multiple planes, we meet the familiar faces comprising the team who are venturing into Duskmourn. This includes meeting the one and only Planeswalker in Duskmourn: House of Horror: Kaito Shizuki.
Kaito Keeps Their Spark
To set the stakes of Duskmorun’s story, Nashi has gone missing. Following the trail of Tamiyo’s voice and the scroll of her living memory, Nashi entered a spooky door into The Twilight Zone Duskmourn. Kaito, being the good friend that they are, didn’t notice for months, but now they’re on the case.
Recruited by The Wanderer, Kaito journeys from plane to plane, recruiting returning characters to their cause. Many of these characters are former Planeswalkers who lost their spark during the Phyrexian invasion of the multiverse. This is the case for both Tyvar Kell and Niko Aris who were met and recruited on Kaldheim.
Kaito, however, has retained their spark, making them the one and only Planeswalker in Duskmourn: House of Horror. This was explicitly revealed during the story with no room for uncertainty. Specifically, Kaito asked himself, “Why he retained his spark when so many others didn’t.” It was also stated that he still feels the Blind Eternities in his bones.
While this is technically a fairly major reveal, we really should have seen it coming. Last week, it was revealed that Kaito would be replacing Jace as the blue-aligned Planeswalker in MTG Foundations. This obviously means they still have their spark, though it’s nonetheless nice to have it confirmed for real.
While we now know for sure that Kaito is the Planeswalker in Duskmourn: House of Horror, we don’t know their color identity. Past precedent would indicate they’ll be Dimir, however, that may have changed. Since they’re replacing Jace in Foundations, there’s a chance they’ll be mono-blue in Duskmourn, but that remains to be seen.
Meet the Team
On top of Kaito leading the charge into the unknown, we briefly met the other main characters in the set. All of these are familiar faces, which means we’ve yet to see Winter, who features prominently in the set’s key art. They’re even the Commander of one of the set’s Commander decks, so we’re sure to see them soon.
The Wanderer – Currently, The Wanderer is the only major Duskmourn character who has an actual card. Seen on The Wandering Rescuer, they’re clearly devoted to rescuing Nashi and saving the day. So far, they’ve been very quiet and stoic in the story as always.
Tyvar Kell – Tyvar is as dumb as a box of rocks and we all love him for it. Loud, stupid, and always shirtless, this man is here to punch demons and not think too hard about it. God only knows why Kaito thought he would be good company.
Niko Aris – Once a Planeswalker from Theros Beyond Death, Niko Aris is back, albeit without their spark this time in Duskmourn. Thankfully, this hasn’t diminished their combat capabilities which they flaunt on Kaldheim. Hopefully this story flavor transfers onto their card, once that gets revealed.
Zimone Wola – The last of the main characters venturing into Duskmorun, Zimone is working alongside the Izzet League on Ravnica. Initially coordinating things with Niv Mizzet, Zimone seems very research-focused at the moment. As the only non-Planeswalker in the party, they have a very different perspective from everyone else.
The Ravnica Contingent – Last but not least, there are also a number of characters staying behind on Ravnica. This includes Aminatou, Yoshimaru, Etrata, and Proft. Given that Aminatou is one of the set’s face Commanders, it’s unlikely they’ll be completely disconnected from the story and Duskmroun.
The Resparkening
Throughout the first chapter of Duskmourn’s story, there is a big focus on the feelings surrounding being desparked. Zimone, for instance, is excited by the development, although they never had a spark. Niko, on the other hand, is incredibly bitter about the whole thing, especially toward Aminatou.
Thankfully for Niko, there’s a chance all this desparking doesn’t last for too long. Speaking about Planeswalkers potentially being re-sparked, Mark Rosewater recently stated that “Anything is possible :).” From this, it seems there’s a very real chance characters could ignite their spark for a second time.
Beyond individual characters reigniting their sparks seemingly being on the table, Jace is also up to something. During their appearance in Outlaws of Thunder Junction, it seemed they set their sights on resetting the multiverse. Should this happen, a lot of currently desparked Planeswalkers may regain their old abilities. That is so long as Jace succeeds, at least.
For now, we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens as the future is unclear. Even if signs point to some Planeswalkers reigniting their spark, this will happen very slowly. After all, with only one Planeswalker per set nowadays.
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