The Molting House | A Guided Tour of Duskmourn

[@Spice8Rack]

The speed at which I sprinted to get popcorn!

[@dingusdong]

With haste my friend!

[@BeardedSpaghet]

Spice refreshing the page to get first comment, unfathomably cool

[@Case2_0]

“Show them the meaning of haste”

[@zaneadams6465]

Spice IS speed incarnate

[@rbasara1]

It's like Christmas morning

[@draklord1234]

I actually found a cocoon in the dirt recently and decided to take care of it. What hatched out of it was a Deathhead moth… That opening gave me chills lol.

[@greenapplegreenapple8040]

Deathhead hawkmoths are the coolest! They squeak in anger, love those little guys

[@Tsukuyomi500]

Goodbye, Horses..

[@Blu_Moon_Owl]

It’s a sign you are cursed now OoooooooooOOoOOooOO 👻

[@draklord1234]

@@Blu_Moon_Owl that would explain the weird metamorphosis I’m having…

[@obadijahparks]

​@@draklord1234 there's an old innistrad card about this. It actually took a few cards to tell the full story.

[@jwish827]

"The 80s were 40 years ago" is the scariest part of this video

[@jlllorada8447]

True that

[@haroldbates3245]

😂😂😂 I agree!

[@TouchDirt]

And people don't realize most of the 80s looked like the late 70s. Not neon fuck city stylized.

[@alextastic]

TVs and phones still have no place in a Magic set, it was a terrible decision.

[@RowanHG]

@@alextastic I am still waiting for anyone saying this giving any argument beyond "because I personally dislike it" or "it's not the vibes I like". Urban Fantasy has been a genre for decades. Magic is set in a huge multiverse. But apparently some people can't seperate what they personally dislike from "what Magic/Fantasy should be". So since there is no actual argument here, I can simply say "I think it was a great decision" (which I do) and that is just as true.

[@kenlikescarbs]

I grew up in Tornado Alley. Our family gathered many times around the TV, fearfully watching the yellow and red creep of the Doppler radar tell us whether or not to brace for destruction from above. Contributing this quotation to this video was perfect. Thank you, Sam.

[@MiserMalicious]

This feels like a companion piece to Jacob Geller's "Control, Anatomy and the Legacy of the Haunted House," a great watch to follow this for folks looking for a further dive into the topic of the Haunted House

[@cheesi]

Haha yeah, I was just thinking how funny it was that I happened to rewatch that video last night! Or creepy perhaps, given the topic..

[@redtaileddolphin1875]

I also rewatched that video last night wtf

[@mh3935]

Based

[@3ndlessL00p]

Literally the first video of Jacob's that I saw, because I was and am obsessed with Control and House of Leaves

[@Prosfair]

If you haven't seen it but like those two videos then give "MyHouse.WAD - Inside Doom's Most Terrifying Mod" a watch. Covers the same general topics and is a great watch.

[@JanterCyrano]

"... We all haunt the houses we lived and leave" most be one of the most terrifying and yet beautiful Sentence I've witnessed, thank You for that.

[@jonpearson6279]

It was a bit past 1AM when I heard it, well past the time I should have been asleep, and BOY was I not ready to feel that feeling. I don't even know what it is... something like nostalgia and fear and regret and loss and longing and bittersweet, all rolled up together and tied with the damn blue ribbons The Twins wear.

[@sosukelele]

Line goes hard

[@leotaku5216]

23:53 I literally thought to myself "this is probably a jumpscare cue, but Rhystic Studies woldn't do that to me"

[@ocirMZ]

Cue?

[@leotaku5216]

@@ocirMZ fair enough

[@teddytackleson595]

I was literally just mouthing “jumpscare jumpscare jumpscare” under my breath so I wouldn’t be surprised by it

[@nabillun]

same! Except I did NOT think that second part but instead focused all my attention to the video 🤣regret

[@tychoMX]

"Booo!"

[@sams.975]

As cool as this is, I hope we see a return to more traditional magic sets in 2025. I think wotc broke the ice on heavily themed sets and then plunged in without a second thought. A murder mystery set. A wild west set. An anthropomorphic woodland creature set. Next year, we're slated for a "multiplanar race" and a "space opera." I'm way more excited about the returns to Tarkir and Lorwyn. It's hard to get excited about something that breaks the mold when the mold is already laying in pieces all over the floor. Can we stop smashing the pieces with a hammer? One gimmick set a year is plenty.

[@LucasTigy2]

i feel like bloomburrow was pretty traditional overall, but i can see how animal people aren't as common in other planes. still felt very "swords and sorcery" to me though

[@jellywillreturn]

Welp.

[@Durgenheim]

Unfortunately, we will likely never go back to the authenticity of original Magic. There’s very likely an impending future wherein there is no more Magic in the actual game of Magic.

[@fikamonster2564]

Spiderman

[@VelocitrapLords]

It’s kind of a shame how much cooler Duskmourn would be if it was anything other than a MTG set

[@oom-3262]

The moment i knew that you were gonna talk about duskmourn, I had a hunch you were mentioning house of leaves. Im glad to be correct.

[@Amascut]

Was so excited to see the word “house” show up in blue early on!

[@ryandmckenzie]

I was hoping they would

[@bakudanashita]

Just popping in to say I really appreciated your article and, while I'm no longer going to be giving wotc any more business because of their treatment of players, employees, and artists. Yours will be one of the very few mtg channels I will remain subscribed to. Keep up the great work, and stay principled.

[@gabemckelvey6779]

The biggest problem I see with this set is that, while I enjoy a lot of the story behind why they chose this aesthetic, I can’t help but see it as the Magic reaction to the success of Stranger Things.

[@DismemberTheAlamo]

Meathook Massacre 2 - Electric Boogaloo Meathook Massacre 3 - Meathooks in the Hood Meathook Massacre 4 - Meathooks IN SPAAAAAAAAACE! Meathook Massacare 1 (the obligatory remake - it just has the Arena Alchemy text / rebalance)

[@12ratsinatrenchcoat]

Meathook Massacre Episode 5 - The Meathook Strikes Back

[@simpsonlover100]

Meathool Massacre - Rebirth for the one where the original crew returns somehow

[@lichdust]

everyone knows the next in series would be MHM 6 - Back 2 Tha Hood, then MHM 0 - Origins

[@yumnits2946]

You missed out on the potential of Meathook Massacre 3-D

[@meshuggahshirt]

@@DismemberTheAlamo Meathook Takes Ravnica

[@Triptides77]

I love the art for Valgavoth itself. Massive and twisted. It's almost Geiger-esque with its body becoming the house itself.

[@artemi7]

I really love the visual design of Valvagoth, I just wish they'd had room to make him an Elder Insect Demon...

[@brianlinden3042]

I love how the entire tone of the video changes once we get to the ridiculous survivors. "On the surface level it's gaudy nonsense, but here, let me spin it for you..."

[@cinderheart2720]

The Moth yearns for the Flame of the Lantern.

[@cinderheart2720]

The Moth lives in the Woods that grow around the walls of the Mansus. But any Acolyte can tell you, the Mansus has no walls.

[@estebanrodriguez5409]

I could have bet money on that someone was going to talk about Cultist Simulator with that lengthly speech about Moths...

[@igkewg]

The Glory is a question, and the Moth always answers Yes.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

wait... do we know of some giant multiverseal lamp we can use to distract Valgavoth....

[@chubibi06]

@@anthonydelfino6171 Sorin ? Is there enough room in your moon to fit a demonic moth plane ?

[@Raven_Leblanc]

Very fittingly, I recently went up to a cottage we own near my house. It's old and filled with musty smells. A longer time ago, we emptied it out because my mother died. When I entered it again, and went into the attic, I found a scented candle in a glass cup, adorned with a hawk moth. It's been burning on and off in my room, not being frightening in its visage, but comfortingly beautiful and banishing the darkness away.

[@sams.975]

Rewatching this months later, I realize you introduce us to the different parts of the house in proper WUBRG order. I love the intentionality and attention to detail persistent in your videos. This little detail is a reminder to me how much you are a master of your craft. I'm reminded of your video on Vincent Prose: why spend creative time on details that aren't going to be noticed by the majority of your audience? The answer is that these things *matter.* They create a subtle cohesion and resonance that we can't even definitively place.

