[EXCLUSIVE] Magic the Gathering Designers Reveal the Horrors Behind New Set Duskmourn: House of Horror

In an exclusive email interview, we had the opportunity to sit down with key figures behind Magic: The Gathering’s latest set, Duskmourn: House of Horror unveiling a spine-chilling new addition to the beloved card game. Annie Sardelis, Senior Game Designer, Ovidio Cartagena, Senior Art Director, and Emily Teng, Senior Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast shared insights into their latest creation promising to transport players into a realm where nightmares come alive.

Designing Terror and A New Flavor of Fear

Annie Sardelis, Senior Game Designer, revealed that Duskmourn’s design philosophy centered on capturing the suspense and tone of modern horror. “We wanted Duskmourn to capture the specific kind of suspense and tone seen in modern horror,” Sardelis explained. “We started by digging around to see what parts of our game can be adapted to meet this goal: Performing actions at instant speed (surprise/suspense), leveraging the graveyard (spooky), and even just being a big scary nightmare creature (more spooky).”

“In every set we try to innovate to keep Magic fresh and fun, but by starting with these core game pieces, although our creative changes from set to set, we keep its essence intact,” Sardelis added.

What sets Duskmourn apart from previous horror-themed sets in the MTG universe is its focus on ’80s horror camp, slasher films, survival games, and psychological horror. Sardelis emphasized the distinction from their other horror setting, Innistrad: “We’ve visited Innistrad several times before in the past, but it focused more on gothic horror and a touch of cosmic horror. With Duskmourn, we got to be unique by hitting on the ’80s horror camp, slasher films, survival games, psychological horror, and more.”

“Duskmourn also places an entire plane within a single house, which is not something Magic: The Gathering has ever done before,” Sardelis noted, highlighting the claustrophobic and intense setting players will experience.

Artistry of Horror and New Mechanics

The artistic direction of Duskmourn, lead by Senior Art Director Ovidio Cartagena, draws from a rich tapestry of inspirations. Cartagena’s research included visits to haunted hotels and locations supposedly under the influence of malevolent entities. He described his approach: “I paid attention to the way some of the scarier surrealist-treated symbology and combined the ordinary to make something truly scary. This had a big influence on the concept art.”

Additionally, the set introduces several exciting new features for MTG players, including the Japan Showcase alternative art treatments and the Archenemy format. Sardelis expressed her enthusiasm for the latter: “Not only is the art fantastically eerie and terrifying on the new oversized Scheme cards, but the 3v1 nature of Archenemy captures that survival-horror game feel that I find super fun.”

When asked about standout cards from the set, Sardelis highlighted “Haunted Screen,” explaining, “We make cards that help fix your colors of mana in every set, but with Haunted Screen we got to do a fun reference to the colors of light used in television as they map to the colors of Magic. It’s the sort of card that we only could have made on Duskmourn.”

Personal Standout Cards

When asked about their favorite cards, Sardelis was enthusiastic about Haunted Screen: “We make cards that help fix your colors of mana in every set, but with Haunted Screen we got to do a fun reference to the colors of light used in television as they map to the colors of Magic. It’s the sort of card that we only could have made on Duskmourn.”

Emily Teng shared her pick: “Valgavoth, Terror Eater for sure. When we were building out the world, we imagined an overwhelmingly malevolent demonic overlord, something that you could really believe was capable, malignant, and hungry enough to consume an entire plane and possibly more, and this card delivers on that.”

Moreover, as Duskmourn: House of Horror prepares for release, MTG fans can anticipate a unique blend of horror themes, innovative mechanics, and striking visuals. This set promises to offer a fresh and terrifying experience, challenging players to face their fears while navigating the strategic depths of Magic: The Gathering.

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