@geek593 oooh I disagree man! The exorcist isn't simply pop culture that is an OG horror film. Junji Ito's Hanging Balloons isn't pop culture. I bet most people don't even know that hanging balloons exists. Which is crazy because it is a masterful piece of cosmic horror. I would also say the avatar horror creatures are references to silent hill horror games. Like the sleep paralysis reminds me of the boss asphyxia. We do have a direct jason reference as well as a gremlin one too but a lot of these are deep cuts or reference to things that made one of my favorite genres what it is today.
@@FrostyTheSwoleman junji ito is popular enough to be considered "pop(ular) culture"....... and the exorcist is probably the most known horror movie, and you say it aint pop culture? like come on bro
Also tinfoil hat: i feel like every set this year had cards that felt like UN-cards because they scrapped UN sets and didn’t want to waste the card designs
As a huge horror fan, I feel like this set should be made for me, but it’s a hard pass. The art is all over the place, and it’s like they didn’t even try with the in-universe lore. I mean, there’s a card literally called “acrobatic cheerleader.” Other than a core system, I’m not sure what this game is anymore.
This is close to my opinion as well. Overall, the set seems messy and disorganized. Even the anime art seems so forced and played out at this point. Do we need to pander to weeb weirdos every set?
@@hahahafunniness exactly. It feels especially noticeable coming off of Bloomburrow. Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, BB's art and overall aesthetic was unified and well-executed.
Nothing really. Magic exists to keep Hasbro alive. It's the only thing that keeps them running and they will milk it as much as possible before discarding it. Unfortunately, most players don't really care about the game because they are just in for the ride and not because they are big fans.
Thanks for talking about this. I’m a bit annoyed that a lot of other channels aren’t holding WoTC accountable for how much UB has led to the “tropification” of MTG as the channels get their dream UB crossovers.
So many magic content creators are directly sponsored by wotc, it feels like they are just paid to be positive, I know SO MANY people personally who don’t like UB but online it’s an echo chamber of positivity
As I said in another comment, I feel like the M in MTG now stands for " 'Member? ". Here's a reference for you from The Sopranos: " "Remember when?" is the lowest form of conversation." and references, make no mistake, are the artistic form of "Remember when?". Duskmourn is simply the worst offender yet. Nearly every card is either a cringey winking reference or elbowing you in the ribs while continually asking: "remember that?" Playing a game of EDH these last two years more and more resembles having to look at some overweight neckbeard's Funko Pop collection. My city has a large and healthy EDH community and I can think of exactly *one* person who started playing Magic because of an nostalgia-bait aesthetic or an IP crossover and that one person is really only because her boyfriend plays. This shit doesn't attract new players. People who are IP obsessed collect the shit they want and never play a game most of the time ANND it annoys TF out a a very large portion of the enfranchised players.
My problem with Duskmourn summed up 100%. The "It feels like Universes Beyond with the numbers filed off" thing is weak. A horror set is cool. A "Specifically goofy 80s horror" set is so gimmicky and lame.
It feels like every set this year has been UB. Literally we had clue, Wild West, red wall, and 80s horror. Haven’t had a new magic plane in YEARS (kaldheim?) and been on a magic plane since ixalan
@@Lazydino59 This is the first one that bothered me. If we MUST drag Ravnica kicking and screaming back into relevance, a murder mystery/low politics focus seems like a cool way to do it, and I don't have issue with Thunder Junction or Bloomburrow either. I don't see "Cowboy Set" as any worse than "Ninja Set" or "Greece Set" or "Pirate Set"
@@Merlewhitefire I guess I understand. Ninjas and Greece at least felt before “modern” history, but 80s horror and Wild West imo are just incongruent with fantasy, whereas Greece had myths and ninjas are non-western which adds mythical elements. Bloom burrow is a bit of a stretch, but to me it’s just timing. Bloomburrow in 2017 sure it’s still lame and soft but acceptable, but in the lens of the whirlwind of UB we get nowadays it just hits a little too close to me. But I’ve been playing for 20 years I’m just an old man shouting at the clouds at this point
In the words of Ronnie Coleman, yall smokin crack xD They had Ghostbusters in shadows over innistrad. There's always been memey cards. Also, Atlanak, thrice called is phenomenal in any green reanimator deck
Literally no one would guess Avacynian Missionaries was inspired by (INSPIRED BY, NOT REFERENCING) Ghostbusters had Mark Rosewater not brought it up. That's a major difference. References are fine if you get them but the art needs to speak for itself or else people who don't get the reference will end up confused as to what it's referencing.
There's always been meme cards. Now the entire SET is the meme. That's a HUGE difference. Having two-three cards a set be a joke is entirely different from a set where a majority of them are a joke.
And Nevinyrral's Disk. _Talk about your UN-cards._ Also, we got ninjas and samurai in Kamagawa, Pirates and Dinosaurs in Ixalan, 20's Gangsters in New Capenna, Hammer Horror movies in Innistrad, actual D&D sets, Greek Gods in Theros, more gods and pyramids in Amonkhet, _The_ Arabian Nights, and no human characters at all in Lorwyn. This is not a recent thing. and to limit a multi-planar game to Larry Niven-style fantasy worlds was never going to last if the game itself was to last.
The difference is meme-y cards were like once a year a draft chaff commons. Now it’s just entire sets that are a meme. The game used to have some form of self respect and fantasy integrity
I feel like the issue isn’t the concept of the set but the execution. Neon Dynasty was a departure from the traditional fantasy and most people loved it. For that matter, technically Mirrodin was a departure from the traditional fantasy set up in Magic’s early days. Executed well, it’s well received. Meanwhile planes like New Capenna, Strixhaven, and Thunder Junction have interesting ideas (well maybe not Strixhaven), but are poorly received because WotC makes genre referencing cards like Cement Shoes, Pop Quiz, and High Noon, making it feel less like they wanted a world inspired by a genre and more like they wanted to make cards for the genre and stapled a world on last minute. There’s parts of Duskmourn I love, and those tend to be the original ideas from Duskmourn. Things like the house overtaking the plane, the various critters that hunt the few remaining survivors. I don’t even mind the more eighties-inspired aesthetic most of the time. It’s the outright references to the genre they’re pulling inspiration from like Unwanted Remake or Meathook Massacre II (which is really ironic in the same set as Unwanted Remake).
I feel like a good deal of this is owed to the lack of blocks. I have my issues with the block system, but one thing it did was give an ample amount of time with a plane to flesh out the world and characters. I think that now that they're pumping out six sets a year, switching concepts each time, there isn't time for things to get "ironed out", so to speak - the tropes and references that serve as a basis for a lot of planes (and let's not pretend this is new) don't get warped into something that feels fresh before they get shipped out to production. I hope they either find some way to slow down, or more likely they find their footing in this new environment. Who knows though - maybe Magic's flavor is doomed for good.
@@DoctorWhoBlue I definitely think blocks should come back, but people who want 3 set blocks are crazy. 2 set blocks will allow more breathing room while also not making it suck as badly when they miss the mark. the last Innistrad visit was about what I want from a new block system, the only issue was it didn't quite feel like a true "block" but rather 2 independent sets with similar vibes.
I loved Bloomburrow, as it not only appealed to a wide variety of people with it's artstyle/world but also had easy to understand mechanics to go along with it. Hell, I was able to rope in a few people to draft (Some of which have only watch other people play). As for pretty much everything else released this year, it's kinda just been white noise.
What even is the identity of magic anymore? We have cars, guns and modern pop culture references. Where’s the interesting fantasy based stories and settings?
We've been doing low-fantasy sets for twenty-plus years, so I'm not sure why people are so shocked when Wizards wants to shake things up for a set, or two. The Mirrodin/Phyrexian stuff is basically science fiction, and people love those sets. I understand why people would be taken aback by some of the art direction(the cheerleader you mentioned, for example), but you have to accept that in a game that has a multiverse for it's setting, it's impossible that every Plane we visit is only going to be one type of setting. Also, it's not like these sets are going to be super common, they're just trying new things.
@@_mellosine Science fiction isn't Ghostbusters and Scooby Doo. Mirrodin and Phyrexia were clearly science fiction through the lens of fantasy writers. Duskmourn is horror through the lens of TVTropes editors.
@@_mellosinethe problem is that isn’t a set or two. Bloomburrow is the only standard set that actually felt like it wasn’t just lazy slop referencing a generic pop culture theme this year
Duskmourn is such a absurdly abysmal set. The horror of it is just thinly veiled reference, card design is safe, more random character shoved in because “muh portals”. The “fear of” is the smoking gun in this pile of dulled out weapon.
I like the concept of the house engulfing all the plane and the big demon that feeds on fear, but i don't like the survivors because their 80's aesthetic and their Ghostbusters equipment doesn't really fit with the illustrations for the big monsters like Valgavoth and such. Probably people like them tho, it's a matter of taste. Personally i would have preferred survivors with a WWI or WWII vibe instead of a 80's one
Yeah I like the concept of Valgavoth but isn't he just kind of a rip off of the main villain of Stranger Things? That's what it feels like to me, and I agree the equipment is so stupid. It is so far removed from the game's identity
@xeper9458 eh, they might share DNA but I don't think it's that similar, especially since ST is very sci-fi. It's not like 'corruptive force takes over world' was a new concept anyways. Regarding the equipment, it is indeed terrible. Personally I think they should have gone for a ramshackle, cobbled together look for it, instead of the plastic toys they went with.