[@KomradeKrisis1701]

That last line and the segment in the credits just reminded me of the dull horror and sadness I felt at realising that my childhood home (that I still have dreams about living in) had been bulldozed and replaced with a mansion. The realisation that it was literally, humanly impossible to experience that location and the feelings that it gave me again at any point over the rest of my life was a very difficult feeling to reckon with.

[@THEFLIGHTCREW5]

how did we go from incredible worldbuilding and backstory to "we just really love ghostbusters"

[@Demioh]

The thing that's drawn me to this set more than any other is that it feels so immersive. It's a massive plane but still feels confined to a single space due to it being a house. The house itself reminds me so much of an SCP entry- so many creatures and inexplicable phenomena happening in one area and it being helmed by a demon who is literally shaping the very world and nightmares that surround you. Very, very flavorful and I'm stoked to see more stories come out of this set.

[@reapsian]

I see a lot of comments about the 80s technology and I kinda want to throw my own hat in the ring. Personally, I don’t mind how Duskmourn does it, I just think it could have been done better. The plane itself is a home run, and I think the idea of having a plane that was at one point close to our own Earth but has become a monstrous parody is a cool one. Ultimately, I think the problem I have is how fluent the survivors seem to be in the culture of this world. I wish there were more survivors in clothes or rags from their home planes, confusedly using the tech from the world around them as best they can. It feels at times like the design of the survivors was supposed to be unique to duskmourn, when it could have been more like people from the worlds we know already taken and forced to adapt to the inhospitable environment. Have the TVs and flashlights! Just also have characters being completely alarmed by their existence. I think it would make duskmourn feel more unique, and even add to the jarring horror of the set. Just my two cents.

[@stevenyukabacera160]

I suspect Duskmourn will end up as one of the great could-have-beens of Magic. The idea of a planet-sized haunted house with no exit and with a whole society inside is insanely cool, but the 80s shit completely ruins whatever potential the idea had.

[@PersonGuy]

Agreed.

[@ayebee1108]

Another 10/10 video from you, as always this is stellar work. The horror art design of this set is a complete home run, some of the most striking pieces in MTG history. Unfortunately, the set has been sullied by the 80s imagery and overall design of the survivors (noticeably they were mostly glossed over in this video). It took what could have been a legendary horror aesthetic collection and brought it down to a mixed bag of cheesy Ghostbuster level of scares. Hopefully if there’s ever another visit to the plane, the survivors have all met their end.

[@SlashCampable]

Yeah, you share my sentiment. I loved the first half of this video. The other half makes me want to sell my collection. It feels like the game I've loved for over a decade has morphed into a joke of a cash grab that I barely recognise any more.

[@joaolargado]

Part of it is horror at its finest and it is worldbuilding. Part of it is the desperated need do make money off fanservice and it is just shallow content creation. Sorry, this is not magic! And i know its a bold statement, repeated many times, but i play this game since 2001 and tecnology at this level in concept is a first and this is relevant. I feel the lack of tecnology wasnt a theme that had to drive the concept always, but the means and the meaning of why you explore as a Planeswalker. Urza and Mishra builted armys of mechas, we had flying sentient ships, an enemy who whas part machine part flesh and they had huge portals that transporte legions through planes... We had a silver talking robot, clonning, genetic manipulation that engineered bloodlines and - OMG - an atomic bomb. And all of that feelt original. The problem was never the existence tecnology! The problem is the obvious solution. If all of this exists, why Urza never used this kind of knowlege to figth Phyrexia... Why none of it was present in the time spiral crisis, wasnt used by bolas or the gatewatch... You dont quention the reason of something when the theme feels coesive. I dont care if we have catapults that are stronger than a cannon in the game mechanic. But i do care if the sentiment about the game is dying and they dont care, if the effort on LOTR set was better than one of our on... I dont feel we have a lore anynore. The story lingers, planeswalkers are going away in a sad manner, all the characters can do cosplay in thematic worls and we got a lot of universes beyond to "visit"... Again, everythin feels like shallow content. So i just dont care anymore. Im building an Odyssey/Onslaught cube so i can play with my friends and give 0 fucks about the Cowboy Jace or the MTG Grogu and his space opera. So i strongly recomend the experience of cubing or battle boxes until we have the respect for the lore and worldbuilding to those who dont want to have fomo with the endless stream of sets or just feel inispired by the stories that just dont tell you nothing... Well, i guess i was holding somenthing on this set, right? Hheheheeh

[@thelunchlady8276]

@@joaolargado Spot on, brother.

[@demolisherman1763]

I do so love these world studies! I would also love to see a comparison of the horror in innistrad vs the horror in duskmourn.

[@casteanpreswyn7528]

Innistrad is 20s to 50s horror or surealist film(without the camp or comedy films and stories), while Duskmourn is 65 to Cabin in the Woods/Drag Me To Hell horror that embraces all parts of horror, including the goofy shit.

[@dallasmeeker5577]

​@@casteanpreswyn7528 Innistrad always felt a little older to me. Everything was like one of those old English Penny Dreadful stories

[@snooganlovesddr]

Your description of The House being and impossible space, expanding and contacting and not able to be mapped, reminds me very much of my favorite book. House of Leaves. Though that space is completely void of anything.

[@ceracen]

The description reminds me of "The Oldest House" from the game Control.

[@Asturjgm]

@@ceracen @ceracen there's a really good video by Jacob Geller talking about how Control tackles the concept of the haunted house and I think it's great. It also mentions House of leaves so we're still on theme ;)

[@ceracen]

@Asturjgm oh snap! I love control, so I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the heads up!

[@MissAshley42]

You've significantly increased my appreciation of this set's artistic design _and_ made me feel old as hell. Bravo!

[@SuperPal-tr3go]

I thi k the problem with this set is that I don't understand how the Survivors live in Duskmourn. Even with the MTG releasing a guide for it there doesn't seem to be any info on actual communities in the plane or how communities could exist in an ever shifting hell dimension in the shape of a house. And so the Survivors feel fake and add-on for an 80s aesthetic that was not necessary. They should have just gone with the idea that all the Survivors in Duskmourn were from other planes and had the shelf life of about a week if that.

[@collinbeal]

The story explains that prior to the Phyrexian multiversal conflict, House treated humans as livestock, giving them safe areas and somewhat tenuous but generally reliable paths to resources, deviation from which would feed the house consistently. Upon the genesis of Omenpaths, House now has access to another method of feeding, and it is now a free-for-all bloodbath, with only the canniest or most compromised survivors persisting. The plane is internally consistent, despite the tonal disparity in the aesthetics of its artwork.

[@SuperPal-tr3go]

​@@collinbeal I know but I think you outlined the issue I have which is these safe zones like the carnival don't feel developed enough as places that people would actually live. I don't know what is it but I just can't buy anyone living in Duskmourn for any real amount of time and the idea that the House provides everything people need feels cheap. I wish the actual cards built up the safe zones and made them super relevant locations and cultural centers akin to Thraben in Innistrad or Benalia on Dominaria. That could help justify the 80s aesthetic and just make the plane more believable.

[@collinbeal]

@@SuperPal-tr3go by the time the cards are representing the plane, they're havens of macabre iniquity indistinguishable from any other distorted aspect of the house. Even someone who used to occupy one of the respites wouldn't recognize it after years had passed. Bag on the aesthetics of the plane all you want, especially in regards to the survivors, but the story was great fiction and the background worldbuilding of the plane is pretty solid. This warped assemblage is much more narratively consistent than the supposedly more sensible Thunder Junction. I take umbrage with that plane for being an empty shell devoid of character, and Duskmourn is about as good as I could ask for behind the scenes.

