Room

Room
Enchantment Type
(Subtype for enchantment cards)
Statistics	30 cards 20% 16.7% 20% 20% 13.3% 3.3% 6.7% as of Alchemy: Duskmourn
Scryfall Search
type:"Room"

For other uses, see Room (disambiguation).

Room is a enchantment subtype introduced in Duskmourn: House of Horror to represent the twisted, labyrinthine nature of the plane.

Description

A bi-colored Room card, horizontally aligned

Rooms are similar to split cards, a Magic card with two card faces on the front side and a standard Magic card back, but with a major fundamental difference: they're permanent cards. Each side of a Room is called a door. As with all split cards, players can cast only one half from their hand. Pick one half to cast, and that door unlocks on the battlefield, giving you access to that half's abilities.

The other half of a room can be unlocked when it is on the battlefield, by paying the locked half's mana cost any time you could cast a sorcery. Unlocking a door this way is a special action (it doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to). Unlocking the second half of a Room doesn't affect the half that's already unlocked. It stays unlocked and all abilities on both halves of the card are active and/or usable.

While on the battlefield, a Room card only has the characteristics of its unlocked doors. If one door is unlocked, it will only have the characteristics of that half of the card. If both doors are unlocked, it will have the combined characteristics of both halves. This includes the permanent having two names.

If a Room card enters the battlefield without being cast, both doors will start locked. The permanent will be an object on the battlefield but with no name, mana value, or abilities. It's still a Room enchantment. You can still unlock any locked door by paying that half's mana cost as a sorcery.

Design background

Duskmourn punch card for Locked Doors.

Locations are often lands, but lands have a lot of mechanical restrictions. Enchantments are the next best choice as a lot of the essence of a location (especially in Duskmourn) is the feel of the place.

Rooms have the feel of Adventure or Aftermath cards, where one side is cast after the other; however, Rooms can have either side first. Some Rooms have no effect once both sides are unlocked, as both are triggers when unlocked, making them akin to double-Sorceries.

Rules

From the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

• 116.2m A player who controls a permanent that has one or more locked halves (see rule 709.5) may pay the mana cost of a locked half of that permanent to give that permanent the appropriate unlocked designation. This cost is referred to as an “unlock cost.” A player can take this action any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn.

From the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

• 709.5. Some split cards are permanent cards with a single shared type line. A shared type line on such an object represents two static abilities that function on the battlefield. These are “As long as this permanent doesn’t have the ‘left half unlocked’ designation, it doesn’t have the name, mana cost, or rules text of this object’s left half” and “As long as this permanent doesn’t have the ‘right half unlocked’ designation, it doesn’t have the name, mana cost, or rules text of this object’s right half.” These abilities, as well as which half of that permanent a characteristic is in, are part of that object’s copiable values.
  • 709.5a Each half of a split card with a shared type line shares the types and subtypes listed on that card’s shared type line.
  • 709.5b The existence of each half of an object with a shared type line is part of that object’s copiable values, even if that object is a spell on the stack. This is an exception to rule 709.3b.
  • 709.5c “Left half unlocked” and “right half unlocked” are designations that a permanent on the battlefield can have. Together, they are called the unlocked designations. A particular half of a permanent is said to be “unlocked” if it has the appropriate unlocked designation. Otherwise, that half is said to be “locked.”
  • 709.5d A permanent with a shared type line is given the “left half unlocked” designation as it enters the battlefield if its left half was cast as a spell. It is given the “right half unlocked” designation as it enters the battlefield if its right half was a cast as a spell. If it’s entering the battlefield and neither half was cast as a spell, it enters with neither unlocked designation.
  • 709.5e A player who controls a permanent that has one or more locked halves may pay the mana cost of a locked half of that permanent to give that permanent the appropriate unlocked designation. This cost is referred to as an “unlock cost.” This is a special action (see rule 116). A player can take this action any time they have priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of their turn.
  • 709.5f Some spells and abilities instruct a player to “unlock” half of a permanent. To unlock half of a permanent, a player chooses a locked half of that permanent, and that permanent is given the appropriate unlocked designation.
  • 709.5g Some spells and abilities instruct a player to “lock” half of a permanent. To lock half of a permanent, a player chooses an unlocked half of that permanent, and that permanent loses the appropriate unlocked designation.
  • 709.5h Some abilities trigger when a player unlocks a particular half of a permanent. These abilities trigger when that permanent is given the appropriate unlocked designation, regardless of whether it was given that designation while entering the battlefield or after entering the battlefield.
  • 709.5i Some abilities trigger when a player “fully unlocks” a permanent with a shared type line. Such an ability triggers when that permanent has one of the two unlocked designations and gets the other, or when it has neither designation and gains both.
  • 709.5j Some cards refer to a “door” of a Room permanent. A door is a half of that permanent.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

Door

A door is one half of a Room permanent. See rule 709, “Split Cards.”