@@DoctorWhoBlue I meant that just the whole idea of a powerful demonic being that rules over his own realm seems to be derivative of ST, like Valgavoths creator was inspired by him. That in addition to the whole 80s vibe of the setting and survivors makes me say that. Mixed with Ghostbusters lol
Your complaints about the direction of the game are so in line with mine… it’s nice to know that there are others like me, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills sometimes!
The set is hit or miss for me. Lots of great stuff with the monsters and the toys, like the Jolly Balloon Man and the Lord of Pain, and I actually really like the room mechanic. But I really hate the survivors. Everyone does.
I really like this set, but I get it isn't everyone's thing. Survival is going to be amazing in Katilda, Dawnheart Prime. I have a Katilda deck I was going to take apart. I'm glad I didn't. This mechanic will give it a new coat of paint for sure.
A horror set without Seb McKinnon... The survivors art is so awful. Rooms seem even more gimmicky than sagas did, very parasitic to the set as well. Manifest dread is going to be a lot of nothing interesting, manifest but surveil flavored. Mind skinner is awesome, and good to have a commander in Wanderer now.
I think they did a good job with the commander decks from Duskmourn, I'm a huge fan of the scarecrow commander that makes crows for your opponents, the ooze-making sorcery that can be retraced, and the secret commander that prevents stun counters from being removed
That’s actually pretty cool! I think a lot people are over reacting in all honesty. The flavour may be off but at the least the mechanics seem interesting. Referring to the commander you’re talking about
The “multiple versions of the same commander in the same set” thing, including having versions as face commanders for commander decks, was done in LotR, where it was fairly popular. It is a way to tie the commander decks more closely to the sets. I honestly don’t either like or dislike it.
It worked for LotR because we knew we were most likely never gonna see them again, since it was a universe beyond set. For regular sets, it doesn't feel the same. Unless they plan on never coming back to Duskmourn, which I wouldn't be against.
Old man shouting at the clouds… A++ spot on. Very turned off by the non-MtG/Tolkien-esque non-swords and sorcery themes. I didn’t come to play Dr. Who or Friday the 13th or cowboys.
@@faperito2389every major set release this year has literally not been this case. We are going on a full year since magic felt like the “dark” fantasy people loved it for
When we used to do planes they obviously had a theme, but they also felt like a real world. If we look at innistrad, sure you have your references like Geralf being essentially Frankenstein, but you also get cards like tree of perdition that sells this really cool “the people are monsters too vibe.” I just can’t imagine them doing anything like that in modern magic.
I always appreciate your insight. I've only been playing for 1.5 yrs. When it comes to mechanics like Manifest Dread, I think it's not so much a cop out, but more a making cards viable (perhaps) for standard. To my understanding, they are designing cards with standard rotation in mind. So that mechanic in particular is meant to give more synergy with disguise for Karlovy Manor. I could be wrong, and always like your thoughts.
The wording on untimely malfunction makes it if someone picks 2 targets and one becomes untargetable (shroud etc) the spell fizzles vs an “up to two” rule
Doomsday Excruciator + Crumbling Sanctonary at a point nobody has a Flying creature on the board. Board wipe -> Kaalia the Vast -> Cheat Doomsday Excruciator onto the board, in your next turn you will play Crumbling Sanctionary -> Attack -> He milled his last six cards.
I don't like the aesthetics either and I am so annoyed by the ridiculos pushed card designs they come up with... But since we get a new set like every other week or so I personally started ignoring cards/sets for aesthetic reasons because if I ignore like half of the stuff they print I still get more new content then ever. This is also my solution to the "overwhelming problem". Great video!
I was hoping for a more serious gothic R rated horror theme,a distict contrast to the floofy set previous.instead we got fluro strangerthings kids in headbands grinning through it all like its a no stakes video games or fun house😑
But MAGIC wasn't for everybody, just like how the LOTR movies isnt for everyone. MTG can't grow if they only stay on one path. It's been 30 years of dominating the fantasy tcg space. As an angry old man myself, I love their new approach. My son doesn't understand fantasy, but he's always down to play with his Jurassic Park deck!
@@MrRayRockstar If you're saying that fantasy isn't popular with young people, you're way off I think. YA fantasy sells like crazy and the genre in general is booming.
I hear you, inarguably M:tG has had a sort of a loose core 'Magic Universe' theme. OTOH it isn't like it was ever very special, kinda generic kitchen sink fantasy, that eventually veered into a sort of stable set of super powered characters. Meh. In any case, 2024 certain has seen a fair amount of trad magic releases, Ravnica Remastered, MH3, and soon Foundations. Honestly, Murders and OTJ don't seem wildly divergent, they're just fairly thematic. Put it this way, I started playing at almost the very beginning. The thematics of the game got pretty stale over the years if you ask me! All the Weatherlite whatever whatever endlessness, followed by all the planeswalker drama stuff, it got OLD! Now, that doesn't mean we couldn't have more stuff like Ixalan and certain other more recent sets. But I think I see Bloomburrow in particular as kind of an extension of that idea a bit further. I guess it turns off a few people, OTOH TBH I have seen very little negativity in the places where I play. We all enjoy Bloomburrow. Yup, it is certainly kitsch, but it is only a small fraction of the game.
i can explain the same commanders of valgavoth the precon one was while he was weaker and starting to consume the house the main set one is when he finished and is at his full apex and the mindskinner important note is it saids "a source you control" doesn't have to be combat damage any type of damage will cause everyone to mill so you can have a chandra's ignition go off and they have to mill 30 and green overlord along with the others you can shortcut the impending counters by flickering it or removing the counters with effects or maybe just straight up Solemnity would shortcut it and make it cost 2 less for the creature version not mentioned but i know you hate 5-color commanders but marina is the first 5-color commander in a long time thats not a generic good stuff one and not back breaking or any theme build like the others were, however the bad news is its really just like building Go-shintai life origin, but your switching shrines for rooms. but you still have to build differently anyway. oh TDLR for the bad part just the all but 6 cards demon, and the rest is basically he feels the whole set is UB and also feels the more recent sets feel UB. so i definitely just skipped that part.
Oh I love this set, the lands the alt art, the foils, it's just more of a standard set than a commander set. It is a lot healthy for longevity of the game to not 100% commander set.
Even as a player who enjoys UB, I can understand why “traditional” Magic fans are turned off by current set themes. However, one thing I don’t hear these people say out loud or acknowledge is that the standard format is very healthy and the game play mechanics introduced from set to set jell together well for not having traditional blocks as of years past. A healthy standard format is good for all formats, IMO. (And yes, I understand this is an EDH channel - one of my favorites too). So design is strong, IMO, however I can understand why some would find issue with the aesthetic. Don’t get me wrong! Art is a huge part of what drew me into MtG (pun intended). For me, I can look past that because collecting and exploring old cards is one of the main reasons I watch Demo. But I won’t lie, I’m out here committing crimes and having a good ol time brother! Because I ain’t afraid of no ghost 👻
This is 100% something I'm glad to see from WotC - they've done a good job of seeding themes for future sets into current releases, and giving some backwards compatibility. It really helps with cohesion and makes deckbuilding, especially for 60 card formats, way easier.
With how close these set releases are, Duskmourn must have been pretty much done already when Bloomburrow came out. Whatever the repercussions are, we'll see in the sets they're designing right now
@@TheAlienEntity It's fair to say the earliest they'll be able to shift away from Karlov Manor's abysmal reception is the set after whatever the hell "Death Race" is. They lock in the themes and commission art pretty early on in the design process so Duskmourn was probably mostly completed before Karlov Manor came out and proved how poorly the community reacts to these kinds of "UB but not really" sets.
As a huge fan of facedowns, I’ve already brewed a new deck based entirely off Manifest Dread (in esper) and have made a list of a bunch of cards I need to buy once preorders go away. Set might not be a slam dunk for flavor or setting, but it’s looking to be fun mechanically… and at the end of the day, that’s all I care about. Plus, I’ve heard that the limited environment might be pretty good. Not an expert on that one, but that sounds nice.
I like his last point. For example, I saw a video of someone opening someone's collection they were selling. It was 90% LotR. Guy basically bought cards and learned to play, then dropped the game. Great marketing strategy.
Never had more interest whiplash set to set than Bloomburrow -> Duskmourn and the shorter turnaround doesn't help Nice video, good review Ive been a hater in other comment sections for sure, but the modal video was spot on in my opinion, way too many people trying to play Sublime Ephinay and such and its usually rotting in hand. This new red one mightbbe fine because protection is pretty handy in monored, but generally i agree, especially the ones that cost 3+
Cards are again pushed and power crept (Enduring cycle for example), the theme is silly when it should be scary and again we have too many products. I just get a few singles yet again and don't even care anymore beyond that.
As I've really appreciated Duskmourn and recent WotC narrative approach upon the last sets, I fully understand your point of view, really man, that's a bliss you're taking the time to explain your critique! It helps a person like me to reconsider my own critique, and truly split up the enthusiastic part (as an old Commander player) and the "Is it really relevant WotC goes forth that direction?" part, which is a way of thought I'm trying to keep track on. Thanks again for your critique ~
What do you like about their approach? Personally I feel that Magic's narrative has always been so-so, and has only declined since War of the Spark. Curious for another perspective.
