Rankings for All 51 Duskmourn: House of Horror Commanders

Last updated on February 22, 2025

Marina Vendrell | Illustration by Magali Villeneuve

As we delve into a new Magic plane, we’re often amazed by the new cards and mechanics it has to offer. In Duskmourn’s case, we find ourselves diving into the horror creatures, and I can’t help but wonder which legendary creatures could arise from such a dark plane.

Let’s look at each potential commander released through the Duskmourn main set and the Duskmourn Commander precons and rank them based on how much they fit into this new world and the new strategies they could enable.

Ready to see which of them stands above the rest? Let’s dive into it!

How Many Commanders Are There in Duskmourn?

Niko, Light of Hope | Illustration by Aurore Folny

Between Duskmourn: House of Horror and Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander, there are a total of 51 legendary creatures and one planeswalker that can be used as your commander. Twenty-seven of them are new ones, while the other 24 are reprints from other sets. Compared to other sets, this is one of the ones with the lowest quantity of commanders, as others like Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Murders at Karlov Manor had subthemes and lore to back them up.

#51. Marvin, Murderous Mimic

Marvin, Murderous Mimic rewards creative deck building, giving you the freedom to experiment with activated abilities from a variety of creatures. The fact that Marvin is a 2-mana artifact makes it an easy-to-cast colorless commander that fits into many strategies. The only problem with this toy, though, is its colorless color identity, making it a better support card for other commanders like Arcum Dagsson rather than being a build-around commander.

#50. The Mindskinner

I’m not a big fan of this blue commander, as it’ll take many turns to mill your opponent with The Mindskinner unless you’re playing Duskmourn Limited. That said, for 3 mana, you can fling it to deal a big chunk of damage to any unprepared victim.

#49. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle

I don’t like Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle at all, as it takes forever to turn it on. I don’t think it does much for this set’s theme.

#48. Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar

To make Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar matter, you’d need to send a lot of lands from your library to the graveyard, most likely by milling them. This way, you can justify running this elemental avatar as your green commander, as it’d be easy to play a 12/12 for 6 mana with enough investment.

#47. Old Stickfingers

I’ve never been a fan of Old Stickfingers as it's somewhat hard to cast to get good enough value. That said, in Duskmourn where different types of cards matter, it’s helpful to send a specific kind of card to the graveyard, like creatures.

#46. Mogis, God of Slaughter

It’s been a while since we first saw Mogis, God of Slaughter in Born of the Gods, and today this Rakdos commander, who's among the strongest group slug commanders in the game, is back as a reminder that group slug decks can be really fun to play with!

#45. Kefnet the Mindful

If you have enough mana, remember you can spend 9 mana per turn to loop the synergy of Mystic Sanctuary + Kefnet the Mindful + Time Warp to get infinite extra turns.

#44. Arvinox, the Mind Flail

Arvinox, the Mind Flail is a legendary enchantment creature with a very unique ability to steal from your opponents' decks and use their own cards against them. Arvinox can quickly turn into a game-ending 9/9 threat if you're good at manipulating the board and gaining control of permanents you don't own. That said, I’d prefer not to turn it into a creature, as it's harder to deal with this black commander in its enchantment form.

#43. Ishkanah, Grafwidow

Ishkanah, Grafwidow pairs beautifully with The Swarmweaver as both create creepy crawlies to fill the board with, which is relevant to this delirium commander‘s second ability to make opponents lose life based on the numbers of spiders you control.

#42. Syr Konrad, the Grim

Syr Konrad, the Grim is a good support card for other commanders like The Lord of Pain to make your opponents lose life at a faster pace.

#41. Massacre Girl

In many situations, especially in Commander, you may need to resort to ways of cleaning the board while keeping at least one creature in play. With a proper setup, Massacre Girl can accomplish that every other day.

