Ahhh, a horror-themed set released in the month of Halloween? Perfect. Duskmourn: House of Horror technically dropped in September 27, 2024 but we're not here to mince details, right? It's been only a few weeks since the cards have been out but I've cherry picked the best commanders from set to build around. Okay, ready? Now you go in through the door first.

5. Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

Let's start off with the big bad of the set: Valgavoth is an Elder Demon that is literally a house. For four mana (two and a Rakdos), this 4/4 flying baddie is a pain to get rid of because of his ward cost. What makes Valgavoth terrifyingis his third ability that triggers whenever an opponent loses life for the first time on their turns. Big 'ol Valgavoth gets a +1/+1 counter and draws you a card. Yep, he's a sticky beatstick that is also a card advantage machine. On a full rotation, Valgavoth draws you three cards and gets three +1/+1 counters. His ward cost of 2 life can also synergize with this triggered ability making sure that opponents who try and get rid of him with anything at sorcery speed on their turn gives you a card back.

What's needed here are cards (mostly permanents) that deals damage to your foes on each of their turns. Fortunately, the preconstructed deck that Valgavoth comes in has some of the best pingers in Mogis, God of Slaughter, Spiteful Visions, and Blood Seeker. The name of the game is punishment, and penalizing other players for drawing cards is downright sadistic. Kederekt Parasite, Fate Unraveler, and Razorkin Needlehead are great includes for this purpose.

Valgavoth is Duskmourn's big bad, but the others on this list are better.

4. Marina Vendrell

Duskmourn introduced Room cards which are enchantment subtypes that are pretty interesting to say the least. For each color, there is a room that is pretty powerful. Green has Walk-in Closet // Forgotten Cellar, which is a Crucible of Worlds and a slower Yawgmoth's Will in one. Black has Funeral Room // Awakening Hall, a reanimator staple if I've ever seen one, that is a Blood Artist and a Rise of the Dark Realms (for your graveyard only though) in one. These rooms need a discovering, fortunately Marina Vendrell is a five-color legendary that allows you to play ALL of these rooms in your deck.

However, what makes Marina a great commander isn't just her Room synergy. It's her enters the battlefield trigger. When she enters, you get to look at the top seven cards of your library and keep all the enchantments from it. Yep, she's Atraxa, Grand Unifier's enchantment loving spawn. This means that Marina Vendrell is an enchantress commander through and through. Sure, she doesn't draw you per cast like Tuvasa the Sunlit or Sythis, Harvest's Hand but Marina can potentially draw you five to seven cards upon entry.

Aside from enchantress deck auto-includes, Teleportation Circle and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling are the best cards in the deck as it they are enchantments that can blink Marina in and out to draw you more enchantments. This 3/5 Human Warlock is the perfect trick or treat companion for sure.

3. The Jolly Balloon Man

Among the many modern Halloween tropes around, the scary clown is one of the most enduring ones. If you're playing against someone who is coulrophobic (read: afraid of clowns), you might just freak them out of the table when you play The Jolly Balloon Man. This three mana 1/4 Human Clown is Boros's version of Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Sure, it costs one mana to use his clone token making ability but this adds white to the mix.

This crazy clown wants to combo like the Red goblin that inspires it, so cards that untap like Village Bell-Ringer and Patriar's Seal should be in your deck. Mana dorks are not aplenty in Red and White so Gold Myr and Iron Myr are dorks to lean on. This clown wants as many balloons on the battlefield and Impact Tremors and Purphoros, God of the Forge take advantage of this by dealing damage to everybody. Then, when the party's at its climax, let the Jolly Balloon Man pop off with Goblin Bombardment. Now that's a party!

2. Arabella, Abandoned Doll

This doll is obviously inspired the 2014 movie Annabelle. I can't tell you anything about that movie as I've never seen it, but I can tell you that Arabella is a doll that packs a mean punch. I've had the unfortunate experience of being on the receiving end of this two-mana aggressive commander's beatdown. She's simple to play: cast the best creatures under 2 mana in Red and White then go to town. Small creatures that make more tokens power this deck up further, Siege-Gang Lieutenant, Jacked Rabbit, and Skyknight Vanguard give you a massive army. Upping the token production is par for the course so Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession are great includes. Welcoming Vampire and Mentor of the Meek are creatures that can also refill your hand to keep the attack going.

A strategy like this is weak to board wipes so Boros Charm, Selfless Spirit, and Flawless Maneuver should be cards that you keep in Arabella's puffy sleeves.

1. The Master of Keys

The top commander card of Duskmourn is The Master of Keys - in fact, even it's even seeing play in the cedh community. This Enchantment Creature is a 3/3 horror with flying that cares about enchantment and the graveyard. It has an X in its casting cost that gives him +1/+1 equal to X and also mills you twice the value of X too. Its third ability gives enchantments in your graveyard an escape cost equal to their mana cost and exiling three cards. Sound familiar? Yep, the Master is Esper's very own Underworld Breach. In an optimized and competitive list, Ad Nauseum, Demonic Consultation, and Thassa's Oracle would be no-brainers.

However, the fun way to build the Master would be focusing on its enchantment and reanimation synergies. Animate Dead, Necromancy, and Dance of the Dead are the cream of the crop when it comes to enchantment-based reanimation. A well-timed Entomb to get Ghostly Dancers in the graveyard to reanimate is a cool way to use the new Duskmourn cards. Gravebreaker Lamia, Doomwake Giant, Ancient Cellarspawn, and Grim Guardian are Black enchantment creatures are exciting additions as black is not typically played in enchantment decks.

Generally powerful enchantments like Necropotence, Smothering Tithe, Rhystic Study, Black Market Connections, and Monologue Tax make you a pain to deal with. Adding Greater Auramancy just adds insult to injury.

Keeping the focus on enchantments lets The Master of Keys dump a ton of power into the graveyard and its escape granting ability lets you have options at hand to wreak horror on the battlefield.

Happy Halloween!

Now that you've seen the best commanders that the House of Horror has to offer, won't you pledge your soul to Valgavoth? No? Okay, the next best thing would be to grab a bunch of these cards and creep out the competition in your next Commander game!