@@DoctorWhoBlue Despite the inherent so-so quality of the narrative, I was very very very bored by the Gatewatch // Zendikari // Bolas arc, cause I was wondering: "Do they finally make Bolas win or else?", I was more enthralled by the gameplay and filled with a lore-fatigue when a Gatewatch member spots on (my culmination point of boredom was the coreset centered on Chandra) so i'm fond of their idea to put the spotlight on *legendary creatures*, as Kellan, Mabel, Helga or Nashi - very recently. I'm obviously biased by the fact I'm a Commander player only, but I think the story conveys more intensity with protags who cannot planeswalk. In fact, the planeswalk power is a very powerful ability, and sometimes is exploited with commitmen; but as you've said it, it is a bit "so-so". Sometimes we have good material (Ixalan and the Immortal Sun, which traps walkers in the plane) but otherwise we have Jace, and Liliana, and Tezzeret who are always fleeing their fate, they can't go on an end at all, that's frustrating. I do believe refocus the narrative among inhabitants of planes: legendary creatures, or just creatures, "un-Marvel" the main storyline of the narrative. It sounds good to me. My entourage (recent Commander players) are more interested in little stories, connected by tiny threads one with another than a big conflict with a bunch of characters skulking in the game for 20 years and always being stuck in their quirks (Jace is a basic fboy, Chandra is bold and always angry... that's a grotesque caricature, but I do believe you have the gist of my point) Thanks for asking!
You really nailed it on the "but we couldn't get the IP" and just the entire take of "every set is designed with a niche audience in mind". I still enjoy *the game* but the aesthetic value is out the f'ing window. There was a joke/ meme going around when TWD x Secret Lair was first announced of MTG turning into "I block your Gandalf with my Spider-Man" and not only is that joke going to be real life by this time last year, it's actually going to be worse. Whenever someone plays a F'ing Street Fighter or Transformers or whatever as their Commander I kind of just feel like telling them to f'k off.
It's very hit or miss. The Overlords are incredibly cool, especially the green and black ones, but the majority of the survivor's designs are atrocious.
I think this set is far more cheesy than even the detectives or cowboys, they had shoe horned genre references on creatures etc, this set has full on specific pop culture references for creatures, we have universes beyond for that stuff. It’s very member berries from South Park. Albeit I do kinda want the balloon guy ha and I love Tyvar but he’s wearing a bum bag which is ridiculous so going to have to try and get the alt art.
As a long time player here as well I wholeheartedly agree with most of your views and the direction that magic is going. Especially not really liking any sets so far this year.
As much as i dislike the rabbit-hole our game is spiralling down, you can't deny the health of the format right now. My LGS is fuller than it has ever been this year, sales are through the roof, events are sold out, Commander nights are full house, new Pre-Con's move like wildfire. Standard has become a thing again. Single's prices are sky-rocketing faster than usual, and well higher than usual gains. There is HEAPS more competition online with auctions. Good RL cards rarely sell for under market value. Since Prof hit 1mill, he already has 50k more subscriber's to his channel. Again, although i am less than happy with this game's direction, this game is THUMPING along, and probably more popular than it has ever been. We are the vocal minority on RUclips.
Hey Demo. I would be curious to see what is or may be your best MTG set. Since lately the designs seems a bit more goofy and less MTG-esque, what was in your opinion one of the best sets and why. I appreciate that you are vocal about what you like as much as what you dont and I'd love to get your input on this. Peace.
The concept of Duskmourn is great with the horror theme. The execution of Duskmourn is sorely lacking because WOTC took movie IPs that had ghouls and ghosts and zombies and tried to make them scary when the movies were intentionally not meant to be scary. I will only be buying a handful of cards from the set because they fit really well into my existing decks.
I also only have my eye on 2 cards.... the stranger things/ghost buster stuff doesn't resonate. Definitely agree with your take on the sets for this year. I thought the biggest upside to Bloomburrow was that at least it was a return to actual Fantasy and not this other stuff. Love your videos!
one or two target instead of up to two target - reason for this is to deny it being cast without at least one target, otherwise you could target nothing. not like you would in 99% of scenarios, but maybe there isnt a positive option available and you got some cards that benefit you on casting spells, whether it be storm or guttersnipe or the like. i see it as just a really mild but added restriction to cast. havent read the comments so it might have already been addressed
I really like the doomsday excruciator. First off, it'll mostly be played at or around turn 6 in mono black and much later when you add more colors to the deck, which is probably enough time for most players to have built up a board presence. Second off, you can still last 6 MORE turns and if someone isn't close to winning past turn 12 then I dunno what's going on. Lastly, you don't have to cast it from your hand. I can see a lot of people reanimating this just for the extra upkeep trigger and the 6/6 flying body. All that being said, I can definitely see a lot of players getting angry when this gets cast lol.
My problem with Duskmourn is 80's fashion hiphip and Aliens and I agree with all you said in video. Mtg become more and more like Fortnite each day. Imagine they pulled shit like that in older magic set, people will make fun of it. And it really show, as you can see, they keep going back to old lore in the non-UB non-standard set beocs these modern mtg are too busy chasing other ip gimmick.
I actually like the set, theme and mechanic-wise. My problem is with the powercreep. Similar sentiment to a video you made awhile back, sets like this make me feel like I'm chasing FOMO instead of just picking up new tech here & there.
Entitled Commander Player opinions forgetting other formats exist. Oh they are doing mechanics that are similar to other mechanics. Thats lazy design and definitely not trying to make more functiobal archetypes in standard environments. Oh this removal spell is lazy design, definitely not a necessary piece to make limited function better. So annoying.
i think wotc realized that making cards for standard was a silly idea since it's constantly rotating. okay so you're making a card that people will only want to play for a couple years until it rotates out of standard? that makes no sense.
One counter argument to your take on manifest dread with the "we already did cloaking this year". Yeah, we had one set that had face down creatures and there is still at least some amount of design space put into standard. We had a fair number of cards in mkm that cared about facedown cards as well as turning things face-up, but there really aren't enough pieces in a single set to make an archetype like that work so this just helps bolster that, I would in fact expect there would be another set in the next two or three that has another facedown creature mechanic
They also had decent cards for Mice, Rats, and Rabbits in WOE, alongside expandable enchantments - planning ahead for Bloomburrow and Duskmorne. This is one thing I will give WotC props on in their design lately.
listen again. manifest dread is a lazy design. not the actual card. maybe the next set they can come out with manifest dreader, where you look at the top 3 and put 1 face down into play.
@@edhdeckbuildingthey got way too many morph types. Sometimes they have ward, sometimes they can be turned face up for mana costs, etc. morph always felt clunky in paper but playing against them nowadays in paper feels like an absolute chore.
I think you're entitled to your opinion. But I love this set. The art is top notch. I will say I was expecting a bit more from the retro horror icon references, so thats a bit of a let down. But otherwise Im really digging it. Commander player and box cracker/collector a little over a year into mtg.
The dilution of mtg theme is par for the course now, as commander has done the same to it mechanically, as well as secret lair to the collectibility. I enjoy speculating and selling cards more than the game now, and have taken up more modern tcgs for cleaner playing and focused theme.
Two conjectures that I think are pretty accurate to how WoTC thought they could sell sets like this: 1. There are people in this world who have never touched magic but would buy one set because they really like the aesthetic, and will probably never buy cards again after that, and there are enough of those people that it makes WoTC more money to cater to them every set rather than the established playerbase. 2. There are enough established players that will still buy the set for mechanical reasons such that making hyper-specific-genre sets won't lose WoTC enough players or sales to care. Or, at least, I think this might be what they were thinking when they were making the sets. However, I don't think it panned out like they thought it would. If I recall correctly, some of the genre sets earlier this year sold pretty terribly, and if that's the case, then that probably means in roughly 1-2 years we'll start getting less of these kinds of sets, because that'll be the lag between receiving feedback and the sets that will come out when they can actually implement corrections. But until then, we might get a few more of them because they're too far into development to change. Ultimately, it seems like WoTC isn't just trying to make "sets for magic players" anymore; their business model has shifted so much outward and towards getting people who have never bought magic to buy magic because they feel secure enough that the established players will keep buying regardless, and so they focus on growing the scope of buyers rather than maintaining the core of buyers.
First few cards I saw in reviews had great art and the flavor texts got me excited as well. I bought a box. I am more excited for this set than I was for Bloomburrough. Those spear wielding, animals with their over the top, cute aesthetics can suck it.
In defence of Doomsday Excruciator, 6 turns is a long time. Even if you ramp this out on turn 4, that still means the game goes for 10 turns, which is pretty typical nowadays. I think it's a cool, unique card that would make for an interesting game experience :)
The main thing I dislike about this set is it has a very chaos feel to it. If you’re not going to win, there are a lot of king maker cards where you just take a player of your choice out of the game or maybe just throw the entire game under the bus.
I like getting a little wacky, and having a UFO for my vehicle deck is fun. But. But this isn't Innistrad. This is a horror pastiche, not a fully formed world.
Completely agree about the aesthetic complaint. I just have no interest in this set at all. And on top of that, regardless of the horror theme which I dislike, I find the art style in general completely off-putting so I guess I'll just be doing something else the next couple of weekends while people do pre-release/release stuff. Oh well my wallet breathes easy for a while.
Feels to me that WotC is doing the same error we are seeing everywhere in videogames and tv shows; trying to expand their market not caring about alienating the fans and hoping that they will remain loyal to the product whatever what. I won't.
it's interesting that you complain about the theming of the set which i don't love but isn't the end of the world, the thing that really pisses me off is the power creep, theres at least 5 or 6 cards i can name offhand that are STRICTLY BETTER than iconic, relevant cards that are already used, the 'enduring' cycle is the most obvious but there's other cards that are doing this. power creep is somewhat inevitable but printing strictly better versions of classic cards for no reason reeks to me of poor forethought for the games future, and a desire to cash grab and make the set desirable to people even if they dislike the theme because 'well i need these rares for commander because they're strictly better/a redundant copy of an already powerful effect'.