[@LetMeTellYouAbout]

I would agree except magic can and has done settings as interesting as this that translated to the cards. Ravnica has had what, nine sets? Innistrad 6? It does feel like the pace of release stops us from actually engaging with any of the new sets. I like a lot about this set but I (and I imagine many others) don't feel engaged enough with how it was represented to WANT a return where they can elaborate on what they did in the background. Bloomburrow should be the model going forward if WOTC insists on single set locations. A small scale conflict in an environment that isn't developed past what we can see. @@collinbeal With the next 16 months being more gimmicks and affordable crossover IP... My hopes aren't high

[@collinbeal]

@@LetMeTellYouAbout when did I ever say that I want a return to the plane? I find aspects of its aesthetics unbearable, regardless of how much I like the worldbuilding and story of the setting.

[@goldbergbrain]

This video is so much more tonally cohesive and horror-like than Duskmourn. Singular images are horrific. The moth motif and Valgavoth's lore are interesting. But that germ is pushed to be all things and it unravels under the weight of references and puns. This is a roadside horror museum, not horror, itself.

[@Samael767]

Perfectly put. I wish the set itself would live up to Rhystic Studies video, but it doesn't look like it will thread that needle.

[@joaolargado]

You translated my sentiment perfectly! R Studies makes me want to love this set... but it is a disaster and doesnt feel like MTG at all. Its just fanservice by throwing characters in cosplay aproprieted environment. We dont have storiesin MTG anymore, we have shallow content creationg.

[@Tamarocker88]

@@reunionproductions Forget 10 years from now, that's what the game has already devolved into. No longer are planes unique MTG-specific in-universe designs. Sets have been plastered with pop culture references and outside IPs for years. The game we once knew is dead.

[@theDJOcho]

​@@reunionproductionsMy hope is that 10 years from now we've realized the opportunities these settings give and take the time to give them their due and let them breathe, rather than try to cram in everything as it feels like here. My hope is that the pendulum swings.

[@OnlyBadSalmon]

As pointed out in the video though, this is 80s horror. There are some truly terrifying movies from the 80’s but a lot of that horror (especially by today’s standards) are campy or trope ridden movies. Not to say these are bad things, that’s what makes horror from that time period so beloved. So for WOTC to lean into camp and trope without it being the entire vibe of the set I think is truly nailing the aesthetic that they are trying to convey. We’ve had gothic and body horror before, this is a much more “modern” take. If Magic makes it another 10 years I can see them trying to do something that replicates the horror renaissance we’ve been in for the last decade as well

[@UnuUO]

ngl, I think if they hadn’t included electronic horror or any of the ghostbusters shtick this set would’ve been much more interesting. It really takes away from the rest of the set aesthetically. Would’ve much preferred them to lean into the moth theming or more into how the five areas interact.

[@johnbono2384]

It does feel like the survivors in general are a tiny bit too tropey for my tastes. I get wanting to nod to the 80s, but it crosses the line of breaking my immersion.

[@dylanneal9281]

It is a weird thing for sure. Because if your goal is to do horror in a way mtg hasn't done yet, there aren't a lot of options. And at least for me nothing else really jumps out as an answer to that question.

[@boppertron4929]

Yeah, the parts I love about this set I REALLY LOVE but there's a lot that takes away from it. They built this incredible atmosphere of a unique 80s thriller concept come to life only to use all the tropes that make 80s horror plastic and unconvincing, too easy to laugh at.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

Considering I'm old enough to remember the 80s.... the part where you talked about "our parents wearing these hairstyles to prom" was truly the most terrifying part of the video...

[@meshuggahshirt]

I want to like Duskmourn so much, because it's got a legit original take on cosmic horror: not EMN's "iä tentacles apostrophes'mrakul" Lovecraft pastiche, but a parasite genius loci that can only be defeated from within, where anything moth-shaped is cause for paranoia, which is now aggressively growing ...and instead of that substance they built on a weak foundation of style instead: Plastic aesthetics! Self-aware references to other franchises! Tropes from an entirely different medium! You talk about Duskmourn being haunted by the past, but it's a world that's not haunted by ITS OWN past, and I feel like that's its undoing.

[@rathlord]

It's a world that's haunted by WotC's never-ending need to monetize nostalgia and desperately dump anything familiar at people to try to get them to grasp onto it and sell just one.. more.. card.

[@erikgranlund4286]

You hit the nail on the head The idea itself is so interesting that the nostalgiabait 80s horror sctik just cheapens it Oh What could have been :(

[@gwenyurick9663]

​@jk6971 Man some of y'all just can't help but jump to the worst faith interpretation of things.... it's not like it's entirely possible the people making the sets have genuine nastolgia for 70-80s horror or anything, npe it HAS to be a cash grab for a specific trend. God forbid they do anything anyone else has done something even close to recently lest it be immediately labeled a cash grab

[@AB-sw4kb]

I wrote this in another comment: This isn't a contribution to the horror genre; it's just a reference to that genre from the outside. This isn't a creative work in the horror genre space; this is just a Stranger Things sticker on a water bottle.

[@masterowl123]

@@gwenyurick9663 people are just giving their thoughts, and time and time again they're are proven right.

[@colbylindley4865]

I feel like video incapsulates my love hate relationship with this set. The moth motifs and the house eating itself is so visually stunning and unique. The fear of X all have such unique and interesting designs that feel like part of the world …But then there’s the 80s nostalgia which feels almost contradictory to the main aesthetic of the house. By itself the TV glitch aesthetic and the portals to other worlds is interesting but doesn’t feel like duskmourn. If it was all 80s or all other worldly horror I feel like this set would be more cohesive and more people would be interested. It’s trying to be Innistrad and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty at the same time and the set isn’t working for me sadly. Love a lot of the art but not others which makes investing in the set hard.

[@TanyasKat]

Even though I don’t agree with you, I see your point. Just wanted to say, that I love how you expressed your opinion in a thoughtful yet direct way. Doesn’t happen a lot on the internet.

[@huismands]

A lot of this reminds me of the game "ANATOMY". There's audio logs in that game that describe the different rooms as organs in a body, the physiology of a house. There seems to be something similar going on here.

[@garin4364]

Loved the video, I think this one is going to be a miss for me. I'm 100% sold on the house, the main themes, but it lost me at the 80's gear. I would have loved Crimson Peak the MTG set, but seeing the one adventurer with a Vulkite Serpenta and thunderhammer really killed the vibe.

[@roondar6141]

I was pretty jazzed on Duskmourn until the 80's stuff revealed itself. It feels like 80's nostaliga gets shoved down our throats all the time so seeing survivors with chunky headphones and puffy vests isn't a weird thing you may have seen from your parents' phot album, it's an image out of 1980's america, something from our modern time, it just rips me out of the more subtle creeping horror that was being really well built, not to mention being wholly out of place in Magic.

[@LetMeTellYouAbout]

These motherfuckers really printed a card called baseball bat with the art of a baseball bat.

[@Tamarocker88]

Funny enough, the 80s horror aesthetic was what drew me in, because I'm a classic horror fan and grew up in the 80s. But after seeing this video and hearing about the design choices and learning the story.... it's lame AF. The references are pushed, too on-the-nose, and they clash as hard with the MTG universe as the outside IPs do with Universes Beyond. This doesn't feel like a magic plane, this feels like people threw darts at a board with pop culture topics and landed on "Horror", "80s", "neon", "Gen Z sucks with technology and is afraid of it", and "movie references". It's not cohesive. It's not magic. It's random things thrown together and called a plane.

[@Fenixius]

As soon as I saw the survivors' 80's aesthetic, I realised that this was an executive saying "do a Stranger Things set", and I can't help but disengage. That connection to chasing a big trend irrevocably cheapens the incredible work of the artists that RhysticStudies is trying to highlight. I'm so disappointed in WotC for this. It's a Universes Beyond set, not a Magic set.

[@LucasTigy2]

i realized that, to me, it's more of a 2010's aesthetic. showcasing an the exaggeration of the 80s that formed in those years as well as some of the styles. the card "reluctant role model" is especially guilty of this as i doubt anyone really looked like that character back then with that hairstyle and those glasses remind me of the large frame glasses that became popularized throughout those years. i feel a lot of the survivors don't look as bad, but others feel more like a "stranger things" exaggeration than something someone would actually wear during the 80s.

