The Best Duskmourn Cards in Standard, According to Popularity

Foundations is upon us, and so is the UB integration update. And just by looking at the pretested decks alone last week, plus the first three days that the set rolled out, it seems that MTG Standard has changed completely. Thankfully, we can still take one final look at the previous meta for the next few days, until some of the changes are irreversible rolled out for the new entries next week.

But before even that, we had an entire month to enjoy Duskmourn with the vanilla MTG Standard flavor that we had enjoyed a few months after its rotation last September. What cards became immediately a hit? Which cards eventually proved their worth? And were there underrated gems that erupted at the top for the next few weeks after? Let's look at the entries for this new set!

(NOTE: All information is collected from technical matches, online discussions, and trending multimedia content. Some of the entries will also be affected by how often they pop up in Aetherhub decklists as well.)

The Top 8 Most Popular Bloomburrow Cards

(roughly one month after release)

8th Spot: Unstoppable Slasher

The card that truly lives up to its name, unless deleted by Anoint with Affliction, Elspeth's Smite, Not on My Watch, Lay Down Arms, Leyline Binding, and many more. Unstoppable Slasher has been the staple of Mono Black Midrange decks for its value as a dual-purpose three-drop. There's the 'unstoppable' aspect of it, of course. But its 'slashing' antics also help close out games faster in a way that doesn't feel like getting pummeled by pump spells and sac combos by turn two. Then there's also its perfect curve synergy with Bloodletter of Aclazotz within its meta deck, which instantly closes the game whenever an opportunity arises.

7th Spot: Wildfire Wickerfolk

The main beatstick of the unusual Gruul FOMO deck, it became an auto-include due to its very efficient mana cost, plus its Delirium synergy connecting well with the multi-card types easily thrown into the graveyard by the deck it belongs to (usually curving at the earliest turn that it drops). And that's it... really. Heck, the card isn't even the win-con of the deck (although it is nice to be the target of FOMO). It is simply a very convenient helping body that synergizes well enough for the deck to be used with zero drawbacks whatsoever.

6th Rank: Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

One of the newest toys of Dimir decks, it provides utility both in its expected color identity effect, raw accumulating power of his loyalty abilities, plus its latest gimmick for the tried and tested creature/planeswalker dual modes. Not to be added in full, but you would most likely see Dimir decks use at least two, which is a perfect number for the constructive modes of his loyalty abilities.

5th Rank: Ethereal Armor

Optimistic Scavenger. 'Nuff said.

But seriously, this classic enchantment made a reprint comeback precisely to take advantage of all the aura and enchantment goodness of Duskmourn. Which is definitely something intentional on the part of the card set designers, that's for sure. There are quite a lot of Aura-packed variants at that moment where this card fits, actually. But the most popular ones are usually Azorius and Boros.

4th Rank: Turn Inside Out

Alongside other cards like Felonious Rage, this card is part of the nasty package that made Mono Red Wins' two-turn bombing strategies so effective in BO1. Traditional MTG dictates that pump spells are very prone to succumbing to 2-in-1 or even 3-in-1 advantage loss. But if you can potentially deal more than 20 damage in just two turns, with a "cashback" if the opponent does try to delete your pumped creature, then the dice usually becomes well worth rolling. Sadly, as the weeks flew by, however, traditional burn-style Mono Red Wins eventually crept back, especially after the Leyline ban in BO1.

3rd Place: Sheltered by Ghosts

An instant hit on the first week of Duskmourn, many players immediately realized the pure value that this aura could offer in a neat little package. While it did not affect the meta that much due to the types of decks available at the top spots at the time, the emergence of dedicated aura decks allowed it to climb up the ranks and gain popularity outside its intended strategy sphere. Who just cannot love that value-to-value removal, lifegain, and protection power amirite? You can't even automatically detach it from the creature via removal due to Ward. If it is an aura deck specifically (and the target creature does not have summoning sickness), you immediately get a 4-in-1 or 5-in-1 as early as turn two or turn three.

2nd Place: Optimistic Scavenger

Behold, the Virtuoso and Priest's newest partner! Yeah, it is your typical vanilla snowballing one drop in the form of enchantments, but that is precisely the point. Much like all other similarly mechanical cards before it, it provided a very cheap value permanent that could provide a lot of advantages so long as it stays on-field. Doesn't even need to be auras or rooms. There's room (no pun intended) for the card even if you are just splashing the likes of Leyline Binding or Up the Beanstalk, or any of the new Overlord cards.

1st Place: Screaming Nemesis

And the most popular card in Duskmourn is none other than... Screaming Nemesis? Ah well, that's meta-level vengeful life gain-sealing Mono Red play for ya. As usual, its adds so much pressure in just taking face from burn spells even if done slightly slowly.

Top 8 Most Popular Bloomburrow Cards Per Color

White

Blue

Black

Red

Green

Multi-color

Colorless

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