I like about 30-40% of the set. Commanders like Jolly Balloon Man and Lord of Pain are very interesting and look fun. Really, Jolly Balloon should have been a precon face commander. I am so very tired of Simic precons generally. But overall some cool creatures in Boros, which helps me with my favorite 3 color, Jeskai. Nico is cool too for the lack of a sorcery clause. I think a lot of cards in this set are just flat out stupid, especially in 20 life formats. Theyre actively designing for Commander, and hey okay cool, but standard and modern just keep getting rocked.
I don' think you're crazy for disliking the set. Bloomburrow appealed to a lot of folks, I was happy for them but personally indifferent. If UB was the only place they did set for "specific" groups, that would be how I would leverage that product. Hopefully in the future they will get back to "regular" sets steeped in Magic lore.
I really like some of the cards. I'm pretty Gothic, and this feels almost insulting in a number of ways.... That being said, I am very excited about specific cards made for standard. The power level is no longer at a power creep. "This is clearly not healthy for the game".
As someone who came over from Hearthstone, I don’t mind the jokes and the puns and the real world references, but then again, maybe that’s the issue for some people. Magic has become Hearthstone-ified.
IDK, the complaints about Magic losing it's identity is tired to me. People started with that back when Arabian Nights came out. The real issue is that the power creep and the number of keyword abilities is increasing hyperbolically. I think people are misplacing their dissatisfaction with the state of the game on the theming just because it's the most visible element.
@@edhdeckbuilding If you think Magic has (in any possible way) moved away from folklore, fables, and myths then you genuinely don't know what you are talking about. Magic's core identity has been these stories from day one. Art, story lines, themes and abilities from Limited Edition to The Weatherlight saga to now are all drenched in elements, characters, and stories directly lifted from 1,001 Arabian Nights and other similar works like the Jason and Argonauts or Journey to the West. The ONLY difference with Arabian Nights was that they admitted what it was. And while this new set is one of the more blatant examples, Magic has also always reference more modern works of fiction, too. Quite a few of the cards you have talked up on this channel are prime examples of this. Like Fain, the Broker who's name, art, and abilities are all openly a reference to Padan Fain, a character from The Wheel of Time (a massively popular book series that ended just 3 years before Stranger Things aired) who is a merchant that creates monsters out of his shadows and makes deals to move the levers of power behind the scenes. And this isn't even the first set with higher tech, either. The Weatherlight Saga (just like every other Phyrexian arc) is full on science fiction, just with knights and demons and so on thrown into the mix. I'm not saying people have to like the flavor of the new set, I don't care for it myself, but the idea that this isn't what Magic's identity has always been is just objectively incorrect, and frankly a little silly. The themes of Magic sets have always been little more than classic works with the serial numbers filed off or a handful of contemporary IPs smashed together.
They've had face commander characters in the main set before. Lord of the Rings and Brothers War. Both have simular reasons with haveing multiple cards of the same character. Mostly to show growth of the character.
I've said it a few times, but i really think that the creative and design teams need more time to cook. Like, if Bloomburrow, MH3, and Duskmourn were the only releases this year, I have to imagine things would be more fleshed out, less half-baked. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but who knows.
When it comes to the aesthetic I kind of agree but also disagree. There are some cards that I LOVE the aesthetic of, and some of the more obscure references to things are great (the Overlord enchantment creatures, Valgavoth, the glimmer creatures, some of the more abstract horror creatures like twitching doll or whatever it was), but they definitely went a bit too far with some of the more reference cards or the ones that lean a bit too hard into '80s horror' theme that actually references tech from the 80s... you know.... like the dude wearing high tops in Came Back Wrong... I wish they really leaned more into the horror motifs on a more abstract level and not as on the nose with things you mentioned like piggy bank. Hell, if they had use some of the art on the schemes for ACTUAL cards instead of some of the more jokey/too on the nose "hey aren't we clever guys, obvious pun or visual gag hardy har har" type cards. I mean seriously, just look at the schemes and that is where the art direction for this set absolutely KILLS it.
The set feels like MTG being bent to fit into 80's horror when 80's horror should of been bent to fit MTG. Because of that iit makes it feel at least to me this set, others from this year, & upcoming sets, are made as a way to try and get people to shut up about Universe's Betond not fitting MTG.
So I have to say I think you are severally under estimating how good 2 mana 2 things can't block is. As someone who likes voltron or stompies sometimes you just don't have the trample and someone has legit 1 single annoying ahh deathtoucher or double/first striker. Telling someone "Hey that dude cant block." Can force some hard decision on an opponent. Also telling someone X creature/s can't block is a really good politicing piece. Since this is an instant you can help someone elses creature get through to kill a problematic player. Same way one of my buddies usues Beserk to pump someone else's creature to have them kill people who chump block (except beserk also kills the creature swinging). With doomsday that card is wild af. The one thing I want to point out to a lot of people who may have missed it is it isn't just a cast trigger like cascade. So that can be 1 thing that kinda helps. Lmao
I mean, this is 2024. We haven't had a decent horror film since the turn of the century. People think a jumpscare and showing blood on screen makes it a horror movie. What kinda awful cards do you expect based on that? I will say I disagree on Excruciator Demon, but that's simply because I'm a terrible person and like watching my opponents get frustrated. Also, this set is all about the world being engulfed by a house of horrors. Where is the land destruction? Give me back my beloved MLD WotC. [/old man with cane rant]
Valgvoth, terror eater is like Dauthi voidwalker and bolas citadel had a baby 😂, not a fan of it as a commander, but as a mid to late game drop that you have in the 99 it seems like a fun card to have. Also having him in the 99 enables things like entomb into reanimate to get him out super early for cheap, imagine getting the magical hand and dropping him on turn 2 before anyone even has 3 permanents to target him, he’s gonna be scary and atleast stick around for a little while before anyone is willing to target him lol
i was discussing this with friends of mine and it feels like two people designed this set off the principle of “make a horror set” but didn’t collaborate with each other at all, one person made a claustrophobic haunted manor then the other a 80s horror spoof then they just smacked them together
To me it feels like they wanted to do another Theros set (Eerie is pretty much Constellation) and another Innistrad set (Delirium) but couldn’t find a compelling reason to do it so instead they mixed those two together, added a modern setting and called it Duskmourn. I don’t love it or hate it. Some cards are neat, the art is all over the place. We couldn’t be further away from original magic setting though.
Innistrad was horror themed.
Duskmourn is horror movie theme park themed.
Duskmourn seems like it was made by theater kids who only know horror from pop culture and TVTropes pages.
@@geek593 This is Hasbro's evil inflence corrupting the game. They are treating it like a toy but it's a collectible trading card game!
@geek593 oooh I disagree man! The exorcist isn't simply pop culture that is an OG horror film. Junji Ito's Hanging Balloons isn't pop culture. I bet most people don't even know that hanging balloons exists. Which is crazy because it is a masterful piece of cosmic horror.
I would also say the avatar horror creatures are references to silent hill horror games. Like the sleep paralysis reminds me of the boss asphyxia. We do have a direct jason reference as well as a gremlin one too but a lot of these are deep cuts or reference to things that made one of my favorite genres what it is today.
@@FrostyTheSwoleman junji ito is popular enough to be considered "pop(ular) culture"....... and the exorcist is probably the most known horror movie, and you say it aint pop culture? like come on bro
@@FrostyTheSwoleman It's still shallow and referential. Even if there's a couple of references to excellent media it's still shallow.
Also tinfoil hat: i feel like every set this year had cards that felt like UN-cards because they scrapped UN sets and didn’t want to waste the card designs
agree. they made uncards black bordered and then just started sticking them in every set.
Yeah like Nevinyrral's Disk. 😉
I share the exact same theory.
As a huge horror fan, I feel like this set should be made for me, but it’s a hard pass. The art is all over the place, and it’s like they didn’t even try with the in-universe lore. I mean, there’s a card literally called “acrobatic cheerleader.” Other than a core system, I’m not sure what this game is anymore.
This is close to my opinion as well. Overall, the set seems messy and disorganized. Even the anime art seems so forced and played out at this point. Do we need to pander to weeb weirdos every set?
@@hahahafunniness exactly. It feels especially noticeable coming off of Bloomburrow. Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, BB's art and overall aesthetic was unified and well-executed.
Nothing really. Magic exists to keep Hasbro alive. It's the only thing that keeps them running and they will milk it as much as possible before discarding it. Unfortunately, most players don't really care about the game because they are just in for the ride and not because they are big fans.
They should have done a folk horror kind of approach. Clowns ugh that shit is ugly!
The actual lore of Duskmourn is pretty cool and decently compelling. It just doesn't show through in the set itself.
Thanks for talking about this. I’m a bit annoyed that a lot of other channels aren’t holding WoTC accountable for how much UB has led to the “tropification” of MTG as the channels get their dream UB crossovers.
So many magic content creators are directly sponsored by wotc, it feels like they are just paid to be positive, I know SO MANY people personally who don’t like UB but online it’s an echo chamber of positivity
Duskmourn is 50/50 between actually cool horror and subtle references and absolute over the top.
As I said in another comment, I feel like the M in MTG now stands for " 'Member? ".
Here's a reference for you from The Sopranos: " "Remember when?" is the lowest form of conversation." and references, make no mistake, are the artistic form of "Remember when?". Duskmourn is simply the worst offender yet. Nearly every card is either a cringey winking reference or elbowing you in the ribs while continually asking: "remember that?"
Playing a game of EDH these last two years more and more resembles having to look at some overweight neckbeard's Funko Pop collection.
My city has a large and healthy EDH community and I can think of exactly *one* person who started playing Magic because of an nostalgia-bait aesthetic or an IP crossover and that one person is really only because her boyfriend plays.