#40. Braids, Arisen Nightmare

We welcome back Braids, Arisen Nightmare in Duskmourn Commander, a creature that fits perfectly on Rakdos Group Slug decks that are popular for this set.

#39. Titania, Nature's Force

First introduced in the The Brothers' War Commander decks, Titania, Nature's Force makes a comeback to add power to the board whenever you play forests from your graveyard. But I don’t think there are many Crucible of Worlds effects if you take into account only cards released in Duskmourn.

#38. Yedora, Grave Gardener

Regarding Titania’s issue, Yedora, Grave Gardener is here to fix the problem as creatures dying return as forests on the battlefield, allowing you to create some Elemental tokens if you combine it with Titania, Nature's Force.

#37. Ashaya, Soul of the Wild

Ashaya, Soul of the Wild is a pain to play against since removal that targets non-land permanents is useless. It makes each of your creatures into lands, and they also trigger landfall abilities when they enter, which is key with some cards in this set.

#36. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait

Creatures that let you play more lands each turn are usually good with Simic colors. On top of that, you’re rewarded with card draw whenever landfall triggers, making Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait a perfect addition for the set.

#35. Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

Pseudo-reanimation strategies love Athreos, Shroud-Veiled. This Orzhov commander is great in decks that have a sacrifice theme to put creatures back into play if they had a coin counter on them.

#34. Florian, Voldaren Scion

Since dealing damage through other sources outside of combat is Rakdos's () main trick in this set, Florian, Voldaren Scion fits perfectly into the mix to provide solid card advantage.

#33. Kaervek the Merciless

At 7 mana, Kaervek the Merciless is an excellent Rakdos card to punish your opponents for playing cards. You can even toy with it by dealing with other players' pesky creatures, turning the game into a political one.

#32. Winter, Misanthropic Guide

For a Jund commander, Winter, Misanthropic Guide is a weird one. On one hand, you pseudo-punish your opponents by trimming their hand size, but the struggle for me comes when you’re giving them resources to work with after your turn is done. Sure, you also get to benefit from this. But if you're playing a Winter, Misanthropic Guide EDH deck, you’re essentially giving up to six cards to other players that can easily chain into a couple of cards per turn. This makes the delirium ability meaningless since it won’t be triggered often unless you fill your deck with cards that have more than one type.

#31. Rashmi, Eternities Crafter

Rashmi, Eternities Crafter provides value either by putting a card in your hand or casting it for free if its mana value is less than that of the first spell you cast on each turn.

#30. Vial Smasher the Fierce

Vial Smasher the Fierce is one of the few commanders in this set with the partner ability to let it pair up with other partner commanders. It's also a Rakdos commander that burns your opponents at random whenever you play your first spell, which can quickly make Vial Smasher a target of spells or abilities that aim to remove it. Because of this, it's almost mandatory to run cards that can protect it like Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves to keep the fun going.

#29. Toby, Beastie Befriender

Blade Splicer would be jealous of Toby, Beastie Befriender, because Toby puts a bigger token into play when it enters the battlefield, with the additional value of giving all your token creatures flying if you control four or more of them. The only downside is that the token can’t attack or block alone, but that shouldn’t be a problem once this white commander gives wings to your board.

#28. Norin, Swift Survivalist

Norin, Swift Survivalist is somewhat fun to play with as it bypasses some regular combat scenarios. In many occasions, you’d refuse to make an attack if an opponent just played their big blocker and it isn’t worth losing one of your creatures to it, but with this red commander at your disposal, you can remove the blocked creature from play and replay it post-combat so that you don’t lose any value and still get through with the rest of your creatures.

#27. Altanak, the Thrice-Called

While Altanak, the Thrice-Called may not be worth writing a book about, it has some cool things going on. It can be discarded to return lands from your graveyard to the battlefield and then be reanimated for cheap to start putting pressure to your opponents’ that have to go down in card advantage to deal with this overpowered insect.

