Winter Commander marries hand-hate mechanics with a bleak Duskmourn origin

Polygon reports that Winter, Misanthropic Guide — a Commander from the Duskmourn: House of Horror set — pairs a distinctive, punishing gameplay effect with a grim survival story from the set’s fiction.

The card is a 3/4 Human Warlock that costs four mana (one colorless, one black, one red, and one green) and has ward 2. At the beginning of your upkeep each player draws two cards, but Winter’s delirium ability reduces each opponent’s maximum hand size to seven minus the number of card types in your graveyard; the primary types listed include artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, battle, and kindred. With discard- and mill-heavy decks and more delirium in play, opponents can be forced to discard to zero at the end of their turn, and Winter also appears on a scheme card that buffs the Commander.

The set’s short stories by Mira Grant describe Winter as emaciated, wary, and shaped by a decade trapped in the House; he learned its dangers, became misanthropic, and ultimately made a bargain with the demon Valgavoth, offering his closest friend and leading others into sacrifice before being absorbed by Valgavoth himself. The card’s draw-then-strip effect echoes that arc, leaving players — like characters in the story — exposed when hope is denied.

Key Topics

Culture, Winter Misanthropic Guide, Duskmourn, Mira Grant, Valgavoth, Delirium