This shit doesn't attract new players. People who are IP obsessed collect the shit they want and never play a game most of the time ANND it annoys TF out a a very large portion of the enfranchised players.
Agreed, except about references being "subtle". Most are so heavy-handed it's a bit embarassing.
My problem with Duskmourn summed up 100%.
The "It feels like Universes Beyond with the numbers filed off" thing is weak. A horror set is cool. A "Specifically goofy 80s horror" set is so gimmicky and lame.
No Igor Kieryluk art no buy. How did they go from some of the best modern horror artwork to pug-faced cheerleaders vaulting over nondescript ghouls?
It feels like every set this year has been UB. Literally we had clue, Wild West, red wall, and 80s horror. Haven’t had a new magic plane in YEARS (kaldheim?) and been on a magic plane since ixalan
@@Lazydino59 This is the first one that bothered me. If we MUST drag Ravnica kicking and screaming back into relevance, a murder mystery/low politics focus seems like a cool way to do it, and I don't have issue with Thunder Junction or Bloomburrow either.
I don't see "Cowboy Set" as any worse than "Ninja Set" or "Greece Set" or "Pirate Set"
@@Merlewhitefire I guess I understand. Ninjas and Greece at least felt before “modern” history, but 80s horror and Wild West imo are just incongruent with fantasy, whereas Greece had myths and ninjas are non-western which adds mythical elements. Bloom burrow is a bit of a stretch, but to me it’s just timing. Bloomburrow in 2017 sure it’s still lame and soft but acceptable, but in the lens of the whirlwind of UB we get nowadays it just hits a little too close to me. But I’ve been playing for 20 years I’m just an old man shouting at the clouds at this point
In the words of Ronnie Coleman, yall smokin crack xD
They had Ghostbusters in shadows over innistrad.
There's always been memey cards.
Also, Atlanak, thrice called is phenomenal in any green reanimator deck
Literally no one would guess Avacynian Missionaries was inspired by (INSPIRED BY, NOT REFERENCING) Ghostbusters had Mark Rosewater not brought it up. That's a major difference. References are fine if you get them but the art needs to speak for itself or else people who don't get the reference will end up confused as to what it's referencing.
There's always been meme cards. Now the entire SET is the meme. That's a HUGE difference. Having two-three cards a set be a joke is entirely different from a set where a majority of them are a joke.
And Nevinyrral's Disk. _Talk about your UN-cards._
Also, we got ninjas and samurai in Kamagawa, Pirates and Dinosaurs in Ixalan, 20's Gangsters in New Capenna, Hammer Horror movies in Innistrad, actual D&D sets, Greek Gods in Theros, more gods and pyramids in Amonkhet, _The_ Arabian Nights, and no human characters at all in Lorwyn. This is not a recent thing. and to limit a multi-planar game to Larry Niven-style fantasy worlds was never going to last if the game itself was to last.
The difference is meme-y cards were like once a year a draft chaff commons. Now it’s just entire sets that are a meme. The game used to have some form of self respect and fantasy integrity
Anyone else feel like the flavour of MTG has become what the people who teased me for playing it thought it was?
OUCH. yeah I'm afraid you are right. Hadn't even thought of that
@chrisbenson6753 What is the tagline?
The friendless weird kids who got bullied in school in 2005 are now the people in charge of the gaming industry.
I feel like the issue isn’t the concept of the set but the execution. Neon Dynasty was a departure from the traditional fantasy and most people loved it. For that matter, technically Mirrodin was a departure from the traditional fantasy set up in Magic’s early days. Executed well, it’s well received. Meanwhile planes like New Capenna, Strixhaven, and Thunder Junction have interesting ideas (well maybe not Strixhaven), but are poorly received because WotC makes genre referencing cards like Cement Shoes, Pop Quiz, and High Noon, making it feel less like they wanted a world inspired by a genre and more like they wanted to make cards for the genre and stapled a world on last minute. There’s parts of Duskmourn I love, and those tend to be the original ideas from Duskmourn. Things like the house overtaking the plane, the various critters that hunt the few remaining survivors. I don’t even mind the more eighties-inspired aesthetic most of the time. It’s the outright references to the genre they’re pulling inspiration from like Unwanted Remake or Meathook Massacre II (which is really ironic in the same set as Unwanted Remake).
I feel like a good deal of this is owed to the lack of blocks. I have my issues with the block system, but one thing it did was give an ample amount of time with a plane to flesh out the world and characters.
I think that now that they're pumping out six sets a year, switching concepts each time, there isn't time for things to get "ironed out", so to speak - the tropes and references that serve as a basis for a lot of planes (and let's not pretend this is new) don't get warped into something that feels fresh before they get shipped out to production.
I hope they either find some way to slow down, or more likely they find their footing in this new environment. Who knows though - maybe Magic's flavor is doomed for good.
@@DoctorWhoBlue I definitely think blocks should come back, but people who want 3 set blocks are crazy. 2 set blocks will allow more breathing room while also not making it suck as badly when they miss the mark. the last Innistrad visit was about what I want from a new block system, the only issue was it didn't quite feel like a true "block" but rather 2 independent sets with similar vibes.
I loved Bloomburrow, as it not only appealed to a wide variety of people with it's artstyle/world but also had easy to understand mechanics to go along with it. Hell, I was able to rope in a few people to draft (Some of which have only watch other people play).
As for pretty much everything else released this year, it's kinda just been white noise.
What even is the identity of magic anymore? We have cars, guns and modern pop culture references. Where’s the interesting fantasy based stories and settings?
The identity is cool core stuff being superseded and painted over by shitty referential millennial quirkiness.
We've been doing low-fantasy sets for twenty-plus years, so I'm not sure why people are so shocked when Wizards wants to shake things up for a set, or two. The Mirrodin/Phyrexian stuff is basically science fiction, and people love those sets. I understand why people would be taken aback by some of the art direction(the cheerleader you mentioned, for example), but you have to accept that in a game that has a multiverse for it's setting, it's impossible that every Plane we visit is only going to be one type of setting. Also, it's not like these sets are going to be super common, they're just trying new things.
@@_mellosine Science fiction isn't Ghostbusters and Scooby Doo. Mirrodin and Phyrexia were clearly science fiction through the lens of fantasy writers. Duskmourn is horror through the lens of TVTropes editors.
@@_mellosinethe problem is that isn’t a set or two. Bloomburrow is the only standard set that actually felt like it wasn’t just lazy slop referencing a generic pop culture theme this year
@@_mellosine just saying something is science fiction doesn’t mean anything. Mirrodin was very unique and fit well within the world of magic.
Duskmourn is such a absurdly abysmal set. The horror of it is just thinly veiled reference, card design is safe, more random character shoved in because “muh portals”. The “fear of” is the smoking gun in this pile of dulled out weapon.
the fact Bloomburrow got shafted with a shorter release time for this slop is the biggest disgrace of all
I like the concept of the house engulfing all the plane and the big demon that feeds on fear, but i don't like the survivors because their 80's aesthetic and their Ghostbusters equipment doesn't really fit with the illustrations for the big monsters like Valgavoth and such.
Probably people like them tho, it's a matter of taste. Personally i would have preferred survivors with a WWI or WWII vibe instead of a 80's one
Yeah I like the concept of Valgavoth but isn't he just kind of a rip off of the main villain of Stranger Things? That's what it feels like to me, and I agree the equipment is so stupid. It is so far removed from the game's identity
@@xeper9458 I don't know about Stranger Things, i haven't seen the show
@@liviocamerini9585 Oh ok well please take my word for it then and if you get the chance check the show out it's quite interesting
@xeper9458 eh, they might share DNA but I don't think it's that similar, especially since ST is very sci-fi. It's not like 'corruptive force takes over world' was a new concept anyways.
Regarding the equipment, it is indeed terrible. Personally I think they should have gone for a ramshackle, cobbled together look for it, instead of the plastic toys they went with.
@@DoctorWhoBlue I meant that just the whole idea of a powerful demonic being that rules over his own realm seems to be derivative of ST, like Valgavoths creator was inspired by him. That in addition to the whole 80s vibe of the setting and survivors makes me say that. Mixed with Ghostbusters lol
Your complaints about the direction of the game are so in line with mine… it’s nice to know that there are others like me, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills sometimes!
I wanted horror movie stuff, we got scooby doo. This is my beef with it.
Haha yup! It’s like a boggart after you’ve hit it with the “ridikulus”
Too right bro, scooby doo, goosebumps and movie references. That sums up this set
They should have given us a slasher commander
Agreed. Scooby do mixed with Stranger things and Ghostbusters.
I would think a scooby doo set would have been better than this one. lol
Fear of Missing Out is still the most ironic card I think Wotc has ever printed, considering their practices with removing MSRP and Secret Lairs...
Bloomburrow also has a card called "Cache grab"
The set is hit or miss for me. Lots of great stuff with the monsters and the toys, like the Jolly Balloon Man and the Lord of Pain, and I actually really like the room mechanic. But I really hate the survivors. Everyone does.
Yup the survivors and the stupid ghost hunting equipment is the epitome of cringe
I really like this set, but I get it isn't everyone's thing.
Survival is going to be amazing in Katilda, Dawnheart Prime. I have a Katilda deck I was going to take apart. I'm glad I didn't. This mechanic will give it a new coat of paint for sure.
A horror set without Seb McKinnon...
The survivors art is so awful. Rooms seem even more gimmicky than sagas did, very parasitic to the set as well. Manifest dread is going to be a lot of nothing interesting, manifest but surveil flavored. Mind skinner is awesome, and good to have a commander in Wanderer now.