[@Durgenheim]

It’s all just cheap, superficial references meant to sell a product to fans of pop culture. Sadly, there isn’t much of any value.

[@colexian]

I met Babs Webb at Gencon this year, before she was ever revealed to be a magic artist. Her art is incredibly evocative of traditional horror, starting with a silkscreen print for mass production but then adding personal touches by hand. Her works feature very distinct but small bright whites and golds added by hand to draw in the eye and add an eerie unnatural feeling.

[@maxxlanglois]

If a set needs a Rhystic Study video for it to feel deep and to make me believe it has a story(not just a collection of pastiches), we have a problem.

[@Tamarocker88]

Even with this video the set feels shallow. The plane and its lore lose more of their meaning as the designer's intentions and inspirations are explained. 80s technology references are to be considered "horror" because they're foreign to younger gen Z players? Really? That's the best they could come up with? Rotary phone scary cuz it's from 30 years ago? LAME AF.

[@ichias16]

@@Tamarocker88it feels like an episode of American horror story

[@jmanwild87]

The issue i have with this set is so much of it is wrapped up in horror movie nostalgia and whatnot thatit all falls kinda flat. Nothing really feels like it's its own idea. The setting is so much of a flash in the pan and its upsetting. Theres a fantastic foundation here. A plane that grew on top of its orginal like a parasite built by a contract between a growing demon that feeds on fear and a woman who is left blind to the suffering she causes. and now everyone is trying to fix this and end the horror before the grand house consumes them. but then we get so many on the nose references the fear kinda falls away.

[@rathlord]

It is just supremely disappointed. That baseline concept was such an interesting, unique space that was just ripe to be explored and we have that foundation, and then on the foundation they plopped the cheap trailer park of throwaway gags and trying to scrape to the very bottom of the barrel for any individual dollar they can wring out of the nostalgia barrel.

[@maxkcool4102]

"so much of it" seems reductive to me. Obviously nostalgia is the theme that marketing will sell because it's the one that will reach audiences, but the artists had clear intentionality and inspiration when using these references. Even the most imitative cards, such as Unsettling Twins, are in my opinion, unique to this setting and it's themes. There is a clear purpose to the nostalgia that adds to the sense of atmosphere and suggests something more about the way we view our past and the way that nostalgia traps you. There's also not *that* much of it. We can have our cake and eat it too, I feel. I don't feel the fear falling away, personally.

[@TCG9777]

YES! THIS!

[@jmanwild87]

@maxkcool4102 i mean they're unique to the setting relative to the rest of magic. The issue is that they don't really take all the tropes and references in a new direction. So a lot of this does not really feel new concept wise. It feels like a bad haunted house. Again. "Oh look a reference" and it makes me mad because there's a beautiful foundation here that is terribly utilized

[@LadyLunarSatine]

"...and Jace is here, for some reason."-Seanan McGuire

[@Jamison-kh5wu]

I firmly believe that the the designs for the humans clashes way too much with the designs of the rest of the house because the humans are the only things that look like the 80s feel. The rest of it doesn’t fit that same bill

[@connorhamilton5707]

That's likely due to how Duskmourn is influenced more and more by outsiders brought in through omenpaths. It builds on their fears, but those fears aren't natural to the plane. Native survivors aren't needed as livestock anymore either, since there is a limitless supply of fresh survivors that can wander in.

[@formlessone8246]

It's an 80's horror trope in it's own right-- the house is old and Victorian while the ones who explore it are much younger and have flashlights. The house has been repeatedly renovated, creating an uneasy sense of anachronism where old paintings and photos sit on the wall behind a comparatively new television set. I like it, I don't think the set would have felt different enough from Innistrad if they had gone for an aesthetic that was consistently too Victorian. House Markov is almost as eldritch and surreal a location, so Valgavoth's home needs to stand out from all the other Victorian houses Magic already has. It needs it's sneaker wearing survivors to sell me on the idea fully. From a world building perspective, though, it also makes a lot of sense. They clearly indicate that Marina Vendrell awoke Valgavoth a long time ago; her dress is a hallmark of the 1910's, not the 80's. The story posts further hammer this home by showing the moment the Vendrell family moved in and talked about how fashionable it is for them to own a self powered carriage... in other words, a car. It was a new invention when she was a teenager and made her pact with Valgavoth. The takeover of the Plane must have taken decades, allowing for the culture to continue to develop into it's 80's equivalent era when Valgavoth's takeover was completed, by which time everyone must have gotten used to having electronic gadgets to keep them company. Meanwhile Marina doesn't age due to being a warlock living in her own illusory world where either the 1910's never ended, or people gave her a telephone at some point but she never felt compelled to give in to tacky 80's fashion. Even without the story, Marina's card art is perfect world building.

[@Tamarocker88]

The design in general clashes. They took a bunch of keywords and topics, threw them together, and are trying to call it a plane. The design is poor and it shows. An entire plane inside a haunted house? Where 80s tech is considered horror cuz......it's foreign to gen Z? OH, and throw in a bunch of totally on-the-nose horror film references for good measure..... It's so derivative and shallow.

[@trisharachfal6553]

“Eventually, we all become Valgavoth” hit so much harder than I thought it would

[@tychoMX]

Favourite MTG analysis channel. Best place to learn MTG's context into literature, movies and just culture in general. Much appreciated.

[@qaztim11]

All of this cool worldbuilding and concept art just make the 80s inclusions like the character clothing and CRT TVs feel even worse, This is such a cool idea, such a great concept for a plane, but the stranger things-ification of the setting just saps almost all of my interest out of the lore. This truly feels like a plane that is getting shafted by them moving away from the block structure, this is such an interesting and varied plane, that could easily fill 2-3 sets, and maybe with the time to explore the setting some of the more questionable elements would not feel as bad. EX: The demons, ghosts and Moth Cultists feel like they come from completely different setting than the 80s inspired characters High/low tech has a place in MTG, but these inclusions feel so on the nose that they completely take me out of the setting and horror they are trying to build.

[@SongbirdOfficial]

@@qaztim11 Absolutely would have benefitted from a second set, considering they're setting up Valgavoth as a new multiversal threat. He literally kidnaps baby Yoda I mean Loot and it's left as a cliffhanger?? After we got all of Thunder Junction to explain how and why Jace and Vraska got the living marketable plush?? We see Jace **once** in the story and we're just left to believe he and V wouldn't burn down the House to get to their new baby?

[@Tamarocker88]

The entire game structure and all lore has been greatly hurt by the abandonment of the block structure. We no longer have any time to really get to know and understand a plane. We used to get invested in a plane. Now it's a flash in the pan before we're yanked into another new product we don't care about. The decision to center this set's "horror" largely around how "rotary phones and televisions with knobs are foreign to younger players" is so unbelievably tonedeaf. Yeah, we get it, Gen Z is not technically competent and 80s tech is foreign to them... but Veteran players (majority of WotC's whales) grew up with this tech. It's not horror, it's many of our childhoods.

[@LlywellynOBrien]

I haven't been engaged in MTG for a while (new baby) and so didn't know what to expect. The whiplash between chapter one and two was extreme. Suddenly this lame, overdone 80s nostalgia erupted on to the screen. I don't mind human-like modern-feeling tech in MTG as much as some, but the 80s fashion is just totally wrong. We can argue over pirates and cowboys but this was awful. Why not just do a Universes Beyond of Stranger Things if you wanted to do this? What a poor move after some great conceptual work.

[@SongbirdOfficial]

@@LlywellynOBrien They literally already did a Stranger Things Secret Lair lol. Hasbro is just money-hungry enough to try and cash in on that trend a second time.

[@LlywellynOBrien]

@@SongbirdOfficial yeah that is what I meant, just go from the Lair to a full UB.

[@TheArchanjel]

Phenomenal video, RS. There's a reason you're considered one of the best. That poem at the end gave me chills. Well done. Bravo.

