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amppyou
01-03-2011, 11:27 PM
A control variant of Omnath that tries to pack answers for all situations.

Photos available here: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=193085&page=7 near the bottom, post #102

El General
1 Omnath

Beef/additional win conditions:
2 Ant Queen
3 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
4 Avenger of Zendikar
5 Gelatinous Genesis
6 Genesis Wave

Creature Tutors:
7 Natural Order
8 Tooth and Nail
9 Summoner's Pact
10 Chord of Calling
11 Defense of the Heart

Mana Doublers:
12 Extraplanar Lens
13 Gauntlet of Power
14 Vernal Bloom
15 Mana Reflection
16 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary

Mana Ramp:
17 Sakura-Tribe Elder
18 Wood Elves
19 Farhaven Elf
20 Yavimaya Dryad
21 Solemn Simulacrum
22 Primeval Titan
23 Reap and Sow
24 Explosive Vegetation
25 Hunting Wilds
26 Skyshroud Claim
27 Cultivate
28 Kodama's Reach
29 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss

Performance-Enhancing Artifacts:
30 Akroma's Memorial
31 Lightning Greaves
32 Whispersilk Cloak

Recursion:
33 Eternal Witness
34 Genesis

Answers to Creatures:
35 Maze of Ith
36 Brittle Effigy
37 Duplicant
38 Steel Hellkite
39 Predator, Flagship
40 Desert Twister Answers to Non-Creatures/the Hate:
41 Krosan Grip
42 Acidic Slime
43 Woodfall Primus
44 Indrik Stomphowler
45 Terastodon

Draw Power/Library Manipulation:
46 Regal Force
47 Greater Good
48 Momentous Fall
49 Mind's Eye
50 Memory Jar
51 Scroll Rack
52 Sylvan Library
53 Skullclamp

Utilty:
54 Seedborn Muse
55 Brooding Saurian
56 Pelakka Wurm
57 Bellowing Tanglewurm
58 Yavimaya Elder
59 Asceticism
60 Vedalken Orrery
61 Mindslaver

Artifact Mana:(additional ramp)
62 Mana Crypt
63 Sol Ring
64 Mana Vault

Lands:
65 Strip Mine
66 Wasteland
67 Dust Bowl
68 Gaea's Cradle
69 Miren, the Moaning Well
70 Mosswort Bridge
71 Reliquary Tower
72 Winding Canyons
73 Yavimaya Hollow
74-100 Snow-Covered Forest

Some cards will fill multiple roles. For example, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss is ramp, but it's also land destruction. Below are some cards that are powerful options, but I choose to leave out of my build. Some I just haven't found room for yet, and others I've tested but found less than extraordinary. Hopefully the list below can give you some other good ideas.


Can't find room for these guys yet:
Diamond Valley- Mostly just need to get one.
Rude Awakening- Recently got cut in favor of Genesis Wave. I'm going to switch it back soon. Genesis Wave is too good.
Hall of Gemstone- Absolutely need to find a slot for this. Extremely strong. Stop counter-magic and creature hate (terminate, bounce etc.) that would ruin your alpha strikes.
Deadwood Treefolk- Card advantage for sure. Seems even stronger with Greater Good. Need to find a slot for this guy.
Silklash Spider- If it flies, it dies. Great utility, but I have not yet found a slot for him. If your group plays all of the tri-colored dragons, he is a very powerful option.
Fierce Empath- Haven't tested this guy yet.
Soul's Majesty- Haven't tested this either.

Some explanations for cards that aren't in the cut:

Just Lame
Eldrazi- They are lame. They are bad for the format. They are seriously no fun to play with, or against.
Sensei's Divining Top- I hate this card in EDH. People waste tons of time on it- topping, and then topping again. People always have to check right at the last EOT step just to make sure. Yes, it is good and gives you additional card selection, but it tricks you into thinking it's card advantage. I'm not a fan, let's just leave it at that.
Helix Pinnacle- Pretty lame. This card is for douches who think it's funny to see if they can get there. In an Omnath deck, I feel it's almost as bad as playing Felidar Sovereign.
Sword of the Paruns (and other untappers)- I avoid two card combos. They are lame.

Additional Ramp Options
Grim Monolith- Made infinite colorless mana combined with Mana Reflection. I'm not a fan of two card combos, so I took Monolith out of the deck.
Into the North- I'd use it if I ran Dark Depths. Into the North is best friends with Dark Depths, Mouth of Ronin, and Scrying Sheets.
Far Wanderings- Only strong with threshold, which can often be too late for this to matter much anymore. Thins a little. Strong w/ Avenger. Got cut in later rounds of tweaking.
Journey to Discovery- Ramps you 2 lands. Might find room for it in the future. 6 cost entwined is a bit steep though.
Growth Spasm- More explosive than Cultivate or Kodama's Reach. I prefer the card advantage of the latter cards though.
Mind Stone- Decent option. I chose Everflowing Chalice over the Stone though.
Doubling Cube- Looks fun, but also looks like a win-more card. Dead draw early.

Additional hate/destroy cards
Feast of Worms- If you play a land destruction strategy, this card is a must include. Set your opponent back two land drops and get rid of that pesky lands like Urborg.
Sundering Titan- Land destruction makes everyone sad. I would put this guy back in if I were going to a tournament, but as far as casual play goes- he's dropped.
Nevinyrral's Disk/Oblivion Stone- I rely too much on my own artifacts and enchantments. Without the ability to tutor out these cards, they aren't worth the slots. My deck throws down permanents. Period. Having a reset is nice, but not at the cost of the set-up cards.
Mold Shambler- He is great, but you can't Natural Order / Tooth and Nail him out. He is closer to a sorcery with legs than a utility hate creature.
Viridian Shaman- Plenty of other creatures do what she does better.
Relic Crush- Strong instant-speed 2 for 1. I prefer having my artifact and enchantment destruction on legs though.
Rootgrapple- There are better options on legs.
Creeping Mold- There are better options period.