No Igor Kieryluk either.
Haven't noticed any Nils Hamm either, him and Seb would have crushed this set.
I think they did a good job with the commander decks from Duskmourn, I'm a huge fan of the scarecrow commander that makes crows for your opponents, the ooze-making sorcery that can be retraced, and the secret commander that prevents stun counters from being removed
That’s actually pretty cool!
I think a lot people are over reacting in all honesty. The flavour may be off but at the least the mechanics seem interesting. Referring to the commander you’re talking about
The glimmers can be exiled then the die trigger doesn’t happen and they don’t come back as an enchantment something to consider
The “multiple versions of the same commander in the same set” thing, including having versions as face commanders for commander decks, was done in LotR, where it was fairly popular. It is a way to tie the commander decks more closely to the sets. I honestly don’t either like or dislike it.
It also happened in Brother's War. There were like 4 different Urzas and 4 different Mishras.
It worked for LotR because we knew we were most likely never gonna see them again, since it was a universe beyond set. For regular sets, it doesn't feel the same. Unless they plan on never coming back to Duskmourn, which I wouldn't be against.
Old man shouting at the clouds… A++ spot on. Very turned off by the non-MtG/Tolkien-esque non-swords and sorcery themes. I didn’t come to play Dr. Who or Friday the 13th or cowboys.
Yep agreed
There are plenty of sets for people that want the classic old themes tho!
@@faperito2389 no there aren’t
@@faperito2389every major set release this year has literally not been this case. We are going on a full year since magic felt like the “dark” fantasy people loved it for
When we used to do planes they obviously had a theme, but they also felt like a real world.
If we look at innistrad, sure you have your references like Geralf being essentially Frankenstein, but you also get cards like tree of perdition that sells this really cool “the people are monsters too vibe.” I just can’t imagine them doing anything like that in modern magic.
I always appreciate your insight. I've only been playing for 1.5 yrs. When it comes to mechanics like Manifest Dread, I think it's not so much a cop out, but more a making cards viable (perhaps) for standard. To my understanding, they are designing cards with standard rotation in mind. So that mechanic in particular is meant to give more synergy with disguise for Karlovy Manor. I could be wrong, and always like your thoughts.
The wording on untimely malfunction makes it if someone picks 2 targets and one becomes untargetable (shroud etc) the spell fizzles vs an “up to two” rule
Doomsday Excruciator + Crumbling Sanctonary at a point nobody has a Flying creature on the board.
Board wipe -> Kaalia the Vast -> Cheat Doomsday Excruciator onto the board, in your next turn you will play Crumbling Sanctionary -> Attack -> He milled his last six cards.
I don't like the aesthetics either and I am so annoyed by the ridiculos pushed card designs they come up with...
But since we get a new set like every other week or so I personally started ignoring cards/sets for aesthetic reasons because if I ignore like half of the stuff they print I still get more new content then ever. This is also my solution to the "overwhelming problem".
Great video!
I really dont like manifest dread. Not a huge fan either but i like quite a bit of cards, especially the overlords.
Yeah I don’t like it either. Can’t see it being that good. Kinda niche. Delirium isn’t my favorite either
I'm personally a fan of the Oculus and that one RB enchantment. I'm planning on trying a manifest/cloak strategy based around them and Cryptic Cloak.
I was hoping for a more serious gothic R rated horror theme,a distict contrast to the floofy set previous.instead we got fluro strangerthings kids in headbands grinning through it all like its a no stakes video games or fun house😑
I love everything about it.
i found one!
@edhdeckbuilding it great, actually.
But MAGIC wasn't for everybody, just like how the LOTR movies isnt for everyone. MTG can't grow if they only stay on one path. It's been 30 years of dominating the fantasy tcg space. As an angry old man myself, I love their new approach. My son doesn't understand fantasy, but he's always down to play with his Jurassic Park deck!
Fantasy is incredibly popular with young audiences the dilution of the setting is nonsensical
@@Jack958 no it's not.
@@MrRayRockstar If you're saying that fantasy isn't popular with young people, you're way off I think. YA fantasy sells like crazy and the genre in general is booming.
@@DoctorWhoBlue any examples I might know?
@@DoctorWhoBlue I wonder what percent of YA fantasy is actually bought by YA though lmao
Doomsday excruiciator i think is amazing in kaalia because it ognore the exile libary since youre not casting so that upkeep is jsut pure upside
I'm a new player, what is a "UN" card???
so they used to have essentially joke sets, that were silver-bordered and not tournament (or commander) legal. try goggling "unhinged".
I hear you, inarguably M:tG has had a sort of a loose core 'Magic Universe' theme. OTOH it isn't like it was ever very special, kinda generic kitchen sink fantasy, that eventually veered into a sort of stable set of super powered characters. Meh. In any case, 2024 certain has seen a fair amount of trad magic releases, Ravnica Remastered, MH3, and soon Foundations. Honestly, Murders and OTJ don't seem wildly divergent, they're just fairly thematic.
Put it this way, I started playing at almost the very beginning. The thematics of the game got pretty stale over the years if you ask me! All the Weatherlite whatever whatever endlessness, followed by all the planeswalker drama stuff, it got OLD! Now, that doesn't mean we couldn't have more stuff like Ixalan and certain other more recent sets. But I think I see Bloomburrow in particular as kind of an extension of that idea a bit further. I guess it turns off a few people, OTOH TBH I have seen very little negativity in the places where I play. We all enjoy Bloomburrow. Yup, it is certainly kitsch, but it is only a small fraction of the game.
i can explain the same commanders of valgavoth
the precon one was while he was weaker and starting to consume the house the main set one is when he finished and is at his full apex
and the mindskinner important note is it saids "a source you control" doesn't have to be combat damage any type of damage will cause everyone to mill so you can have a chandra's ignition go off and they have to mill 30
and green overlord along with the others you can shortcut the impending counters by flickering it or removing the counters with effects or maybe just straight up Solemnity would shortcut it and make it cost 2 less for the creature version
not mentioned but i know you hate 5-color commanders but marina is the first 5-color commander in a long time thats not a generic good stuff one and not back breaking or any theme build like the others were, however the bad news is its really just like building Go-shintai life origin, but your switching shrines for rooms. but you still have to build differently anyway.
oh TDLR for the bad part just the all but 6 cards demon, and the rest is basically he feels the whole set is UB and also feels the more recent sets feel UB. so i definitely just skipped that part.
terror eater's text box is just
6BBB - Sorcery
An opponent sacrifices 3 nonland permanents and discards a card
didn't even think of board wipes lol i'm a goober, it's even worse than that.
"Dies to removal" type argument, my favourite
that's true getting hit with a counterspell blows you out even harder, i was thinking too positively on the card
Oh I love this set, the lands the alt art, the foils, it's just more of a standard set than a commander set. It is a lot healthy for longevity of the game to not 100% commander set.
Even as a player who enjoys UB, I can understand why “traditional” Magic fans are turned off by current set themes. However, one thing I don’t hear these people say out loud or acknowledge is that the standard format is very healthy and the game play mechanics introduced from set to set jell together well for not having traditional blocks as of years past. A healthy standard format is good for all formats, IMO. (And yes, I understand this is an EDH channel - one of my favorites too).
So design is strong, IMO, however I can understand why some would find issue with the aesthetic. Don’t get me wrong! Art is a huge part of what drew me into MtG (pun intended). For me, I can look past that because collecting and exploring old cards is one of the main reasons I watch Demo. But I won’t lie, I’m out here committing crimes and having a good ol time brother! Because I ain’t afraid of no ghost 👻
This is 100% something I'm glad to see from WotC - they've done a good job of seeding themes for future sets into current releases, and giving some backwards compatibility. It really helps with cohesion and makes deckbuilding, especially for 60 card formats, way easier.
After Bloomburrow I was naive to think they learned anything.
With how close these set releases are, Duskmourn must have been pretty much done already when Bloomburrow came out. Whatever the repercussions are, we'll see in the sets they're designing right now
@@TheAlienEntity It's fair to say the earliest they'll be able to shift away from Karlov Manor's abysmal reception is the set after whatever the hell "Death Race" is. They lock in the themes and commission art pretty early on in the design process so Duskmourn was probably mostly completed before Karlov Manor came out and proved how poorly the community reacts to these kinds of "UB but not really" sets.
Feedback from Bloomburrow isn't folded into Duskmourn. Both of these sets were locked in ages ago. They work on sets that are years out.
The reason why there are two Valvagoths is because one is the commander of one of the precons while the other is in the main set
As a huge fan of facedowns, I’ve already brewed a new deck based entirely off Manifest Dread (in esper) and have made a list of a bunch of cards I need to buy once preorders go away. Set might not be a slam dunk for flavor or setting, but it’s looking to be fun mechanically… and at the end of the day, that’s all I care about.
Plus, I’ve heard that the limited environment might be pretty good. Not an expert on that one, but that sounds nice.
I like his last point. For example, I saw a video of someone opening someone's collection they were selling. It was 90% LotR. Guy basically bought cards and learned to play, then dropped the game. Great marketing strategy.
Short term profits, baby.
I agree with your modal spell take. Is the main purpose for the card on rate?
Impending is an awesome mechanic. Cascade triggers off the CMC of the card when you cast using impending. Yidris enchantments looking good rn.