[@julind]

I know this is a common thing to say on KZbin, I am sorry. I miss your older videos that weren’t sponsored by WotC. The way that you used your academic background to critically analyze the game was fascinating, it was so new and fresh and critiqued the game much more beyond the classical „story bad“. You used to dig so deep into not just what a magic set was like to play or see, but also how the circumstances at WotC at the time made a set the way it was. Your videos on theros, the boogeyman and even from a few years ago, capenna, are some of my favorite pieces of video essay/literature ever. Even the newer where you aren’t sponsored by WotC feel afraid, it feels like you are holding back many of your opinions since you now are deep within this creator bubble, and these types of bubbles frown upon negativity. I see little „Mehrwert“ in your videos anymore, they are written pretty for the sake of sounding smart. I am sorry if my critique is too harsh, I genuinely love your work rhystic study.

[@jonahpotter5156]

yeah this video bummed me out because it's so obviously a puff piece. i know wizards said "do and say whatever you want, we trust you!" but that kind of access and support comes with an implicit understanding. I hate to say it but Sam lost a lot of credibility in my eyes as a critic with this video.

[@masterowl123]

agreed

[@CrucibleOfHate]

^^^^^^^^^

[@laikahusky6358]

the fact that Jumpscare's art looks perfectly upright to your opponent when you flash it out is just great 😂😂😂

[@artemi7]

...oh. OHHHH, now I get it. I wondered why it was upsidedown...

[@ZrinNZ]

I was so excited for Duskmourn when it looked like they were going to go fully into the frightening, supernatural horror that a lot of the art depicts. Then suddenly there's a bunch of tongue-in-cheek 80s references and regular everyday humans carrying around nerf guns.

[@sapphicvalkyrja]

I wish this set had worked for me. Half of it is some of the most evocative stuff we've seen in ages for the game, and the other half is so immersion breaking that I lose interest in the good parts. I think you hit on something at the heart of that, though: I just turned 40 this year, and that old technology isn't strange, to me. Instead, the technology and the 80s aesthetic jar-they're just memories, for me. Sometimes nostalgic ones and sometimes ambivalent (I wasn't ever really into modern horror in my youth). But this makes them wordly, rather than *other*worldly to my eyes, which clashes too strongly with the otherworldly nature of the rest of the set

[@capfer77018]

All of the monsters and settings are so awesome, but I really hate all the humans.

[@lucasenraraujo]

As someone who's easily creeped out by moths, the start was a bit hard to watch hahaha. (let's be honest, most insects are simultaneously horrifying and fascinating). Ovidio's tale of the "death moth" is also something I've experienced. A large and unusual (either in design or behavior) moth showing up before someone's death is one of those superstitions I'm fully willing to accept. An eerily poetic sign that life might be coming to an end. The planar guide released and Ovidio's vision for the set were fantastic and make me want to see more of the plane. I also love the glitch effects and have 0 issues with the tech or even the clothing styles, but I would be remiss not to criticize the outlook of the survivors. Clean and pristine clothes and intact tech should be a luxury and yet everyone seems to be able to have them. Even worse is how a lot of the them seem too chipper as if they're just about to go on with their regular lives... The dichotomy felt plastered and the dissonance is a hard turn off for what otherwise would have been a slam dunk of a set. I kinda blame UB for that push into tropey space and I do believe there was some internal struggle in the art direction as I've learned to trust Ovidio's vision since hearing him talk during the Ixalan panel (and now again with this interview tidbits).

[@guido.martin]

Another excellent video here, transforming what it felt like a shallow "let's prepare a backlog of potential Universes Beyond design space" into a set that I'm actually interested into experiencing for its proposed face value.

[@stevenyukabacera160]

Seems like the advertisement is working then. This video does a decent job spinning straw into gold, but Duskmourn blatantly exists to carve out Universes Beyond design space.

[@stevenfraielli9869]

I'm not gonna lie the whole plane's aesthetic is awesome and the intro really had me more interested in this set than I was originally. Then I got halfway through and was reminded what the people were dressed like. It just clashes with all the other interesting things going on with the plane, they look ridiculous and their designs are hideous. I have a physical revulsion to their decision to make them dress and look like that. The rest of the world feels very earnest and genuine, then the people just call to parody in a really jarring way. It looked even more ridiculous when people like Jace show up and they're still dressed in their normal planeswalker robes. I don't like the "modern" technology either, it again clashes with that original vision and the lore, if anything, they should have gone with older tech, they don't look or feel foreign enough to evoke that alien feel they're going for.

[@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149]

As someone divorced from the 80s by a good 20 years or so, uh, yeah. I get it. It still feels really modern.

[@danieldelaney1377]

​@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149 exactly I'm 21. But 80s nostalgia and 80s media is so heavily pushed by millenials and gen x that its no where near as alien to young people as they seem to think

[@camilovargas1722]

The more I see about Duskmourn, the more I am invested into the atmosphere. Perhaps I am biased since I love horror but the blend of thropes are exceptionally well executed here! Good luck 🦋

[@adolphineatingchildren2641]

you can't make me like a set with ghost busters, no matter how good this video is

[@dowsingelf77]

Always loved moths and their symbolism, so this is a treat to see

[@somethingelse1339]

Little disappointed that we didn't get to hear Sam's un-sponsored take on Duskmourn. Excellent video, but it makes Duskmourn appear far more subtle and consistent than it is. I feel like Sam's critical eye glossed over some of Duskmourn's more jarring elements, which is understandable given that the video is sponsored, but definitely makes it feel lacking to me. This presents an idealised Duskmourn, not the whole of what we're actually getting

[@sallomon2357]

Compare this especially to the New Capenna video, where Sam perfectly pointed out the problems with that world's execution. Here? Not really.

[@Toasty25000]

Good point

[@FulmenosQuiesce]

Agreed. The good points are there and fair and the idealized concept could have worked as intended. That's not what we're getting though 😢 and I do feel that the video could have been twice as long if it covered the execution of an otherwise great idea. That said, the sponsor cue at the end quietly explained the tone the video ended with pretty neatly. Still, I'll say that an outright sponsorship from wotc IS recognition of the channel's quality and the video itself is excellent. It just ended earlier than it would have otherwise 😅

[@highnoon7570]

Agree. Couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't Sam talking to us but WOTC... I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

[@apexruler5534]

Duskmourn could be a set that is void of any characters, nothing but the mere sentience of the setting and how it evokes emotional appeal is enough to tell a compelling story. I wish the architecture and the actual environment of Duskmourn is more expanded upon without the need of characters filling in the story, allowing the setting to speak for itself.

[@bradleygiven5193]

Has there ever been more of a flavor whiplash than going from Bloomburrow to Duskmourn?

[@simpsonlover100]

I kind of love it. It really gives them both room to breathe despite being so close.

[@meshuggahshirt]

Barbenheimer Standard

[@janMelantu]

Maybe SOI/Eldritch Moon to Kaladesh? Having 14th century German peasants flying Helicopters in standard was a sight to be seen.

[@colexian]

The first Mirrodin block into the first Kamigawa block was an incredible juxtaposition. A metal, unfeeling world. Artificial artifice. Then immediately into a world of mysticism and spirituality, a plane so deeply steeped in the otherworldly spiritual that it literally bleeds into reality. Then we got the opposite effect on the return to Mirrodin, going from the completely untameable wilderness of Zendikar into the methodical and hierarchical phyrexian invasion of Mirrodin's world of metal.

[@casteanpreswyn7528]

Yes. Thanks for letting us know you've only been playing for like 4 years, though. Explains a lot.

[@Asturjgm]

You know as pop culture is infested with 80's nostalgia right now you kind or forget that it's already a distant past and the idea of this set of taking a plane set in the 80's of Breakfast Club and Heathers then twist it and decay it is kinda clever, there's some cards that don't work that well but the whole package just clicks as something you can't get in another plane like Innistrad

[@MrUnreal9111]

Don't forget all those analog devices feel like digital. 80s are closer to us than Dracula's gothic to the makers of the first movie because you can just imagine that everyhting just works as a digital thing on a static art.