#26. Arabella, Abandoned Doll

Arabella shines in decks that focus on small creatures or creature tokens, which are also usually small. This Boros commander also works well in aggressive and lifegain-focused decks, where Arabella, Abandoned Doll‘s attack trigger can turn a board full of small creatures into a significant advantage with cards like Heliod, Sun-Crowned, for example.

#25. The Jolly Balloon Man

With haste, The Jolly Balloon Man can quickly get into action, making it an immediate threat or utility piece when it enters the battlefield. Its activated ability lets you create a token that's a 1/1 red Balloon copy of another target creature you control, except it gains flying and haste. This Balloon token is sacrificed at the beginning of the next end step, allowing you to use it for a quick attack and retrigger some relevant ETB ability. The bad news is that it can only be used at sorcery speed.

#24. Nashi, Searcher in the Dark

Nashi, Searcher in the Dark is an evasive 2-drop that benefits from dealing combat damage to your opponents as you can return cards to your hand from among the milled cards. While situational, you’re also rewarded even if you don’t put cards into your hand because Nashi’s power increases turn by turn.

Personally, I’d pair this Dimir commander with enchantments to boost their power like Curious Obsession or equipment like Sword of Feast and Famine to mill more cards and get better value out of it.

#23. Niko, Light of Hope

My first thought is to slam Niko, Light of Hope into a blink deck. The more times this Azorius commander enters the battlefield, the more Shard tokens it creates, which can then be used to become copies of non-legendary creatures with strong ETBs like Solitude or Skyclave Apparition at the end of the turn.

Additionally, Niko’s ability can be used to protect key creatures in a pinch.

#22. Zimone, All-Questioning

If you’re into math-based abilities, land-based strategies, or token generation, this Simic commander is a great choice. I’d have loved Zimone, All-Questioning better if the token it created weren’t legendary, as it’d have opened the room to more out-of-the-box thinking. The best thing you can do with Zimone is just make a bigger creature than the previous one each turn. That said, you can go crazy if you play cards like Greater Good that let you take advantage of the bigger Primo, the Indivisible tokens you create while seemingly not losing value.

#21. Aminatou, Veil Piercer

Aminatou, Veil Piercer has some serious synergy potential. This Esper commander fits best into enchantment-heavy builds where you want to cheat big enchantments into play fast. Think about dropping something like Omniscience or Sphere of Safety for almost nothing!

The surveil ability also lets you fine-tune what you're going to draw, increasing the chances you can hit that miracle timing. On the other hand, Aminatou, Veil Piercer EDH decks can also use cards like Abuelo's Awakening to exploit sending cost-heavy enchantments to the graveyard and bring them back to the field for 4 mana.

#20. Kianne, Corrupted Memory

I like Kianne, Corrupted Memory because it offers flexibility in a very particular way. With enough card draw, you’ll be able to switch between flashing in creatures or non-creature spells, depending on what the situation calls for. Its ability to give all your spells flash means you can play reactively and keep opponents guessing. Simic () is already great at drawing cards, so it’s easy to keep growing Kianne and shifting its power. Paired with cards like Hardened Scales or Doubling Season to boost the number of counters Kianne gets, you’ll give your commander power flips between odd and even for more flexibility. It also makes Kianne a powerful threat on its own to finish off unprepared opponents quickly.

#19. Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls is a fantastic Rakdos commander for decks that focus on draining your opponents' life. Its ability to get stronger and draw cards whenever your opponents lose life makes it a powerhouse.

You can really maximize this elder demon‘s potential with cards like Sulfuric Vortex, Hissing Iguanar, or Thermo-Alchemist, which cause life loss consistently outside of combat. When your opponents lose life for the first time during their turns, Valgavoth triggers and keeps your engine running smoothly. Plus, the card drawn when an opponent loses life for the first time each turn ensures your hand is always full of answers or threats.

Valgavoth is both a battlefield menace and a powerful value engine, perfect for aggressive and interactive strategies.

