Everything You Need to Know About Archenemy in Duskmourn

Tyler Holland September 23, 2024 Collecting, Commander, MTG Products

Last updated on October 17, 2024

My Will Is Irresistible | Illustrated by Samuel Araya

Duskmourn: House of Horror is an MTG set about a Magic plane ruled by Valgavoth, Terror Eater, an extremely powerful elder demon. Duskmourn's story follows the survivors who work together in an attempt to make it out alive, and it seems that Wizards of the Coast found it fitting for the Duskmourn Commander decks to bring back Magic’s original one-vs-many format: Archenemy.

For players who love the challenge of the whole table uniting to defeat them or who just want to live out the fantasy of working together to defeat a big-bad, this MTG format pits a team of players against one extra-powerful “archenemy.”

With some freshly Commander-centric rules tweaks and 40 brand-new and reprinted scheme cards, Archenemy is back with a vengeance, bringing a villainous twist to your Commander night.

Table of Contents show

What Is Archenemy?

Running Is Useless | Illustration by Dominik Mayer

Archenemy is a unique multiplayer Magic format where a team of players (called “heroes”) takes on one “archenemy”: a player on their own, who has a higher individual life total and access to powerful, oversized “scheme” cards.

The team of heroes take their turn simultaneously, similarly to Two-Headed Giant, and work together to defeat their common enemy. The archenemy activates one powerful scheme from the command zone every turn, though, and those powerful effects are the key to a villain’s victory against a team of heroic opponents.

Duskmourn Archenemy Rules Changes

Originally, Archenemy was designed with 60-card decks in mind and was a separate format from Commander. Now, since Commander has become the de facto way to play multiplayer Magic, Archenemy has received some updates to EDH-become compatible.

When Archenemy was played with 60-card decks, each “hero” player started with 20 life, and the archenemy started with 40. Since each player starts with 40 life in Commander, the original rules don’t feel right.

Now, the entire team of heroes shares a life total of 60. This higher shared life total makes the game feel more like Commander, and the heroes work more like a team. This also has the welcome side-effect that no player is ever knocked out early, since the entire hero team either wins or loses together. The archenemy is extra powerful to match, boasting a new individual life total of 60.

The result of these changes is that the hero team, with their powers combined, is on even footing with the archenemy, who stands alone in their path, creating a flavorful, fun, and balanced-for-Commander version of this classic Magic game mode.

There’s been one additional change to the rules: The scheme deck needs at least 10 scheme cards, only half of the original 20-card requirement for the archenemy’s scheme deck.

How Many Duskmourn Archenemy Cards Do You Need?

To play Duskmourn Archenemy, the “archenemy” player needs at least 10 scheme cards. This number is only a minimum; if you have more than 10, you can use as many as you want!

Notably, each Duskmourn Commander precon comes with exactly 10 scheme cards, so that’s all you’ll need to pick up if you’re interested in trying the format out.

Duskmourn Archenemy Schemes

Jump Scare!

Miracle Worker

Endless Punishment

Death Toll

*Reprint from previous Archenemy Products

Are Duskmourn Scheme Cards Legal?

Duskmourn schemes, like past schemes, are only legal in Archenemy games, in the archenemy player’s “scheme deck.” Scheme cards can’t go in your regular Magic decks or be used in any other official Magic formats. Like the plane cards from Planechase, these are oversized cards meant to supplement casual games.

Where Can You Get Duskmourn Archenemy Cards?

Duskmourn Archenemy cards are only available in the pre-constructed Duskmourn Commander decks. They can’t be found in Play boosters or Collector boosters. Seven of the 40 scheme cards are reprints that can be found in previous Archenemy products.

How Many Archenemy Cards Come In Each DSK Commander Deck?

Each of the pre-constructed Duskmourn Commander decks comes with a set of 10 scheme cards. This is the minimum necessary to play the Archenemy format under the current rules, so all you need is one Duskmourn EDH precon (and some friends with their own Commander decks) to play Duskmourn Archenemy.

All four of the Duskmourn Commander precons come with their own unique set of Archenemy cards, so if you pick up more than one, there won’t be any duplicate scheme cards.

Can You Use Duskmourn Archenemy Cards in Other Multiplayer Formats?

Duskmourn Archenemy cards can be used in any Archenemy multiplayer game. The Archenemy ruleset is completely compatible with Commander, as Archenemy itself doesn’t specify what kind of Magic deck you have to play.

Though Archenemy is usually a team format with only one archenemy player, the rules also support “Supervillain Rumble,” an alternate multiplayer game mode. Each player needs their own 10+ card scheme deck. This is a free-for-all, like a regular Commander game, but every player at the table is an archenemy. In this mode, every player activates a scheme on each of their turns.

It might be a lot to keep track of, but Archenemy and Planechase are compatible, too! You can add both to your Commander game and bask in the chaos. If you want to fully embrace casual magic, or you really just love your oversized cards, give it a shot!

How Does Duskmourn Archenemy Compare to Other Archenemy Products?

The original Archenemy, released in 2010, was a product line of four preconstructed 60-card decks. Each deck came with 20 scheme cards (the original minimum amount). Much like the preconstructed Commander decks of today, this line of decks was designed to facilitate casual multiplayer games of Magic, but with the Archenemy ruleset. Each deck was capable of being the archenemy or being on the hero team.

The follow-up to Archenemy was Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, released in 2017. Rather than four separate decks for purchase, Archenemy: Nicol Bolas was one Archenemy product that contained four decks: one specifically for the archenemy to use, representing Nicol Bolas himself, and three for the heroes. Each hero’s deck represents a planeswalker from the Magic story: Gideon Jura, Chandra Nalaar, and Nissa Revane.

If you’re looking to get into Archenemy in the current year, though, there’s no better choice than the Duskmourn Commander decks. Nowadays, Commander is the primary way for casual Magic to be played. The original Archenemy and its sequel are great, and the latter is especially flavorful, but there’s really no substitute for Commander. Just about everyone has a deck, and the format is infinitely more varied, personalized, and accessible than the 60-card Archenemy decks could ever be.

Alternate game-modes like Archenemy and Planechase find their best homes as supplements to Commander. Commander players are looking for casual games where they get to show off their favorite decks and cards in a chaotic, splashy environment, and modes like Archenemy are great ways to stay true to that vision while breaking up the monotony of playing the same format all the time. Every Archenemy Commander game is different– something that can’t exactly be said of Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, which requires the same deck to be the archenemy each time.

Wrap Up

Power Without Equal | Illustration by Eli Minaya

With a fresh rules update, a batch of brand-new scheme cards, and a focus on Commander, there’s really no better time to give Archenemy a try. With a whole new layer of team-play to wrangle and plenty of chaotic and powerful schemes to set in motion, it’s an incredibly novel gameplay experience with plenty of replay value.

Are you ready to embrace your villainous fantasies, or excited to band together and defeat a supervillain? Are there any schemes you’re looking forward to setting in motion? Planning on trying out that Archenemy-Planechase hybrid? Let us know in the comments or over on the Draftsim Discord!

Until next time, stay safe, and keep scheming!

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Tyler Holland

Tyler’s been a Magic fan since slinging spells at the middle school lunch table. Being introduced to Commander in 2019 got them into the local community, and since then, Magic has been a daily feature of their life. Fast forward to now, and you’ll probably find Tyler jamming Standard at the game store, drafting on Arena, or brewing some Izzet jank that almost works.