As far as Magic: The Gathering sets go, it’s hard to put into words how excited we are for Duskmourn. Thematically intriguing and visually stunning, Duskmourn is a bonafide horror-lover’s dream.
To celebrate the upcoming release, we’re thrilled to reveal an exclusive card from the Duskmourn set, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast. It’s a brand new Enchantment – Room that is guaranteed to light up every necromancer’s cold heart: Funeral Room / Awakening Hall (see below).
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The way these Enchantment – Rooms work is simple. You may cast either half of the card, which will unlock that specific door. As a sorcery, you can later pay the mana cost of the remaining locked door to unlock it. This allows for a reasonable amount of flexibility in terms of timing and synergy.
So, let’s talk about each of the doors, and how they can make a mark. Funeral Room / Awakening Hall is a necromancer’s dream, with each mechanic working in tandem to not only create a sizeable swing against your opponents’ life total, but to slowly amass the makings of an army – if you play your cards right.
If you choose to unlock Funeral Room for three black mana, whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent loses one life and you gain one life. On the one hand, it’s a play that requires you to have a lot of creatures you’re willing to use for cannon fodder – but really, it’s a small price to pay to affect everyone at the table.
Don’t feel too bad for your fallen creatures, though, because then we have the ominously named Awakening Hall (eight mana black). Once you’ve amassed a formidable force in your graveyard (and made a dent in your opponents’ life totals), unlocking the door will return all your creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield.
While both options work spectacularly in tandem, they can also be effective individually. There’s no reason you can’t jump straight to Awakening Hall if you’ve got the mana, especially if you draw it late in the game and feel like your graveyard’s population is just a bit too high.
In practice, this card feels like it’ll be the ideal addition to any deck that focuses on sacrificing your creatures, as you won’t have to rely on big hits from your opponents to fill your graveyard accordingly.
It will also work well with decks that focus on quantity of creatures over strength. After all, the more little guys you have roaming around the battlefield, the more you can throw them in the line of fire for the greater good – and you likely won’t feel quite so pained at the (hopefully temporary) loss.
How does Funeral Room / Awakening Hall fit with the vibe of MTG: Duskmourn?
When you’re playing with a set that leans in hard to horror theming and ghoulish gameplay, it feels mandatory to embrace the cold but oh-so-effective clutches of necromancy behaviour. The graveyard beckons, and with this Enchantment, you can feed her well.
For a set that encompasses everything from the truly devilish nature of landlords through to the simple majesty of a well-crafted jump scare, Funeral Room / Awakening Hall feels like a wonderfully dark addition to MTG: Duskmourn.
Plus, from a purely visual standpoint, the stunning art variations from Miklos Ligeti and Alexandre Chaudret evoke a seriously spooky energy. There’s nothing more beautifully gothic than a coffin and skeleton enshrouded in funeral flowers – check out both of the designs below.
Magic: The Gathering – Duskmourn is set to launch on 27th September 2024.
As with all new MTG sets, there will be plenty of pre-release events taking place to celebrate its launch. You can find your local WPN store via the offical WPN Locator.