#18. The Lord of Pain

The Lord of Pain is a real menace, both in how it plays and what they stand for! This human assassin thrives on causing pain and shutting down lifegain strategies, plus it makes the first spell each player casts hurt even more. Its “no life gain” ability is handy, but the real kicker is how every player’s first spell each turn causes damage to someone else. Use this to make deals or just sit back and watch your opponents take each other out while you build up your own board. Cards like Zo-Zu the Punisher, Vial Smasher the Fierce, or Rakdos, Lord of Riots are great with this Rakdos commander, turning the game into a real pain for everyone else.

#17. The Master of Keys

This horror commander is perfect for enchantment-heavy decks that love recycling from the graveyard. It mills you when it enters the battlefield, allowing you to reuse those enchantments with escape and keep up the pressure in longer games. Being an X spell makes it versatile, so you can drop this Esper commander early or late, depending on what you need, and its flying ability can keep your opponents on their toes.

Pair The Master of Keys with cards like Skybind, Blightcaster, or Archon of Sun's Grace, which all shine with enter-the-battlefield effects. Plus, since The Master of Keys comes in with X +1/+1 counters, you can use something like Cathars' Crusade to pump out even more goodies from your graveyard throughout the game.

#16. Rendmaw, Creaking Nest

Rendmaw, Creaking Nest loves stirring up chaos and causing mayhem! This Golgari commander () gives every player goaded, flying Bird tokens that have to attack someone other than you. This forces your opponents to duke it out with each other, wearing down their resources while you build up your board.

Plus, Rendmaw plays well with decks that include a mix of card types, like artifact creatures or enchantment creatures. As you cast your spells, you’ll keep generating more Birds. Cards like Tarmogoyf or Barrowgoyf are great in Rendmaw, Creaking Nest decks because they care about different card types. Pair this with artifact creatures and lands like Darkmoss Bridge and you’ll keep those Bird tokens coming!

#15. Winter, Cynical Opportunist

The face commander of Duskmourn‘s Death Toll Commander precon, Winter shines with its ability to mill and cheat permanent cards directly onto the battlefield, making it a great pick for graveyard-focused decks. You can set up massive plays by filling your graveyard with powerful cards and then using Winter's ability to bring them back into play. Basically, Winter, Cynical Opportunist turns your graveyard into a second hand, letting you resurrect some of your best cards and giving you tons of options for winning the game. Just watch out that you don’t accidentally turn off delirium!

#14. Zimone, Mystery Unraveler

Zimone, Mystery Unraveler is all sorts of fun as you get to play with landfall, manifest cards for free creatures, and benefit from topdeck manipulation all at once. The unpredictability of manifest cards adds a surprise factor to your plays, especially when you’re flipping face-down cards into powerful creatures.

Of course, you can run synergy cards like Secret Plans to provide card advantage whenever a permanent is turned face up while also using Splendid Reclamation or Crucible of Worlds to return lands that may have gone to the graveyard thanks to the manifest dread mechanic.

#13. Rip, Spawn Hunter

Rip’s ability fits naturally with vehicle-heavy decks. Vehicles not only help you tap Rip to trigger survival, but they also benefit from the different power clauses, as many vehicles have unique power and toughness stats. Plus, grabbing a few extra vehicles from the top of your library helps you set up for future turns.

Of course, there are other ways to tap your Selesnya commander such as Honor-Worn Shaku or Springleaf Drum, but more often than not, vehicles will be your main go-to.

#12. The Swarmweaver

Naturally, The Swarmweaver shines in insect and spider typal decks. Cards like Ishkanah, Grafwidow and Brood of Cockroaches fit well here, providing more creatures that benefit from The Swarmweaver’s delirium bonus.

Another thing to consider: You can add Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, or Primal Vigor to increase the number of Insect tokens you produce, and you can build this scarecrow commander around tokens rather than just slamming bugs into the deck.