32:34 Spoke too soon there is LITERALLY A ghostbusters secret lair. 😂😂😂
Please no 😩
Never had more interest whiplash set to set than Bloomburrow -> Duskmourn and the shorter turnaround doesn't help
Nice video, good review
Ive been a hater in other comment sections for sure, but the modal video was spot on in my opinion, way too many people trying to play Sublime Ephinay and such and its usually rotting in hand. This new red one mightbbe fine because protection is pretty handy in monored, but generally i agree, especially the ones that cost 3+
Cards are again pushed and power crept (Enduring cycle for example), the theme is silly when it should be scary and again we have too many products. I just get a few singles yet again and don't even care anymore beyond that.
As I've really appreciated Duskmourn and recent WotC narrative approach upon the last sets, I fully understand your point of view, really man, that's a bliss you're taking the time to explain your critique!
It helps a person like me to reconsider my own critique, and truly split up the enthusiastic part (as an old Commander player) and the "Is it really relevant WotC goes forth that direction?" part, which is a way of thought I'm trying to keep track on.
Thanks again for your critique ~
What do you like about their approach? Personally I feel that Magic's narrative has always been so-so, and has only declined since War of the Spark. Curious for another perspective.
@@DoctorWhoBlue Despite the inherent so-so quality of the narrative, I was very very very bored by the Gatewatch // Zendikari // Bolas arc, cause I was wondering: "Do they finally make Bolas win or else?", I was more enthralled by the gameplay and filled with a lore-fatigue when a Gatewatch member spots on (my culmination point of boredom was the coreset centered on Chandra) so i'm fond of their idea to put the spotlight on *legendary creatures*, as Kellan, Mabel, Helga or Nashi - very recently. I'm obviously biased by the fact I'm a Commander player only, but I think the story conveys more intensity with protags who cannot planeswalk.
In fact, the planeswalk power is a very powerful ability, and sometimes is exploited with commitmen; but as you've said it, it is a bit "so-so". Sometimes we have good material (Ixalan and the Immortal Sun, which traps walkers in the plane) but otherwise we have Jace, and Liliana, and Tezzeret who are always fleeing their fate, they can't go on an end at all, that's frustrating.
I do believe refocus the narrative among inhabitants of planes: legendary creatures, or just creatures, "un-Marvel" the main storyline of the narrative. It sounds good to me.
My entourage (recent Commander players) are more interested in little stories, connected by tiny threads one with another than a big conflict with a bunch of characters skulking in the game for 20 years and always being stuck in their quirks (Jace is a basic fboy, Chandra is bold and always angry... that's a grotesque caricature, but I do believe you have the gist of my point)
Thanks for asking!
@@grosguerrier I generally agree with all this, even if I've not been impressed with the execution. Thanks for answering!
You really nailed it on the "but we couldn't get the IP" and just the entire take of "every set is designed with a niche audience in mind". I still enjoy *the game* but the aesthetic value is out the f'ing window.
There was a joke/ meme going around when TWD x Secret Lair was first announced of MTG turning into "I block your Gandalf with my Spider-Man" and not only is that joke going to be real life by this time last year, it's actually going to be worse. Whenever someone plays a F'ing Street Fighter or Transformers or whatever as their Commander I kind of just feel like telling them to f'k off.
I got behind Bloomburrow because the art was amazing. I can’t get excited about this set though.
It's very hit or miss. The Overlords are incredibly cool, especially the green and black ones, but the majority of the survivor's designs are atrocious.
I think this set is far more cheesy than even the detectives or cowboys, they had shoe horned genre references on creatures etc, this set has full on specific pop culture references for creatures, we have universes beyond for that stuff. It’s very member berries from South Park. Albeit I do kinda want the balloon guy ha and I love Tyvar but he’s wearing a bum bag which is ridiculous so going to have to try and get the alt art.
Untimely malfunction is worded like that so it can only be cast if it has a legal target making it you know..... Untimely
As a long time player here as well I wholeheartedly agree with most of your views and the direction that magic is going. Especially not really liking any sets so far this year.
As much as i dislike the rabbit-hole our game is spiralling down, you can't deny the health of the format right now.
My LGS is fuller than it has ever been this year, sales are through the roof, events are sold out, Commander nights are full house, new Pre-Con's move like wildfire.
Standard has become a thing again.
Single's prices are sky-rocketing faster than usual, and well higher than usual gains. There is HEAPS more competition online with auctions. Good RL cards rarely sell for under market value.
Since Prof hit 1mill, he already has 50k more subscriber's to his channel.
Again, although i am less than happy with this game's direction, this game is THUMPING along, and probably more popular than it has ever been.
We are the vocal minority on RUclips.
Hey Demo. I would be curious to see what is or may be your best MTG set. Since lately the designs seems a bit more goofy and less MTG-esque, what was in your opinion one of the best sets and why. I appreciate that you are vocal about what you like as much as what you dont and I'd love to get your input on this. Peace.
top 5 (off the top of my head)
1. futuresight
2. ravnica: city of guilds
3. invasion
4. exodus
5. mirage
@@edhdeckbuilding Awesome. Thanks for sharing.
The concept of Duskmourn is great with the horror theme.
The execution of Duskmourn is sorely lacking because WOTC took movie IPs that had ghouls and ghosts and zombies and tried to make them scary when the movies were intentionally not meant to be scary. I will only be buying a handful of cards from the set because they fit really well into my existing decks.
I also only have my eye on 2 cards.... the stranger things/ghost buster stuff doesn't resonate. Definitely agree with your take on the sets for this year. I thought the biggest upside to Bloomburrow was that at least it was a return to actual Fantasy and not this other stuff. Love your videos!
one or two target instead of up to two target - reason for this is to deny it being cast without at least one target, otherwise you could target nothing. not like you would in 99% of scenarios, but maybe there isnt a positive option available and you got some cards that benefit you on casting spells, whether it be storm or guttersnipe or the like. i see it as just a really mild but added restriction to cast.
havent read the comments so it might have already been addressed
I really like the doomsday excruciator.
First off, it'll mostly be played at or around turn 6 in mono black and much later when you add more colors to the deck, which is probably enough time for most players to have built up a board presence.
Second off, you can still last 6 MORE turns and if someone isn't close to winning past turn 12 then I dunno what's going on.
Lastly, you don't have to cast it from your hand. I can see a lot of people reanimating this just for the extra upkeep trigger and the 6/6 flying body.
All that being said, I can definitely see a lot of players getting angry when this gets cast lol.
My problem with Duskmourn is 80's fashion hiphip and Aliens and I agree with all you said in video.
Mtg become more and more like Fortnite each day. Imagine they pulled shit like that in older magic set, people will make fun of it.
And it really show, as you can see, they keep going back to old lore in the non-UB non-standard set beocs these modern mtg are too busy chasing other ip gimmick.
I actually like the set, theme and mechanic-wise.
My problem is with the powercreep.
Similar sentiment to a video you made awhile back, sets like this make me feel like I'm chasing FOMO instead of just picking up new tech here & there.
Entitled Commander Player opinions forgetting other formats exist. Oh they are doing mechanics that are similar to other mechanics. Thats lazy design and definitely not trying to make more functiobal archetypes in standard environments.
Oh this removal spell is lazy design, definitely not a necessary piece to make limited function better.
So annoying.
i think wotc realized that making cards for standard was a silly idea since it's constantly rotating. okay so you're making a card that people will only want to play for a couple years until it rotates out of standard? that makes no sense.
Magic players can relate to Shart tokens. Am I right, incels?
as a kaalia players the demons in this set will be added to my deck as soon as possible
One counter argument to your take on manifest dread with the "we already did cloaking this year". Yeah, we had one set that had face down creatures and there is still at least some amount of design space put into standard. We had a fair number of cards in mkm that cared about facedown cards as well as turning things face-up, but there really aren't enough pieces in a single set to make an archetype like that work so this just helps bolster that, I would in fact expect there would be another set in the next two or three that has another facedown creature mechanic
They also had decent cards for Mice, Rats, and Rabbits in WOE, alongside expandable enchantments - planning ahead for Bloomburrow and Duskmorne. This is one thing I will give WotC props on in their design lately.
Looks like we will get Ghostbusters cards for Secret Lair too
Cant believe you think unwanted remake is lazy design. Ridiculous.
listen again. manifest dread is a lazy design. not the actual card. maybe the next set they can come out with manifest dreader, where you look at the top 3 and put 1 face down into play.
@@edhdeckbuildingthey got way too many morph types. Sometimes they have ward, sometimes they can be turned face up for mana costs, etc. morph always felt clunky in paper but playing against them nowadays in paper feels like an absolute chore.
@@Lazydino59 i remember when morph first came out. it was a nightmare. so much confusion, everybody hated it.
We all just want the dark adult gothic themed thick lore inducing characters with non super pushed alt art serialized cards slammed in there
I think you're entitled to your opinion. But I love this set. The art is top notch. I will say I was expecting a bit more from the retro horror icon references, so thats a bit of a let down. But otherwise Im really digging it. Commander player and box cracker/collector a little over a year into mtg.
TBH, for the secret Lair I was hoping for serial killers, like Jason, Freddie, Ghost Face, Chucky. Not Ghostbusters....
The dilution of mtg theme is par for the course now, as commander has done the same to it mechanically, as well as secret lair to the collectibility. I enjoy speculating and selling cards more than the game now, and have taken up more modern tcgs for cleaner playing and focused theme.
Two conjectures that I think are pretty accurate to how WoTC thought they could sell sets like this:
1. There are people in this world who have never touched magic but would buy one set because they really like the aesthetic, and will probably never buy cards again after that, and there are enough of those people that it makes WoTC more money to cater to them every set rather than the established playerbase.
2. There are enough established players that will still buy the set for mechanical reasons such that making hyper-specific-genre sets won't lose WoTC enough players or sales to care.
