Of all the sets to include one so far, Duskmourn feels the most fitting for a Special Guests bonus sheet. Where better to receive guests than in an endless house, after all? An endless house without any murder clowns, probably, but you can’t have everything.
While we saw a couple of these early on in previews, yesterday the Special Guests lineup was fully revealed. All in all, it’s an interesting one. It lacks the heavy financial hitters of the past, but it compensates with some truly notable cards in different areas. Including a reprint of a card not seen since 1994’s Revised. That’s a pretty big deal, and it may even be enough to salvage an otherwise lackluster lineup.
A Reprint 30 Years In The Making
Let’s get straight to the juiciest card among the Duskmourn Special Guests: Sacrifice. It’s odd to see this as a card name, given how often the word appears in rules text these days, but bear in mind this is a card from the very first set in the game. As with all Alpha cards, it went through the usual Beta, Unlimited, and Revised gauntlet, then simply never saw a reprint again. That was partly due to the card’s time on the Reserved List, but that ended in 2002. This printing is the first time we’ve seen the card in 30 years, believe it or not.
Is the card any good? Well, it’s solid. It’s a one mana ritual spell that gives you mana equal to the value of the creature you sacrifice to it. That means for anything three mana or under, it’s likely just a worse Dark Ritual. That said, the sacrifice aspect and the potential for huge mana boosts in Reanimator lists has led to the card seeing steady play in Commander. Copies will only run you around $6 at the moment, but it’s worth noting that those copies are old and white-bordered. This slick new edition could go for much more.
The other big hitter from the lineup is Damnation. This is a classic black board wipe, played in all manner of Commander decks and even occasionally in Modern. Regular copies of the card go for around $20 right now, but this version is far from regular. Not only is it a Special Guest, but it features art from Silent Hill Art Director Masahiro Ito, which may well make it a collector’s item. Sacrifice is the most interesting card here for in-too-deep Magic fans like me, but Damnation will almost certainly be the most expensive.
Some Solid Playables
Let’s move a bit further down the Duskmourn Special Guests value line. The next priciest inclusion is blue Commander all-star Expropriate. It’s a classic ‘no good options’ punisher effect, and one that can often win games on the spot. Especially when copied. The card costs around $12 at the time of writing, and the striking new art on this one should push it a bit higher still.
Next up, surprisingly enough, is Hallowed Haunting. This is a fantastically flavorful reprint for Duskmourn, and also, believe it or not, a $10 card. Like Expropriate it really only sees play in Commander, but it slots into pretty much any white deck with any kind of enchantment theme. It’s a four mana do-nothing at first, but it can easily win you the game on its own if left unchecked.
Collected Company was revealed a while ago now, so its appearance here won’t be a surprise. This is an absolute workhorse of a card, dominating the Standard of its time and living on in Pioneer and Modern to this day. Copies go for around $8, so it’s not a major value hit. On the other hand, it’s also a card you’ll never be sad to have in your collection. Especially with this fun new Scooby Doo-esque art.
Company isn’t the only green classic here. Noxious Revival, one of the infamous original Phyrexian mana spells, also returns. Spells that cost no mana are, historically, quite powerful and Revival is no exception. Though the effect seems minimal, getting it for nothing has earned the card a spot in countless decks in Modern, Legacy, and even Vintage. Though it has largely been printed at common so far, it still holds a value of around $7. Which should clue you in as to just how good it is.
The Dregs
The rest of the Duskmourn Special Guests aren’t particularly exciting. Maddening Hex is a solid $8 Commander card but sees no play beyond that to encourage any future growth. Phantasmal Image has wider appeal, with scattered Modern, Legacy, and Vintage play to bolster its Commander use. It still only goes for around $6, however, likely down to the sheer number of great alternative Clone effects in Magic.
After these two, it’s a big drop off to the bottom of the barrel. Soul Warden is an all-time classic, to be sure, and a great card in Commander Lifegain decks. That’s as far as it goes, however, and plentiful low-rarity reprints have kept its price at around $2.50. Unholy Heat is even worse. Sure, the new art is great and the card sees play in the likes of Modern and Legacy, but it’s still only a $0.20 card. Not the most exciting use of a Special Guest slot, to be sure.
That’s the real issue with the Duskmourn Special Guests lineup. While none of the chosen cards are bad, per se, there are also few really exciting picks here. Nothing like the Sword of Fire and Ice and Sylvan Tutor from Bloomburrow. The cards are just as rare as they were before, too. You have a 1.5% chance to open a Special Guest in a Play Booster, and a 3% chance in a Collector Booster. With odds like that, hitting a $0.20 common is going to sting more than a little.
That said, it is good to see the series experimenting. Sacrifice and Damnation are both great includes, and really interesting cards in their own ways. Overall though, I’d like to see these pushed a lot harder in the future.
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