#11. Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal

Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal offers a scaling, multi-effect ability that encourages careful deckbuilding and gameplay. You’ll want to maximize your enchantments and room-unlocking effects to fully trigger its abilities. However, the combination of surveil, discard, and reanimation makes Victor a dynamic Orzhov commander, giving you lots of options to brew with.

#10. Rakdos, Lord of Riots

Rakdos, Lord of Riots is a payoff for this set’s group-slug theme and also an enabler to cheat into playing big creatures for less investment based on the damage opponents have taken.

#9. Grist, the Hunger Tide

One of Duskmourn‘s most popular reprints, Grist, the Hunger Tide comes with a powerful ultimate, and it's cheap enough to recast if it dies after activation.

#8. Kardur, Doomscourge

Historically, Kardur, Doomscourge has been a headache for combat as it turns your opponents against each other. In this particular set, some abilities trigger post-combat. Hence, the life loss whenever creatures die is very relevant.

#7. Tatyova, Benthic Druid

Since Duskmourn has several ways to put lands into play from the graveyard, Tatyova, Benthic Druid is a solid inclusion for this set.

#6. Valgavoth, Terror Eater

While flying and lifelink are good abilities on their own, Valgavoth, Terror Eater main threat is to steal resources from your opponents that get exiled instead of hitting the graveyard. From lands to any other spells, this elder demon benefits from everything, and the most common way to use it is by pairing it with removal spells to kill some pesky creatures and then return them to your side.

Discard effects also work significantly with this kind of ability, which reminds me of Dauthi Voidwalker at a bigger scale.

#5. The Wandering Rescuer

One of the best Duskmourn cards, The Wandering Rescuer was the convoke card I wanted for a Jetmir, Nexus of Revels deck I’ve been working with, as it's an excellent way to protect your creatures by giving them hexproof and also putting a solid threat onto the field for essentially no cost.

#4. Shigeki, Jukai Visionary

Since sending things to the graveyard is one of Duskmourn’s main themes for green decks, Shigeki, Jukai Visionary is a great addition to any that looks to both ramp and reutilize key pieces in later portions of the game.

#3. Kona, Rescue Beastie

If you combine Kona, Rescue Beastie with vehicles, mounts, and top-end threats like Omniscience, you have a very strong green commander to build around. Even if it's not as powerful as the mighty enchantment, resolving a free Atraxa, Grand Unifier is usually enough to break decks in low-power formats such as Standard, making this beast survivor one of the most exciting creatures to toy with.

#2. Tyvar, the Pummeler

Tyvar, the Pummeler first ability pairs extremely well with one of Duskmourn‘s new survival ability. This not only gives Tyvar the potential to be an annoying indestructible threat to deal with, but you’ll also be able to exploit cards with said ability.

As if that weren’t enough, you can also activate its second ability to give a huge boost to your creatures, and most of the time, just 3 more power is enough to break most defenses and your opponents. Tyvar's also a bomb in Duskmourn Drafts, by the way!

#1. Marina Vendrell

Marina Vendrell is Duskmourn‘s 5-color commander, with a strong ETB ability to find enchantments from the top of your library and potentially refill your hand.

Additionally, Marina has an activated ability that allows you to lock or unlock a door of a room you control, but this can only be done as a sorcery.

I like to think about a Marina Vendrell EDH deck as the Niv-Mizzet Reborn for enchantments.

Commanding Conclusion

Nashi, Searcher in the Dark | Illustration by Johan Grenier

While most Duskmourn commanders are designed to be build-arounds, I appreciate the unique ways the designers made them stand out from those already printed. Personally, I really like Marina Vendrell because there are no restrictions when building around them, giving you access to every enchantment ever printed in Magic: The Gathering.

Which one is your favorite? Is there a commander you would have liked to see ranked higher? Let us know in the comments or Discord!

As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X to stay tuned for daily MTG content. Take care, and see you next time!