Was there ever any consideration to re-type Cosmic Horror as an Eldrazi?

Not that I know of.

Hi Mark! Just wanna give shout out to awesome sets you have planned for the Dragonstorm arc: Bloomburrow for the high fantasy traditionalists and typal lovers, Duskmourn for the modern horror fans and a different take on an Enchantment matters set, The Death Race as a fun exploration of the Omenpaths and finally a set centered around Vehicles (I mean it's not confirmed but…c'mon), and a long-awaited Return to Tarkir set for Magic veterans and those who waited for a wedge faction set! I am absolutely stoked for all of these sets, and I am glad that Magic embraces variety enough to take risks for modern, novel aesthetics while still preserving old, familiar aesthetics!

I’m excited you’re excited.

Hi Mark, I genuinely love magic the gathering. Thanks for spending so much of your career invested in this game. I appreciate you for it. Earlier I read a fan question asking if we were going to see a serious set. You said that Duskmourn was. From the spoilers offered so far, I got the impression that this would be not be serious, based on art featuring of smiling elves wearing fanny packs, ghost busters weapons, and purple pet monsters. Are these outliers compared to what the set really is?

All Magic sets have some humor, but Duskmourn is a horror set at its core.

I am a skeptic of modern stuff in MTG and not a fan of horror. I LOVED the intro to Duskmourn and I’m thrilled for it to arrive. I do have a critique: I wish Wizards process the Planeswalkers guide to Bloomburrow before the story started as I found it hard to dive into it

I’ll pass that note along.

Mark, I'm a big horror fan, but I'm not sure about how blatant and trope-y some of these card names are. I mean, seriously, "Black Cat"? "Bump in the Night"? "Creepy Doll"? "Evil Twin"? I don't think this "Innistrad" plane is going to be a hit... ;)

: )

For what it’s worth, I actually think the biggest issue with Duskmourn isn’t the “modern” stuff, so much as Magic’s trend towards so many cards representing a genre trope, often literally by name. That said, it’s really exacerbated by the modern setting, which is unusual territory and thus feels like it’s there only to really ensure those tropes and references are as blunt as possible, rather than being a part of a cohesive world.A third factor that really makes this not gel for me is that modern horror relies on a threat that is anomalous and unique to be scary. Innistrad made a world full of Frankensteins and Draculas into a believable ecosystem, and I just don’t know that I can get there with a world full of Jasons, Freddys, Samaras, etc.All of this is to say, I would be a bit disappointed if this setting does poorly and the takeaway is just “no more tennis shoes.” I know there’s an audience for the tropey cards, but it feels like they’ve become so numerous and so blunt that it’s overshadowed the world building and left me far less curious and excited about new planes than I used to be. Generally, a magic plane with more modern technology and culture intrigues me, but when it’s just a vehicle for references I lose interest.

Please read the Planeswalkers Guide to Duskmorn:

Planeswalker’s Guide to DuskmournIt is very much a carefully thought out and crafted world.

Hi, Mark.Not sure if I can quite explain this, but I'll try.Straight urban fantasy isn't terribly interesting to me, at least as a magic setting, especially if we're distinguishing it from "masquerade" as the other asker put it (i.e., magic's existence is a secret). I think that's because urban fantasy describes a setting that's exactly like the real, modern world, and the only difference is that there's magic. In other words, "magic and magic users exist" is the whole hook, what the burden of appealing to the consumer of that media falls onto. But, like . . . "magic and magic users exist" is the ENTIRE game! It doesn't feel like it does enough to differentiate itself from the rest of the multiverse.So, I think an urban fantasy setting needs to do one of three things: have a strong, unique hook beyond just "it's a modern world with magic"; be more focused, like how Duskmourn isn't just "80s fantasy" but "80s horror film"; or be combined with another concept, like how Ixalan is both "pirate world" AND "Mesoamerican world".Sorry if I rambled a bit there, but tldr: I for one would need a more detailed pitch than just "It's the urban fantasy plane/set!" to be remotely interested in it.

As with any world, there would be more details woven into it. I was just asking people’s thoughts on urban fantasy as a larger category.

Would you try and space out Duskmourn and Innistrad or try and have them closer due to how much synergy they have

I don’t think we’d currently do two horror themed sets back to back.

I’d just like to say the art direction for the horror aspects of Duskmourne is incredible! The art for New Phyrexia is my all time favorite, and the vibes from what we’ve seen so far is the closest Magic’s come to it in decades! I for one am loving this set already!

Happy to hear that.

Hi, justed wanted to say that I love the idea of Duskmourn even as someone who doesn't like horror at all. The preview panel made me pretty excited for a set I had little interest in besides slight curiosity. I quite like it when magic is willing to try out new ideas and genres. It's a multiverse, after all, so why not make it diverse and different. Please send thanks to whoever decided to release the planeswalker's guide before the story. As a Vorthos, I'm very happy.Also, as someone who started with Kaldheim and loved it, I'm glad to see Tyvar and Niko back!

Glad you’re enjoying it.