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

Lock

To remove an unlocked designation from a permanent that has one or more unlocked halves. See rule 709.5g.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

Locked

One half of a split permanent is “locked” if it doesn’t have the appropriate unlocked designation. See rule 709.5.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

Room

1. A subsection of a dungeon card. See rule 309, “Dungeons.”

2. An enchantment subtype found on some split cards. See rule 709, “Split Cards.”

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

Unlock

To give an unlocked designation to a permanent that has one or more locked halves. See rule 709.5f.

From the glossary of the Comprehensive Rules (September 20, 2024—Duskmourn: House of Horror)

Unlocked

One half of a split permanent is “unlocked” if it has the appropriate unlocked designation. See rule 709.5.

Rulings

• To cast a Room spell, choose a half (or "door") to cast. There's no way to cast both halves of a Room card. When the Room spell resolves, the corresponding door becomes unlocked as the Room enters.
• Room cards have two card faces with a shared type line on a single card. The characteristics of the door you didn't cast are ignored while the spell is on the stack.
• Each Room card is a single card. For example, if you discard a Room card, you've discarded one card, not two. If an effect counts the number of enchantment cards in your graveyard, Bottomless Pool // Locker Room counts once, not twice.
• Each Room card has two names. If an effect instructs you to choose a card name, you may choose one of those names, but not both.
• If an effect allows you to cast a spell with certain characteristics, consider only the characteristics of the door you're casting. For example, if an effect allows you to cast a permanent spell with mana value 3 or less from among cards in your graveyard, you could cast Bottomless Pool this way, but not Locker Room.
• While in any zone other than the stack or the battlefield, a Room card's characteristics are a combination of its two doors. For example, Bottomless Pool // Locker Room has a mana value of 6 *while it's in your library. If an effect allows you to search your library for a card with mana value 4 or less, you can't find Bottomless Pool // Locker Room.
• While on the battlefield, a Room's characteristics are a combination of the characteristics of its unlocked doors. For example, if Bottomless Pool // Locker Room is on the battlefield with both doors unlocked, its names are Bottomless Pool and Locker Room, its mana value is 6, it's a Room Enchantment, and it has the abilities in each door's text box.
• If a spell or ability would create a copy of a Room spell on the stack, the copy retains the choice of which door was cast but also retains the full characteristics of the spell. The characteristics of the door that wasn't cast are still ignored while the copy is on the stack, and when the copy resolves, the token it becomes will enter with the appropriate door unlocked.
• If a Room enters from any zone other than the stack, it will enter with both halves locked.
• If neither door of a Room is unlocked, it's a Room enchantment with no name and no abilities.
• Any time you have priority during a main phase of your turn and the stack is empty, you may pay the mana cost of a locked door (also called its "unlock cost"). That door becomes unlocked. This is a special action. It doesn't use the stack and can't be responded to.
• An ability that triggers "when you unlock this door" triggers when that door becomes unlocked. This can happen one of two ways: (1) the door becomes unlocked on the battlefield or (2) the door becomes unlocked as the Room enters the battlefield because you cast the corresponding half. In the latter case, since the door becoming unlocked is what causes the ability to trigger, effects that cause abilities that trigger when a permanent enters to trigger an additional time (such as that of Panharmonicon) won't apply.
• Some abilities allow you to unlock a door of a Room you control. You can't choose to unlock a door that's already unlocked with such an ability. If such an ability requires a target, you can target a Room even if both of its doors are unlocked, but the ability won't do anything when it resolves.
• Some abilities allow you to lock a door of a Room you control. You can't choose to lock a door that's already locked with such an ability. If such an ability requires a target, you can target a Room even if both of its doors are locked, but the ability won't do anything when it resolves.
• Some doors have abilities that trigger whenever you unlock that door and require one or more targets. You can unlock that door even if there would be insufficient legal targets for that triggered ability. The triggered ability won't go on the stack.
• An ability that triggers "whenever you fully unlock a Room" triggers when a door becomes unlocked and the other door of that Room is already unlocked, or when both doors of that Room become unlocked simultaneously.

Example

Duskmourn Commander punch-outs for Locked Doors.

Example

Bottomless Pool
When you unlock this door, return up to one target creature to its owner's hand.
//
Locker Room
Whenever one or more creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, draw a card.
//
Enchantment — Room (You may cast either half. That door unlocks on the battlefield. As a sorcery, you may pay the mana cost of a locked door to unlock it.)