Fogs
Sunstone- Cool interaction with the snow lands, but Constant Mists is a better fit
Constant Mists- Probably the right fog for the deck, if it turns out one is needed.
Moment's Peace- A good 2 for 1 fog. If you play against swarming EDH decks a lot, I'd use this and Constant Mists to hold back the hordes until you can amass your own.

Lands Worth Considering
Dark Depths- Fun, but not optimal.
Scrying Sheets- Cool interaction with snow lands, but once this goes active, there should only be 18 or so forests left in the deck. There are better mana dumps/card draw.
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood- Not strong enough compared to my other cards. It let's you abuse the ☺☺☺☺ out of Woodfall Primus though.
Tranquil Thicket- You have to keep the Forest count high to abuse Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, and Vernal Bloom.
Slippery Karst- See above.

1v1 Cards
Plow Under- A 1v1 EDH card. You're better off developing your own board state and ramping out lands rather than stopping your momentum to Plow someone and make an enemy.
Stunted Growth- See above.
Lignify- Much stronger in 1v1 when hosing a single general makes a difference.

Options For Token Themed Decks
Mossbridge Troll- This guy is a ton of fun. I had to cut him for stronger utility options. Better in token decks anyway.
Vigor- Much stronger in decks with lots of creatures. The only time I put lots of creatures on the battlefield is with Gelatinous Genesis, Ant Queen, or Avenger of Zendikar.
Wolfbriar Elemental- Not as strong as Ant Queen, but an effective way to get some fat on the table. If you're going the token route, I'd run him.
Garruk Wildspeaker- Strong, but untutorable. Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is just better. Redundancy is a good thing, but Garruk requires a whole turn of set-up time.
Overwhelming Stampede- Probably half a step worse than Kamahl, but still half a step stronger than Garruk. My deck wins with tokens often, but it is definitely not a token deck. This card is best in a different style of deck.
Verdant Force- Extremely strong 7/7 that keeps on giving. I cut him for Ant Queen because Ant Queen is just stronger in the late game when you need to vomit creatures onto the board. Verdant Force is extremely strong in the early game, but that just forces you to tutor for him early when you don't necessarily need to.

Options For Omnath Stompy 21 General Damage Decks
Vorrac Battlehorns- A strong evasion option if your deck is geared entirely towards general damage
Trailblazer's Boots- See above
Rancor- If my deck revolved entirely around Omnath (as some lists do) this would be an auto-include. Not strong enough to earn a spot in my 99.
Sword of Vengeance- Another way to turn Omnath into green Akroma. Unfortunately, it's not too threatening on most of my other creatures. A late cut.
Bear Umbra- A great way to keep Omnath alive and kicking. The deck also doesn't lean on Omnath too hard, so over-protecting him isn't necessary.

Other Good Options Without A Category
Dark Depths- Not fast enough. Can be pretty fun if you get it off, but this deck has better, faster options.
Altar of Dementia- An alt win condition. Weak against Reanimating players and Gay-drazis shuffle effects. More fun than good.
Taruju Preserver- My EDH group has agreed for the most part to not play Eldrazi. Taruju would probably be in the deck if we hadn't made aforementioned agreement.
Multani, Maro Sorcerer- I used to use this guy as the general. Not as useful as a random one of in my deck though. Strong beater vs. decks that don't play many creatures.
Krosan Tusker- Which leads to Tusker. He is not as strong in a mono green deck. He is most at home in a deck that requires color fixing.
Azusa, Lost but Seeking- Omnath is great in Azusa EDH decks, but Azusa isn't necessarily great in an Omnath deck. Our land count is lower, she's useless late game.
Quest for Renewal- Too fragile. Untutorable. Use Patron of the Orochi if you're dying for a second Seedborn Muse.
Abundance- Good draw filter. It eventually needed to get cut. It's not really true card advantage, and you can't tutor it out.
Patron of the Orochi- I never found myself tutoring him out when he was in the deck. Still a strong option for mono green.
Engulfing Slagwurm- A respectable life gainer. I think Pelakka Wurm is just better because he is a sure thing compared to Slagwurm's Combat restrictions.
Primal Command- I'm sure someone can tell me a time when this card was the money, and the exact topdeck they needed. 90% of the time though, it's a slow Summoner's Pact.
Erratic Portal- Strong card. Allows you to bounce your own creature to abuse ETB effects. Can also save your guys from wrath, or bounce an opponent's threat if he's tapped out.
Crop Rotation- I feel like giving up a land to go search up your Amazing land is just asking the player with the Strip Mine to target you. Somebody always has one.
Sylvan Scrying- Again, you don't want to spend time/mana searching for a land just to get it nuked.
Nature's Will- You need lots of creatures to make this strong. My count is often too low for any to get through. A strong option against a player with a lot of permission though.
Gauntlets of Chaos- A fun EDH card that allows green to do something it certainly shouldn't be able to. It's just unfortunate that you have to fill so many requirements for it to work correctly. 10 mana + the correct permanent to give away + something worth taking.

Feedback is appreciated. There are a lot of ways to build Omnath, but I prefer the multi-player toolbox build.