Enchantment-focused builds are returning to the Magic: The Gathering Standard format through a new Azorius Enchantment deck featuring Optimistic Scavenger, Inquisitive Glimmer, and Rooms from Duskmourn: House of Horrors.
Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast, I got to play the new MTG Duskmourn: House of Horrors cards through the MTG Arena early access streamer event. The set features a new type of Enchantment called Rooms, along with Enchantment enablers like Optimistic Scavenger and Inquisitive Glimmer. Both cards are powerful within the Duskmourn Blue and White Draft archetype, and in the Standard format, as I confirmed through testing during the MTG Arena DSK early access event on Sept. 18.
The power of MTG Optimistic Scavenger and Inquisitive Glimmer in Duskmourn
Optimistic Scavenger is the new Luminarch Aspirant thanks to the Human Scout’s synergy with Enchantments through Eerie. Each time an Enchantment enters the battlefield or you unlock a Room door, Optimistic Scavenger grants a +1/+1 counter on a target creature. The Uncommon combos nicely with the Room Grand Entryway//Elegant Rotunda, especially when both are in your opening hand.
Inquisitive Glimmer, the Duskmourn signpost card for the UW Duskmourn Draft archetype, speeds up the casting of Enchantments. The Fox Glimmer reduces the casting cost of Enchantments by one, along with the mana costs of door Rooms you want to unlock. In conjunction with steady card draw, Inquisitive Glimmer allows you to cast multiple Enchantments per turn, stacking +1/+1 counters through Optimistic Scavenger on creatures before combat.
How the Azorius Enchantment deck works in MTG Duskmourn Standard
The Azorius Enchantment Standard deck is still a work in progress as time was limited during the MTG Arena early access streamer event. But the key components are there and I’m excited to build and test a best-of-three version of the deck.
Azorius Enchantment decklist
Optimistic Scavenger and Inquisitive Glimmer can win games but not consistently. Rooms provide tempo, counters, and tokens—building up your board presence while reanimating key cards from the graveyard to the battlefield. Enchantment removal prevents your opponent from establishing a board state while fueling Optimistic Scanveger, and one copy of Virtue of Loyalty can end games that run long. There’s also an alternate win condition through another new Duskmourn card called Slient Hallcreeper.
Opening hand and mulligans
Silent Hallcreeper is a unique Blue two-drop with modal ability options, 1/1 stats, and “can’t be blocked” text. It’s also an Enchantment Creature. With Optimistic Scavenger on the board, counters can stack quickly on Silent Hallcreeper, putting your opponent on a two to three-turn clock. The Horror Enchantment can also add counters to itself after dealing damage, but only once. Silent Hallcreeper can also draw a card once and become a copy of another creature.
Having an Optimistic Scavenger in your opening hand is crucial. The best Curve-out option is Optimistic Scavenger into the Room door Grand Entryway or Inquisitive Glimmer. Silent Hallcreeper is good if you don’t have an Optimistic Scavenger. Use Enchantment removal like Sheltered by Ghosts early to keep the Tempo in your favor and provide protection to either Optimistic Scavenger or Inquisitive Glimmer.
Duskmourn Rooms
When Rooms were first shown through Duskmourn spoilers, I was impressed with the design but skeptical about how well they might perform in Constructed. As it turns out, Rooms are awesome, especially in an enchantment-focused deck like Azorius Enchantments.
The Room Grand Entryway//Elegant Rotunda is one of my favorites for the Azorius Enchantment deck and through Duskmourn Draft, as it provides a powerful early game board state. And the +1/+1 counters through the door Elegant Rotunda come in handy when put on Dusk Legion Duelist (card draw) when you’re missing key cards from your opening hand.
Dollmaker’s Shop establishes a go-wide board state while the other door, Porcelain Gallery, is a solid way to end games—especially with Inquisitive Glimmer reducing the Room cost to five mana, as opposed to six. Bottomless Pool is great against Aggro decks and, if needed, you can unlock Locker Room later in the match for card draw, although between Dusk Legion Duelist and Silent Hallcreeper, card draw usually isn’t an issue.
One of the best mid to late-game Rooms for the Azorius Enchantment deck is Surgical Suite, reanimating any of your key cards that all cost three mana or less from the graveyard to the battlefield. And if you’re desperate for a counter, Hospital Room is a fine option.
Alternate options to the Duskmourn Azorius Enchantment deck
The best-of-one decklist for Azorius Enchantments is a starting point, not a meta-breaker. But the options for the build are vast. One of the versions I played with used Fear of Isolation to bounce open Enchantment Rooms back to hand and replay them discounted through Inquisitive Glimmer during the same turn. Fear of Isolation also happens to be an Enchantment creature, so with Optimistic Scavenger on the board, it was +1/+1 counters for everyone.
One copy of Ghost Vacuum didn’t do much in best-of-one but I would likely include at least two for the sideboard because when I did draw the Artifact, it destroyed the BG Delirium deck gameplan. The Azorius Enchantment deck can also be more Tempo and Controlling, rather than my Aggro to Midrange version. The Glimmer Enduring Curiosity is a very strong card and would fit well in the Azorius Enchantment deck. There are so many good Rooms in Duskmourn, and expanding the build into a third color opens up a wide variety of build options.