[@Asturjgm]

@@MrUnreal9111 I don't get what you're saying tbh. I've worked with Panasonic ag-7450 cameras and let me tell you they feel arcane. You need to prepare them well and know the exact way to work through all the process. You commit a small error let's say with the white balance? Once you see the result on the tape it'll be all wrong. Like a summoning ritual. And that camera is from 1991, go further back and the tech becomes more demanding and unreliable, that's an element of horror too

[@Steeks]

My main problem lies with the survivors and really gimmicky cards like "fear of failed test", which moves the set from horror movie vibes to "Scary movie" or scoobie doo vibes.

[@meshuggahshirt]

The survivors felt anachronistic, but what bothered me most was the UFO-themed cards, less because they're too modern than because the House HAS no outer space What would've worked better is being dragged under the floorboards or into the walls, because in Duskmourn Fear of Abduction isn't being pulled out of the world but deeper into it

[@jmanwild87]

my friends and i have similar issues where the references feel so on the nose it takes away from the terror i want to experience. I will say the Overlords are some of my favorite cards from the set. It gives me what i want from the set in concept and execution.

[@meshuggahshirt]

@@jmanwild87 also it needed many, MANY more moths. Like a moth-shaped layout of eyes on Fear of Surveillance to drive the theme home. The key to self-aware horror is that knowing the tropes won't save you. Remember what an awesome design Triskaidekaphobia was? Imagine if upwards of 50% of the set had a moth motif hidden in it. Imagine a horror set where playing the cards meant the horror was staring through the fourth wall at you.

[@Ylemonade]

​@@meshuggahshirt Completely agree. I looked over this set before watching this video and completely dismissed it because of all the goofy clashing and on the nose 80s horror/comedy references. Not once, looking through the set was I picking up on the moth narrative at all. They really missed out on what could have been a truly terrifying set, but the lack of subtlety of the memeing completely overshadows the far more interesting and personal aspect of the moth motif.

[@formlessone8246]

​@@meshuggahshirt I love the Alien themed cards for the same reason you hate it. The Alien represents a fear that predates the plane being consumed by the house, a time where "outside" actually meant something. Now it represents an even greater fear, that if "outside" still exists the only things that exist there are somehow worse than the house itself. Maybe it's fueled by rumors among survivors of the Eldrazi or the Phyrexians, but either way it's a fear that endures and all Valgavoth cares about is people being afraid so he can eat their fear. On closer inspection, the head of the Alien? It's shape is distorted. It doesn't curve back into a ball like you expect. It's a V shape... it's another moth!

[@sebastianturner2458]

I dunno... this kinda seems like three different scary planes being combined into one, and they kinda all are worse off for it. The impossible infinite house spanning out from a moth demon and a person's dreams is amazing. The electronic ghosts and fear based monsters are cool. The aggressive 80's nostalgia and movie references is... ehhh... it could be good... Maybe. I really just feel like the tech ghost horror doesn't quite belong in the house (maybe it could with some more work, but the machines feel out of place in the house,) the ghosts almost feel held back by the 80's focus(I know he specifically didn't want digital effects, but I think there is a lot of potential there that's being passed up on,) and the silly references just obliterate the atmosphere of the house (when you're in the moth house, you shouldn't ever be allowed to forget that you're in the moth house.) I think this could be something really good if they toned down the camp and worked more on weaving the moth motifs into everything else, but as is it feels way too forced to really be good.

[@sebastianturner2458]

Quick fix - add at least one moth into the art of every card. Put moths into the static. Have moths land on the machines. Convince me that the silly 80s horror is being put there by the demon itself, pulling at the strings to feed on more fear, rather than the WotC execs pulling at the strings to feed on more money.

[@hititwithit]

​@@sebastianturner2458 That would be such an improvement already

[@fire_aspect_5142]

"They harvest fear for his feeding end" love the coheed references

[@DerrylHopkins]

Coming back to this long advertisement after your write up about the latest Universes Beyond reveals is interesting, to say the least.

[@sidewinder2716]

Not gonna sugarcoat it, survivors look awful and ruin the vibe spectacularly when they are around

[@Burkelstine]

You don't miss man. Just getting back into Magic after 15 years and you have captivated me with your work. Amazing job!

[@justinw4514]

This video is how I found out Duskmourn wasn't set on Innistrad 💀

[@danieldelaney1377]

Bro what. 17th century northern Germany doesn't have tv screens abd neon clothes? WHAAT?

[@jochenkirn9468]

You, Sir, are a poet. Your videos are always long-awaited and consciously enjoyed. Thank you for taking the time and care to craft your art.

[@Soulus101]

I hate horror; BUT; I love the critical analysis that comes out of the genre. This was a fantastic example. It's incredible that Magic of all things would give so much consideration to the meaning behind it, rather than just greedily draping a veneer of horror tropes over game mechanics. The discussion of hypermodern folklore has helped me get over the incorporation of technological modernity into magic art, which did bother me. Congrats to Ovidio and the team!

[@AbstractMarcher]

37:21-37:22 My childhood home in California. I had to immediately pull up google to double check. Was kind of eerie seeing it here. I know who shared it. This was such an in depth and deep dive into the plane and the set. I didn't really pay attention to the set upon release, but definitely appreciate the call backs and gestures to the real world, pop culture, and the darkest of fears we all strive to hide. Fantastic work as always, Sam.

[@proxybully]

undeniably one of the most ambitious aesthetics for a plane, but I think forcing the decade nostalgia camp was a regrettable choice/waste of design space on a non secret lair product that estranges and potentially frustrates players millennial or younger (pandering is more conspicuous and harder to excuse when you're not the target). meanwhile none of the arguments supporting it are particularly compelling/especially interesting. I recognize the metaplay between our cultural nostalgia and duskmourns escapist motifs, but a similar narrative effect could have been achieved sans nostalgia with more effort and thereby without diluting duskmourns aesthetic form as such tldr: the 80s camp is weak kitschy pastiche and unhealthy for the mtg ip. allusion > direct reference

[@elipetrou9308]

Duskmorne sounds so cool and interesting at the beginning until the fucking 80s stuff starts popping up. They really had a chance to do something cool here

[@zackpumpkinhead8882]

Homestly the set feels less like horror and more like horror pastiche. Paradoxically, the entire plane engulfed in a haunted house becomes less immersive. A lot of surreal, somewhat cheesy horror works because it's internally consistent with the fiction. It works because it doesn't draw attention to the inherent sillyness of Max Renn growing a firearm out of his hand, or a shapeshifting space parasite that would overheat and cook itself if it tried to pull any of the cellular stunts found in THE THING. Mirrodin is a robot planet with FIVE SUNS whose denizens are half metallic fungus. Its creator, Karn, becoming an unwitting transmitter of the phyrexian oil that infects and spreads through the mycelial threads of the plane... and oh god I'm rambling. How long on Duskmourn until all the survivors die out? -or do they reproduce somehow at a rate outpacing the infinite parking garage? (Maybe, like Mirrodin, creatures from around the multiverse are continually transported and then trapped there as the house expands? Oh god, not again.) Duskmourn asks me to suspend my disbelief, but it rewards my lack of questions with even more concessions. It doesn't fit within the world of Magic - not because of any aesthetic decisions - but because it doesn't satisfyingly _build_ on those aesthetics. It feels less fleshed-out. Hollow. Flat. But, hey! I wasn't born in the 1960s, so maybe I'm just *_not HIP with the IN-CROWD, as it were._*

[@zackpumpkinhead8882]

TL:DR Magic hit the Vaporwave trend roughly 8 years too late

[@anthonydelfino6171]

regarding the denizens of the plane.... Valgavoth, prior to the existence of omenpaths, was very careful not to let too many survivors die as it knew it would have trouble replacing them, and eventually would run out of food. So it's entirely possible that the survivors at one point were able to be safe enough to reproduce on the plane (and I have my suspicions that Aminatou is native to this plane with her moth motif and ability to peer into the future enabling her to avoid death) BUT now that Valgavoth can more easily set out lures to bring more people into the house from across the multiverse, it no longer feels the need to preserve the safety of the survivors and can feed on them more readily. The house has become exponentially more dangerous since the Phyrexian Invasion.

