Magic The Gathering: Arena – 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked

As a seasoned Magic: The Gathering player with years of battling under my belt, let me tell you, the latest addition to the House of Horror expansion, Valgavoth, Terror Eater, is nothing short of terrifying! This Elder Demon’s 9-mana casting cost might give you a moment’s respite, but once he’s on the battlefield, watch out!


Secure the door firmly, for Duskmourn has arrived to send shivers down the spines of gamers everywhere. This Magic: The Gathering expansion boasts a cinematic array of terrifying creatures that offer enticing choices.

Are these characters from Duskmourn truly deserving of leading your latest Brawl deck? In today’s analysis, we’ll examine the top 10 Legendary cards that are likely to strike fear into your opponents upon their appearance in the Command Zone.

10 The Mindskinner

Shred Enemy Libraries With Mill

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked

RarityMana CostTypesP/T
RareUUUEnchantment Creature — Nightmare10/1

Arena, and The Mindskinner is fully aware of this fact.

Hiding in the command area, this terrifying entity is poised to tear through your adversary’s entire deck and transport it to the Graveyard. Remarkably efficient for its mono-Blue nature, The Mindskinner boasts one of the highest power-to-mana ratios in the game.

Instead, this creature offers an intriguing twist on mill strategies, as it causes all the damage you inflict to draw cards from your opponents’ decks, making it a noteworthy choice if you prefer an aggressive approach.

9 Niko, Light Of Hope

Armies Of Flicker-Clones

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
Mythic2WUCreature — Human Wizard3/4

Regardless of their initial attempt to elude the Goddess of Fate on their native plane of Theros, Niko Aris finds himself imprisoned within the House of Terror, assuming the human form known as Niko, Bearer of Hope.

In the world of Duskmourn, Niko continues to be a powerful agent of goodness, equipped with a newly activated spark that flares up at the right moments, and possessing shards that mimic the abilities of others.

Fill your deck with juicy flicker targets and additional enablers, and let the chaos commence!

By bouncing Niko themselves, you earn extra Shard tokens when you replicate your preferred Blue or White creature. An additional advantage is that any creatures you send to the exile with Niko will trigger their effects once they re-enter the battlefield.

8 Norin, Swift Survivalist

Never Die To Blockers Again

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
UncommonRCreature — Human Coward2/1

Sure, he’s a coward—that doesn’t mean Norin, Swift Survivalist can’t put in the work, too! Norin’s a great enabler for Red’s aggro strategies and “Red Deck Wins” value options.

If you’re accumulating Treasure tokens to unleash a massive Banefire, Norin’s ability presents your opponents with a challenging dilemma: suffer damage or allow you to recast your creatures. As the game progresses, this choice becomes increasingly difficult due to Red’s affinity for causing pain.

Better yet, get Norin on the field and use spells like Act of Treason to swipe your opponent’s creatures and swing in. If they block, Norin lets you exile it—good luck getting THAT creature back!

7 Kona, Rescue Beastie

Pup Plays Fetch, Brings Permanents Into Play

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
Rare3GCreature — Beast Survivor4/3

The lovable creature known as Kona, Rescue Beastie has an extraordinary ability: it can put any permanent card directly onto the battlefield. Amazingly, isn’t that so?

Restock Kona’s pouches with your preferred large-sized creatures, spells, and items. With each instance that she endures until your second main phase, you’ll have the opportunity to put one of those powerful cards onto the battlefield at no cost. Utilizing Convoke cards, artifacts to grant Kona activated abilities, and other strategies to tap her without direct attack, Kona can yield significant rewards without exposing herself to danger.

Even if your opponent’s a cruel, inhuman monster who would cast removal on her, you’re still playing Green! And I’ve never known a self-respecting Green deck to lack mana ramp for casting its baddest bombs.

6 Rip, Spawn Hunter

The Evil Dead, Magic Style

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
Rare2GWCreature — Human Survivor4/4

If you’re looking for something different with the Selesnya Humans, consider allying with Rip, Spawn Hunter. Before long, your opponents will find themselves at peace, which is another way of saying they’ll be defeated.

Rip is ready to flip over and strike your adversary directly in their remaining health points. If Rip is already tapped during your second main phase, you will have the chance to reshuffle your hand, receiving a new assortment of creatures and vehicles.

By placing this card-drawing mechanism within your Command Zone, you’ll always have a steady supply of creatures at your disposal, making it less likely for them to be removed from play.

Equip Rip with gear enhancing his damage output and durability, as well as augmenting auras. This boost not only fortifies him but also grants you additional cards.

5 Winter, Misanthropic Guide

Control The Cards, Control The Game

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
Rare1BGRCreature — Human Warlock3/4

Are you yearning for a fresh perspective on deck building using Jund? Then let The Frostbite Deckmaster, an unyielding misanthrope, guide you towards claiming the card-denial throne, as your adversary is compelled to discard their hand at the end of each turn.

