Another Top Ten Duskmourn Cards for Casual Play

Posted on October 18, 2024

Hello happy folks! I hope your day is going super mega well! Today is going to be my final Top Ten from Duskmourn. Normally I do three honorable mentions from each and then four in the last one to get to an even Top 40. But this set is so deep that I am on the fifth article and I have combined bunches of similar cards to reduce space. Next week we'll look at the Commander set cards. As a reminder, the cards here need to be good at kitchen table formats like Commander, multiplayer, Highlander, Five Color, Type Four, Pauper and Peasant.

Honorable Mention #1. (#15 Overall) - Unidentified Hovership AND Fear of Abduction

Let's kick this list off with a pair of White sorcery speed exile removal on ETB permanents that give the something when this leaves play. The three-cost Vee has 2/2 and flying and crew one. It will only exile small toughness stuff. Then when it leaves play, they'll manifest dread. The uncommon six cost enchantment dork also rocks flying, a bigger 5/5 body, and then you'll have to exile your dork as a cost, and when it leaves play, both head to the hand. Since it doesn't have flash innately, I love this with flash enablers since you can exile a targeted removal and then bounce to our hand later.

Honorable Mention #2. (#14. Overall) - Diversion Specialist

Next up is this saucy little on curve evasive with menace four-drop 4/3! You can spend a generic mana and sac an enchantment or critter and then exile from your library and cast it this turn. Card flow for the masses! Or just swing and smash and also use the ability since it's not a tap. I think you'll love this loads!

Honorable Mention #3. (#13. Overall) - Silent Hallcreeper AND Fear of Failed Tests

Next up are another slate of enchantment dorks for you enchanting needs! The first two-drop 1/1 cannot be blocked, and with a combat damage trigger which will draw you a card, once. Or you can toss two +1/+1 counters here once or Clone a dork once, but it'll stay. The latter one costs five a for a blocky 2/7. You can turn combat damage into cards here too, but equal to its power minimum two. I love this with unblockable and power pumps too, or things like Glorious Anthem.

Honorable Mention #4. (#12. Overall) - Emerge from the Cocoon, Valgavoth's Faithful, Rite of the Moth AND Live or Die

If you hadn't noticed there are a ton of Zombify/Resurrection effects in this set. Each has value from the other established standards. The common mono-White five cost sorcery is Pauper/PEZ legal and gives you life for Life Gain looking for a reanimation effect. The one-drop 1/1 Human uncommon dork can be sacked at sorcery speed with four mana without tapping to Zombify when he arrives and can be recurred himself. The Orzhov four-cost comes back once with a finality counter, but has flashback for a two for one. Then the last instant speed uncommon five cost can Zombify or Murder, but instant speed recursion is nasty since you can do it EOT and swing or make a surprise blocker. All four of these are strong in various brews and together!

Honorable Mention #5. (#11. Overall) - Insidious Fungus

With a two-cost sacrifice this will either Naturalize or Explore. That's a key amount of flexibility and this is cheap one-drop to recur with Sun Titan has one power for Shirei, and loads more synergy there. It's also a Fungus for that Kindred deck. Meren loves this loads!

#10. Equipment that Manifests Dread on Arrival and Attaches

This slate of three equipment were always attached since they manifest dread and then attach with abilities. The Machete costs four and then it equips with four mana and gets +2/+1 size. The Tools cost five for a rare that gives +2/+2 and deathtouch and lifelink and equips for free by sacking a dork. The Black three-cost uncommon gives it evasion in the form of menace. Love this trio loads!

#9. Clockwork Percussionist

Next up is this one-drop haste common Pauper-legal 1/1 artifact toy that has a card flow death trigger to impulse exile and cast this turn. It's very easy to swing and then sacrifice to things for damage like Goblin Bombardment. This is very strong in non-Highlander formats or Commander too.

#8. Haunted Screen

This set's only strong mana rock is this three cost that taps naturally for Orzhov mana, and then the other three colors for a life. That gives it all give so it's for Five Color Commander brews alone. Then once you can mana sink seven mana here to make it a 7/7 dork. Note it doesn't read "until end of turn" so that's permanently the case. I think you'll like this weird and where legal as a wincon mana rock.

#7. Get Out AND Fear of Isolation

Next up are these two self-bouncing cards with effects. The instant costs two, can counter a dork or enchantment or bounce one or two or yours. That's great at keeping you safe or countering two key things. I love it in midrange, decks with things to save like Rooms or Shrines, or just generally. The two-cost flyer 2/3 enchantment to bounce has a self-bounce cost, and then anything this time. Love this together in my self-bounce Equinaut brew to reuse things like Equilibrium or Azorius Aethermage. Since it lacks flash, you'll want to abuse the dork with a flash enabler like Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery. Run this and abuse it!

#6. Ghost Vacuum

Next is this fun one-drop first turn play artifact. It taps to exile a card from a graveyard. Then you can tap and sac this with six mana to drop the exiled creatures to your battlefield with flying and as 1/1 Spirits. But just at sorcery speed. Graveyard removal tied to recursion is always great since many use it as a second hand. End that use by dropping and tapping this and saving up for a mass recursion, and in multiplayer it's better since you'll have more tasty treats to recur!

#5. The Swarmweaver

This four-drop artifact Golgari colored artifact legendary 2/3 is next! It arrives with two 1/1 flying Insects. Nice! Then they'll get +1/+1 and deathtouch to trade up if you have delirium, easy since this already count as two types and in Golgari you should have fetch lands and then spells easily. Also, this boost is to all Insects and Spiders too, so it's a Kindred deck leading dork too. Or in the 99 either. Nicely done! I suspect you'll like this much.

#4. Fanatic of the Harrowing

This four-drop common 2/2 Pauper/Peasant able is next! It has an ETB trigger to have everyone discard, you too. That can fill up your graveyard with reanimation fodder, delirium, or flashback spells. If you discarded you'll draw it back so you won't be out a card, but your foes will be, assuming they had at least one card in hand. This dials up the more players in the game. It's pretty good from where I am looking, right? Right!

#3. The Common Six Mana Land Cyclers

Our final cycle is this fun six set of six-drop dorks with nice body and landcyclers for two mana. The Green one is trampling 7/6, nice evasion there, and the red one has menace and a 5/6 body. Also evasion. The Black one is a 6/5 with pretty much hexproof since no one is going to want to discard to target it.

The Blue has the awesome Shark type and then 5/7 and vigilance, which is amazing with that large toughness. The best ability of the five is the Spirit White one's flying, so it's got the smallest body at 4/5 to make up for it. Love the mana smoothing early and size later if not needed. Note that you can tutor up non-basics like Triomes or shock lands. Great stuff!

#2. Hedge Shredder

Our highest-scoring Vehicle in this set is this mono-Green four-drop with 5/5 size and then just a crew of one. When it swings you mill 2, and when lands are milled you'll ramp them tapped, even non basics!!! That's devastatingly good, and the land milled one works when it's not crewed. And for non-mill stuff that heads there from your library without that key word. It's broken with Entomb effects. Get your ramp on!

#1. Toby, Beatie Befriender

Our final card in our final Top Ten is this mono-colored legendary three-drop Command Zone eligible dork! He's just a 1/1 but that 4/4 White Beast that cannot attack alone isn't! Then as long as you have four or more token creatures, they'll all get flying! And we know how much kitchen table players and Commanders enjoy their tokens! Toss this in your deck now!

What did you think of my list? What did I miss? See you next week for Commanders!

Like this? Great! Here are my previous ones: