It's that time of year.

The air has taken a notable dip in temperature.

The leaves are changing color.

The scent of Pumpkin Spice Lattes fill the air.

Spooky season is almost upon us, and there's no better time to look at the top cards from Duskmourn: House of Horror!

Honorable Mention

I'm not one of those people that put a set's dual lands in the Top 10 because they should very often be #1 and that feels like a cheat. Yes, these lands are great. Yes, they will see play in multiple formats. Yes, you should pick them up as soon as you can. A special shout out to Hushwood Verge. While it may not see much play immediately, when Llanowar Elves arrives this will be the only land in this cycle that can cast it turn one, and as such should finally give Selesnya decks a push.

Number Ten

Insidious Fungus isn't going to win any beauty pageants, but it's the card that'll take you home at the end of the evening. This card is incredibly versatile, as an early game creature giving you reliable removal for enchantments and artifacts. If that's all it did, it would be sideboard worthy, and would see limited play. But, that's not all it does! It even has an additional mode of, "Growth Spiral" a card good enough to see occasional play in Pioneer. Don't sleep on this little guy.

Number Nine

This feels like an invasion of Green and White's section of the color pie. Giving this flash means you can set up turns where you cast this end of turn, after your opponent taps out, and draw 2-3 cards with it after you untap. It dodged the dread, "Only once per turn" clause (see Elvish Archivist) so this has the chance to be a reliable engine card. I especially want to brew with this and Niko, Light of Hope.

Number Eight

I like that this can be found off of a Cache Grab, that is sits on the board waiting to be blinked or sacrificed for value, and that it can override Ward, a very annoying ability. If this didn't have flash it probably wouldn't be playable, but as is, I expect this to pop up from time-to-time as long as it's legal in Standard.

Number Seven

I want to believe! If this just returned the creature that it exiled to play, it would see play, but wouldn't be anything to get excited about. But instead, it replaces the creature with a 2/2, which will be (more often than not) better than the creature it takes out. This can also attack in the right spots, and can be used to trigger the Survival ability.

Number Six

This may be better in Pioneer, where it curves into Atraxa, Grand Unifer with Enigmatic Incarnation, but I have hope for it in Standard as well. Attacking with this gets out of hand so fast. I see this being one of the better Overlords, as long as you're not trying to play it fairly. Combine it with Coiling Rebirth, with Scrollshift, with Render Inert, or with Lich-Knight's Conquest for best effect.

Number Five

I'm taking a flier on this one, because it's the card I'm the least sure of on this list. But, it just provides so much value. It has an Enters ability that can amount to card advantage, as a base line. Or, it can unlock a door, a ridiculous value, which can be anything from, "play a card for free" to "I probably win the game" depending on how you handle the set up. If that's not enough, it can also flood the board with evasion creatures (since there's none of that silly "once per turn" clause).

Number Four

I wanted to get at least one Room on this list, and I think this is the one that can see the most play. Much like the Adventure mechanic, you can just play this as a early game removal spell that lurks on the board as a late game play when you have nothing else to do with your turn. I can see this fitting in to some of the Doppelgang brews I've built and I'm anxious to try it out.

Number Three

I was impressed by the "Otterstorm" decks that popped up on the Early Access events that combined Enduring Vitality with Stormsplitter to kill on turn four. Cryptolith Rite decks were a thing for a bit, and this is Cryptolith Rite on a body, albeit for one more mana. But, you get a bit of resilience with this version. I can also see this pairing with The Swarmweaver or other token makers to power out something like Valgavoth, Terror Eater.

Number Two

Atraxa, Grand Unifier has been the best reanimation target since it was printed, but Valgavoth may be good enough to challenge that reign. He's almost untargettable, and can end a game quickly. His exile ability is just a bonus. I don't see many decks actively casting this at nine mana, so there will need to be a few ways to cheat this out (but Duskmourn definitely provides ways to do that).

Number One

Follow along: turn two Up the Beanstalk, turn three Overlord of the Hauntwoods for its Impending cost, making an Everywhere land token, and drawing a card off Beanstalk, and turn four Sunfall.

You will lose to this opening sequence at least once in the first few weeks after rotation.

Overlord of the Hauntwoods looks like it was tailor-made for Domain decks, and should be enough to keep them on top until Atraxa and Sunfall finally rotate out of the format. Outside of Domain, it can still see play in any ramp deck that pops up. All of the Overlords are good enough to see play, but this one landed in a perfect situation.

Duskmourn looks like a very deep set, with lots of cards that could break out in Standard. I can't wait to see what decks emerge from this haunted house.

You can find more of my Magic musings on Twitter/X @travishall456