With the extra cards drawn during Winter, you can effectively limit your opponent’s moves within Duskmourn’s cellar by providing ample resources.

As a devoted follower, I can attest that integrating discard spells and graveyard resurrection tactics, Winter truly shines as an effective commander in midrange and control Brawl strategies.

If you manage to draw and use four distinct card types from your graveyard faster, your opponent will succumb more rapidly. Fill up your 99-card deck with multi-type cards such as the enticing new enchantment creatures like Duskmourn, to trigger Winter’s delirium ability.

4 Marina Vendrell

Unlock Enchantments In The House Of Horrors

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
RareWUBRGCreature — Human Warlock3/5

If the latest Room subtype for enchantment cards excites you, then there’s no more suitable commander to create decks with than Marina Vendrell. With this commander, you can cast the less expensive side of a Room enchantment card, and subsequently unlock (or lock) the expensive side at no additional cost.

That’s quite a significant advantage with mana, especially when opening the correct rooms. Alternatively, Marina can be used to continuously lock and unlock Rooms, yielding progressive benefits. Furthermore, in all five colors, you’re almost guaranteed to pull cards that will either untap her, double her activated ability, or…

Marina, positioned in the command zone, consistently grants you an edge with card advantage. Upon her entry into play, she reveals enchantments from the top seven cards of your deck, regardless if they are not Rooms.

3 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares

Assassinate Opponents From The Command Zone

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesStarting Loyalty
Mythic2UBPlaneswalker — Kaito4

One fascinating feature that sets Brawl apart from traditional Commander games is that your commander can assume either the form of a creature or a planeswalker. Not every planeswalker fits the bill, but Kaito, Bane of Nightmares has the potential to lead you to triumph.

As a dedicated fan, I’d like to highlight that Kaito has masterfully secured a place among the top three by blending two potent strategies. He’s leveraging a Ninja tribal creature-focused approach in harmony with a direct, unrelenting beatdown strategy, creating a formidable combination that’s truly impressive!

As a gamer, I’m always ready to unleash Kaito onto the battlefield at an affordable cost of only 3 mana thanks to his incredible ninjutsu ability. Any creature my opponent underestimates could potentially end up being transformed into Kaito, escaping damage in the process!

When Kaito is on the field, he can continuously hit the opponent and establish symbols that enhance all of your Ninjas. Since these symbols are in the command zone, Kaito essentially boosts all of your Ninjas permanently, as it’s not possible to remove something that isn’t on the battlefield.

2 Valgavoth, Terror Eater

Life’s Just A Resource—Let’s Spend It!

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
Mythic6BBBCreature — Elder Demon9/9

It’s hard to imagine navigating Valgavoth, the Grim Feaster’s House of Horror without acknowledging its formidable creator. This plane’s ultimate adversary is indeed a sight to behold, with the unique ability to devour every card destined for your opponent’s graveyard and grant you the opportunity to cast them – but, of course, at a cost!

What prevents Valgavoth from consuming everything in his path is undoubtedly his heavy 9-mana requirement for summoning. However, once he appears on the battlefield, there’s no doubt that this Ancient Demon will significantly alter the course of the game.

With an impressive flying stats and ability to transfer health to you whenever it deals damage to opponents, Valgavoth effectively doubles the number of spells or cards at your disposal by providing extra life to its caster, allowing them to cast more powerful spells against your enemies.

If anyone attempts to eliminate Valgavoth, they’ll initially have to forfeit three of their non-land cards that are permanent effects, given his high cost associated with his malevolent protection.

Always keep in mind, life is something valuable that you possess. Rest assured, your encounter with a daunting foe won’t turn out nearly as disastrous as Liliana’s experience… I hope!

1 Tyvar, The Pummeler

Spend Mana, Smash Face

Magic The Gathering: Arena - 10 Best Duskmourn Brawl Commanders, Ranked
RarityMana CostTypesP/T
Rare1GGCreature — Elf Warrior3/3

Oh, elves, it seems as though your strategies remain unchanged. In the newest release, Duskmourn, you’ll find another powerful piece added to your reign over Green archetypes across all formats: Tyvar, the Rammer.

Tyvar serves as an exceptional, harmony-focused leader in mono-Green decks. His unique blend of shielding abilities and damage output, complemented by a reasonable mana requirement, makes Tyvar an excellent choice for Green-based creature tactics.

As long as you control one unblocked creature, you can grant Tyvar indestructibility anytime you wish. This feature differs from hexproof and ward, as it ensures that Tyvar remains unaffected by mass destruction spells or effects.

After you populate your board with creatures, take a look at how your opponent reacts in defense. With Tyvar’s massive ability to instantly boost creatures, feel free to feint and duel with your adversary, delaying the decisive attack until the perfect moment strikes.

Although Tyvar doesn’t have Elf-like creature synergies directly, he can still harmonize well within Elven groups but isn’t limited to them, thus benefiting from a combination of advantages. If anyone is going to bravely escape the House of Horror, it’s undoubtedly this robust fellow.

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2024-09-18 13:39