[@zackpumpkinhead8882]

​@anthonydelfino6171 on Aminatou, I think that's excellent if that's what the designers intended. Okay. I have one good gripe. Pacing. For a good horror story to work, it needs time to build up suspense. The characters go about their daily activities. Some clever foreshadowing, perhaps? The lands of Duskmourn are all impossible spaces. Floating doors, wood frames and windows. Unbound to spacial limitations and all logic and sense. But what if the basic lands were just that - basics? Woods, buildings, rivers, mountains... But with a bit of an edge. A field that's just a little too large. With flowers that glow a little too bright in the moonlight. A stream that's a little too deep. An old house that's larger than it looks on the outside. But we don't. Because there is no "outside." We already know Duskmourn works. Its "the haunted house plane." That's how it was _introduced._ You can't get people to wonder who the killer is if you tell them in the opening credits!!! What's happening on the plane? It's a giant haunted house that scares you! Why is it happening? Because a giant demon is living in it! Duskmourn tries so hard to jump out at you that it stumbles, shudders, and falls flat on its face.

[@ty_sylicus]

Considering what Duskmourn has become, there is no hope. Outside of perhaps stumbling across an omen path, the survivors' fight is fruitless. What life could they ever possibly have? What sense of peace or safety could ever be found? What future is there other than fear, pain, and unltimate death? Duskmourn is dark, man.

[@cloud80169]

I love the concept of this plain but I think it was too much of a horror movie and 80s inspired references. I like the interpretation of saying the 80s is 40 years ago and there are some who are younger who probably look at the technology of that time as strange but I think media has reused the 80s as of late so much that even people who didn’t grow up in the 80s see these tropes and are use to it, so in this set for me just feels like another 80s/horror movie showcase of references. I don’t hate the set I love some of the cards in this set but esthetically I can’t help but be pulled out when I see some of the cards. Amazing video and I don’t like leaving huge comments but I thought to just let my thoughts slip into the void of this comment section.

[@chromaticchrome3746]

It's very amusing how people stress about 1980's AV gear on a magic card when we went to a full on cyberpunk metropolis a few years ago.

[@jakenhsman]

Interesting video! I agree that theres a lot of fascinating art direction, like the differences between various Spawn and the Beasties, but also the 80s nostalgia holds it back a bit. That era may be foreign to younger players, but i guarantee this set wouldn't exist if Stranger Things hadnt led to the 80s remake nostalgia boom.

[@sathrielsatanson666]

That's not how it works. Nostalgia is not created, it exists. Comic book movies, King Kong and Godzilla franchises, live action Disney remakes, Ready Player One are all based on nostalgia. Remakes, reboots and nostalgia bait is everpresent in culture.

[@GIVEPAUSEhobby]

My goodness. I was finally returning to the Hurloon Minotaur episode I’ve been meaning to watch for some time and checked your feed on a whim, immediately changing plans to watch this and WOW. Not only did you completely revolutionize my outlook on a set I was prepared to mostly ignore, but that last section? “We all haunt the houses we live and leave.” I’ve always loved your videos but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a line so impactful as that. Well friggin done.

[@Aligariusful]

"The 80s were 40 years ago" ... there's the real horror of the set

[@connorbell5340]

The best part of getting a new set is the chance at another one of your videos. You consistently give me more and more reasons to love this game that brought me into a community i'm incredibly happy to be a part of.

[@Farawaykingdoms]

God i never realized how amazing the art of this set was. But no matter how you try and sell it, the 80s aesthetics of the humans just breaks it. I think you can still be funny horror, but guys wielding hockey sticks just feels off. I don't know what I'd change it to, but the highs are so high and the lows are so low for this set. As someone who plays no magic but loves the art, i can see so many ideas myself of this house. And none of them will have the survivors in mind.

[@Guevon_Pajaro]

Oh I agree 1000% percent. I get that it was 80s horror themed, and I love retro core stuff like that. But they entirely missed on that small part of the theming. I read the story and it'll all more about the main characters we know and planeswalkers surviving the house. The art is beautiful, I love the rest of it, but they massively missed on survivors look. It's so tacky and I don't care about them living, they're cringe.

[@jamesevans6332]

I was really concerned they were gonna make the setting of Duskmourn/the House corny as hell but I'm really impressed with the way the worldbuilding and art came together and it's probably my favorite set of the year. I love New Capenna and liked Thunder Junction but those sets kind of felt like a pastiche of "thing you recognize", and while there is an element of that in Duskmourn, it somehow feels a lot more organic to me, and the original worldbuilding and story really helps it stay cohesive and a bit less groan-worthy, well done to everybody involved with the set's development

[@thatguymatt5816]

God I miss the time of blocks. A well thought out set and setting played across three releases. This new and random stuff coming out seemingly every two months is just too much for me. Sure, I’m excited just because I like pre release drafts, but I’m not invested in these sets in the least

[@bobroll6530]

Yeha, same I would have loved more sets for every new plane we've visited

[@ronswanson3776]

I couldn't agree more. I also miss when Magic took itself seriously. I may not be old enough to remember the 80's, but I remember a time when there was a distinct, concrete line between Unsets and actual, standard-legal releases. Magic has become a parody of itself, and there's something deeply saddening about that.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

Some worlds definitely needed more room to showcase themselves and be expanded on than just the single set. Kaldheim feels like the biggest victim of this as the 10 realms of the world didn't really feel all that expanded on or fleshed out in the single set. And if I'm gonna whine a bit... seems like a mistake that world got truncated so we could get two sets of vampire wedding tropes....

[@gwenyurick9663]

Blocks were not as good as nastolgia tells us they were. Like are people so quick to forget how many big failures happened because of the forced block system? Avacyn Restored, the entirety of Kamigawa and Mercadia. Even the sets that weren't big fails consistently had people expressing exhaustion with being stuck in the same setting for an entire year. Imagine you hate Duskmourn because its too 80s and then imagine that's every standard set for an entire year? Are blocks actually that much better?

[@anthonydelfino6171]

@@gwenyurick9663 the thing is we did have that fatigue especially if the world wasn't very popular. But they've swung the pendulum too far in the other direction now. We went from three set blocks, to two set blocks to now the last time in the past five years we've spent more than one set on a plane was for their vampire wedding set. I don't think every plane needs multiple sets. They've done a great job showing what they needed to show on worlds like Strixhaven and Kamigawa in a single set, but some of the others really felt rushed.

[@arkanixarcmage]

This is a great narrative to the mtg set! Great job. Your vocal tones really set an uncertainty of calm horror. Like the shadow of a monster that just seeped out of your sight. Can't wait to play this set.

[@aBigSip]

Exceptionally well done and enjoyable video.

[@iPhonix07]

The “we all are Valgavoth” line keeps hitting more the more I think about. I don’t know how you can produce such great videos, they are a real pleasure to watch

[@nissarevane4724]

"How lucky for Wizards that Rystic Studies is doing a video on a set that has gotten pushback for having 80s nostalgic trash in it, I'm sure their marketing department loves that!" Gets to the sponsor of the video... "Oh, ok"

[@ullrich]

Your script writing is so good my friend. This was amazing. One thing that I love about your channel is how much attention you draw to amazing art that might be found on what is otherwise considered a throwaway/bulk common card. When approached purely from the perspective of a player, you miss so much of that. My favorite MTG artist is Seb Mckinnon and he has definitely had art featured on very powerful, playable cards. But he also has amazing art on cards that people probably never play, and that's a shame. So yea, I appreciate how you help put a spotlight on all of that.

[@rathlord]

I love the first third of what this video covered. Duskmourn as a setting (the house, the background, the monsters) seems wonderful and I love the thought and care that went into the house and its realms. But still, bringing "the 80's" in Magic for the survivors I cannot agree is anything other than just forcing one more cliche, one more "hat" onto Magic to try to sell cards with misplaced nostalgia, memes, and cheap jokes. I won't accept that it "had" to be 80's theme to make the concept work. It feels out of place and always will. I (and many of us) fell in love with Magic for having authentic, unique fantasy worlds, not for stapling meme hats onto itself and calling it content. Magic didn't have to be 'everything' it could have just been its own identity. It didn't need to be cowboys and 80's horror and slapstick murder mysteries. I want to love Duskmourn, but I don't. For me it's just another deathknell of the parts of the game that brought me in and that I truly loved dying. Edit: And I want to say a couple other things- first, this video is beautiful and extremely well-crafted as always. Second, the art in Duskmourn is also mostly absolutely gorgeous, even the pieces that exemplify what I dislike about modern Magic are clearly carefully crafted by talented and passionate people. Finally, I am old enough to remember adjusting the TV dial so it's not like the nostalgia is a miss for me. This just isn't the Magic I fell in love with, and I genuinely believe that WotC is chasing the dollar with the nostalgia grab and the memes, and I think that drives most of the pieces I truly dislike here.