Or, at least, I think this might be what they were thinking when they were making the sets. However, I don't think it panned out like they thought it would. If I recall correctly, some of the genre sets earlier this year sold pretty terribly, and if that's the case, then that probably means in roughly 1-2 years we'll start getting less of these kinds of sets, because that'll be the lag between receiving feedback and the sets that will come out when they can actually implement corrections. But until then, we might get a few more of them because they're too far into development to change.
Ultimately, it seems like WoTC isn't just trying to make "sets for magic players" anymore; their business model has shifted so much outward and towards getting people who have never bought magic to buy magic because they feel secure enough that the established players will keep buying regardless, and so they focus on growing the scope of buyers rather than maintaining the core of buyers.
First few cards I saw in reviews had great art and the flavor texts got me excited as well. I bought a box. I am more excited for this set than I was for Bloomburrough. Those spear wielding, animals with their over the top, cute aesthetics can suck it.
In defence of Doomsday Excruciator, 6 turns is a long time. Even if you ramp this out on turn 4, that still means the game goes for 10 turns, which is pretty typical nowadays. I think it's a cool, unique card that would make for an interesting game experience :)
you could get it out turn 4 easy in a monoblack deck.
@@edhdeckbuilding Sure, what I'm saying is that's fine to have a 10 turn game from there I think
Hedge Trimmer is almost an auto-include in a Hazezon deck, since you're likely going to want to get a lot of lands into your graveyard with him
The main thing I dislike about this set is it has a very chaos feel to it. If you’re not going to win, there are a lot of king maker cards where you just take a player of your choice out of the game or maybe just throw the entire game under the bus.
I like getting a little wacky, and having a UFO for my vehicle deck is fun. But.
But this isn't Innistrad. This is a horror pastiche, not a fully formed world.
Completely agree about the aesthetic complaint. I just have no interest in this set at all. And on top of that, regardless of the horror theme which I dislike, I find the art style in general completely off-putting so I guess I'll just be doing something else the next couple of weekends while people do pre-release/release stuff. Oh well my wallet breathes easy for a while.
Feels to me that WotC is doing the same error we are seeing everywhere in videogames and tv shows; trying to expand their market not caring about alienating the fans and hoping that they will remain loyal to the product whatever what. I won't.
it's interesting that you complain about the theming of the set which i don't love but isn't the end of the world, the thing that really pisses me off is the power creep, theres at least 5 or 6 cards i can name offhand that are STRICTLY BETTER than iconic, relevant cards that are already used, the 'enduring' cycle is the most obvious but there's other cards that are doing this.
power creep is somewhat inevitable but printing strictly better versions of classic cards for no reason reeks to me of poor forethought for the games future, and a desire to cash grab and make the set desirable to people even if they dislike the theme because 'well i need these rares for commander because they're strictly better/a redundant copy of an already powerful effect'.
i've already complained about power creep plenty recently. i didn't want to harp on it.
I like about 30-40% of the set. Commanders like Jolly Balloon Man and Lord of Pain are very interesting and look fun.
Really, Jolly Balloon should have been a precon face commander. I am so very tired of Simic precons generally. But overall some cool creatures in Boros, which helps me with my favorite 3 color, Jeskai. Nico is cool too for the lack of a sorcery clause.
I think a lot of cards in this set are just flat out stupid, especially in 20 life formats. Theyre actively designing for Commander, and hey okay cool, but standard and modern just keep getting rocked.
I don' think you're crazy for disliking the set. Bloomburrow appealed to a lot of folks, I was happy for them but personally indifferent. If UB was the only place they did set for "specific" groups, that would be how I would leverage that product. Hopefully in the future they will get back to "regular" sets steeped in Magic lore.
I really like some of the cards. I'm pretty Gothic, and this feels almost insulting in a number of ways....
That being said, I am very excited about specific cards made for standard. The power level is no longer at a power creep. "This is clearly not healthy for the game".
As someone who came over from Hearthstone, I don’t mind the jokes and the puns and the real world references, but then again, maybe that’s the issue for some people. Magic has become Hearthstone-ified.
IDK, the complaints about Magic losing it's identity is tired to me. People started with that back when Arabian Nights came out. The real issue is that the power creep and the number of keyword abilities is increasing hyperbolically. I think people are misplacing their dissatisfaction with the state of the game on the theming just because it's the most visible element.
and people were right about arabian nights. it was a stupid theme. that's why they got away from it.
@@edhdeckbuilding If you think Magic has (in any possible way) moved away from folklore, fables, and myths then you genuinely don't know what you are talking about. Magic's core identity has been these stories from day one. Art, story lines, themes and abilities from Limited Edition to The Weatherlight saga to now are all drenched in elements, characters, and stories directly lifted from 1,001 Arabian Nights and other similar works like the Jason and Argonauts or Journey to the West. The ONLY difference with Arabian Nights was that they admitted what it was.
And while this new set is one of the more blatant examples, Magic has also always reference more modern works of fiction, too. Quite a few of the cards you have talked up on this channel are prime examples of this. Like Fain, the Broker who's name, art, and abilities are all openly a reference to Padan Fain, a character from The Wheel of Time (a massively popular book series that ended just 3 years before Stranger Things aired) who is a merchant that creates monsters out of his shadows and makes deals to move the levers of power behind the scenes. And this isn't even the first set with higher tech, either. The Weatherlight Saga (just like every other Phyrexian arc) is full on science fiction, just with knights and demons and so on thrown into the mix.
I'm not saying people have to like the flavor of the new set, I don't care for it myself, but the idea that this isn't what Magic's identity has always been is just objectively incorrect, and frankly a little silly. The themes of Magic sets have always been little more than classic works with the serial numbers filed off or a handful of contemporary IPs smashed together.
They've had face commander characters in the main set before. Lord of the Rings and Brothers War. Both have simular reasons with haveing multiple cards of the same character. Mostly to show growth of the character.
Lots of strong abilities going to shake up standard with the glimmers and impending.
I've said it a few times, but i really think that the creative and design teams need more time to cook. Like, if Bloomburrow, MH3, and Duskmourn were the only releases this year, I have to imagine things would be more fleshed out, less half-baked. Maybe that's wishful thinking, but who knows.
The art is a little weird. I do like the enchantment creature variants.
When it comes to the aesthetic I kind of agree but also disagree. There are some cards that I LOVE the aesthetic of, and some of the more obscure references to things are great (the Overlord enchantment creatures, Valgavoth, the glimmer creatures, some of the more abstract horror creatures like twitching doll or whatever it was), but they definitely went a bit too far with some of the more reference cards or the ones that lean a bit too hard into '80s horror' theme that actually references tech from the 80s... you know.... like the dude wearing high tops in Came Back Wrong... I wish they really leaned more into the horror motifs on a more abstract level and not as on the nose with things you mentioned like piggy bank. Hell, if they had use some of the art on the schemes for ACTUAL cards instead of some of the more jokey/too on the nose "hey aren't we clever guys, obvious pun or visual gag hardy har har" type cards. I mean seriously, just look at the schemes and that is where the art direction for this set absolutely KILLS it.
The set feels like MTG being bent to fit into 80's horror when 80's horror should of been bent to fit MTG. Because of that iit makes it feel at least to me this set, others from this year, & upcoming sets, are made as a way to try and get people to shut up about Universe's Betond not fitting MTG.
I think this is accurate.
So I have to say I think you are severally under estimating how good 2 mana 2 things can't block is. As someone who likes voltron or stompies sometimes you just don't have the trample and someone has legit 1 single annoying ahh deathtoucher or double/first striker. Telling someone "Hey that dude cant block." Can force some hard decision on an opponent. Also telling someone X creature/s can't block is a really good politicing piece. Since this is an instant you can help someone elses creature get through to kill a problematic player. Same way one of my buddies usues Beserk to pump someone else's creature to have them kill people who chump block (except beserk also kills the creature swinging).
With doomsday that card is wild af. The one thing I want to point out to a lot of people who may have missed it is it isn't just a cast trigger like cascade. So that can be 1 thing that kinda helps. Lmao
I mean, this is 2024. We haven't had a decent horror film since the turn of the century. People think a jumpscare and showing blood on screen makes it a horror movie. What kinda awful cards do you expect based on that?
I will say I disagree on Excruciator Demon, but that's simply because I'm a terrible person and like watching my opponents get frustrated.
Also, this set is all about the world being engulfed by a house of horrors. Where is the land destruction? Give me back my beloved MLD WotC.
[/old man with cane rant]
Valgvoth, terror eater is like Dauthi voidwalker and bolas citadel had a baby 😂, not a fan of it as a commander, but as a mid to late game drop that you have in the 99 it seems like a fun card to have. Also having him in the 99 enables things like entomb into reanimate to get him out super early for cheap, imagine getting the magical hand and dropping him on turn 2 before anyone even has 3 permanents to target him, he’s gonna be scary and atleast stick around for a little while before anyone is willing to target him lol
I like the peaks of the set. overall the text boxes are interesting; there’s definitely moments where it just doesn’t feel like magic.
Depends. Some of it looks cool some of it is hot garbage.
i was discussing this with friends of mine and it feels like two people designed this set off the principle of “make a horror set” but didn’t collaborate with each other at all, one person made a claustrophobic haunted manor then the other a 80s horror spoof then they just smacked them together
To me it feels like they wanted to do another Theros set (Eerie is pretty much Constellation) and another Innistrad set (Delirium) but couldn’t find a compelling reason to do it so instead they mixed those two together, added a modern setting and called it Duskmourn. I don’t love it or hate it. Some cards are neat, the art is all over the place. We couldn’t be further away from original magic setting though.
I love this new set a lot.