MTG Jump Scare Duskmourn Commander Deck Revealed

Over the past week, we’ve been getting absolutely bombarded with Duskmourn spoilers. From exciting Rooms to overwhelming Overlords, this set is very cool and looks like an absolute blast to play.

Beyond just the cards from the main set, there will also be four new Commander Precons joining the party as per usual. In case you missed it, you can check out the Face Commanders here. As always, each Commander deck comes with its own unique charm.

Of the four face Commanders, Zimone, Mystery Unraveler certainly looked the strongest. Getting to potentially Manifest Dread a huge monster face down and quickly turn it face up is extremely appealing. Well, thanks to a recent video from Infrecuentes, the other new Duskmourn Commander cards from this particular Precon have been revealed. While some of these cards are strong and support Zimone quite well, a few of them are rather disappointing. Let’s take a closer look at all these new goodies.

Kianne, Corrupted Memory

Mana Value: 2GU

Rarity: Mythic Rare

Stats: 2/2

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: As long as Kianne’s power is even, you may cast noncreature spells as though they had flash. As long as Kianne’s power is odd, you may cast creature spells as though they had flash. Whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on Kianne.

Kicking things off, we have the secondary Commander, Kianne. Kianne is a bit of a weird card to see included as a second option since it doesn’t exactly fit thematically with Zimone. It does, however, play along nicely with the idea of a “Jump Scare” deck, letting you play creature spells at instant speed and mess up opposing attacks.

The key to making Kianne work is to have a lot of ways to draw cards. Kianne threatens to grow very quickly, and winning via Commander damage can be a real avenue to victory. On top of that, cards that sit on the battlefield and let you draw cards when applicable (even something as basic as Merfolk Looter) can be very helpful. This way, you can always draw a card at will to let you cast whatever type of spell you want at instant speed.

Seedborn Muse is another excellent card to pair with Kianne. You can easily cast a bunch of spells during each turn cycle since your lands will untap during each opponent’s untap step.

Glitch Interpreter

Mana Value: 2U

Rarity: Rare

Stats: 2/3

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: When Glitch Interpreter enters, if you control no face-down permanents, return Glitch Interpreter to its owner’s hand and manifest dread. Whenever one or more colorless creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, draw a card.

Up next, we have Glitch Interpreter. Glitch Interpreter isn’t the most powerful card in the world, but it supports both Zimone and Kianne pretty well. Getting to start the Manifest Dread train rolling if you don’t control any other face-down permanents is nice. Meanwhile, the card-drawing effect works well with Kianne and all the face-down creatures you create.

Even outside of the Jump Scare! Precon, Glitch Interpreter seems solid as long as you have a high density of colorless creatures. As long as you have a way to reliably connect in combat, Glitch Interpreter should generate a decent amount of value over time.

They Came from the Pipes

Mana Value: 4U

Rarity: Rare

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: When They Came from the Pipes enters, manifest dread twice. (To manifest dread, look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.) Whenever a face-down creature you control enters, draw a card.

They Came from the Pipes looks like an excellent card for any deck centered around the Manifest/Morph theme. Unlike Glitch Interpreter, They Came from the Pipes can theoretically draw you a bunch of cards every turn. Right off the bat, you get two face-down creatures and get to draw two cards for your troubles. For as long as this potent enchantment sticks in play, you should have no issues generating additional card advantage.

They Came from the Pipes should serve as an elite inclusion in Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer decks. Cards like Ghastly Conscription, which can put a bunch of face-down creatures into play at once, become extremely scary with They Came from the Pipes in play. This new enchantment is an elite build-around and getting it off the battlefield should be a top priority for opponents.

Curator Beastie

Mana Value: 4GG

Rarity: Rare

Stats: 6/6

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: Reach. Colorless creatures you control enter with two additional +1/+1 counter on them. Whenever Curator Beastie enters or attacks, manifest dread. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)

Curator Beastie is a neat card that, once again, works well in decks with lots of face-down creatures. It’s a bit inefficient overall, but the buff it provides to all your future Morphs and Manifests can certainly add up.

Outside of the face-down creature theme, Curator Beastie may be useful for decks that are planning to go wide with colorless creatures in general. For instance, Curator Beastie makes token producers such as Retrofitter Foundry much more threatening than they might otherwise be. Six mana is a lot to pay for this effect, but with enough synergy, Curator Beastie can certainly pull its weight.

Disorienting Choice

Mana Value: 3G

Rarity: Rare

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: For each opponent, choose up to one target artifact or enchantment that player controls. For each permanent chosen this way, its controller may exile it. Then if one or more of the chosen permanents are still on the battlefield, you search your library for up to that many land card, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

Disorienting Choice is up next, and all things considered, this card is a bit mediocre. There are a few problems with the card that make it difficult to maximize. First and foremost, the fact that your opponents get the choice of whether their artifact or enchantment gets removed is huge. Obviously, getting a land from your deck can be useful, but if an opponent wants to keep their artifact or enchantment around, they have that luxury.

As such, Disorienting Choice is not a reliable answer to problematic artifacts and enchantments. Plus, if some of your opponents don’t have targets for Disorienting Choice, the card’s impact becomes weaker.

The best-case scenario for this card is that you target multiple incredible artifacts or enchantments, and if an opponent decides to keep theirs around, you can search for an amazing utility land like Gaea’s Cradle to pull ahead. Nonetheless, leaving the decision-making to your opponents makes this card a lot worse than it might look.

Experimental Lab/Staff Room

Mana Value: 3G/2G

Rarity: Rare

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: (You may cast either half. That door unlocks on the battlefield. As a sorcery, you may pay the mana cost of a locked door to unlock it.) Experimental Lab- When you unlock this door, manifest dread, then put two +1/+1 counters and a trample counter on that creature. Staff Room- Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, turn that creature face up or put a +1/+1 counter on it.

Experimental Lab/Staff Room, on the other hand, is a nice addition to Morph and Manifest decks of all shapes and sizes. Staff Room in particular seems excellent. Assuming you build your deck with a bunch of high-impact haymakers, you’re going to want some ways to flip them face-up without investing a ton of mana.

With Staff Room in the equation, all you need to do is connect in combat with your face-down creatures and you can turn them face-up without investing any additional mana. Of course, it isn’t always easy to have your 2/2s survive combat. So, you should definitely consider adding some cards like Keeper of Keys that can ensure your attacks go unscathed.

You also have the option when you deal combat damage to an opponent to put +1/+1 counters on your creatures that got through. With this in mind, in decks with lots of +1/+1 counter synergies, Experimental Lab/Staff Room is worth consideration. It’s easy to get your mana’s worth out of this card if you craft your deck around it.

Shriekwood Devourer

Mana Value: 5GG

Rarity: Rare

Stats: 7/5

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: Trample. Whenever you attack with one or more creatures, untap up to X lands, where X is the greatest power among those creatures.

Shriekwood Devourer is capable of providing a pretty large mana boost each turn. If you have a big creature to attack with (Shriekwood Devourer fits the bill itself), you can spend all your mana on your first main phase, then attack and untap those lands to play more cards to the board post-combat.

The downside is that Shriekwood Devourer costs a whopping seven mana itself. Luckily, with Zimone at the helm, you always have the chance of cheating your big threats into play. Overall, Shriekwood Devourer isn’t an amazing card, but it still has its uses if you have a lot to spend your mana on.

Giggling Skitterspike

Mana Value: 4

Rarity: Rare

Stats: 1/1

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander

Card Text: Indestructible. Whenever Giggling Skitterspike attacks, blocks, or becomes the target of a spell, it deals damage equal to its power to each opponent. 5: Monstrosity 5. (If this creature isn’t monstrous, put five +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes monstrous.)

Giggling Skitterspike is a very funny card. As an Indestructible Toy, it’s rather reminiscent of Stuffy Doll. One of the best ways to abuse Giggling Skitterspike is to suit it up with auras that buff its power. Not only do you get to deal more damage the bigger Giggling Skitterspike is, but each time you cast a spell that targets Giggling Skitterspike, you get to dome each opponent for a bunch of damage.

Imagine casting a Colossification on it. Now, all you need is to target Giggling Skitterspike two more times, and each opponent will take 40+ damage! Thanks to its Indestructible ability, getting blown out by removal with your auras on the stack is much less of a concern. There’s a lot of shenanigans to be had with this card, and we’re excited to see it in action.

Zimone’s Hypothesis

Mana Value: 3UU

Rarity: Rare

MTG Set: Duskmourn Commander.

Card Text: You may put a +1/+1 counter on a creature. Then choose odd or even. Return each creature with power of the chosen quality to its owner’s hand. (Zero is even.)

Last but not least, we have Zimone’s Hypothesis. Zimone’s Hypothesis is an interesting card. The upside of getting to keep your creatures in play and bouncing a ton of your opponents’ creatures is quite high. As you might expect, it’s not always easy to set this card up. The good news, at least, is that in a deck with tons of face-down creatures, many of your creatures are bound to match.

For example, it will likely be very common to name odd with Zimone’s Hypothesis. This way, all your face-down 2/2s stick around. You also get the bonus of being able to put a +1/+1 counter on any creature to mess with its power. Notably, this includes opposing creatures. In the right scenario, Zimone’s Hypothesis can be devastating. It’s no Cyclonic Rift, but that’s ok.

Ultimately, the Jump Scare! Precon has a solid mix of powerful cards and intriguing designs. Some cards, like Disorienting Choice, are a bit underwhelming. On the flip side, though, Zimone is quite strong, and cards like They Came from the Pipes are perfect support pieces. If you’re a fan of Morph and Manifest decks, this Commander Precon should be right up your alley.