[@RowanHG]

It also never needed to be greek and egyptian mythology, or solar and cyberpunk, or japanese feudal era, or cyborg apocalypse or all the other ways MtG has always been a pastiche of many genres and clichees. Tropes are not bad by themselves, and I feel like people are simply hyperfocussing on the "modern" looking aspect which they don't like (same happened in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty) and accentuating the negative, when they let other "trope filled" sets slide because they were more "normal" high fantasy. Did they overdo it with MKM? Probably yes, due to the genre space being small (murder mystery isn't really a big thing), but while the lacking worldbuilding of Thunder Junction was another way in which this failed, it was definitely interesting as an experiment into yet another (often wished for by the way) genre. Duskmourn in my opinion doesn't have that problem. The worldbuilding is unique, the story was great, the tropes easily explained (Valgavoth is using the house as a breeding ground for fear, and fears as well as our reactions to them are common tropes in and of themselves). Even the "clean" survivors are explainable, if some of the presentation a bit lacking. But I vehemently stem myself against the opinion that this kills MtG or that it is something new. From what I can see it only feels like that to certain people because they prefer their clichees to be high fantasy instead of urban. That's not a great distinction though. Eldraine was a clichee storm, but no one batted an eye for example. If the thing that keeps you in Magic is that the tropes it uses are purely swords and sorcery based, then it might not have been the game for you to begin with, and you are only now noticing it.

[@landonduncan7128]

I don't see Duskmourn as "80s horror." I see Duskmourn as "Magic's /take/ on 80s horror." Magic the Gathering is a fantasy-based trading card game, but it can use that basis in fantasy to build unique worlds that take cues from other genres as well. Kaladesh is Magic's interpretation of steampunk, Innistrad is their take on centuries-old gothic horror, Kamigawa started out as a take on Feudal Japan and Japanese mythology, then morphed into a world taking inspiration from cyberpunk-like aesthetics. And all the while, that fantasy aspect stays a part of each world, not always in a "sword and sorcery, dungeons and dragons" sense, but in a sense of thinking outside the box, either applying fantastical aspects to more "grounded" worlds (Thunder Junction being based on the wild west, but having dragons), and/or using things like, for example, radio static to invoke a feeling of dread, calling to mind 70s-80s horror ephemera, yes, but also contextualizing it in a way that makes sense for the established themes and world of Duskmourn. And sure, cliched references can be cringey if done even slightly incorrectly, and I'm not going to deny that the 1980s theming was chosen, in /some/ respects, to cash in on some form of nostalgia, but I think WotC made the 80s horror aesthetic blend well with the greater themes of the set.

[@tinyprince]

I had the exact same gut reaction you did. The elements of modern aesthetics pull me out of the experience and surgically removes any tension and horror for me. It just leaves me frustrated, rolling my eyes and wishing for an alternate art style. I don't know why it makes me feel this way, but it does.

[@rathlord]

@@RowanHG But this is so obviously disingenuous of an argument. Ancient history- Greek/roman/norse and even japanese history are intrinsic parts of fantasy itself. There's a huge different between that and cowboys, which are clearly not a part of "traditional" fantasy. And even that aside, I think you know it's absolutely a lie that early Magic sets emulated things as closely as something like OTJ did. There was a *clear* change from unique world-building to cheap stickers being added on top of Magic cards. And sets like Amonket and the like don't get a pass from this criticism, but there's a pretty clear difference from how carefully those were handled to Duskmourn, a set that doesn't even bother to come up with a reason for its own tropes existing. You claim the tropes "easily explained" but that's frankly absurd. How do you explain a fear of alien abduction in a world with no sky and no aliens? Why did we need a fear of 80's technology when it could have clearly been Victorian? Pretending these fit with the world is borderline insulting to the discourse itself by means of how unauthentic that argument is. It's been 30 years of Magic, and if you're going to try to pretend there hasn't been a clear and distinct change in worldbuilding from unique worlds to nostalgia and gags stuck on like party hats, you're lying to yourself and to me.

[@rathlord]

@@landonduncan7128 I don't see it. Just watch the beginning of this video and the transition from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 and tell me you don't feel the whiplash of going from something that fits with Magic to hamfisted tropes in zero seconds flat. That sums up the entire set in a nutshell. And if you're here to tell me that alien abductions are "Magic's authentic take on 80's horror" then frankly we're never going to agree. These arguments are as inauthentic as the set.

[@slouch186]

i don't play magic but this set sounds beautiful and haunting, at least five minutes into the video. i love the concept of taking such a wide world and bringing it into a single building. it feels so intimate

[@NeoSlimey]

Duskmourn is such a cool plane, conceptually and even narratively. I wish I liked the survivor design, or that it had taken less cues from 80's culture in general. Killer clowns? A bunch of Hellraisers? Spooky dolls? This is just Outlaws of Thunder junction cowboys, Karlov Manor detectives, Bloomburrow fuzzy creatures. It's not a place with living history and characters, where things happen, it's just a marketable theme to sell. Just another joke made out of my favorite game, by the people making it. I wish I could care about any of these new planes or characters, but they don't matter. I feel betrayed.

[@VladdViever]

House of Leaves quote was a great choice. Loved your choice of highlighting House in blue, like the book

[@ramirogomezgonzalez]

pros: new rhystic video cons: my uther fear of insects solution: this is a podcast now

[@inscrutablewut]

Sam you are an invaluable piece of the mtg community and every one of your videos are a gift man. Thank you.

[@Victini1734]

I as a consumer dont want to get invested in a product that I feel is actively exploitative of its consumer-base, and that is what I feel that Duskmourn, as well as much modern magic, has been for a while. The 80's aesthetic esoecially screams of cheap promotion (esoecially in combination with mtgs growing number of set releases), and the corporate seams behind MTG and Hasbro are beginning to rip😮.

[@erikbraun473]

Living and growing up in the 80's made this set to me feel like a commercialization and sale of my youth. Selling the image of a telephone cord as a horror concept falls flat because it's a benign object i utilized constantly. Dracula was still about a super natural concept so the analogy of time didnt fit. I am glad that other people got to enjoy it but its campiness and creepiness feels more like a shameless cash grab in the same way old horror movies feel like that; rather than an homage to the decade and its creations.

[@MforMovesets]

When I read up the story, since I add short story summaries to my Cockatrice decks, I was like "Yo Jace, what are you doing?!"

[@xGatoDelFuegox]

I ADORE your analyses before sets come out. You're an amazing creator and wotc should do this EVERY set, it's just a treasure

[@facufacu22]

From the moment I pressed "play" I knew there ws a jump-scare in this video for sure. That's why I watched it with the volume almost to the minimum and a few meters away from my computer.

[@comlitbeta7532]

"boo"

[@AB-sw4kb]

How old are you?

[@johnyedinak1180]

Excellent video, to put it plainly this is the first set in such a long time that I was absolutely excited for. The limited experience is incredible, and the flavor of the set is so sweet and serine. It's utterly wonderful.

[@alef-0]

The more I think about this plane the more disappointed I get. It was one good idea, they didn't need to add all these references or themes to fully develop it. Looks like the publishers just didn't have enough confidence on the original theme, or decided to go overboard with it, anyway the plane talked about in Chapter I is not the overall picture, and the rest is just amusement park horror.

[@TCG9777]

Duskmourn had me in the first half. The incredibly vintage house haunted by demons and spirits with devoted fanatics sounded delightful. But the second I saw my mother's childhood friend represented on a card; I puked.