Bloomburrow was a great palate cleanser.

Magic has been an extensively complicated game lately with a power creep issue, and Bloomburrow was a wonderfully flavorful palate cleanser. It isn't a very powerful set, but it's a very fun set with great world building and themes that is frankly just enjoyable. However, the content train rolls on, and it's already time to move on to the next set, Duskmourn.

In a lot of ways, Duskmourn is the Yang to Bloomburrow's Yin.

This is very tonally obvious. Bloomburrow is probably the "cutest" Magic set of all time, full of various animals doing all sorts of clever and charming things. As a contrast, Duskmourn is the most unabashedly horror set that Magic has ever done. Like, a lot of the art in this set is downright disturbing, to the point that I feel bad for all the kids who started playing in Bloomburrow because they do not know what's coming.

@jimdavismtg ? Don't Look Too Closely at #MTGDuskmourn Art ? #mtgfunny #mtgcommunity #mtgspoilers ? original sound - Jim Davis

However, perhaps less apparent is that Duskmourn looks like much more of a sandbox set, with a bunch of mechanics that are fairly open-ended but all intermix very well together both inside the set as well as with many of the cards and mechanics already available from other sets. This makes it a very exciting set from a deck-builder's perspective as there are a bunch of things to do, many of which won't be obvious at the onset.

As of writing this, the majority of the main set has been previewed, meaning we've got a pretty good look at the set as a whole. This means it's time for first impressions in the form of my love/hates! Note that these are not just static rankings. The point is to shed light on cards I think are being over or undervalued based on first impressions. The point of my Love/Hate article is not just to call cards good or bad, but to view cards based on the first impressions people have been having or are likely to have. The goal is to dispel undue hype or to draw attention to cards that are being overlooked.

Let's get started!

Love - Overlord of the Hauntwoods

One of the bigger surprises of the huge big Standard rotation that happened with Bloomburrow, which saw an astounding four sets leave the format, was that Domain was able to continue to exist and thrive after the rotation of New Capenna's triomes.

Without the ability to get the bulk of land types from just two or three lands, Domain has had to work much harder for it, actually using land fetching effects like Heaped Harvest, Herd Migration, and Fabled Passage. This has made the deck feel much more fair, but it is still a force to be reckoned with.

And now it gets Overlord of the Hauntwoods.

Overlord of the Hauntwoods feels like it was custom designed by a Domain player as the perfect replacement for Topiary Stomper. Like Topiary Stomper, it ramps on turn three without technically adding to the board, but it does so by creating an Everywhere land which is all types and instant domain. Furthermore, it draws a card off of Up the Beanstalk even when cast for its impending cost. And on top of all that, it's also just a big idiot as the game goes on.

Overlord of the Hauntwoods will see Domain return to the top of the metagame if it has its way.

Hate - Leyline of Resonance

Yes, there is a possible turn two kill in Standard now involving Leyline of Resonance.

No, it is not good.

Turn zero Leyline of Resonance, turn one Cacophony Scamp, turn two double Monstrous Rage (or whatever pump spell) deal ten combat damage, sacrifice to deal ten more damage is a possible outcome, but a very unlikely one, and this is the issue with the card - it is a classic "high but improbable ceiling, very low floor" type of card.

Leylines already have the issue of being super high variance, because the different outcomes of being in your opening hand and not being in your opening hand are so wildly incompatible. Add this on to the fact that Leyline of Resonance is a card that is just asking you to target your creatures and get two for oned in spite of all these issues, and you've got a real problem card.

Love - Wildfire Wickerfolk & Fear of Being Hunted

The next two cards are a prime example of creature power creep.

Wildfire Wickerfolk is a house, as the second ever 2-drop creature with 3 power and haste with no other hoops. And beyond that it has multiple upsides; delirium makes it even more threatening, but what's excellent is that it is a must answer early creature that will then put two different card types in the graveyard for delirium to improve future copies as well as your other delirium threats.

Fear of Being Hunted is cut from a similar cloth, as only the second ever 3-drop haste creature with 4 power in the history of the game. Like Wildfire Wickerfolk, Fear of Being Hunted hits hard, demands an answer, and then puts another unique card type in the graveyard. It can even be used as removal, trading or even picking off 1 power creatures.

Whether either of these cards sees play in Constructed is still up on the air, but it's just too hard not to make notice of how hard this duo hits.

Hate - Rite of the Moth

I knew Unburial Rites, and Rite of the Moth is no Unburial Rites for several reasons.

At face value, Rite of the Moth is much harder to cast. While you are paying only four mana on the front side rather than five, it is a very strict mana cost that is difficult to splash. Furthermore, if your concerned with maximizing the power level of a card like Unburial Rites or Rite of the Moth you ideally want to be casting it from the graveyard, which is far more difficult for six mana.

The second issue is that threats are just so much more powerful now than they were a decade ago. There is far less need for this sort of value effect when all of your threats are so good and you run so rarely run out of cards, which is mostly how modern day Magic works.

Rite of the Moth may have some sort of role to play in a more linear Standard reanimator deck, but is a niche player.

Love - Valgavoth's Lair

Valgavoth's Lair looks like a very simple common mana fixer land. It enters tapped, only taps for one color, and doesn't actually have any other abilities. So... what's to love?

It's very simple- it's that type line!

We've seen how powerful artifact lands are, with the original set being banned in Modern. Allowing your lands to be enablers for your synergies is an incredible option on an opportunity cost level, and there are a ton of synergies available in Duskmourn and beyond. Valgavoth's Lair triggers all of your eerie effects, counts as an enchantment in play for various synergies, and is also two very unique types in the graveyard for delirium. That's a lot for a simple land!

It may not look like much, but Valgavoth's Lair is a big deal.

Hate - Fear of Abduction

Oh hell no.

No no no no no no.

Nope, I'm done, this article is over, forget it.

I'm out.

...

...

Uh, hi. Jim's therapist here.

He wasn't able to finish this article about Duskmourn thanks to a relapse of his fear of aliens born by his father allowing him to watch The X-Files at the age of seven and the many years of alien nightmares that followed.

When he first mentioned to me the themes of Duskmourn he was very clear that normal horror themes and tropes have no effect on him so we didn't foresee any issues, but alas here's a gray alien in a fantasy card game.

Jim was very excited about the set, and I hope he's well enough to do his set review tomorrow!